When reading the comments following Top House Insurrectionist, Scott Perry, Says He Damn Well IS Going to Investigate the People Investigating Him, I came across this response from Linda:
We thought we needed them to balance out our government, but when they get this far out & crooked, there’s no purpose in having them. But we do have them, we just didn’t think they’d ever, ever be this low.
It’s a stunning truth and it exposes a further truth about being human, about protecting ourselves from malevolence. For this is a very human thing. We don’t want to believe that anything really bad can happen outside of films and books, not really happen, not in our reality.
Sure it happened in history but that was history, the kind of thing you see in books and movies. The Present is reality, where we live now, and it feels completely detached from history which is populated with people we know of but never knew, and places and even principles which are very different to our time, to our reality. The Past is content for documentaries and college courses. We shouldn’t have to worry that the horrors of the past could be visited on us here in the present.
Ukraine has a very different perspective on that since being thrust into war. But even the tragic devastation of their present-day reality is remote from us. It’s happening half a world away; nothing so bad could happen here, could it, not here.
Talk of the rise of fascism, of authoritarianism, the stripping away of rights and liberties, that’s just talk, right? It’s an overreaction, yeah? It’s just emotive poli-speak, isn’t it? I mean, it can’t be real, can it.
So we tuck it away out of sight and continue to behave as if nothing has really changed, that republicans will be their usual fiscal conservative selves and provide balance to congressional governing. Providing balance, huh? Was that ever a real thing? Did republicans ever do that in good faith? They might have done decades ago but not so much this century – and that should have been a big hint right there. But it wasn’t because it happened so slowly, a creeping malevolence. And it’s a normal human reaction to not see what we don’t want to see.
But when we’re confronted with the ugly, outrageous and undeniable truth, we realise we’ve been indulging in wishful thinking instead of rational and critical thinking. It’s a hard landing but I’m hoping it’s like a rock hurled into the ocean and the ripple effect is far and wide.
The talented and multi-award-winning documentary maker, Melissa Jo Peltier, produced and directed The Game Is Up in which disillusioned Trump voters tell their stories. It’s available for rent from Amazon and it’s a bargain because its value in terms of mind-blowing content is worth a thousand times its rental fee.
What @MelissaJPeltier did was expose an undercurrent of disaffection. By doing so, she stirred the waters of discontent even further so those ripples formed into waves, small waves but waves nevertheless.
Absent a political shift of earthquake proportions to turn those ripples into a tidal wave, what we can realistically expect is a series of smaller waves that can wear down the right-wing construction of lies and obstruction, coup plots and foreign collusion, lawlessness and deeply-rooted corruption.
What will produce these waves? Justice. And justice will produce attrition in the House and Senate which in turn will trigger a number of gubernatorial appointments (Senate) and special elections (House) to fill the vacancies.
There are strong indicators supporting this prediction. First up, the midterms are over which frees up the FBI and DoJ to pursue investigations involving congressional members.
Next is the conclusion of the Greenberg case. Joel Greenberg was sentenced in December so the DoJ is now free to examine the evidence they accrued during their extensive investigation of Greenberg. That promotes Matt Gaetz to DoJ target status and I’m expecting his indictment to happen in the first half of this year. He looked thoroughly beaten just before the 15th and final vote for Speaker and I suspect that’s because he knows Kevin is not going to save him.
Then there are the multiple investigations, at all levels of government – local, state, federal and international – into the criminal currently going by the name of George Santos. His political career may become one of the shortest on record as the race to see who can indict him first takes off amid a flurry of MSM and social media reporting. Will Santos beat Gaetz to the courthouse? It’s going to be fun, folks, stay tuned!
The biggest indicator of all is the appointment of Jack Smith as Special Counsel. His mission is two-fold: investigate the theft of government documents and investigate the Jan 6 coup plotters and enablers. The latter is the one feared most by the guilty in the House and Senate and the number of DoJ targets may be as high as 41. Given that Democrats only need a swing of 5 to their side of the aisle, there may well be enough special elections in the House to cause a majority party change well before the 118th Congress has run its course.
We need eyes wide open so we can correct-course with every special election that comes up. Everyone, even those not registered in a special election district, can do something to contribute to a Dem recovery of the majority.
The first is set for February 21 in Virginia. Sadly, this seat fell vacant when Democratic Representative Don McEachin lost his battle with cancer on November 28, 2022.
Our mission is to ensure that this seat remains in Democratic hands. While the district is rated Solid D, we must never take anything for granted. Ratings don’t determine elections, the number of voters do.
The Democratic candidate, Jennifer McClellan, is a powerhouse state senator from Virginia’s 9th district. Follow and boost her on Twitter @JennMcClellanVA or visit her campaign site jennifermcclellan.com for information and links to her Facebook and Instagram accounts. Drop ideas in the comments for other ways of helping Jennifer McClellan’s candidacy. Suggestions are always welcome.
The Flip-A-Seat-Blue Lists will highlight every special election held for Congress for the duration of this term and public notices like the one above will be posted on Twitter and here at Politizoom.
Republicans are in disaster mode, i.e. causing as much damage as possible, but there is hope. While hope alone won’t achieve change, what hope does is open the door to action. Then it’s up to the people. We are stronger together so let us all take a vow of commitment, to do at least two things to help each and every Dem candidate succeed in every special election. Our aim is to flip at least five House seats and one Senate seat.
We can do this. We can make a difference.
That comment you highlighted really pissed me off. Not you, but Linda and her fellow “we didn’t think it would be this bad” voters. For a long, LONG time some of these people chomping at the bit, including some already in Congress (Gym Jordan anyone) have been dreaming of, and not just saying but shouting from the fucking rooftops that this is EXACTLY what they intended to do. Oh, the Linda’s say, “we didn’t think OUR candidate would do that. And perhaps their candidate won’t. However, especially in those swing districts (and what were there – twenty that voted for Biden but swung back to the GOP for the House?) not directly engaging in the shit-show doesn’t give them a pass. Not only NO, but HELL NO! Because they damn well could be expected to not make waves. To sit on the sidelines and ENABLE the insanity we are about to see.
I for one am not about to give these voters who had Democrats they didn’t hate, but might keep their taxes from being lowered or other stuff that wasn’t ruining their lives available to vote for. The Democratic Party was, even with narrow majorities in both chambers getting things done and the list is long and impressive. Just what “awful” things did Democrats do that the Linda’s out there led the Linda’s out there to feel Dems needed a “check on their power?”
It’s the same shit it’s always been. They wanted their goddamned lower taxes! They tend to live lives better than the bulk of Americans. But hey, all of us wish we had more. But SOME of us understand there’s a greater public good that needs to be served. I never had children, but I never once bitched about my property taxes and twice I owned homes in Fairfax County, Virginia where they were among the highest in the nation. I didn’t bitch about it because I didn’t just figure, I KNEW it was in my best interest to have a good school system that would educate kids that would wind up being workers one day. And right now defense spending is through the roof, but take a cold, hard look at the world. Ukraine is fighting for their very existence and lives to finally, after so many decades of Russian damage to the world (longer than my entire lifetime) fixing that problem once and for all. China gets Taiwan and their already too advance Pacific influence threatens us both economically and militarily in ways worse than your worst fears. Not to mention other problem areas, some of which will erupt to climate change which I might add is something the Pentagon has been worried about and formally war-gaming for three decades now!
But noooooooo! My taxes are too high! Hence the “we need a check on Democrat’s power” bullshit! Well, to the Linda’s out there I say again there was NEVER a tiny bit of doubt that if the GOP got the House this is what we’d be seeing. Whether your particular GOPer was one of the insane ones or not. Because unless they were willing to stand up and say NO last week while McCarty was empowering what’s going to happen they were ENABLERS. Admit it. Deep in your heart you KNEW they would be. All so you could get your fucking tax cuts.
To the Linda’s I say GO TO HELL!!!!! Your ticket out is to start voting for Democrats.
You are so on target Denis. Several years ago I had to “school” my younger sister who was pissing about how she didn’t have kids so why should she have to pay taxes for a school bond. The future of our country depends on the level of education we give our children.
And, I know that the taxes I pay keep teachers in the classroom, the street lights on, the firefighters ready, the libraries open, roads patched, etc. Granted, it could all be managed better but the real issue isn’t how much I pay. It’s how much the wealthy and corporations DON’T pay. So how is it constructive to put more republicans in office who will continue to pay the bills with your dollars and not their own?
Was Pizzagaetz so fucking stupid as to think McCarthy could save him from anything? Hell, Kevie cannot even save himself from utter humiliation. Someone needs to clue the moron into this little factoid: governors and presidents save people from punishment for crimes committed, not house speakers.
No, he didn’t think McCarthy would save him which is why he didn’t want McCarthy in the Speaker’s office. I suspect he was hoping Jordan would get the job and got increasingly fractious when he realised after the third vote that that wasn’t going to happen either.
He may have gotten the idea from Paul Ryan who, as Speaker, shielded Devin Nunes.
Thank you for reviewing my film – I hope more people watch it & try sharing it with Republican friiends who may be getting a little uneasy about the direction of the party. All it takes is a sliver of doubt in an area that directly affects someone (see the film) to open the window & let the truth begin to come through.
I hope you’re right about Gaetz et al. I’m deeply concerned about this MAGA-run House.
I’m looking forward to watching it for the third time. There is so much information – more than that – so much human emotion to take in and process. You’ve documented an extraordinary piece of living history.
I hope you’re correct. But one of the reasons the Rs are fighting so hard – and dishonestly – to get power is to protect themselves from Justice. If we can somehow bring them to Justice anyway, we might be able to pull off good government. I hope.
Yes, that is my hope too. Meanwhile, I’ve set up all the pages at the Flip A Seat Blue spreadsheets so I’m ready to record any and all special elections that come along!