Some days I’m up, some days I’m down
That familiar spiritual pretty muchdefines my political barometer. Some days I think reason and common sense andhuman decency are taking over the political scene in our country. This is notone of those days. I’ve read in several reliable sources the opinion that trumphas now solidified his total control of the Republican Party, especially withthe firing of Ronna McDaniel and replacing her with a prominent electiondenier, one of trump’s top aides, and—wait for it—trump’s daughter-in-law, thatseasoned political pro who has never done anything. Great lineup there, trump. Butwhy is he allowed to dictate who leads the Republican Party? Granted, he is themost recent Republican president and the obvious forerunner for the nominationfor the presidency in the coming election. But neither of those standings givehim official power, and yet he exercises power as though he were the leader.
The trouble is that almost allRepublicans have bowed down, given in, and made him their absolute leader. Mostof them know better, and best I hear is that they grumble among themselves butthen end with that classic useless line, “It is what it is.” In his daily WakeUp to Politics newsletter, which I sometimes admire, sometimes think leans tooheavily toward trump for the bipartisanship it professes, Gabe Fleisher saysthat trump is now getting from the party a kind of rote support, a ho-humacceptance by the party of the way things are. It is, Fleisher writes, sort oflike getting in line at the grocery store. Two images come to mind: one is thewomen of The Handmaiden’s Tale (or the Stepford Wives—take your pick)and the other is of a school of lemmings. Quoting from an anonymous web site, a person called a lemming is one “whofollows the will of others, especially in a mass movement, and heads straightinto a situation or circumstance that is dangerous, stupid, or destructive: These lemmings that eat up conspiracy theories are soblinded by lies, they don't even see the cliff they're about to plummet over.”
It's dawned on me what the nature of that cliffis: Isolationism. Trump boasted about ignoring NATO and encouraging Putin toattack “whoever the hell he wants.” Increasingly, what is apparent is thethread of isolationism that underlies all trump’s vague, threatening, wildstatements on foreign policy. I doubt the trump would benefit much from a studyof history, but it makes one wish that the Republican legislators who are nowfollowing his every word had learned their history lessons, particularlyAmerican history.
IN the sense that America should use its powerand strength to encourage democracy and freedom in other nations by negotiationrather than warfare, I’m all for isolationism. But that’s not what trump means.His isolationism removes our country from any involvement in the affairs ofother countries, be they European, Asian, or African. As far back as WWI,President Woodrow Wilson made the case for America’s involvement in maintaininga peaceful world order. WWII and Pearl Harbor cementer that we cannot remainaloof from worldwide conflicts.
How in heaven’s name does anyone of sane mindthink in this day of instant communication, intercontinental drones, andinstant nuclear weapons that we can afford anything but world peace? The world’ssecurity assures our security. If Russia conquers Ukraine (Tucker Carlson aside),it will walk all over Europe, and we will have a much more formidable enemy whowill eventually come to our shores. Wesimply cannot afford isolationism today. President Biden has done a magnificentjob of restoring our international relationships and securing our place as aworld power active in promoting peace throughout the world. Trump would tearall that down.
Trump’s isolationism is particularly ironiccoming from a man who had all his election materials made in China, along withwho know what else, and whose daughter is actively engaged in widespread businesswith China. Such irony is lost on the lemmings in the House of Representatives.
Other depressing things today: on their secondtry, the MAGAs managed to impeach Alejandro Majorkas, a good and honest man whoas Secretary of Homeland Security has the world’s most difficult andunrewarding job. Republicans decided to make an issue of the border, and thelemmings just did it in spades. It won’t pass the Senate, but it will foreverbe a blot on the record of a man who did his best in an impossible situation.All the House could come up with was “a breach of public trust,” the vaguest ofcharges.
And in their eternal quest to find somethinganything against the Biden administration, the House will now subpoena DOJrecords in an investigation of Biden’s age. Good gravy! We all know how old heis, we all know he’s in better shape than trump, including cognitively, but theywill make a big deal out of a horrifically biased report.
I’m hoping tomorrow will be a better day forthe good guys.
