An Open Letter to Mike Johnson, Chief Capitulator of the House of Representatives

Today on the propaganda outlet OAN, Trump declared that he was allowed to overturn any legislation he didn’t agree with. In his words, “I am allowed to cut things that should have never been approved in the first place.” “Approved” means here “passed into law”.

Trump is declaring that he can overturn any law he wants to. It’s the kind of thing, Mike, that you might take umbrage with.

After all, your only function is to create laws. I would hope that you would object to the idea of your laws being overturned by executive fiat. On principle, of course. We all know you are only there to propose laws passed down from your overlords. But don’t you want to think that what you do matters?

You are technically the leader of the Republican Party in the House of Representatives, yet you have rendered yourself and all your colleagues irrelevant. You could have developed a spine at some point to defend your own job, but you didn’t, and I suspect you are content with history’s depiction of you ushering in the monarchy.

You, like many of your comrades, were never a legislator. You have always been a mole for the rich men who would kill their own housekeeper if it meant they wouldn’t have to pay taxes. You are a cowering, simpering little shit who does what he is told, and that’s the real story for how an inexperienced dark horse was elected Speaker of the House. The money demanded that a simpering idiot be put in charge, and the Republicans obliged.

Mike, not only are you weak and cowardly, you are stupid. When fascists rise to power, the survival rate for the little suck-up toadies who got them there is near zero. Project 2025 is in charge now, and honestly I don’t see Trump lasting much longer than you do. “Natural Causes” are coming for Orange Julius Cesar.

This is the world you helped create. Enjoy it while you are still useful to them.

1

Keeping it at 50

If Kentucky chose to secede from this great nation, I might be all right with that.

Kentucky is a beautiful place, and friendly (to people like me). Yet while they hate Mitch McConnell, they will vote for him anyway. Because R. Swap the letters after their names and change nothing else and it would be McGrath in a landslide.

If Kentucky left, maybe we could swap in Puerto Rico. The island isn’t nearly as liberal as the press would have you believe, so it would be no surprise if a Republican senator (maybe even an actual conservative) came from there. But I have to think that whoever they send to represent them would be better than the Kentucky Kountry Klowns that we have now.

4

Republican Conservatives Find their Voices (at last)

For years, the Republicans have been making promises to the so-called “religious conservatives”, even though they had no intention of keeping those promises once elected. “Overturn Roe v Wade!” is trotted out, the Evangelical Christians punch the ‘R’ button in the voting booth, then the slogan is packed away until the next election.

But Republicans have found themselves more and more dependent on the Religious Right and other factions even farther out there that John McCain calls “the crazies”.

The crazies have taken their revenge. The conservatives of the Republican party swallowed their tongues as suddenly all the leading candidates in the primary rush were crazy-fueled WWE candidates. The conservatives remained silent, fearful of pissing off the crazies, hoping that out of this mess somehow rational minds would prevail. They bit their tongues as the crazies took over the engine room and pushed the Enterprise to warp 9 and pointed it directly at the sun.

I did not plan to use a Star Trek metaphor, but by Skippy I’m running with it.

McCain and Kaisch and a host of others now see that the ship is gong to blow up if they don’t do something. McCain blasted Trump. A gaggle of 50 influential Republicans just gave him the finger. Money that would have backed a rational Republican is landing in Democratic pockets. Money follows winners.

Senators in close races are distancing themselves from the national stink-bomb that is Trump. The conservative press (not to be confused with infotainment like Fox) has turned on the man. Trump is running out of supporters to alienate.

Leaks come out that party bosses are drawing up contingency plans should Trump quit. Other leaks say the top Republicans are “phoning in” their campaign support for their presidential nominee. Those leaks aren’t about the presidential election, they’re about the senate and the house.

The conservatives are speaking, at last. I don’t agree with some of the things they say, but at least they’re talking about policy, in actual sentences. If all these wise conservatives had found the backbone to speak six months ago, we might be looking at a very different election. Now, they are just trying to emerge from this election with some semblance of a party. They’re putting all power to the shields and hoping they still have a ship on the other side of the sun.

Post Script: Democrats, learn the lesson here. You make empty promises to labor every cycle, using them the same way Republicans use Christians. Bernie gave you fair warning that you’re not getting away with shit any longer.