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Welcome back to the second of our year-end awards columns! And if you missed it last Friday, go check out [Part 1] as well.
As always, this is long. Horrendously long. Insanely long. It takes a lot of stamina to read all the way to the end. You have been duly warned! But because it is so long, we certainly don't want to add any more here at the start, so let's just dive in, shall we?
This week, there was a massive toxic explosion of hot air and noxious fumes, which caused many to flee in terror from the spectacle. Also, in Hawai'i, the volcano Mauna Loa erupted.
Sorry for being so sarcastic, but we couldn't resist.
But we'll get to all of the White supremacy and Nazism and Donald Trump in a bit, instead let's start off with some positive news.
It's a saying that may stretch back to Roman times. In English, the first citation (at least from Wikipedia, I haven't checked the O.E.D. yet, sorry...) dates from 1612: "For they that sleep with dogs, shall rise with fleas." In this particular case, Donald Trump breaking bread with Kanye West and Nick Fuentes has left much of the rest of the Republican Party feeling awfully flea-ridden. And the whole thing just got a lot worse.
I almost didn't do a Hallowe'en column this year, because it's pretty obvious what both sides of the aisle would be frightened by. Who controls Congress after the midterms would have (as always) been the easy way to go with today's stories. I could have easily written the basic tales in one tweet: "Republicans win, Democrats horrified... or Democrats win, Republicans horrified."
We do try to avoid it in general, but this week it is impossible not to lead our news wrap-up with the ongoing Donald Trump Follies. Spoiler alert: it wasn't a very good week in Trumpland.
It was perhaps badly-timed to get the world's media attention (due to a royal death sucking up all the media oxygen... which it continues to do...), but nevertheless the Ukrainian military just had a stunningly good week.
In one sector of their country, they achieved what can only be called blitzkrieg -- "lightning war." Their forces set out from Kharkiv and within days held not only Kupiansk and Izyum, but all Ukrainian territory -- right up to the Russian border -- which is west of the Oskil River. The BBC has an update on just how stunning a development this truly is:
There were two major events in politics this week which will have a profound effect on the upcoming midterm campaigns. The first was the stunning victory in the Kansas primary of the anti-forced-birth position on an abortion referendum -- which passed with a jaw-dropping 59-41 percent margin in a very red state. The second was Senate Democrats finally achieving unity by all agreeing to the "Inflation Reduction Act" budget reconciliation bill. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has refused to let the Senate begin their month-long August vacation and is planning the first vote on the bill tomorrow, with all the other arcane floor events to follow, so the final passage could come early next week.
Representative Madison Cawthorn lost his primary race this week to a challenger who won mostly just by not being a human Dumpster fire. Someone who is actually sane, in other words. Anyone familiar with Cawthorn's single term in office breathed an immense sigh of relief when the results were announced, and we political wonks finally had a second answer to the question: "What does it take in today's Republican Party to become a complete outcast and pariah?" Or, more simply: "How far is too far to go?" Apparently the new answer to all that (the old answer being: "Obeying your constitutional oath," as Liz Cheney has admirably proven) is now: "Accusing your fellow Republicans of rampant cocaine use and hosting orgies." This is the new GOP standard -- it's fine to spout conspiracy theories and whip up White supremacy and anti-government violence, but for Heaven's sake don't say we're all coke-crazed sex maniacs or anything!
It is undisputable that Donald Trump plumbed new depths for what the Republican Party considers "too far" for their own politicians to go. Trump proved that no scandal -- sexual, financial, business-related, personal, factual, political, international interference in American politics, white national, conspiracy theorist, or insurrectionist -- was "too far" for him to go, at least with his own massive and committed base of supporters within the party ranks. Many other Republicans either now in office or running for office have taken this new low standard to heart, as GOP politician after GOP politician is caught in scandals that previously would have forced them to resign or be voted out of office the first chance the voters had. The big unanswered question is whether any standard (no matter how low) even remains within the party for anyone not named "Donald Trump." How far is "too far," these days, for Republicans?
As we write this, everyone inside the Beltway is getting ready for the upcoming White House Correspondents' Dinner, which President Joe Biden has said he will be attending (after a hiatus of presidents attending due to COVID and, earlier, due to Donald Trump having incredibly thin skin). But, as usual, our invitation seems to have been lost in the mail or something. Ahem.
We are excited with a sort of "something good is about to happen" feeling, however, because the House Select January 6th Committee has finally announced a preliminary schedule for public hearings. Here's the story (as it stands so far):