WILL THIS BE THE SEASON OF MONSTROUS TOYS?
As more and more primaries are completed, some nominees are being unveiled, such as Graham Platner (D-ME) and Ken Paxton (R-TX), that aren’t quite clearing the ethical bar we supposedly set for politicians. Should we expect more?
Or should I remind my reader of former Rep Gaetz (R-FL), who was up before the House’s Ethics Committee before he resigned? Former Rep and Secretary of Labor Lori Chavez-DeRemer (R-OR) who resigned after charges of misconduct? Former Rep Eric Swalwell (D-CA), who joined DeRemer in the ranks of those who committed misconduct, but in the division of sex? Rep Tony Gonzalez (R-TX), who resigned only after repeated accusations of fornication with an aide who later committed suicide, with strong evidence for the fornication?
President Donald J. Trump (R)?
The nation is not under an obvious and imminent threat of extinction, and thus running out the ethically challenged has not been pursued with enthusiasm, prior to being elected, by the Party; indeed, President Trump makes it a practice to pardon both the convicted and the indicted, thus indebting them to himself. That, and the gathering of centralized power to the Executive, is attracting the mistake-prone and sordid-minded to positions of power; and, as these folks are practiced at convincing their victims to give them money, honor, and virtue, they are often competent at collecting the votes necessary to elevate them as well. More importantly, the Republicans long ago dispensed with the gatekeeper function of the Party, and now it seems it’s the Democrats’ turn.
And while I hesitate to splash the innocent with shit, it’s often hard to say who’s what until the judge’s gavel hits the desk. For example, consider this from the Platner debacle in Maine:
Now that Platner’s campaign is barely hanging [not anymore – Hue] on following an allegation of sexual assault by someone he once dated, those same liberals — and Platner’s campaign itself — believe they are entitled to a say in how he is replaced.
That is the basis of a story I wrote yesterday evening with my colleagues Alexei Koseff and Joanna Slater.
“The best way to expedite a smooth transition and ensure a win in November is for the Maine Democratic Party to promise Democratic voters who voted for bold change that their mandate will be honored. Not allow crusty insiders like Chuck Schumer an establishment do-over,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee. [Dan Merica, WaPo]
It’s plain where Green and his colleagues are trying to land their aeroplane, isn’t it? But, as long-time readers know, sometimes it pays to step back and ignore the magicians wiggly left hand and ask why his right hand is in my pocket, i.e., if this really makes sense. If I were asking questions of Green & Co., my first question would be,
You promoted this Platner guy, who appears to have extremely bad judgment and a crippling collection of incidents in his past. How are you qualified to have any influence on selecting his replacement, given that you tried to inflict this guy on us already?
Or as a Maine political operative notes,
One operative who works in Maine noted “the irony of people who have made their political careers decrying a rigged political system now trying to rig the political system for Troy Jackson.” The operative said it wasn’t doing Jackson any favors, either, calling it “horrible optics” to have a candidate tied to someone who had to step aside.
Yes, we’ll see more, much more of this. It’ll be a benefit of voters keep track of the unacceptable, don’t vote for them, and spread the word.
HE’S A MONSTROUS ANCHOR, STILL
Yes, President Trump continues to be a massive drag on Republicans in most States, as flying his flag of incompetency holds little appeal for independent voters, and on certain subjects even Republicans are edging away, and sometimes they even reveal anger at him. For example,
… Rep. Carlos Giménez (R[-FL]) on Sunday said efforts to deport Haitians after the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration’s decision to rescind temporary protected status (TPS) would be a “mistake.”
“In the case of Haiti, without a doubt, Haiti is a failed state, and I think that deporting Haitians that are under TPS right now back to Haiti would be a huge mistake,” Giménez said during a Sunday appearance on CBS News’s “Face the Nation.”
“I mean, that’s the reason why TPS was established to begin with, just like with Venezuelans. If Venezuelans lose their TPS status — which they have, too — we should reinstate that because of the devastation caused by these earthquakes that happened last week,” he added, noting the U.S. should act as a safeguard to those in need. [The Hill]
Rep Giménez almost sounds like a Democrat, doesn’t he? The drive to expel immigrants, no doubt spearheaded by the self-important and obsessed senior aide Stephen Miller, is an example of the White House’s deafness when it comes to a sane foreign policy – and acquiring necessary votes and building valuable soft power. The President should provide the central decision-making to balance competing interests, and he’s a complete failure. He may not even realize it, being a mere businessman and not a canny political leader.
Another example is the recent spew of President Trump regarding the old topic of Greenland at the World Economic Forum:
US President Donald Trump has said he is seeking “immediate negotiations” to acquire Greenland for national security reasons – and insisted he “won’t use force”.
His repeated demands to take control of the territory have been rejected by Greenland’s leaders, and by Nato member Denmark, of which the island is a semi-autonomous territory.
This has led to a wider diplomatic row, with Trump initially threatening additional trade tariffs against a number of European allies for opposing his plans. [BBC]
And then there’s the recent breakdown of the Trump’s War ceasefire, as reported by CNN:
• Fresh strikes rock Mideast: US forces struck several more locations in coastal Iran today, according to Iranian state media, while Tehran said it fired missiles at a US base in Jordan. The US military has not confirmed the latest exchange.
• Diplomatic scramble: Sources say mediators are working to get Washington and Tehran back to the negotiating table as the renewed fighting further erodes a fragile ceasefire agreement. The last two days have seen waves of US strikes and Iranian attacks on other US military bases in the region.
Whether Trump’s negotiators provoked this through incompetency, or if the Iranians are playing the President as being soft-headed, this isn’t going to play well to independent voters, even those who want to give him the benefit of the doubt. It’s obvious even to the most bone-headed: he promised to keep the country out of war, and instead he started a war and can’t finish it, while continually boasting and lying about it. Prices of many things, from oil to fertilizer, leap towards the sky, and some may never come down again.
EXCUSE ME, BUT YOUR BATHROOM IS MAKING BEEPING NOISES
Don’t forget, when your food is literally trying to kill you, it was Trump’s minions who ran off with the FDA and won’t return it. You can be all mad about regulations, but when you’re squatting front of that occupied bathroom trying to avoid public humiliation, indulging in anti-regulation screeds is more than a little hollow.
IMPEACHMENT IS NOT SO GOOD
Because that’ll just put J. D. Vance in charge, and his inclination to repeat the praise of Trump like a mimic does not fill me with confidence.
FLAUNT IT IF YOU’VE GOT IT!
But if you’ve only caught it, keep it to yourself.
- I’d hate to be a Texas voter this season, because the Senate candidates from both major Parties seem repugnant. James Talarico (D), as noted here, keeps saying weird shit, but state AG Ken Paxton (R) may be taking the prize for sheer tenacity:
MAGA firebrand Ken Paxton spent Fourth of July weekend with his new lover in Europe—far from Texas, where he is running for Senate.
Paxton, 63, was spotted sightseeing alongside his mistress, Christian influencer Tracy Duhon, 58, according to footage obtained by the Daily Mail. The pair was recorded “galivanting” in dressy attire near the Westminster Bridge and the London Eye. [Daily Beast]
So much for making up with the estranged wife. But opponent Talarico seems to have fumbled the response:
Paxton’s opponent, Democratic State Rep. James Talarico, criticized Paxton for going on a holiday in Britain while America was celebrating its independence.
“Americans celebrated 250 years of independence from Britain this weekend,” Talarico’s campaign wrote in a statement. “Ken Paxton spent it with the British.”
Predictable. Standard. I would have said “I was thrilled to spend Independence Day in the United States,” and then let the crickets fill in the blanks.
It’s true that Texans do have a collection of independents, as well as the Libertarian candidate, to select from for the to-be-open Senate seat, but so far I haven’t heard of any of them leaping out to a lead. Too bad. Both parties need a fright to remind them they’re not going to remain a big fish in a small pond if they don’t put up respectable leaders for the Senate. Not that these two are doomed, but that’s how to bet – on both of them.
In other unfortunate state AG Paxton news, he who enforces the law may have been caught breaking the election laws, according to The Texas Tribune, leading to this chuckle-inducing quote:
Campaign spokesperson Madison Cercy did not answer the questions from the news organizations. Instead, she issued a statement saying that the attorney general has been “a national leader on election integrity, with a long record of defending Texas elections.” Cercy said that “attempting to insinuate otherwise and tear him down with a baseless, lie-filled tabloid story is not real reporting.”
How very Karoline Leavitt of her. For those readers who’d like a list of Paxton’s scandals, here’s Steve Benen with a list that’s only slightly out of date.
- In Maine, the eye of the storm is on Democratic Senate nominee Graham Platner (D-ME), accused of, and denying, rape. While he may still repudiate the nomination by the end of today [he did – Hue], fulfilling my prediction at the above link, reportedly he and his team are hanging on in hopes of influencing the selection of his replacement:
Graham Platner and a small team of strategists behind his candidacy are trying to navigate an exit from the consequential Senate race in Maine without entirely squandering the movement he built, people familiar with the matter said, rather than digging in or trying to find a path forward for his candidacy.
“We’ve said from the very beginning that this campaign was never about Graham but about a movement of working people united to take back power,” Ben Chin, the campaign manager for Platner, said in a message to supporters on Wednesday. [CNN]
It seems the establishment Democrats are less than charmed, perhaps because they lost to someone who has, himself, thrown away an opportunity:
“While we may be frustrated with Graham Platner’s continued efforts to manipulate this process, we are so thankful for his supporters and all of their efforts to defeat Susan Collins — they are a vital part of our Party and deserve to participate in an open process to select Platner’s replacement,” [executive director of Maine’s Democratic Party Devon Murphy-Anderson] wrote on social media.
The real trick here is that the Democrats cannot withdraw the nomination; Platner must repudiate it himself. Worse yet, he must do it by 13 July, and then the Party would have until 27 July to submit a new nominee.
So far, it sounds like turmoil to me. WaPo’s Carine Hajjar shakes her fist, demanding the gatekeepers stop letting the unacceptable into the Democratic Party:
Yet in shedding their old polish, Democrats along the way also dropped all sense of standards, too. Candidates rarely tick all the boxes on ideology and image, and a few shallow scratches would have revealed deep flaws in Platner’s candidacy. Put aside the long list of personal scandals. The “oysterman” — which, by the way, isn’t a term actual oyster farmers use — turned out not to be the working-class kid he portrayed onstage. The facade started to crack somewhere between revelations about his private schooling, his dad helping out with his mortgage and his mom’s restaurant being his biggest client.
In incumbent Senator Collins (R) Maine has an experienced politico, but one so old she may have a failing intellect and/or health, or is falling out of sync with today’s America. It’s a pity the Democrats couldn’t field someone with distinction, and was reduced to finding a “fighter,” who may actually be little more than a poseur, if one with a Marine background.
[Later] And Graham Platner has, indeed, dropped out of the Maine Senate race, late on 8 July. Reflecting what seems to be demographic strains within the Democratic Party,
Even as he withdrew from the race, Platner remained insistent that the accusations against him, as well as other controversies dating back to October, were false and part of a larger campaign “by the establishment to put structural pressure on us.”
“We live in a political system that is not built for normal people. It is a system that is built structurally to make sure that movements like ours cannot flourish, that if they begin to succeed, they can be crushed,” Platner said.
Without commenting on whether the incidents he insists are fiction are so, I do have to say that ‘normal’ people aren’t always the best choice for US Congress; I’d be more comfortable with distinguished or extraordinary people. I haven’t studied what Mr Platner had to say, or how it was interpreted; then again, I don’t take the right seriously when they call him a Nazi, based on a disowned tattoo, or a communist.
But I do ask how Platner prepared for the job. Not for the campaign, but for the job. Does he have a relevant degree in government, or relevant work experience? Or even just some insightful commentary? Being a member of Congress is a huge job these days, and rightfully so. His talk of structural pressure raises a red flag for me: it’s a call to victimhood. So far in this century, those who invoke victimhood appear to just be out for power, and have often been found to be inventing some aspect of the victimhood, from membership to its very experience, to justify bizarre claims or recommendations.
Platner’s background as a Marine and oyster farmer endeared him to many Mainers, I think, as it suggests that they remain in control of their futures. But by fixating on that and his “fighter” personality, and not expressing doubt concerning his potential performance in that role, they became vulnerable to anyone with charisma. I was concerned about lack of qualifications, but since I don’t live there, I figured I’d just watch. And now I’ve watched him go down in flames – but quite early. The Democrats still have time to rue their first choice and make a second choice.
- In Nebraska, the rumors that Democratic nominee for the Senate Cindy Burbank would repudiate her nomination and endorse Dan Osborn (I-NE) have yet to be fulfilled.
The Most Exciting Dachsund Races In Politics
Texas? Maine? Nebraska? Alaska? How about the dark horse, Mississippi?
Have a good weekend, folks.
The Odyssey
