Power corrupts is not a new idea in the world, in fact it’s one of the oldest and truest observations ever made about human nature, sadly. That said, occasionally somebody comes along whose fall from grace reminds us of how profound a truism Power Corrupts is and in this day and age that person is Elise Stefanik.
Stefanik was once seen as one of the comers in the GOP, a shining new light. A mentor of hers at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard described her as “extremely bright” and “through-and-through public-service-oriented.” John Bridgeland, the mentor, said: “I viewed her as the bright light of her generation of leaders. She was crossing the aisle. She was focused on problem-solving. She had the highest character.”
And then he said, “This switch went off.” The Lincoln Project has followed Stefanik since the beginning. If Stefanik is stress eating now, when she sees what LP has put into the world, and is playing digitally and in the New York market, she’ll either eat a cow or have one. Maybe both.
Stefanik brings to mind the old biblical saying, “What doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul?” Apparently, she’s got a price on her soul and it’s been met, transaction done.
Check out Dana Milbank’s interview with Bridgeland. It is sobering.
Today, the world sees a much different Stefanik. This past week, after the racist massacre in Buffalo, attention turned to her articulation of “great replacement” theory, the white-supremacist conspiracy beliefs said to have propelled the alleged killer. Before that, she had been a prominent election denier, voting to overturn the 2020 results after the Jan. 6 insurrection, and then using the issue to oust and replace House Republican Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (Wyo.) because she refused to embrace President Donald Trump’s election lies.
Now, Stefanik has thrown her support, as the No. 3 House GOP leader, behind a proposal to “expunge” Trump’s impeachment for his role in the insurrection. She has joined a small group of extreme backbenchers as co-sponsors of the resolution, which casts doubt again on Joe Biden’s “seeming” win, citing “voting anomalies.” The resolution has no purpose (there’s no constitutional way to expunge impeachment) other than to sow further distrust of democracy.
It’s a story told a thousand times: Ambitious Republican official abandons principle to advance in Trump’s GOP. But perhaps nobody’s fall from promise, and integrity, has been as spectacular as the 37-year-old Stefanik’s. “I was just so shocked she would go down such a dark path,” said her former champion, Bridgeland. “No power, no position is worth the complete loss of your integrity. It was just completely alarming to me to watch this transformation. I got a lot of notes saying, ‘What happened to her?’ ”
The answer is simple: “Quest for power,” Bridgeland said. “But power without principle is a pretty dark place to go. She wanted to climb the Republican ranks and she has, but … she’s climbed the ladder on the back of lies about the election that are undermining trust in elections, putting people’s lives at risk.”
It’s understandable that buffoons like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert and the soon to be former congressman Madison Cawthorn talk about Dark MAGA, Ultra MAGA. They’re cartoon characters. They have no intellect, no education, no vision. Stefanik had all that. That’s why her identification with Ultra MAGA is nothing short of horrifying.
If this is the direction that the best and the brightest of the GOP are going, the party is doomed.
An impeachment is a trial – Don the Con (with a packed jury) was found ‘not guilty’
Now, if the impeachment is ‘expunged’ – won’t that mean the ‘not guilty’ verdict is wiped as well?
You misunderstand impeachment. Trump WAS found “guilty” by 57 members of the Senate.
Impeachment, however, has only one punishment: Removal from office. For that to happen, there needs to be a 2/3 majority vote.
Wasn’t Josh Hawley also considered to be a bright, principled young hope for the Repugnican party? Never underestimate the power of the dark side.
“she’ll either eat a cow or have one. Maybe both.”
(Somewhere Devin Nunes just said “Cow? Did someone say cow? Has my cow been found?”)
Stefanik will eat the whole thing tartare, if that’s what it takes to maintain power. Nunes will sue the cow again, before sitting down to help her finish it off.
More brave and honest Republicans like John Bridgeland need to continue speaking up – truth to power, fidelity to the Constitution.
“Expunging a Presidential Impeachment” is absurd and impossible because there is not even any mechanism to do so. Contemplating doing so is, however, contemplating overturning an official Act of Congress, which is a representation of the will of the people by their duly elected leaders. This blatantly illegal and aggressively unconstitional effort by an unprincipled, immoral, power-hungry political vampire like Stefanik seems to be an expanding pattern by her and her ilk, including Gaetz, Green, Jordan, Meadows, Boebert, Gohmert and a growing list of other criminal future prisoners.