Yesterday a presumably “liberal” whack job opened fire with an assault weapon on a field of republican lawmakers practicing for the annual Congressional “bipartisan” baseball game in Washington DC. Of course, just as I feel a sense of disgust when any “whack job” (I characterize anyone who’d purposely try to kill people that way simply because, to me, you’ve got to be crazy to do such a deplorable act) does something like this, I thought I’d just sit back and observe the conversations that ensued thinking that most of these acts of violence in America – that seem to have political overtones – in the past have been aimed at “liberals” or “liberal” institutions. I’m thinking of the attack in Denver on the Planned Parenthood operation, for example. To me, it’s always interesting to listen to the dialogue after something like this because our “liberal” gun laws are bound to be part of the discussion – and, we know where a certain political establishment sits on that subject.
Obviously, there was a lot of “coming together” on Capital hill after one of the leading republican legislatures was critically wounded along with, I believe, a staff member and members of the Capital police – who, by the way, have been credited with saving a major tragedy by killing to perpetrator before he could kill who knows how many of the members who were practicing for the baseball game. I have to say that, despite my negative feelings regarding the republican party and what they’ve done to America in the last 35+ years I shared in the thankfulness that a larger tragedy was avoided. (to me, the solution to the problem of the republican agenda lies at the voting booth) And, I had to agree with most observers that the rhetoric in Washington (DC – I live in Washington state – which almost feels like a different country than DC) is inflammatory and might be what is leading to some of these acts of violence. Personally, I worry for people who are in Congress (it wasn’t too long ago that Gabby Giffords was attacked in Arizona) and, I especially worry for people in the media who’ve been relentlessly and verbally – in a vicious manner – attacked over and over again by Donald Trump.
The man who attacked the republicans was, apparently, a volunteer for Bernie Sanders in the 2016 presidential primary campaign. I’m not sure if we’ll ever know what triggered this action on his part, but we know that both Bernie and Trump “connected” with many of the Americans who are frustrated and fed up with the way government has been functioning for the past many years. If you’ve read many of my posts on this site you’ll already know that I place the “blame” for that mostly on republicans for their “obstructionist” strategy since the days of Bill Clinton. While I don’t focus much of my writing on the democrats, I don’t give them a “pass.” It’s my opinion that the democrats, in many cases, don’t have the courage to stand up for their own convictions. For example, in the 2014 mid-term elections there were few democrats willing to defend the policies they had pursued under the leadership of President Obama, from what I could tell, because his “popularity” was down. It’s apparent to me that the one thing the American electorate won’t support is “timid” politicians. And, many democrats have come across as checking the way the wind is blowing before taking a position on issues. On many occasions I’ve referred to that as spineless.
That all being said, there’s a couple things that have happened in the past few days that have caused me to gain more clarity in my mind as to how we’ve managed to get to this point. With a shooting like the one which happened yesterday there were members of both parties hugging each other and FINALLY talking about the need to “work together” and tone down the rhetoric. But, almost predictably, there was one republican who stayed true to form – and, in my view, is as unable to “tone down the rhetoric” as the man who sits in the “Oval Office.” That man is Newt Gingrich. As I would have predicted, Gingrich came out with a statement that was laced with the, apparently in his mind, awful word “liberal.” I took, as I listened to a broadcast of what was apparently a Facebook post, (I don’t do Facebook) it was as if Gingrich was placing blame for this shooting on those “on the left” who oppose Trump. As if it’s their rhetoric that has inflamed the political “waters.”
Listening to that post brought back many (unpleasant) memories I have of Newt Gingrich. To me, he is one of the main reasons America finds itself in this terrible quandary where the country is so clearly divided. I remember when he was first in Congress Gingrich was the man who first pushed the “obstructionist” strategy. The plan was for the republicans to stop as much of government from functioning as possible and BLAME the democrats. He initiated the attacks on the word “liberal.” He had outlets like Fox “news” (at the time with former republican dirty trickster Roger Ailes at the helm) on board with his plan – and, to this day, they’ve been participating – to the point where those on the air at Fox can be regarded as pathological liars – give them a “talking point” and they’ll repeat it until they can’t talk anymore – and, he had the right wing talkers on the radio airwaves, led by Rush Limbaugh, supporting his plan – “hook, line, and sinker” – all this, since the days of Ronald Reagan.
During the Clinton administration (which, despite the personal shortcomings of Bill Clinton, brought the economy into the Black – leaving an annual budget surplus of $250 BILLION for Bush/Cheney to squander away), if you remember, it was Gingrich who initiated the strategy of “shutting down the government” in order to “get his way.” Of course, this “strategy” backfired majorly and it helped Clinton to “recover” from the constant attacks coming from right wing republicans. (leading to Clinton being called “the comeback kid”) Gingrich, in the midst of his own infidelity, led the impeachment push against Clinton for Clinton’s disgusting actions with an intern in the White House. While Clinton’s personal behavior turns me, personally, off – similar to my feelings about Trump – the hypocrisy of the republicans during the Lewinsky scandal was almost unbelievable. If I remember correctly, there were several members of the House republicans who led the impeachment charge who were essentially doing the same thing at the same time. Gingrich was the “leader of the pack.”
Due to his own infidelity, at one time, Gingrich was “banished” from the national political scene only to return in the last few years attempting to either win the White House or gain a position of importance from, at this time, Trump. I’m not going to get into all the hypocrisy or flip flops of Gingrich in this posts, but suffice it to say there’s much to discuss. What caught my eye was his attempt to place blame for the shooting the other day on those who are “resisting” Donald Trump. It’s as if he’s applying for SOME job – ANY job in government. (it was rumored he wanted to be Secretary of State after Trump “won” the election. (with 3 MILLION less votes!) It’s as if, every time I forget Gingrich existed, here he comes with something that is aimed at making himself relevant again.
Prior to blaming “the left” and their attacks on Trump for the shooting, Gingrich was encouraging Trump to “fire” Robert Mueller, the “special counsel” now leading the so-called “Russian investigation.” Just three weeks after coming out with strong support for the appointment of Mueller because he’s “impeccable for honesty and integrity” and saying “the media should now calm down,” Gingrich came out with a “tweet” saying “republicans are delusional if they think the special counsel is going to be fair.” OK, in case you’re confused – he’s talking about the same person. Mueller is, of course, the “special counsel.” So, you might ask, what changed?
Well, from my perspective, not much changed – but, I’ve been operating on the logic relating to all the circumstantial evidence that’s been “drip, drip, dripping” out since it became apparent there’s something Trump doesn’t want “we the people” to know about regarding his dealings with the Russians. So, now we have Newt Gingrich suggesting to Trump that he “fire” the special counsel because this man who’s got “impeccable integrity” isn’t going to be fair. All this reminds me of the commercial on TV where two people meet and say EXACTLY what’s on their mind – like, “I’ve got alternative plans in case this date doesn’t go well.” Well, since Mueller’s appointment, it’s becoming more apparent that, for Trump, this isn’t going well. Evidently, in Gingrich’s eyes, that means Mueller is no longer “impecably honest.” In fact, the more Trump listens to people like Gingrich, the worse it gets. But, somehow, Gingrich has remained as a “voice” in the republican party despite a career full of folly and failure.
I could (and might have to) write an entire post on the ramifications of Trump listening to Gingrich and “firing” Mueller, but that’s for another day. (Actually, Trump can’t fire Mueller, he’d have to find someone in the Justice Department to do so – starting with Rod Rosenstein, the man who appointed Mueller. who would most certainly resign before firing Mueller – or, Rosenstein could refuse and force Trump to fire him – then forcing Tump to work down the DOJ heirarchy until he could find someone like the man Nixon found during the infamous “Saturday night massacre” – Robert Bork, who severely damaged his career by following the “orders” – to fire Mueller. If this happens, it will be interesting to see how many people would refuse or resign regarding the president’s “order.” Trump would be dooming his presidency!
My point today, however, is how did we get to the point where the talk in Washington DC is about the level of the rhetoric and what it is doing to how our nation’s government functions and how it affects “we the people” who love this nation and are frustrated by the dysfunction in our nation’s capital. That’s kind of a “what came first, the chicken or the egg?” argument, but I think a strong case could be made that the dysfunction was purposeful and was the strategy Newt Gingrich put in place to bring Washington to a standstill and give republicans a way to blame democrats for government failures. Republicans are again proving they’re much better at winning elections than governing, but this shooting brings up how deep the divide in America really is. To me, while Newt Gingrich is blaming rhetoric on “the left” for the DC shooting, it is his own “rhetoric” over the years that’s at the crux of America’s political divide.
Final thought: I’ve been saying, almost since Trump took office, that he will inevitably be impeached – whether by this republican congress, or by the one “we the people” will elect in 2018 if republicans don’t act first. If Trump decides to “fire Mueller” – which, I believe is possible – as Gingrich has suggested, I would be surprised if Trump lasted another month after doing so. Regardless, the “ship of state” is anchored down going nowhere and republicans must be getting very frustrated with the lack of “production” while they have control of the Congress. I don’t think it will be too much longer until the damage Trump is doing to “we the people,” the American image around the world, and to their own party here at home becomes so apparent to them (republicans in Congress) that they decide to act.