A Failure On Two Axes

 The waning days of Trumpistan are seeing two profound failures of governance from the Republican Party. 

The first is rather typical of the Republican Party going back a quarter century. They simply cannot keep government functioning normally. Their anti-governmental ideology is so profound that they can't compromise on anything as simple as a budget. Yesterday, they passed a two day continuing resolution to keep the government open DURING A PANDEMIC. The sticking point is whether they should pass a Covid stimulus plan, which is like asking should they eat foie gras or ground glass. 

Any normal sense of public duty would insist on helping struggling Americans in the face of an economic crisis rooted in a pandemic that the government has also chosen to ignore (a third axis of failure). The economic slowdown is not the fault of lazy people, it is the product of forces beyond individual control. Yet, the GOP - who gleefully ran up massive debt during Trump's presidency to the tune of $8,000,000,000,000 - is now concerned about inflation and the debt. This is absolute bullshit, especially the action of Pat Toomey who wants to restrict the ability of the Federal Reserve (on of the few properly functioning entities) from assisting the recovery.

This is a continuation of McConnell's strategy from 2009-2011 of immiserating Americans for political advantage. 

So the GOP Congress has taken upon itself a role antagonistic to the welfare of the American people in order to create an economic malaise that will help them in the 2022 midterms. That's it. That's the sick, cynical game.

The second axis of failure is unique to Trump. 

We now have overwhelming evidence that Russia has hacked important government and private entities. Even Trump sycophant Mike Pompeo has admitted that Russia is behind the hack. Only one prominent member of the Executive continues to deny the evidence in front of everyone: Donald Trump. This denial is...baffling on the merits. Trump made a predictable nod that Russia may have hacked the voting machines, but that would require a breach with Putin, so he abandoned it. 

The links between Russia and Trump have been a source of inquiry and concern since the fall of 2016. Impeachment was the one incontrovertible instance of the smoking gun being held in Trump's hand, but there are smoking guns all over the fucking place. This is the latest. Putin's hold on Trump has to be more than a simply confluence of interests or outlook. Putin has Trump in his pocket in ways that are simply uncontestable. It is imperative for the Biden team to find out why.

Meanwhile, the information security of the United States is compromised by the President, who refuses to do this part of his job (as he refuses to do so many other parts of his job). 

We have another month of this shit.