I am not sure what I can say, write or scream anymore to wake a group of voters who think nasty women, corralling hombres or cozying up to our worse enemy in the last 60 years is ok. I have been told, “I can live with it, as long as it is not Hillary, I don’t trust her!”
The latest bold move to set back the clock of democracy by the Republican Party, is to eliminate ethics from their job description. Back in 2006 Nancy Pelosi the incoming Speaker of the House wanted to “drain the swamp”( I’ve heard that somewhere) after a barrage of Republican ethical violations led to a Democratic wave in Congress www.washingtonpost.com/....
Could it be the fear from of an incoming party led by a megalomaniac?
It is not hard to believe or rationally speculate that the fear of future revelations coming from, the now Republican darling Julian Assange, WikiLeaks and Vladimir Putin may affect their political calculations. It is hard to believe that Putin stopped at amassing a dossier of dirt on just the Democratic National Committee or Hillary Clinton’s campaign. “We were elected on a promise to drain the swamp and starting the session by relaxing ethics rules is a very bad start,” said Republican Rep. Tom McClintock of California. That is an admirable statement from a California GOP representative, who may no longer be welcomed in the Trump administration because his state voted overwhelmingly against him. Of course, it could be labeled a temporary diversion if you listen to Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma who said, “People didn’t want this story on opening day”californiadolphin.com/... Mr. Cole is signaling we will take up this issue again in the middle of the night in secret…, oh they tried that already. Even questionable right wing propagandist publications have decried this move www.newsmax.com/...
If Republicans had succeeded; what control do the people have on independent oversight of the people we elect to represent our best interest, not theirs? The House Ethics Committee, which is basically the fox guarding the hen house, sought to have the independent eight member, non-office holding (four Republicans, four Democrats) Office of Congressional Ethics oce.house.gov/... fall under its umbrella. In other words, Republicans still wanted to allow the office, as long as they did not disagree.
This takes me back to my original premise what are they afraid of? The party of personal responsibility seems fearful of a look behind the curtain. I will agree a tighter rein on how we investigate rumor and innuendo is needed but taking away the effectiveness of the people’s voice is the wrong approach.
The standard cliché answers are all out there, all politicians lie, big oil and big pharma drives their decisions, big money is running government but what do we do to tangibly change that equation? Those words have become substitutes for, ‘there is nothing I can do, I give up.’ In sixteen days one of the biggest mistakes in American political history will be consummated. We can fight back! The greatest friend of tyranny is complacency. I am in my neighborhood working on the next generation by academically mentoring and teaching young people. I can’t do everything but I can do something and so can you.
Vote 2018, it’s not too late!