On January 15, 1942, The US Senate Committee investigating waste in the US war effort, and headed by an increasingly recognizable Democratic Senator from Missouri named Harry Truman, released its first report cataloging stunning fraud and mismanagement of preparations by the Armed Forces to enter WWII. It would be the first of 50 reports by the very thorough committee, reflecting the testimony of 1798 witnesses. Incredibly, each version required unanimous consent by the group to be made public. When asked how a committee composed of both Republicans and Democrats, many with polar opposite policy inclinations, could reach such consensus, GOP Senator Owen Brewster declared it was a cinch when “the facts were known.”
It’s difficult to imagine any question today, up to and including “does the sun rise in the east,” where our hapless, bickering, fully parochial pols could come to such consistent agreement. Oh, yea, Senate pay raises… maybe. Anyway, point is, looking back on how the Truman Committee identified and remedied epidemic graft in the country’s war effort, one is surely wistful for lawmakers with even a fraction of the earnestness toward addressing challenges other than their re-election or weekly fund raising efforts.
Trumpism is the consummation of two Obama terms worth of the Fox/AM viewpoint that governance is responsible for “taking our country away from us.” So it’s no surprise that the Capitol’s halls are filled with men and women more concerned with nihilist optics than anything substantive. Yet and still, government auto pilot can only do so much and, after all, the GOP is in charge of everything right now.
The fact that the posers outnumber the doers within the Republican House caucus means the Democrats are actually responsible for any legislation with tangible affects on making the trains run on time. And the doers will only become more scarce after November because, by and large, they come from more contested districts and face stiffer Democratic challenges. Louie Gohmert enjoys the job security only a district of the walking dead can provide.
In the Senate, the GOP, even with an ever so slight majority, appears far more able to reach consensus and impose its will when it wants to, as the confirmation deliberations on the Kavanaugh nomination Tuesday will aptly demonstrate. That Democrats find themselves in the position of having to convince folks back home of their legislative good faith speaks to the ineptitude of their leadership to competently present basic facts most could agree on.
Correct me if I’m wrong, Chuck Schumer, but did the GOP refuse to even consider the Supreme Court nominee of a POTUS in good standing nearly a year before his term ended? Is that not a fact? A truth? Like water is wet, or sugar is sweet? Yet here the Dems. are, worried about being perceived obstructionist – even though Trump has described them in no other way since…always – if things don’t move apace. The pressure for hasty hearings comes even though but a modest slice of the judge’s papers and past positions have been provided for consideration.
I doubt it’s reckless obstructionism to have concerns about a lifetime appointment for somebody with more than 20 years of participation in shakey constitutional areas such as torture (Abu Gharib), special counsel inconsistency (all in for Whitewater and all out for Mueller), and, as a W Bush White House counsel, promotion of pro-life litmus tests for judicial nominees.
So prolific was Kavanaugh’s pre-appointment career that Sen. Durbin (D-Ill) recently compared him to Forrest Gump, omnipresent throughout every event, or scandal, since the early 90s. Kavanaugh seems, observes Durbin, to “show up at every scene of the crime.”
Viewed within this context, the White House’s efforts to withhold 146,000 pages of Kavanaugh-related data takes on a sinister tone. Coupled with McConnell’s rush to get hearings over with, one is hard pressed to think anything but the worst. Yet the most pressing priority coming out of the Minority Leader’s office appears to be making sure everyone knows his people will give Kavanaugh a fair shake. This for a nominee Schumer himself stated couldn’t be more divisive … back in 2006 when W appointed Kavanaugh to a federal circuit court judgeship!
Just like in 1942 when a future POTUS saved thousands of American boys’ lives by uncovering countless flaws, oversights and plain corruption in the production of US weaponry, the facts are available for lawmakers to consider regarding this pivotal SCOTUS nominee. Sadly, tragically, and fully consistent with its guiding light for governance so far this century, the GOP views facts as inimical to its aims. And just as depressingly, the Democratic leadership, apparently still flummoxed by a desire to attract voters they feel the Party let down in 2016, seems able to live with that. Truman, referring to his committee’s accomplishments years later, would simply assert “we followed where the facts led us.” I suppose after Kavanaugh is sworn in, Schumer may bemoan “we gave up where the trail of evidence ended.” BC
Schumer , Pelosi and the rest of the “leadership “ are out of touch cowards. They labor under the delusion that moderate Republicans will vote Democrat if we just could have the right tone. You can include Obama and both Clintons in the Vichy Democrat camp too.
When Republicans are elected , they cater to their base. When Democrats are elected they cater to the Republican base, in the vain idea that they’re somehow courageous.