The GOP's dangerous compact with extremism just became clearer

[Nevilledog]

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Sarah Posner
@sarahposner
"There is no doubt McCarthy’s proposed slate of Republican participants was an attempt to euthanize the committee by injection of fanatic stupidity." - @MJGerson

Opinion | The GOP’s dangerous compact with extremism just became clearer

Opinion | The GOP’s dangerous compact with extremism just became clearer
Donald Trump, Kevin McCarthy, Jim Jordan and their ilk are leading us into ever scarier territory.
washingtonpost.com
7:12 AM · Jul 23, 2021

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/07/22/kevin-mccarthy-jim-jordan-trump-gop-compact-extremism/

There is no doubt McCarthy’s proposed slate of Republican participants was an attempt to euthanize the committee by injection of fanatic stupidity. Proposing Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) for a panel investigating the violence of Jan. 6 is the practical equivalent of appointing Abbie Hoffman to the commission that investigated the bloody riots at the 1968 Democratic convention. At a trial, we usually try to make sure judge and defendant are not the same person.

Remember that during Trump’s first impeachment trial — the one over soliciting help from a foreign power to destroy his political enemies — Jordan insisted that Trump was really trying to fight corruption. Yes, and the Watergate break-in was actually muscular maid service. In service to Trump, Jordan’s strategy is not to distort, bend or spin the truth. His rhetorical technique is to bellow absurd lies at the top of his lungs in the hope no one else can be heard. His selection — blocked, thank goodness, by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — was a malicious choice, by a hollow leader, of a detestable partisan, in a treacherous cause.

There is also no doubt that all Trump’s thoughts and prayers are with the violent rioters of Jan. 6. In a newly released interview with The Post’s Carol D. Leonnig and Philip Rucker, Trump insisted that he spoke to a “loving crowd.” “Personally, what I wanted is what they wanted,” he said. “They showed up just to show support because I happen to believe the election was rigged at a level like nothing has ever been rigged before.”

Sometimes, politicians get so lost in the bramble and fog of their own lies, they don’t even notice a damaging confession when they make one: “What I wanted is what they wanted.” There is, of course, no single will of a large crowd. Much depends on the way it is handled and the outcome of its anger. We don’t judge the nature of the mob storming the Bastille by the ones in back who had a deep respect for public property. We judge a mob by the fervor of the ones in front, by how many they can carry with them, by the intention they have, by the corporate actions they take and by the manner in which they are led.

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[Champp]

1. "...fanatic stupidity." The Republican plan for America