Blog Credo

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

H.L. Mencken

Saturday, July 2, 2022

The Cassidy Hutchinson Revelations

 I haven't commented on the revelations by Cassidy Hutchinson because there has been so much written elsewhere. Anne Laurie does her usual stellar job compiling tweets pertaining to what has shaken out.

Two things that I think are on the table sooner rather than later.

First, I think the DOJ is going to move aggressively against Roger Stone, the Proud Boys and anyone else who has been threatening witnesses. Stone remains arguably one of the worst people in the last half century of American politics. Convicted of seven felonies including witness tampering, Stone saw his sentence commuted by Trump, because of course. There is zero doubt in my mind that Stone used the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers to try and intimidate witnesses - especially those adjacent to the Proud Boys and Oathkeepers. Witness tampering is a fairly straightforward crime and people like Stone lack the profile of Trump, who might skate in a jury trial, because how do you find an impartial jury?

Second, it feels very likely that there will be another Cassidy Hutchinson. Few of these people around Trump are actually true believers. Take Rudy Giuliani (please). Like so many in Trumpistan, Giuliani is a grifter. He was a grifter a decade before Trump came down his escalator. His "security firm" was a scam with people like Bernard Kerik working for it. Giuliani is a clown, but there comes a point where he might decide to save his skin. 

The problem with being a corrupt criminal enterprise like the Trump Administration is that you require people of low moral character to facilitate your criminality and - you might be shocked to learn - people of low moral character are unreliable.

Hutchinson's revelations that Trump wanted to send an armed mob to the Capitol could - and I accentuate "could" - lead to more Republicans finally coming clean. Hell, even Mo Brooks has started to break with Trump.

With the repeal of Roe, we are seeing theofascists coming crawling out of the woodwork and advocating for overturning Griswold and Obergfell. I have a hunch we will see a replay of the Todd Akin phenomenon whereby radical outliers cost the Republican party seats they should otherwise win.

Hopefully, we will see the same process play out with Big Lie Republicans. The revelations of how close we came to full civil war should give voters pause before voting for state officials dedicated to making sure 2024 plays out better for their side.

Maybe...just maybe...things could start turning around.

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