Have You Had Enough?

By Patrick F. Cannon

With the cemetery where thousands of Americans are buried who died to liberate Europe from Nazi tyranny as a backdrop, President Trump in a Fox News interview chose to honor the 75^th Anniversary of D-Day by insulting the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the former head of the F.B.I., who is himself a decorated veteran of the Viet Nam War. It was only the latest disgusting performance by a man who is totally unfit to hold his office, and who is not only unqualified, but a thoroughly bad man.

As a political conservative myself, I am sick and tired of Republicans and others tolerating and even celebrating this amoral and immoral man. I read the other day that the Republican National Committee is busy raising money for his reelection campaign instead of working to find someone to run against him for the party’s nomination. Do they have a death wish? Perhaps they’re all getting shaved at the local barber shop so they don’t have to look themselves in the mirror every morning?

I’m sick and tired of the argument that after all he’s responsible for the booming economy and the loosening and eliminating of many of the regulations that Republicans find so restrictive. What they forget, it seems to me, is that any Republican president would no doubt have done the same, while not cozying up to such worthies as Vladimir Putin and Kim Jong-un, and insulting our allies in other parts of the world. Oh, and trashing such bedrock Republican principles as free trade and international cooperation.

Two of Trump’s accomplices deserve special mention. Senator Mitch McConnell was first elected to the Senate from Kentucky in 1984, and became majority leader in 2015, in time to prevent President Obama’s final nominee to the Supreme Court from getting a vote in the Senate. As minority leader when Obama took office in 2009, he publicly proclaimed that his aim was to make certain that he (Obama) wouldn’t be re-elected in 2012. He failed in this. He also failed to prevent passage of the Affordable Care Act, but successfully thwarted most of the rest of the President’s legislative program. Although he originally supported Rand Paul in the Republican primaries, he soon jumped on the Trump bandwagon when it became clear his nomination was inevitable.

He is the archetype of the modern politician who puts party ahead of country. Nancy Pelosi, who evidences this tendency herself, is wise to counsel caution on the impeachment issue. She understands that even if the House were to impeach the president with overwhelming evidence, McConnell would likely prevent his conviction in the Senate. Based on her knowledge of the situation, Pelosi is happy to wait until Trump leaves office, when he is almost certain to be indicted.

(I would like here to point out that McConnell was born in Alabama, not Kentucky. My friend Skip – who was born in Kentucky – would like everyone to understand that the Blue Grass state bears no responsibility for spawning him.)

Lindsey Graham, the senior senator from South Carolina, is a special case. Long known as John McCain’s best friend in the Senate, he has become an avid Trump supporter. As we know, McCain criticized the president on a whole range of issues, including his character. For this, the famously vindictive Trump heaped abuse on McCain even after his death. His animus was so extreme that his staff had the USS McCain hidden during the president’s recent trip to Japan because they knew he would explode if he saw it.

(Just for the record, the ship is named for the three McCain’s who served their country in time of war. Both John McCain’s father and grandfather were distinguished admirals. Trump, although not alone in this, got enough draft deferments to insure he didn’t serve in Viet Nam.)

For Lindsey Graham, friendship only goes so far. When you have to pander to the many Trump supporters among the “lost cause” white voters in South Carolina to get re-elected, well, loyalty is a luxury you can’t afford. Maybe the voters in Kentucky and South Carolina will do the right thing and rid themselves of these sanctimonious hypocrites. In the meantime, I have to call my barber to make sure Madigan and Cullerton have already been in for their shaves.

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Copyright 2019, Patrick F. Cannon