Upon Speaker Nancy Pelosi's announcement that an actual, real, bona fide impeachment inquiry will soon begin in the House, Republicans will do their best to muddy the waters by:
- making it unclear as to what's really gone wrong;
- focus on the transcript of the 45-Ukranian president Zelensky phone conversation;
- pretending that it was just a phone call between foreign leaders and nothing more consequential than that, thus attempting to normalize the issue;
- saying that because there was no actual quid pro quo stated by 45 at that particular moment, that none existed;
- saying that the suspension of foreign aid to Ukraine to help it fight the Russians was a matter of bureaucratic confusion or straightening out that had to be done, and was thus an unavoidable delay made at an uncomfortable time;
- remaining focused on Hunter Biden, his marital issues, his business transactions, and any implication that something might be awry;
- saying that this will help 45 rally the base and win him another term.
I'm sure I've missed a few, or more will develop as more things are stripped away. Joe Biden, Hunter's dad and presidential candidate, will be pressed endlessly about his son and will, here and there, most likely slip up. It may or may not cost him the nomination.
It might be better if it does. Republicans, and especially 45, will come girded for battle and throw all kinds of distracting innuendoes at Biden, putting him on the defensive. Time will be wasted between doing that and focusing on 45's massive disrespect for everyone and everything, the rule of law being just one of them.
On the other hand, something has shifted. You will see that shift not necessarily in what Pelosi will be saying in the coming weeks, but the directors of the forces she has now unleashed--namely, the chairs of the Congressional committees that will be charged with bringing charges that will surely emerge. These people are:
On the other hand, something has shifted. You will see that shift not necessarily in what Pelosi will be saying in the coming weeks, but the directors of the forces she has now unleashed--namely, the chairs of the Congressional committees that will be charged with bringing charges that will surely emerge. These people are:
- Jerry Nadler, Judiciary;
- Adam Schiff, Intelligence;
- Elijah Cummings, Oversight;
- Maxine Waters, Financial Services;
- Richard Neal, Ways and Means; and
- Eliot Engel, Foreign Affairs.
Seeing as how 45 has gone out of his way to insult three of them--Waters for her "low IQ," "Liddle (sic) Adam Schitt (also sic)," and Cummings for the "rodent-infested mess" of his Baltimore district--it would be difficult to imagine those three, at least, already musing upon their personal furies at him.
As you watch, you might wonder how they can conduct themselves without reference to that. They can. In fact, it's partly how they got where they are, the way many people in public life do. They don't overlook personal insults, oh, no. They put them where no one can see them, and then play the card burning with cold fires. All the while, they act cordially, if sparely, with the insulter. But when given the opportunity, they perform their duties with a certain willfulness.
Watch for this. The best of them will never overplay the moment. (Cummings, an emotional sort, nearly did. He'll get another chance at it.) But they will see it through. They have waited a long time, and they won't blow the chance to even the scales.
In one store or another, you may have seen the close-up poster of a bald eagle facing toward you. With its beak turned down, it looks perpetually angry. But it says up in the corner: "I Am Smiling."
So they will perform their duties with a certain cold-hearted detachment. They understand their responsibilities. But a small part of them will be enjoying this very, very much--even the attacks upon them, which are likely to continue and perhaps accelerate. They'll put up with a lot to see this monster brought down, if it is at all possible to do it.
Above all, they will not forget. Never. It is the essence of one's personal power. One must beware, lest they allow others to trample them. While power is never the best way to do things--I have commented on this before, and I still believe that influence is better and far more positive--there is a time when nothing else will have the kind of impact it needs, most notably when one is dealing with people who understand nothing else. They won't repeat the insults, but they don't have to. We all know. And they may forgive, but only after the most appropriate response has been made and the impact has been registered.
They will give the appearances of striding above the ditch of fierce battle, but they're going to wade into it, right up to their necks. They've done it before, and they have to be good at it. After all, there they are, in a place few of us ever imagine to be.
To 45, feelings are anathema outside of his sacred self, which can never be satisfied and stretches himself to be aware of anything poorly said about himself. Trust me: These folks understand that by now. If that is how he acts and these are the effects of the words he uses, people can barely wait to reverse that momentum toward him. They don't like it--Pelosi has already been quoted as saying that she hates the politics connected with impeachment, and that's exactly what she's referring to (which is probably one reason she hasn't been fond of pursuing this)--but they'll take a certain pleasure in it.
If this doesn't sound attractive, I can't blame you. That's the unattractive part of the territory. But those who don't get that don't last. In the name of what you believe is the right path for your country to follow, you become a different person. If you don't, it all goes right past you. Once you understand that it has, you step aside. That's why so many Congressional Republicans are doing so.
That's what's happened to 45 and his minions, too. Above all, they won't and can't adjust to what the country has become. Instead of a lovable old grouch, 45 has remained a prickly, obnoxious, sneaky (maybe only to himself and certainly no longer), nihilistic anarchist, who believes in nothing but his talent of trying to fool someone else into believing in him. They dream of a world he cannot guarantee or even wants, outside of following him everywhere.
He will get back out on the road and ramp that sentiment up. That's why Congressional Republicans can't possibly cross over and do what they know in their hearts is the best thing for the country--to get another president as soon as we can, sooner than January 2021, even with his warts and all. But it's also why there will be a showdown coming that will make the Kavanaugh nomination pale in comparison.
Get ready. Here it comes.
Be well. Be careful. I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
As you watch, you might wonder how they can conduct themselves without reference to that. They can. In fact, it's partly how they got where they are, the way many people in public life do. They don't overlook personal insults, oh, no. They put them where no one can see them, and then play the card burning with cold fires. All the while, they act cordially, if sparely, with the insulter. But when given the opportunity, they perform their duties with a certain willfulness.
Watch for this. The best of them will never overplay the moment. (Cummings, an emotional sort, nearly did. He'll get another chance at it.) But they will see it through. They have waited a long time, and they won't blow the chance to even the scales.
In one store or another, you may have seen the close-up poster of a bald eagle facing toward you. With its beak turned down, it looks perpetually angry. But it says up in the corner: "I Am Smiling."
So they will perform their duties with a certain cold-hearted detachment. They understand their responsibilities. But a small part of them will be enjoying this very, very much--even the attacks upon them, which are likely to continue and perhaps accelerate. They'll put up with a lot to see this monster brought down, if it is at all possible to do it.
Above all, they will not forget. Never. It is the essence of one's personal power. One must beware, lest they allow others to trample them. While power is never the best way to do things--I have commented on this before, and I still believe that influence is better and far more positive--there is a time when nothing else will have the kind of impact it needs, most notably when one is dealing with people who understand nothing else. They won't repeat the insults, but they don't have to. We all know. And they may forgive, but only after the most appropriate response has been made and the impact has been registered.
They will give the appearances of striding above the ditch of fierce battle, but they're going to wade into it, right up to their necks. They've done it before, and they have to be good at it. After all, there they are, in a place few of us ever imagine to be.
To 45, feelings are anathema outside of his sacred self, which can never be satisfied and stretches himself to be aware of anything poorly said about himself. Trust me: These folks understand that by now. If that is how he acts and these are the effects of the words he uses, people can barely wait to reverse that momentum toward him. They don't like it--Pelosi has already been quoted as saying that she hates the politics connected with impeachment, and that's exactly what she's referring to (which is probably one reason she hasn't been fond of pursuing this)--but they'll take a certain pleasure in it.
If this doesn't sound attractive, I can't blame you. That's the unattractive part of the territory. But those who don't get that don't last. In the name of what you believe is the right path for your country to follow, you become a different person. If you don't, it all goes right past you. Once you understand that it has, you step aside. That's why so many Congressional Republicans are doing so.
That's what's happened to 45 and his minions, too. Above all, they won't and can't adjust to what the country has become. Instead of a lovable old grouch, 45 has remained a prickly, obnoxious, sneaky (maybe only to himself and certainly no longer), nihilistic anarchist, who believes in nothing but his talent of trying to fool someone else into believing in him. They dream of a world he cannot guarantee or even wants, outside of following him everywhere.
He will get back out on the road and ramp that sentiment up. That's why Congressional Republicans can't possibly cross over and do what they know in their hearts is the best thing for the country--to get another president as soon as we can, sooner than January 2021, even with his warts and all. But it's also why there will be a showdown coming that will make the Kavanaugh nomination pale in comparison.
Get ready. Here it comes.
Be well. Be careful. I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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