Tom on Poitical Shenanigans

  The foolishness in the House of Representatives continues, with no end in sight.  The Speaker's chair is vacant and the two leading contenders to replace the hapless Kevin McCarthy are Jim Jordan, the current chair of the House Judiciary Committee, and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who once described himself as like: "...David Duke, but without the baggage...".  David Duke is an avowed racist who once served as the Grand Wizard of the notorious Ku Klux Klan and unsuccessfully ran for Governor of Louisiana.  Back in the early 200s, Scalise was a featured speaker before a White Supremacist group headed by Mr. Duke.  He later claimed that he had no idea that Mr. Duke was actually the repulsive character that everyone knew him to be, which makes him, perhaps, as either the stupidest man in congress or the biggest liar.  No other explanation makes sense.   I knew who David Duke was and what he stood for, and I've never been within 1,500 miles of Louisiana.  

Mr. Scalise's opponent for the Speaker's gavel is the aforementioned Rep. Jordan.  Mr. Jordan is a bomb thrower and provocateur who specializes in pointless and unfounded 'investigations' of his Democratic enemies, such as the notorious Benghazi 'investigation' of then Sec. of State Clinton, as well as the  endless investigation into the affairs of Hunter Biden, (5 years and counting, including 2 years under the Trump Administration), as well as the nascent investigation into Mr. Biden himself. The man is a walking punchline, so it should come as no great surprise that Mr. Trump endorsed Rep. Jordan at 12:13 this morning.   While I find Mr. Scalise deplorable, at least he has the virtue of being an institutionalist, which is what the House needs at present.  

Meanwhile, I think that none of the current Republican candidates for President, with the notable exception of former NJ Gov. Chris Christie, has condemned Mr. Trump's veiled death threats against newly retired Joint Chief Chair, Gen. Mark Milley.  Admittedly, Mr Trump didn't make these threats directly, but he let it be known that Gen. Milley's execution would be a good thing, and some of Mr. Trump's more unhinged supporters are always alert for secret instructions from 'The Boss'.  If you think I'm making this stuff up, just consider the number of Jan. 6 insurrectionists who testified that they believed that they were following the Orange One's orders when they defecated in the hallowed halls of the nation's capital.  

And what of the ABC news report about Mr. Trump revealing secret information about the operation of America's nuclear submarine force to an Australian billionaire, who then shared this sensitive information with a few dozen other people, many of them foreign nationals. All because he wants to play the role of the 'Big Man' .

I've got to close this before my freaking head blows right off my shoulders.  I've followed politics closely for 60 years, (Jesus, am I really that old?), and I'm familiar with the broad arc of American history as it relates to political tomfoolery, and I've never seen anything like the clown show that the current House Republicans are putting on.