Saturday, January 09, 2021

Reason's Not Impressed

      It's one thing when Politico runs a think-piece about the insurrection in Washington, D.C.; it's something else when Reason does, too.

      Ted Cruz, who was very critical of Mr. Trump's ethics and temperament while running against him but became a true-red supporter once the man was President, has now shifted with the wind to criticize him.  Lindsey Graham has made the same maneuver.  Meanwhile, Rudy Giuliani, who called for "trial by combat" at the pro-Trump rally in Washington on Wednesday, was apparently hit by a light on the overnight road to Damascus* and tweeted on Thursday, "The violence at the Capitol was shameful." 

      I'm sure there's a deep message in there somewhere, but what I take from the gestalt is, if you let any politician get at your emotions, you're a chump.  Your deep and heartfelt feelings are just buttons for them to push -- no matter who they are, no matter who you are, no matter what anyone professes to believe.  If they think they'd be better off pushing some other button, most of them will do so without blinking an eye.  It's all smoke and no fire.

      I've always thought Mike Pence was a little stiff-necked.  This week he showed that a stiff neck isn't necessarily a bad thing.  He did his job by the book, despite a raging mob.  A good many other Republicans are giving themselves whiplash, trying to follow the prevailing breeze.

      "Lay down with dogs, get up with fleas."
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* Ask your Sunday-school teacher to explain it.

3 comments:

Antibubba said...

I'd give Pence a "C" grade for the last part, in that he performed as he was expected to do. I'm sure he's regretting the end of his own political ambitions far more than his role in all this.

Earl said...

You are very right.

Scott Gelber said...

VP Pence did the right thing on Wednesday, 06-JAN, but he could not be surprised that President Trump turned on him. That has been a trait of POTUS Trump since before the election. I have often wondered how a principled man like VP Pence agreed to be Trump's running mate. Was he concerned since 2016 that something like this would happen and decided to be a bulwark against it? Or did he not realize the depth of the crazy pool?