It Is Comforting--But Foolish--to Believe the House GOP Inquisition Will Fail

[Nevilledog]

https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/house-gop-inquisition

If you are anyone but a MAGA enthusiast, and you care about the future of democracy in the United States, then you think that what the Republican Party and especially the House Republican majority has planned for the next two years is very bad.

And it is very, very bad.

And yet strangely, many of the same people who talk about how very bad it is also refuse to take it seriously.

I am a very regular watcher of MSNBC. Since the ascendancy of Trump to the presidency, I have enjoyed the network’s coverage of Trumpism, which often features really smart commentators, a few of whom are even my friends, who relentlessly critique Trumpism. I believe it is fair to say that MSNBC, now the home of both Never Trump former Republicans and some of the most prominent liberals, represents the mainstream centrist view of things: Trumpism is terrible, the Republican Party fully in its grip must be defeated, and democracy must be defended.

I share all of those beliefs. But there is one further claim that more or less defines this centrist perspective, and it is one that I do not share: that the Republican Party is a “clown car” and what it is doing might be dangerous but ultimately so crazy that it cannot possibly succeed.

And so MSNBC viewers are treated to a regular and constant barrage of variations of comments such as these (paraphrases of things I hear said regularly by Joe Scarborough and Lawrence O’Donnell, other hosts, and a great many guests):

* “All of this talk about investigations is not political, it is performative.”
* “These extremist plans for oversight are nothing but a distraction from their own lack of a governing philosophy.”
* “These far-right pronouncements and commitments are out of step with the American electorate, which rejected the extremist agenda in November.”
* “These crazy efforts cannot work, and it is hard to understand why any sane politician would commit to them, for such commitments will only weaken their chances for re-election.”

*snip*

[dlk]

1. Republicans are dead serious, as J6 has hopefully taught us

It would be naive to write them off as clowns, although they certainly behave in that manner.

[Lovie777]

2. No one has wrote them off ....................

they are dangerous and evil, and hopefully the plan to counter with them will win successfully.

[louis-t]

3. The "investigations" will only succeed as propaganda tools.

I doubt they will accomplish much except to give the traitors in the House something to beat Biden over the head with come election time. They will be screaming "Hunter Biden" and "Secret Documents" at the end of every sentence.

[Elessar Zappa]

4. Besides holding the debt ceiling hostage,

the House majority has no real power. None of their “legislation” will get anywhere and their investigations will have no teeth. So yes, I’ll continue to mock them as the clowns they are.

[Bettie]

12. I guess we'll have to find out if they are willing to

crash the economy to win "points" with the MAGAts, because it will fuck everyone over, them included.

[alwaysinasnit]

5. k&r for visibility

[rampartc]

6. their witnesses will tell them what they want to hear

they will determine what they already have decided.

the press will cover every hearing as if it is serious.

biden will be impeached, which may backfire : harris as incumbent will win.

[First Speaker]

7. Biden may be impeached, but he will never be convicted in the Senate...

...so the possibility Harris will be President in 2024 is zero, provided Biden stays healthy...

[Turbineguy]

8. What these republicans must be allowed to do

is to convince voters to vote for somebody else. That means they have to do some bad stuff.

[everyonematters]

9. The more people they can convince that everybody is corrupt and that there is no sense

in voting, the more it benefits the Republicans. They are hoping that people will pay just enough attention to believe that.

[Red Mountain]

10. The Republicans have everything to gain by sowing distrust of government and general chaos

The job of defending our institutions is much more difficult, nuanced and intellectually challenging to get across.

The Republicans are becoming the party of raw emotion.

Eventually it will bite them in the ass but every step of the way to that point and beyond they'll always be the victims.

[Septua]

11. "..what it is doing might be dangerous but ultimately so crazy that it cannot possibly succeed."

Yeah, they continue to get elected or reelected for doing the crazy shit and that defines success.

[summer_in_TX]

13. People in positions of power dressed in suits

holding hearings and gathering "testimony" are automatically given credence by many. After all, they're in a position to know. Combined with Republican talking points, they're deadly effective propaganda.