Posted on 08/26/2022 5:32:21 AM PDT by MtnClimber
Joe Biden and congressional Democrats are plowing new and dangerous ground. Meanwhile, the GOP is silent.
When Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) looks around his adopted hometown of Washington, D.C.—a city shamelessly and aggressively using every lever of federal power to destroy Donald Trump and the 76 million Americans who dared to vote for him in 2020—he sees only one menace to the well-being of the nation:
January 6 protesters.
“I do think it’s an important issue,” McConnell said in response to a reporter’s question about a recent poll that ranked “threats to democracy” as the top concern among registered voters who responded. “There were those who were trying to prevent the orderly transfer of power for the first time in American history and that was not good.”
But contrary to his somber reflections, January 6 was very good for McConnell; he got exactly what he wanted after the tear gas smoke cleared that evening. As I explained here, not only did McConnell intentionally leave the Capitol largely unguarded, he warned of the irreparable damage to the republic if his Senate Republican colleagues demanded an audit of contested states—the “official proceeding” actually taking place when the building was breached. McConnell later cooed to a reporter that he had prevailed that day.
“Exhilarating” is how McConnell described his emotions after congressional Republicans, cowed by the four-hour disturbance, abandoned their plans to seek a 2020 election audit commission.
In a way, McConnell is right that the events of January 6 represent a grave threat to the country. They do—just not in the way he thinks.
The Capitol protest is being used as the pretext to criminalize political dissent as the FBI continues its dragnet to round up 850-and-counting Trump supporters (with new arrests announced just this week) and the Justice Department circles Donald Trump as the alleged instigator of the “insurrection.”
Political prisoners languish in a special jail for January 6 defendants, a hellscape located in the shadow of McConnell’s throne on Capitol Hill. Attorney General Merrick Garland’s prosecutors ruthlessly seek years in prison for nonviolent offenders, adding domestic terror sentencing enhancements in an escalation of the regime’s war on terror against the Right.
The January 6 select committee has made a mockery of itself while failing to sway public opinion. The same poll that showed a majority of Americans feared “threats to democracy” above all other issues also showed they have little or no faith that the government is conducting a fair inquiry. Yet this phony January 6 investigation provides cover for all sorts of lawfare, not least of which is the production of tens of thousands of Trump’s presidential records from his last year in office, a process expedited by the unprecedented denial of executive privilege claims by Joe Biden.
But McConnell, his Senate GOP toadies, and most Republican House members are intentionally oblivious to the radical weaponization of the Justice Department.
Following a brief outburst after the FBI’s raid on Mar-a-Lago, congressional Republicans have gone back to radio silence. Promises of a “rapid response team” to counter the January 6 committee’s primetime performances landed no punches as Republicans shied away from much-needed fights over several questions the committee left unanswered, including the lack of progress in the hunt for the mysterious pipe bomber and unreleased surveillance footage. Instead, they pivoted quickly to familiar ground: high food and energy prices.
Fear and impotence paralyze Republican Party leaders as well as those aspiring to hold leadership positions in a potential Republican majority. If the party doesn’t blow it, that is.
Unfortunately, it appears as though the GOP is doing precisely that. Republican voters, disgusted with the party’s wholesale failure to confront the Democrats’ scorched earth crusade with little more than tough-sounding tweets, eventually will channel Hillary Clinton and begin asking “what difference” their anger and votes even make.
What difference, at this point, does it make if Republicans win Congress in November?
As Victor Davis Hanson observed this week:
the left-wing playbook is based on two pillars: the FBI raid on Donald Trump’s home, the January 6 ‘insurrection’ investigation—and selective daily leaking about both. Between the raid and the star-chamber House inquiry, we are supposed to forget unaffordable gas and food, dangerous U.S. cities, over 3 million people swarming the border, and the Afghanistan debacle. Yet if the Republicans advance a coherent national plan of action to restore a pre-Biden America, if Donald Trump will focus positively on national issues and not take the bait to obsess on the wrongs done to him, and if grass-roots conservatives this time around prepare to preempt massive left-wing vote harvesting, they will achieve their blowout.
“But that is a lot of ifs,” Hanson writes. “And meanwhile, time grows short.”
Seventy-five days to be exact.
So, what’s the plan? Who in the GOP is detailing how Congress will dismantle this abusive administrative state targeting their own voters? Where is the pledge to cut off funding to the FBI and U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia, a Biden campaign advisor now handling the vengeful prosecution of Trump voters?
Where are the public denouncements of Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco, a longtime Obama loyalist now attempting to finish what her boss started in 2016 by putting Trump in handcuffs, or of Steven D’Antuono, the FBI chief responsible for the Gretchen Whitmer fednapping hoax, who sent his agents to Palm Beach to participate in the raid of the former president’s residence?
Republicans may not control much in Washington yet, but there are other ways to draw attention to this destructive abuse of power. The Biden regime and congressional Democrats are plowing new and dangerous ground, and Republicans appear unwilling to do anything about it.
Republican voters hear their silence. And in November, they might hear Republicans’ silence in return.
They aren’t afraid they are interested in staying in office and cashing in. Sad but mostly true.
That and the Epstein tapes.
Republicans held power in the Senate in 2014 when the CIA got caught spying on them.
Turtle dropped it without so much as a peep of displeasure.
I wonder how they bought him off?
“not only did McConnell intentionally leave the Capitol largely unguarded”
That’s where the author lost me. Since when is the capitol McConnel’s department? Inside or out? Our pundits are just as guilty as the left’s.
McConnell is the ENEMY of Good governance!!
Mitch the Bitch HOLDS the PURSE STRINGS!!
Wow. Somebody noticed. /s
They get it they’re just too damn compromised. Haven’t you seen what the FBI can do? They don’t give a chit if you are a congressman or a senator or not even a president! The turtle can easily send off his guard dogs to swat anyone he feels like it. Besides the FBI’s got tons and tons of receipts on the turtle! The RINOS are sinking this nation into the cesspool of no return!!!
He like Pelosi has enough power to do damage to those who want another term bad leaders do bad things to everyone.
This weasel must go. He hasn’t worked for the people in a long time. He did a good thing with the SCOTUS and a couple of other things but he is so two-faced. Worse; he is against the people choosing their own President. Everyone knows the 2020 election was stolen so the people were fully justified in protesting the transfer of power to an illegitimate bozo chosen by the Uniparty.
This is another one of those articles regarding alleged disgruntled Republican voters with a punchline guaranteed to try to lose us the mid-term elections with the typical threat of if you don’t do anything this very minute, even though we are totally out of power and can only bluster, OR WE WILL NOT VOTE. Take that you ineffective out-of-power Pubs who can’t do anything much now as we don’t have the votes. We’ll get you back by shooting ourselves in the foot and not vote for you, that’ll show you. Makes me want to puke.
The answer is to hire Pubs (as many MAGA ones that we can get elected, and we are doing pretty good in the Primaries with lots of help from President Trump) and THEN hold the newly elected, hopefully with majorities in both Houses of Congress, Pubs feet to the fire. I love that so many Vets are winning in the Primaries.
Stop squawking about our side (Republicans eat their own) and put energy into getting our guys in office and then remain activist to make sure they do what we are hiring them for. The alternative (Dems winning) is as ghastly a thought as can be, and we won’t be happy if we don’t do everything possible to mitigate against this happening. There’s plenty of time to squawk at those Pubs that are ineffective after the Mid-Terms, and we aren’t going to be able to get rid of all RINO’s at once as some aren’t even up for election this time around. Then we pick away at them until they will eventually be gone.
But for heaven’s sake, this constant inter-party bickering with idle or not so idle threats to not vote for Pubs will end up destroying the very fabric of our Country. It hasn’t taken a very long time for the Biden regime to be well on the way to ruining America. You all want to give the Dems 4 more years to finish us off? Geez, think you Debby Downers, think; if you are capable of logic.
I hate thinking it is going to end like this.
How odd that I woke up in the wee hours this morning thinking about this.
Unless we stop the course this country is on immediately, the America we have known will be gone forever.
The financial system is soon to be wrecked (how is your retirement program going?), our energy sources will be destroyed, our infrastructure will be destroyed as has our ability to be a self supporting nation.
In addition our government is destroying our national defense structure (army, navy, air force) and our health system.
The obsession with Lizard Liz, Biden's senility and Trump's search warrant diverts attention from the total destruction of the foundations of the United States of America.
Bad enough that Republicans don’t know how to play on offense. Now they are unwilling to even take the field on defense. Looking at you, Mitch.
I hate thinking it is going to end like this.
How odd that I woke up in the wee hours this morning thinking about this.
Unless we stop the course this country is on immediately, the America we have known will be gone forever.
The financial system is soon to be wrecked (how is your retirement program going?), our energy sources will be destroyed, our infrastructure will be destroyed as has our ability to be a self supporting nation.
In addition our government is destroying our national defense structure (army, navy, air force) and our health system.
The obsession with Lizard Liz, Biden's senility and Trump's search warrant diverts attention from the total destruction of the foundations of the United States of America.
But brain dead KY voters will reelect him again.
The United States Senate must be reformed, and only an Article V Convention of States can do that. Six year terms are too long to hold senators accountable for lying to get elected, etc. Term limits must be imposed as well to end career politicians. These senators fear the people.
The GOP are all plenty happy having Biden and the Dems doing the heavy lifting for the UniParty. AfteR all come 2024 it’s “their turn” behind the wheel in the Amusement Park rides in DC
And while Republicans sit on their hands,
this happened not far from here this morning at 5:15 am...
apologies - Not THIS morning...
No. The proper solution is to repeal the 17th amendment to the Constitution. Senators were intended to represent the States, and only indirectly, the people. The direct election of Senators forever changed the power balance between the States and the Feral government. The 16th amendment should also be repealed, but that's a different issue.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.