Senator Bob Corker, Republican of Tennessee has apparently had enough. He went to the floor of the Senate and lit-up his Republican colleagues, mocking their fear of Trump, and failure to pass tough legislation protecting the free trade that is supposed to be one of the pillars of Republicanism. Then he might’ve shed a little light on something, slyly.
Corker started out by observing how few bills had been brought to the floor in the last year and a half, speculating that the Senators lived in fear of how Trump might observe the legislation – what if HE doesn’t like it?
“We’ve been here a year and a half and because senators, United States senators that are elected by the people in their state,don’t want to cast a tough vote, they block everybody from voting,”
Corker was referring to an amendment he brought last week that could not have been based upon more “middle of the road” Republican “free trade” principles, and yet his amendment could not even get a vote, due to being blocked by fellow Republicans who likely support the bill, but fear the president.
Then he named names.
“I heard the senator from Texas, the senior senator from Texas, saying the other day, ‘Well, gosh, we might upset the president,’” Corker recounted, referencing Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), the Senate’s number two Republican. “We might upset the president of the United States before the midterms. So, gosh, we can’t vote on the Corker Amendment because we’re taking, rightly so, the responsibilities that we have to deal with tariffs and revenues.”
Corker stood incredulous, “We can’t do something because it might upset the president before the mid-terms! I can’t believe it!”
Corker then used some “inside language” that I personally wonder about. Is there more going on here than what we see at first blush?
“No, no, no, gosh, we might poke the bear, is the language I’ve been hearing in the hallways,” the Tennessee Republican said. “We might poke the bear. The president might get upset with us as United States senators if we vote on the Corker Amendment, so we’re going to do everything we can to block it.”
“The Bear?”
Yes, I get it, a sleeping bear, the president could blow up at them, much better to have the president fat and happy, don’t poke the bear.
But, does it go another level?
What country has always been known as “the Bear”?
Yes, Russia. And what country would benefit the absolute most from a trade war among America’s closest allies, causing acrimony (look at the situation with Canada) among what should be America’s closest friends, and united front against Putin’s world view? Yes, the big Russian bear.
So, is the “bear” nickname a double entendre. Does it indicate that Republicans suspect that Trump’s agenda is actually driven by the Russian bear? Do Republican Senators openly suspect that Trump is wholly owned by Russia, and they’ve thus nicknamed him “the Bear.”
I can take it deeper, I can speculate that what they’re saying is that if Republicans start passing such laws, they’ll be getting in Putin’s way, the real “boss.” (“Don’t poke the bear”) They may know that Putin has dirt on much of the Republican party. Russian money may have infused into many of their campaigns through the NRA.
This is all a flight of fancy, obviously. On the other hand, very little explains how it is that the Republican party has become such a doormat for Trump, especially on principles that impact their business donors, and this protectionist bullshit has benefited no one. Russia provides a global explanation for much of what we’re seeing. We mock pols all the time, but few of them are stupid, Cornyn knows the historical nickname for Russia, and how to speak around a subject.
Am I reading too much into this? Is it just “don’t poke a guy who is crazy as fk, because you have no idea if you’ll survive?”
Maybe.
What was the first thing that Trump complained about upon arriving at the G7 meetings? Hint, it wasn’t “unfair trade.”
“Where’s Russia? Russia should be here! Why isn’t Russia here?” It is difficult to grasp, but the depth of Russian penetration into the Executive Branch and Republican party may yet stun us all.
Sen. Corker, thank you for calling out your colleagues in a long over-due chastisement. They deserve all the derision you can heap upon them. And, I choose to believe you told the world a little more, in code. If the president’s “nickname” in and around the capital is “the bear,” the reasons could go well beyond temper, weight, manners and grasp of the English language.
**** Hey! Follow me on Twitter, we’re having way more fun than that other twit. @MiciakZoom
