It would be immensely pleasing to me if Donald J. Trump took some nap time. However, nap time would suggest that there’s an adult in the room capable of administering discipline enough to make him locate his blankie and go find his quiet place. There isn’t an adult in the room though, and so the tantrums and childish vindictiveness continues unabated.
It reminds me of being trapped in a Wal-Mart. Trapped, with a horde of mouthy eight year olds running amok, while their parents stand idly by ignoring the behavior. Worse still, at least for me, are the parents condoning the behavior because they think it’s perfectly normal. I think they believe their child is somehow winning because the little dear is the loudest or the most aggressive.
I suppose that’s the type of parental environment that churns out the bullies of the world, which would explain Eric. So. I understand Eric because he was raised by Don, and Don’s one of those parents that condone perpetual childishness. A role model, so to speak.
But what about the Senate of the United States of America? Surely at least some of those people were raised in a non-Don household? Many of them were probably raised with religion, honesty and maybe even a little integrity. What the hell happened that almost all of the Senators became those ignoring or condoning Wal-Mart adults?
The whole situation is bizarre. It baffles me that the Senate republicans who claim to so revile socialism in any form, have become the epitome of socialism.
Classless.
So what made these Senators abandon their honor and integrity? What made them vote to hold a trial without witnesses, and dismiss the criminal actions of this president as unimpeachable? What allows them to sleep at night knowing that had Mr.Trump been elected as a Democrat that they would have begun impeachment hearings within a week based on hookers, unaccounted for inauguration money and genital grabbing recordings? How can they ignore fifteen thousand lies, in your face self enrichment, and Jared and Ivanka as senior advisers? Imagine if Obama had brought his extended family to the white house and housed foreign dignitaries at his D.C. hotel. The howling from Hannity and the mewling from Mitch would have been unbearable.
Assuming the answer to all of these questions is re-election, then this begs a couple of more questions.
Is the power of a senate seat seductive enough to turn senators from Gollum into Smeagol? If Lindsay Graham or Mitch McConnell were to bald on top and let the rest of their hair dangle, would they look perfectly at home slithering through the senate floor in search of the precious?
Perhaps.
Is the prestige of a senate seat so intoxicating, that once you taste the nectar of power you’re so thoroughly transformed that you willingly abandon any and all traits that used to be considered virtuous? Like swearing under oath to judge with impartiality and having no intention whatsoever of honoring that pledge?
Perhaps.
Or is the Senate a job whose perks are inconsequential compared to its depts? Consider that the average amount of money spent by winning senatorial candidates in the last American election cycle was 19.4 million dollars. Most Senators don’t have that kind of cash laying around and so someone or some organization provided the funding. That’s where the debt comes into play. The senators owe favors in return for those donations. Some of the funding was provided by your average Josephine who decided to donate to a candidate she liked. But most of the money comes from corporations and super-pacs, who each election find novel methods to funnel their money toward a candidate without getting caught violating election laws.
Those people and groups are the ones that voted to not call witnesses. Those contributors are the real power in the Senate, and the Senators themselves are simply the conduit to express the wishes of their masters.
So, who owns the Senators?
The N.R.A. and oil companies. Evangelical groups, pharmaceutical companies, arms manufacturers, Silicon Valley tech, banks, investment firms and assorted billionaires.
And oh yeah, the Russians and the Saudi’s and God only knows how many other foreign governments that see the value in owning a senator or two. America is open for business and that means if the price is right then everything is for sale. Including Senators and Presidents.
What’s interesting about Donald J. is that he’s never been encumbered by morality or conscience. As a result he doesn’t understand that he’s supposed to quietly sell himself. The idea that you’re supposed to be secretive about being shady isn’t something he can comprehend. So, he considers self enrichment from the presidency as a natural right. A reward for all of his hard work on twitter and at his rally’s. Taking money from the Russians is simply the art of the deal, and returning a favor to Vlad is merely the give and take from an arrangement of mutual gains.
And so while the Senators may have a tinge of conscience from their complicity in a fraud, Don suffers no ill effects at all. In fact if any guilt were to seep into the man, he’d probably be taking a helicopter to Walter Reed thinking he was having a heart attack.
Perhaps in some fashion or another it’s always been this way. Not just in America but in every political venue the planet has produced in the entirety of our history.
Someone is always buying and someone is always selling, and selling your soul in whole or in part was always a requirement of the bargain.
It appears that in the age of Don and Mitch that America has normalized corruption and I’m sure the Senators are relieved to not have to look over their shoulders anymore. Now, they can be openly corrupt and come out of the closet with their true loyalties and owners. They no longer have to hide the 19.4 million reasons for the way they behave and vote.