Sunday, November 24, 2019

The Hurd Mentality



At the House impeachment inquiry hearings, perhaps the best imitation of the Sgt. Schultz character from "Hogan's Heroes," whose various catchphrases were "I see / I hear / I know nothing" when he clearly did, was retiring Texas Rep. Will Hurd. Hurd has crafted a persona during the Trump regime as being a very, very concerned voice from within the rotted out Republican / New Confederate Party. Coming from a district along the border with Mexico, Hurd played the sympathy card for Latino immigrants, knowing that his district mirrored that ethnicity. He even teamed up with Texas opportunist former Rep. Beto O'Rourke in a staged "road trip" to demonstrate bi-partisanship not long after divisive demagogue Donald "Rump" Trump was sworn in. Catnip for our broken Beltway media.

His "more out of sorrow than anger" performance in the impeachment hearings, however, was one for the big screen. With his serious, practiced image as a deep thinking moderate Republican with a matching face, he was a disappointment to some who expected him to break ranks with the likes of corrupt wingnuts Devin "Numbnuts" Nunes and Jim "Gym" Jordan. Instead, Hurd came up with this tripe:
"An impeachable offense should be compelling, overwhelmingly clear and unambiguous. And it's not something to be rushed or taken lightly. I have not heard evidence proving the president committed bribery or extortion." (our emphasis)
Take a seat, Sgt. Schultz. He also called for testimony from dirt-seeker Rudy "Rudy Colludey" Giuliani and, of course, Hunter Biden, because Hurd is nothing if not a true tribalist.

Nobel Prize-winning economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman had an op-ed a couple of days ago explaining why these Republicans who are fleeing Congress can't bring themselves to separate from their cult leader. He writes:
"How much corruption, how much collusion with foreign powers and betrayal of the national interest will that party’s elected representatives stand for?

And the result of that test seems increasingly clear: There is no bottom. The inquiry hasn’t found a smoking gun; it has found what amounts to a smoking battery of artillery. Yet almost no partisan Republicans have turned on Trump and his high-crimes-and-misdemeanors collaborators. Why not?

The answer gets to the heart of what’s wrong with modern American politics: The G.O.P. is now a thoroughly corrupt party. Trump is a symptom, not the disease, and our democracy will remain under dire threat even if and when he’s gone. [snip]

There has been a wave of Republicans announcing retirements from the House, and there’s little question that some of these politicians are leaving because they’re disgusted with serving this administration. Yet almost none have said so explicitly, even though they won’t be facing any more primaries. What keeps them in line?

The answer is, follow the money.

What, after all, do retired officials do for a living? Many become lobbyists, and in an era of extreme polarization that means lobbying their own party. Being honest about why you quit would be bad for future business." (our emphasis)
Whether Hurd follows the retiring Rethug herd to K Street lobbying riches only time will tell. But the price of his cynical vote must have been high to have thrown in with the rest of the cult.

(photo: Seriously?)

2 comments:

donnah said...

The Republicans are pathetic. What they' e done and continue to do would be laughable, except for the fact that they are literally jeopardizing our democracy. Look at Lindsey Graham, who did a complete 180 in his beliefs, and all of the others who have staunchly backed this disaster of a president. Look at Mitch McConnell, who has capitalized on Trump's hatred and turned the Senate into a stronghold that refuses to hear the ugly facts about its own people. Look at every single Republican who swore to defend fiscal responsibility and now embraces trillions of dollars in debt fueled by the failed Trump tax cuts. i never have liked the Republican party, but sometimes they had a sense of what was right and what was wrong. And now they clearly have decided to fully support the side of greed, hate, and evil.

My hope is that their party runs aground, overwhelmed by the burgeoning weight of all the crimes they've committed. Seeing more of them in prison is another wish. Somehow knowing that some, but not all will pay for the damage they've done is not enough. The worst will escape punishment.

So we must keep applying pressure to the Democrats in leadership to keep pushing for our rights. And we'd better get out the vote, because in the end, no one will save us. We have to save ourselves.

Hackwhackers said...

donnah -- You've expressed it so well. Thank you.