While Republican lawmakers continue to grab headlines with outrageous behavior and obstructionism, President Biden has been derailing them in the only way no one has tried yet: ignoring them and governing. Only two weeks into his administration, this approach appears to be enormously effective.
"...some observers think the Trump faction is attacking Cheney simply to provide the kind of sound bites that will please their voters."
So which is it? The crackle of static coming from the Trump wing, in particular, is increasingly hard to parse. Newbies Greene, Boebert, and Cawthorn appear to have no policy agenda beyond waving the Trump banner. More established types like Jordan and Gaetz also seem to have little to say other than "no."
This leads back to a thread yesterday about how suitability of candidates is determined. The messages being sent by the House GOP is that it's unfair to penalize Greene based on statements made before she was elected. Clearly, even she knows it was bad stuff as she's been trying to delete past social media posts. Are age and citizenship requirements sufficient standards for qualification? How is it that screening processes don't alert congressional leaders to the potential headaches such candidates are likely to bring?
Advocating violence against members of the opposite political party seems like a red flag to me even if it is protected speech under the First Amendment. Now she's also spitting in the face of her own party's leadership. I'm sure rabble-rousers have been seated in every Congress. The difference is that today it's not an individual action but a disruptive strategy. Disruption can be healthy if there's an associated goal but I don't see that here.
Do you (author and readers) think these people believe their own BS? What evidence exists to suggest that they are seeking ends that benefit Americans vs just raising their own political profiles? If reflexive obstruction is the only "skill" representatives bring to the table then the notion of representative government is pointless. The amount of air time and number of electrons spent discussing people who aren't bringing ideas to improve our country to the table is ridiculous. At this point I can only hope that Kevin McCarthy ends up choking on the can of bad will he's trying to kick down the road. Yes, her previous statements matter. These weren't youthful indiscretions but of recent vintage. The tired excuse of "my social media posts are not who I am" doesn't cut it with me and shouldn't cut it with their peers either.
I was stressed when Trump and Hillary ran. I was stressed from the moment that the 2016 election was called up until Jan. 20th. Just when I was beginning to feel a sense of calm, we have Marjorie Taylor Green getting a standing ovation and the Republicans trying to demote Liz Cheney because she voted differently than they wanted her to. My stress is knocking on the door of my brain. I knew that things would be bad for a while but I was hoping for a modicum of decency. I am just so thankful that I can watch Biden ignore the chaos. When he speaks it seems like a trusted soul telling me that everything is going to be fine.
I would like to suggest that we say that Greene voiced support for the ASSASSINATION of Democratic politicians, rather than the EXECUTION (as Trumpists like to say), since "executions" are generally taken to be punishment for wrongdoing, which in this case exists only in the imaginations of right wing extremists.
RICO’s reach is long, and it is a tool that many had hoped would be used during the Trump years. That it is being considered now is welcome, and as Professor Richardson said, Trumpist Republicans are likely to feel the heat.
In a wide-ranging letter today Heather reports that "Biden has moved quickly to get rid of the political appointees Trump tried to burrow into the federal government. Yesterday, Biden fired all ten of the anti-labor activists Trump had put on the Federal Service Impasses Panel, the panel in charge of resolving disputes between unions and federal agencies when they cannot resolve issues in negotiations. The head of the union of federal employees, representing 700,000 federal employees, thanked Biden for his attempt to 'restore basic fairness for federal workers' He said, 'The outgoing panel, appointed by the previous administration and stacked with transparently biased union-busters, was notorious for ignoring the law to gut workplace rights and further an extreme political agenda.' "
The Secretary of Defense has cleaned all the Trumpers out of the Pentagon already.
A large group of folks are waiting for the Post Office board to be hoed out, as well.
AG Merrick Garland should go hard after the filthy insurrectionists as Amos Akerman did during Reconstruction. Pres Grant's AG vigorously prosecuted thousands of cases against the KKK, suppressing it to near impotence in the early 1870s. The Grant admin also oversaw the founding of the DOJ, a potent weapon of the federal government then and now. Come to think of it, the Jan 6 insurrection was also populated by Klansmen and traitors. History repeating? The 21C Confederates must be punished far more severely now than 19C Confederates were then.
I love the statement that Biden is trying something no one else has: ignoring and governing! YES! For all the antics that get the Republican trumpers in the news, it seems to be falling flat for the majority as Biden behaves like a true president. What a sense of relief!
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Biden appears to be heeding the lessons learned when Moscow Mitch and the other Republicans lied to Obama.
RICO is the law that should have been invoked in the previous Mueller investigation and Trump impeachment. The man has been skilled in all of his illicit business dealings and impeachable offenses to keep himself, like a Mafia don, apart from the dirty dealings, although his hands are directly on the Capitol insurrection.
By leaving Taylor-Greene in place the GOP leadership gets someone to grab headlines and speak to the trump base without having to dirty their dainty little hands. They can decry her statements without having to take responsibility. That they left Cheney in place has given them a semblance of normalcy, "see we aren't all crazy".
Even though RICO cases can take a while to put together it will give the AG a road to go further down the road of prosecuting the puppet masters.
It is so nice to get up in the morning and not have to wonder what fresh new hell has been tweeted over night.
So refreshing to have someone with an abundance of experience in Congress at the helm. Biden axed 10 Trump loyalists. Bing! Bam! Done! And we move onto bigger and better things...the $1.9 trillion budget needed for Covid, state and local govts., a decent wage increase, childcare and healthcare, economy, climate, etc.. Get out of our way, Repubs! We are not allowing you to walk all over us ever again. We will prevail and we will succeed!
Exploitation is a capitalist problem the same way racism is a white problem. The whole earth suffers under capitalism the same way people of color suffer under racism.
Judith is turning into one of my highlight-reel posters. This post from yesterday, I just ran across it.
Many thanks, Prof. Richardson, for your letter(s) and for helping us keep up with history in the making. Your first line today really grabbed me - "President Biden has been derailing them in the only way no one has tried yet: ignoring them and governing." As my Coastie Dad might put it, brilliantly planned and daringly executed, sir!
I reported receiving multiple copies of the Feb 2 blog to support. Got this response:
Hi Deborah,
Andrew from Substack support here. We briefly had a glitch that send multiple posts to some of Heather Cox Richardson's subscribers. This issue has been resolve and we apologize for the inconvenience.
“Later, when the House Republicans met for the first time this session, about half of them gave Greene a standing ovation when she rose to speak.”
I’m just wondering, if the Republican caucus had a secret vote to strip MTG of her committee assignments, would it pass by the same margin as the show of support for Rep Cheney? There’s interesting dynamics when one can vote and the former president and his cult members can’t see you!
Now, they’ll be forced to vote for or against MTG in the light of day, before all to see. Will the Republicans stand for truth or will they become the party of Q?
Thank you for this Letter. I needed my faith restored! Heather took hold of my chin and redirected my gaze back towards the Biden Administration, guardrails and all!
"...some observers think the Trump faction is attacking Cheney simply to provide the kind of sound bites that will please their voters."
So which is it? The crackle of static coming from the Trump wing, in particular, is increasingly hard to parse. Newbies Greene, Boebert, and Cawthorn appear to have no policy agenda beyond waving the Trump banner. More established types like Jordan and Gaetz also seem to have little to say other than "no."
This leads back to a thread yesterday about how suitability of candidates is determined. The messages being sent by the House GOP is that it's unfair to penalize Greene based on statements made before she was elected. Clearly, even she knows it was bad stuff as she's been trying to delete past social media posts. Are age and citizenship requirements sufficient standards for qualification? How is it that screening processes don't alert congressional leaders to the potential headaches such candidates are likely to bring?
Advocating violence against members of the opposite political party seems like a red flag to me even if it is protected speech under the First Amendment. Now she's also spitting in the face of her own party's leadership. I'm sure rabble-rousers have been seated in every Congress. The difference is that today it's not an individual action but a disruptive strategy. Disruption can be healthy if there's an associated goal but I don't see that here.
Do you (author and readers) think these people believe their own BS? What evidence exists to suggest that they are seeking ends that benefit Americans vs just raising their own political profiles? If reflexive obstruction is the only "skill" representatives bring to the table then the notion of representative government is pointless. The amount of air time and number of electrons spent discussing people who aren't bringing ideas to improve our country to the table is ridiculous. At this point I can only hope that Kevin McCarthy ends up choking on the can of bad will he's trying to kick down the road. Yes, her previous statements matter. These weren't youthful indiscretions but of recent vintage. The tired excuse of "my social media posts are not who I am" doesn't cut it with me and shouldn't cut it with their peers either.
I was stressed when Trump and Hillary ran. I was stressed from the moment that the 2016 election was called up until Jan. 20th. Just when I was beginning to feel a sense of calm, we have Marjorie Taylor Green getting a standing ovation and the Republicans trying to demote Liz Cheney because she voted differently than they wanted her to. My stress is knocking on the door of my brain. I knew that things would be bad for a while but I was hoping for a modicum of decency. I am just so thankful that I can watch Biden ignore the chaos. When he speaks it seems like a trusted soul telling me that everything is going to be fine.
I would like to suggest that we say that Greene voiced support for the ASSASSINATION of Democratic politicians, rather than the EXECUTION (as Trumpists like to say), since "executions" are generally taken to be punishment for wrongdoing, which in this case exists only in the imaginations of right wing extremists.
RICO’s reach is long, and it is a tool that many had hoped would be used during the Trump years. That it is being considered now is welcome, and as Professor Richardson said, Trumpist Republicans are likely to feel the heat.
In a wide-ranging letter today Heather reports that "Biden has moved quickly to get rid of the political appointees Trump tried to burrow into the federal government. Yesterday, Biden fired all ten of the anti-labor activists Trump had put on the Federal Service Impasses Panel, the panel in charge of resolving disputes between unions and federal agencies when they cannot resolve issues in negotiations. The head of the union of federal employees, representing 700,000 federal employees, thanked Biden for his attempt to 'restore basic fairness for federal workers' He said, 'The outgoing panel, appointed by the previous administration and stacked with transparently biased union-busters, was notorious for ignoring the law to gut workplace rights and further an extreme political agenda.' "
The Secretary of Defense has cleaned all the Trumpers out of the Pentagon already.
A large group of folks are waiting for the Post Office board to be hoed out, as well.
AG Merrick Garland should go hard after the filthy insurrectionists as Amos Akerman did during Reconstruction. Pres Grant's AG vigorously prosecuted thousands of cases against the KKK, suppressing it to near impotence in the early 1870s. The Grant admin also oversaw the founding of the DOJ, a potent weapon of the federal government then and now. Come to think of it, the Jan 6 insurrection was also populated by Klansmen and traitors. History repeating? The 21C Confederates must be punished far more severely now than 19C Confederates were then.
Wow! I got to the end of this letter, and suddenly saw myself marching in a protest (I don't do that sort of thing), chanting "RI-CO! RI-CO!..." :-D
I love the statement that Biden is trying something no one else has: ignoring and governing! YES! For all the antics that get the Republican trumpers in the news, it seems to be falling flat for the majority as Biden behaves like a true president. What a sense of relief!
Thank you, Heather! Very good news!
Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Biden appears to be heeding the lessons learned when Moscow Mitch and the other Republicans lied to Obama.
Naïve no longer.
RICO is the law that should have been invoked in the previous Mueller investigation and Trump impeachment. The man has been skilled in all of his illicit business dealings and impeachable offenses to keep himself, like a Mafia don, apart from the dirty dealings, although his hands are directly on the Capitol insurrection.
By leaving Taylor-Greene in place the GOP leadership gets someone to grab headlines and speak to the trump base without having to dirty their dainty little hands. They can decry her statements without having to take responsibility. That they left Cheney in place has given them a semblance of normalcy, "see we aren't all crazy".
Even though RICO cases can take a while to put together it will give the AG a road to go further down the road of prosecuting the puppet masters.
It is so nice to get up in the morning and not have to wonder what fresh new hell has been tweeted over night.
So refreshing to have someone with an abundance of experience in Congress at the helm. Biden axed 10 Trump loyalists. Bing! Bam! Done! And we move onto bigger and better things...the $1.9 trillion budget needed for Covid, state and local govts., a decent wage increase, childcare and healthcare, economy, climate, etc.. Get out of our way, Repubs! We are not allowing you to walk all over us ever again. We will prevail and we will succeed!
From Judith Jordet:
Exploitation is a capitalist problem the same way racism is a white problem. The whole earth suffers under capitalism the same way people of color suffer under racism.
Judith is turning into one of my highlight-reel posters. This post from yesterday, I just ran across it.
Many thanks, Prof. Richardson, for your letter(s) and for helping us keep up with history in the making. Your first line today really grabbed me - "President Biden has been derailing them in the only way no one has tried yet: ignoring them and governing." As my Coastie Dad might put it, brilliantly planned and daringly executed, sir!
I reported receiving multiple copies of the Feb 2 blog to support. Got this response:
Hi Deborah,
Andrew from Substack support here. We briefly had a glitch that send multiple posts to some of Heather Cox Richardson's subscribers. This issue has been resolve and we apologize for the inconvenience.
Best, Andrew Strader
“Later, when the House Republicans met for the first time this session, about half of them gave Greene a standing ovation when she rose to speak.”
I’m just wondering, if the Republican caucus had a secret vote to strip MTG of her committee assignments, would it pass by the same margin as the show of support for Rep Cheney? There’s interesting dynamics when one can vote and the former president and his cult members can’t see you!
Now, they’ll be forced to vote for or against MTG in the light of day, before all to see. Will the Republicans stand for truth or will they become the party of Q?
Thank you for this Letter. I needed my faith restored! Heather took hold of my chin and redirected my gaze back towards the Biden Administration, guardrails and all!
Whew! Thanks...I needed that!😊