Welcome to a discussion about the upcoming 5th Revolution in the US, which I’ve titled the “Revenge Revolution.” For more about the Revenge Revolution and the author, Entry #1.  Periodically I write a “sense check” to assess whether a revolution in the US is possible or whether the entire exercise is based on a statistical aberration — i.e., a roughly 50-year cycle between major upheavals in the US. Entry #430 was the most recent “sense check.”

ENTRY #471 BEGINS: What a week! The right-wing wackos were out in full force.  As Republicans took control of the House,  spineless Kevin McCarthy capitulated to the wackos on every demand. I mean, it only took McCarthy 15 votes to be named Speaker, which gave him plenty of time to give away the store.  Doesn’t every baseball team want a key hitter with a .066 (1/15) batting average? 

Then to demonstrate their wackiness further, the right-wing House members refused to put on their big-boy pants and address real societal problems. Instead, they charged ahead by establishing a select committee to study and then overturn supposed tactics used by the Biden administration to weaponize the Federal government agencies.

Excuse me, little boys, but who weaponized the Federal agencies?  Try the Donald.  Oh, I forgot that in Trump world everything is backwards. Up is down; good is bad; bad is good.  Little boys, start your investigation with Trump.  He and his cronies managed to weaponize the agencies. After you objectively investigate Trump and recommend appropriate charges to DOJ, then you can start on the Biden administration.

To add a scoop of ice cream to the Republican-revenge cake, the House voted to defund the IRS, because…well, because the IRS was trying to collect taxes under laws passed by Congress.  The alleged “expansion” of the IRS claimed by Republicans was no expansion but designed to: (i) hire replacements for retiring employees over the next 10 years; (ii) return staffing to about the 1990 level.  In Trump world, I guess telling the truth is a sin. 

Public support for Republican extreme hyperbole and silliness seems to be turning away from the right wing.  Apparently, the hard-right Republicans learned nothing from the results of the midterms, when Republicans gained far fewer House seats than expected – and elected Mr. Tell-No-Lies, George Santos. At the same time, one can sense some moderate Republicans at least trying to become more rational.

Ah, but just when it appeared that sanity might prevail, yet another setback. DOJ, then the White House, confirmed a press report that a small cache of classified documents – apparently about a dozen – had been found in a locked closet in an office Biden used between being VP and president.  The documents were from the VP days. A second cache, apparently six (6) documents, was found in his locked garage in the Biden’s house in Delaware.

Even though Biden’s lawyers found the documents, then immediately notified the National Archives, and returned the documents, none of that seemed to matter to Republicans, especially the hard right. In the hard-right world of false equivalency, Biden having the documents was exactly the same as, if not worse, than Trump’s cache at Mar-a-Lago.  Therefore, in Trump world, the investigation of Trump should be stopped, and Trump fully exonerated.

Attorney General Garland, likely sensing a political problem, appointed a special counsel rather than using internal DOJ personnel to investigate how Biden came to hold the documents. Unlike Trump and the AG Barr, who always appointed Republicans to investigate Republicans, Garland appointed a Republican to investigate Trump and to investigate Biden. Of course, going overboard to be fair didn’t matter to the hard right, even though the special counsel had been a Trump appointee.  The appointee was now considered biased and will soon be labeled as a traitor.

With any kind of luck, the hyperbole over the documents will settle down as the cases proceed.  Settle down except for the constant stream of unsubstantiated claims by Jim Jordan and company, who seem to support every conspiracy theory. But what do you expect from Jordan?  He’s been trying to thwart an investigation of his seemingly unethical behavior while a wrestling coach at Ohio State.  Keep trying to divert attention Jim.

The head scratcher for Democrats is, “Joe, why did you have the documents?  And why wasn’t the disclosure made before?  The drip, drip, drip of disclosure is killing your credibility.“

One more twist to the plot. One explanation I heard from a friend with a long history with inside-the-Beltway media is the documents could’ve been planted. The contact was a bit embarrassed about buying into a conspiracy.  However, given the history of Republican dirty tricks, and the given the grade-school adage of “those who smelt it, dealt it,“ the possibility of the documents being planted makes sense…well sort of.  Republicans who scream the loudest about being framed or persecuted are usually ones who are guilty.

Let’s end this entry with a suggestion that may help most of the country start to move on.  Hard-right Republicans are going to scream and make false claims no matter what, so it is time to ignore them.

The recommendation is simple. Joe, announce you are hanging up your spikes. You’re not going to seek re-election and you’re going to step down after one term.  You’ve done an excellent job.  Quit while you’re ahead and quit while your physical and mental health are OK.

Stepping down and letting someone younger carry the load will divert take much of the wind out of Republican sails and generate new energy for the country.  And, not running might, just might, encourage some moderate Republicans to join Democrats and get something meaningful done in the House.  ENTRY #471 ENDS

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