The journalist Michael Kinsley famously defined a “gaffe” as when a politician tells the truth. Mick Mulvaney seems to have gone and told the truth this weekend.
They’re just vandals, destroying for the fun of it without regard to the harms they cause. The line about applause ripping through the crowd just made me feel empty.
Mulvaney, who represents today’s Republican Party more than many other of the party’s inhabitants is particularly vile. He and the entire GOP must be purgred. If we go down to the state level I think there may be one member who can stay… but maybe not, since they are already trying to kick him out.
While it might be reassuring to believe that, it ain’t true. There’s a point and a desired end state of affairs.
Mulvaney is a genuine anti-tax, anti-government true believer. Part of that program requires destroying or corrupting institutional memory, as well as faith in those institutions.
It’s not casual “vandalism” any more than Kristallnacht was.
It feels like the government wonk equivalent of the rise of white supremacist nationalists. These beliefs and true believers have always been with us. Now, they don’t even bother to wear a mask - it is all out in the open and they are daring Congress and courts to stand up to them.
In this case, the public humiliation/subjugation of Congress is as much or more of the goal than whatever savings may or may not occur. It is also designed to have the same chilling effect on labor organizing in the public sphere that Reagan’s firing of air traffic controllers had and which subsequently affected all labor unions - public sector and private sector.
Passive aggressive spineless bullshit. That’s the same way conservatives go after all kinds of things they don’t like - by indirectly attacking them. For example:
-add onerous, technical, unreasonable licensing restrictions to clinics instead of abortion bans
-blowing up international mail delivery to squelch mail in votes
-close polling sites in heavy dem districts to suppress votes
-brownback in Kansas and Walker in Wisconsin both ceased state economic outlook reports-brownback because of his laffer curve failure and walker because 250K promised jobs didnt appear in 2015
-what am I missing?
Passive aggressive lying BS. Hide your real reasons and maybe no one will notice. People have been noticing and the truth slips out.
Exactly. In the case of Kansas and Wisconsin, it was noticed and there has already been significant pushback - Brownback’s tax cuts were reversed and Walker was voted out of office. Lots of work left to do, but plenty of reasons to be encouraged.
The voter suppression laws are another good avenue for a left-leaning PAC to start to be helpful. An ad could go like this - a quick description of the worst forms of voter suppression, say it is because R’s know they have crappy policies and need to cheat to win, end with something to the effect of Stand up for Fair Play. Everyone (hardcore MAGAts, excepted) recognize cheating when they see it and prefer a level playing field. Keep it simple and repeat the words Fair and Cheat in all their variations; avoid saying suppression. If I remember correctly, the first time my son strung together more than one word it was to say “No Fair” when his baby sister got something he wanted. Give swing voters something to vote for and vote against.
Agreed… IMO the right wing Wurlitzer has mastered the art of passive aggressiveness. To my mind it started with Rush Limbaugh… but admittedly, it likely proceeds him, I just didn’t notice it.
Not to go all Godwin here, but I think history will render a verdict the nation had a full blown Himmler acolyte whispering in the President’s ear, Stephen Miller. He’s surely possessed of some seriously effed up pathologies.
Good point! The purpose of this is not just to shrink the federal government, but to hollow out regulatory agencies and offices that protect American consumers from being cheated and poisoned.
Surprised, not in anyway. Add the backdoor appointment of someone hell bent on selling off public lands and guess what, the nation gets poorer while some fat .001% slob get wealthier. The lack of staffing to support the agency will be one of the excuses, “reasons” why the lands must be sold. As in, the Feds don’t have the capability to support and monitor what they already have, therefore sell, sell, sell baby. Another example of Making Government Work.
Thank you Mick for saying out loud who you consider is part of the “swamp”, yeah “those people” who do actual work on the behalf of American citizens as opposed to those running the joints that are looking out for their former employers who want make it easier to profit off loose regulations.