Tag: chuck-grassley

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Trump is contemplating military action with Iran. He has been thinking about it for some time. Clearly this isn’t an emergency as he has been thinking about it for some time. An emergency would suggest that something has to be done immediately. This means there is more than enough time to consult with Congress. Only Congress can declare war, right? I get that in an emergency quick decisions are necessary and sometimes the President has to act alone but this isn’t an emergency, not by any stretch of the imagination.

Why isn’t someone in Congress complaining loudly about this? As far as I can tell they aren’t doing much any way, this would be a good time to perk up and make your opinion known. So where is Congress? They could at least give an opinion on the matter. They are in session. Given the present makeup of the Congress, I suspect Trump might get a majority to go along with him. Fine. At least democratic norms were practiced.

Trump isn’t even going through the motions of democratic processes here. He is thinking about it and when he is through thinking about it, he will act and no consultive body like the Congress can do anything about it. I can’t say I am that disappointed in Trump. Trump is an ignorant asshole and always has been. But the Republican elders? What are you waiting for? I mean, for one, they are old. They have hit their pinnacle. People like McConnell, Grassley, and Graham are clinging to their power. But what real power do you have if you are afraid of Donald Trump? You can’t influence the man. You won’t say what you honestly think because you fear the man. This isn’t power, boys, this is keeping your position. Your power lapsed the first time you toadied up to Donald Trump.

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The raid on John Bolton’s house is more than a little worrisome. To start with, Bolton is a Republican who, at least on paper, agrees with Trump on most of the issues. He actually served in Trump’s first term as president. But Bolton disagrees with Trump and he personally seems to hate Trump. These type of disagreements, at least in the past, were a part of the big tent parties. You occasionally disagreed with each other. But Trump must have 100% allegiance to him.

So, if you won’t keep your mouth shut willingly, Trump is going to scare you into submission. Trump is using intimidation to stop his opponents from speaking. There is a big difference between calling a person stupid and opening a Department of Justice Investigation into a person’s activities.

If Bolton has nothing to hide what is he worried about? If only it was that easy. Investigations require lawyers to gather evidence to support your case. This, of course, means you have to have money in the bank to take on a Trump investigation. You have to take time out of your life to appear in court. So, even if you are found innocent, you lose time and money to Trump’s petty harassment. There might be people who would risk irritating Trump, but there also are people who will decide to keep their mouths shut instead.

It certainly seems to have shut down any criticism from anyone in the Republican party. Any Republican who disagrees with Trump is silenced — either by keeping their mouth shuts or through making their lives so miserable they quit or are pushed out in primaries. There is only Trump and what Trump says goes.

The deafening silence of party elders is baffling. I am talking about you Mitch McConnell (83 years of age) and you Chuck Grassley (91years of age). Here are two old men without a political future. Their political futures, and let’s face it their personal futures, have a very limited time line. They have nothing to lose. Why not raise a little Hell on your way out? What are they saving their gravitas for? Future power.

Trump’s behavior is so blatantly corrupt now that it is beyond shocking. He is selling presidential pardons. He owns stock in companies the government is doing business with. He openly shakes down business leaders for their spare change. He threatens anyone who crosses him with investigation. What line does Trump have to cross before these men speak up? There is very little power in nodding your head in agreement to everything Trump says. Yet they still continue to quietly nod.

Democracies occasionally put bad people in power. It is inevitable. They aren’t, however, the real problem, it is the people who keep their mouths’ shut hoping to hold onto what little power they have when any real power they had is long gone. They are powerless intimidated people who would rather give Trump what he wants than take him to task.