The Republican Party is treating the COVID-19 pandemic as a political opportunity, not a real emergency. Fox News calls the plague ‘political.’ Mitch McConnell blocks every Senate bill, leaving all federal planning to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Trump… well, you know. Remember when Trump declared his wall a National Emergency because of reasons? And yet, for a global pandemic, Trump says it’s up the state governors, not him. And whatever else happens, it’s not his fault or responsibility.
It’s not as this was a real emergency for Republicans.
I know you don’t need me to tell you this. I haven’t written for a while because, you know, it’s the apocalyptic end times. Hard to get motivated. And I doubt anyone will be surprised that I’m not back online because American politics has just gotten so much better. Anyone listening to Trump knows where we stand. Worse, the Republican party is in lock-step behind Trump’s mindless push for mass murder. Genocide against the poor as a useful political option. The billionaires in charge are sure that suffering and death will be good for business.
Forget Trump for a second. What about every other Republican? Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell punted. He left it to House Majority Leader Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin to write the federal emergency response. They did it, and quickly, so there’s that. Republicans weakened the bill a lot because Republicans hate poor people. No sick leave for the bottom 80% of us, just for the well-off. Not enough and misdirected, but better than nothing. It’ll help. And time matters a lot during the early stages of an epidemic. Good that we got it passed, and we can finally act.
Except that won’t happen anytime soon. Republicans won’t allow a vote on the bill.
Rep. Louie Gohmert blocked the House from correcting technical errors in the House bill. Remember: it’d already passed the House overwhelmingly. Gohmert blocked the updates anyway. Why? Because he’s Republican, I think. Why else delay the federal response to a pandemic over spelling errors?
While the House was working late, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell decided to give the Senate a long weekend. I suppose that, technically, a 3-day weekend was better than the scheduled 10-day recess. Still, that’s three days past any sense of urgency. And even when they got back, McConnell won’t allow a vote. No clear idea why other than “Republicans.”
It’s as if the Republican party wants to make the disaster much worse. Doesn’t it feel that way to you? And they weaken every part of our government. McConnell rams through stupidly partisan and poorly qualified judicial appointments as fast as he can, but everything else? Cryptkeeper. President Trump sabotages every critical federal function he can touch. It’s like he’s a Russian plant, except the whole Republican Party does the same thing. If a federal program works well, Republicans want to gut it. Just look at every Republican-staffed FEMA response.
But it’s just weird that the Republican response to a pandemic that might kill millions is indifference. Even now, they’re tearing at the nation’s fabric. It’s like this isn’t a real emergency for Republicans.
Instead, we get, “Never waste a perfectly good disaster.” I’m sure we’ll hear about lots more tax cuts in store for the rich and powerful. That’s their real emergency.
Republicans show us, once again, that they’re monsters.
