Are Republicans in Congress covering up malfeasance by the Trump administration? Are they blocking investigations of corruption because they might be committed by Republicans, at the same time using the instruments of our government to attack their political opponents? Are they hiding evidence of illicit coordination between Trump’s election campaign and the Russian Federation? Is the Republican party complicit in what we could call collusion with our enemies to subvert our democracy?
It’s so odd to be asking these questions. The normal standard for impropriety is whether there’s the appearance of corruption. In the recent past, we didn’t stop at whether an action was wrong, we asked if it even appeared corrupt. That was because, as a democratic nation, we are expected to police our representatives. For that purpose, the appearance of guilt was enough to require additional disclosure, force changes that clarified the matter, or it forced us to remove that person from their position in government. We had to know they weren’t abusing their position.
Politics isn’t a legal question. Yes, law enforcement becomes involved in political issues when their investigations uncover wrongdoing, but our democracy doesn’t require legality for political decisions. Yes, we’ve written laws and regulations to help enforce disclosure, and violating those can be a crime, but if we decide to remove someone from office (or keep them there), it isn’t usually because of any crime. The appearance of impropriety by itself isn’t a criminal or civil offense. Yes, there have been plenty of cases where malfeasance intertwines with illegality, but they were separate issues. Someone could be voted out of office or even impeached without a hint of lawlessness, and (embarrassingly) politicians have been convicted of crimes and jailed, and yet still hold their office from their prison cell. In a democracy, we remove people from office because we don’t want them there any longer.
And yet in the space of a year or two, we’re reduced to today’s sick certainty. We already know that our elected Republican party is hiding and condoning corruption. We understand that the Trump campaign coordinated with our enemies, soliciting their help, and we’re reasonably confident they received even more support then they asked for. We watch Republican apparatchiks shriek for another criminal investigation of Hillary Clinton for unspecified political crimes. The Trump administration openly calls for the non-political Department of Justice to do their political bidding just the way the other executive departments do.
It’s down to individuals. Republican representatives target – by name – non-political career employees because they disagree with their decisions, their findings, or even their political affiliation. Republicans tell Americans that anyone who served honorably in a prior administration is under suspicion because of that. Democrats are, Republicans tell us, inherently dishonest, but they don’t stop there. Even if you’re a Republican, our new GOP may attack if they feel you aren’t sufficiently loyal. And they’re not just attacking political people; they’re attacking careerists in every agency. (Aren’t they supposed to be protected from political noise?) I don’t know whether Republicans are trying to replace those specific people with political appointees or intimidate career employees in general, but the difference doesn’t matter. It’s horrifically unamerican. And yet I don’t see many other Republicans pushing back.
Nixon politicized the DOJ and the IRS into his personal hit squads. He was proud of that. We’ve spent the decades since working to fix the culture Nixon trashed. And it worked. Today’s Justice Department and the IRS have become scrupulously non-partisan. Yes, law enforcement tends to attract conservatives more than liberals, but we created that culture of honor that holds each person to high standards. Nothing is perfect, but they were pretty good. Until recently. I have faith in the professionals in those agencies, just as I’m confident they will eventually be ground away if we don’t reign in the corruption soon.
But we have a shining knight! When demagogues run on campaigns of personality (“Only I can fix it!”), we tend to accept the underlying idea even when we know they’re lying. It’s attractive to think that we need a strong man (or maybe a wealthy patron) to help us. And we have a strong knight in Robert Mueller, a man of conservative politics but unimpeachable ethics. I’m troubled that we’re just standing back and waiting for him rather than fixing things ourselves, but he is a good man in a powerful position.
And so the question isn’t whether that unimpeachable man will find the truth for us. We’re sure Mueller and his team can dig through the transparent lies. Trump is a compulsive liar, but he’s terrible at it. The real question is when in that process President Trump will fire Mueller and shut down every subsequent investigation. We don’t wonder if Trump will fire Mueller; we only hope to find as much as we can before that happens.
Chockamo makes fun of my focus on honor and honesty, probably with good cause, but I say it frequently because the truth matters. Our system of government depends on it, which is why we must defend ourselves from liars and mountebanks so regularly. This orange buffoon is no different. Eventually, Trump will self-immolate, but when he does, remember the other people who were energetically protecting Trump during each of his noxious crimes.
There is no Republican party left except around the edges. We can quote John McCain or Jeff Flake all we want, but the core of the GOP reduced itself to a corrupt criminal enterprise through decades of small falls. Remember – now, before we get distracted by Trump’s frantic struggles as he drowns in his corruption – that it’s the GOP that’s been selling America’s resources and even our legal justice to their overlords for decades. Trump is only the face of broader problems. Don’t let the real criminals walk away, just to swap Trump for another of their stooges later.
And as much as I hate the new GOP, I don’t mean that all corruption is limited to them. I’d like to think that, but Democrats have included lots of scoundrels and criminals, too. Institutionally, the Democratic party indentured themselves to powerful patrons like trial lawyers and Soros. But when Democrats get caught, other Democrats call them on it. Look at the #MeToo fallout. I’m saying that, while there’s always corruption and malfeasance, the GOP is worse, they’ve been doing it longer, and when we catch them, they close ranks and protect the criminals. Look at the Republican reactions to open corruption by Scott Pruitt, David Shulkin, Tom Price, Steve Mnuchin, Ryan Zinke, or any of the rest. Republicans openly approved. Chuck Todd asked Senator Mike Rounds when Scott Pruitt’s corruption might cross the line; where “He’s not a steward of the taxpayer dollar?” Sen. Rounds answered:
Well, look. Let’s take a look at how many dollars the E.P.A. can actually save. The big picture. You know, we’ll nitpick little things. He has too many people on his security detail. It may add up to, to more than what the previous guy did. But what about the big picture of, of, of how he’s taking care of the steward – of the taxpayers’ dollars with the department, the E.P.A.? And what about the regulations that he said he’s going to clean up on that he is? And what about the response directly back out to allow businesses to actually grow and expand? Remember, this president said, number one, we had to have tax policy. We’ve got it. We said we had to have regulatory reform. We’ve got it. Scott Pruitt is a big part of that. He’s executing what the president wants him to execute.
— Senator Mike Rounds, April 8, 2018, on Meet The Press
Is Sen. Rounds saying there was no line, no limit for corruption, provided Pruitt follows his orders? Seems that way to me. Rounds didn’t walk this back later, and nobody else in the Republican leadership called him out. Honestly, Republicans have been using this line for so long, and so successfully, they’ve become a little unhinged by it.
I’m saying we can do better than this collection of vile patriots. Mueller is doing great work, but he’s only one guy, and he’s only doing a criminal investigation. The corruption swirling around Trump is not just a criminal issue.
Pay attention. Thankfully, the press has elevated their reporting into the next generation of news media. They’re printing so many good stories! It’s not too much to ask that we follow at least the big stuff.
Vote in every election. All of ‘em! Don’t miss so much as a primary. How many elections have been decided by a few hundred votes? Your vote matters. And vote selfishly. Don’t fall for distant promises about things you’ll never see. What are they going to do for you, in your state and county? Make politicians get specific. You’ll be paying the winner a lot for the work.
Above all, remember that we’re not the fearful, bigoted introverts they pretend we are. The core American principles are kindness, charity, public service, and working for the common good. We can disagree about how we achieve those goals, but not that we want the best for each other. And yes, that includes taking chances on each other. There are ideas worth dying for. Did we forget that?
