Thunder gods, congressional flubs, and a good book

 

The thunder gods bowled and had a party over my house this afternoon. I haven’t heard such sustained thunder in a while. It brought lightning but no hail and a nice, fairly gentle rain. My Canadian daughter, who came for supper, said at her house—less than two miles away—they got heavy rain and winds, and Jordan, who was maybe two miles in a different direction, saw two trees that looked like they were split by lightning. We talked about how funny it is that we lives so close to each other and still get such different storm experiences, and how glad we are to be so close to each other.

It seems to me that rain often is all around us but skips, as though it deliberately avoids our property. All week we’ve had promises, only to have them dwindle to nothing. And all week, I’ve been home, safely in the cottage. So wouldn’t you know that this morning, when I needed to go out for an appointment, it began to rain. By the time we headed out—Christian taking me for a Covid vaccine—it had slowed to a drizzle.

I have a new hero. Ever since trump’s first impeachment hearing, I have been a fan of Adam Schiff. The more trump mocked him, the better I liked him. But now, after Republicans in the House maliciously censured and falsely him, he is my new hero because of the grace and humor with which he bore what was meant to be a devastating put-down and turned out to be nothing more than a bad joke. Schiff’s entire speech is well worth reading, but here are his opening words: “To my Republican colleagues who introduced this resolution, I thank you,” he said. “You honor me with your enmity. You flatter me with this falsehood. You, who are the authors of a big lie about the last election, must condemn the truth-tellers and I stand proudly before you. Your words tell me that I have been effective in the defense of our democracy, and I am grateful.” No anger, just the right amount of humor, and a lot of grace. What a man, or they say in his faith, a true mensch.

Schiff showed his dedication to truth in another instance this week when he questioned John Durham before Gym Jordan’s committee to uncover weaponization of the government, whatever that is. Durham had been appointed by Bill Barr five long years ago to investigate the “false” allegations that trump accepted Russian help and conspired with Russians in the 2015 campaign. This despite the Mueller report which resulted in legal charges, some convictions, and definite indications of that collusion.

The Republican-led committee had egg on its face after Schiff and others questioned Durham, who seemed unable to come up answers more definitive than, “It would seem so,” and “I would call it ill advised.” He had obviously not read the Mueller Report, and there was some doubt he was familiar with his own committee’s report. Gosh, Gym Jordan, tell us who’s next? I’m breathless with anticipation.

It's not been a good year so far for Republicans who control the House. So far they’ve had two men come to fisticuffs—Mike Rogers and Matt Gaetz, both Republicans, during the long, drawn-out voting for speaker. Now two female representatives have had a catfight on the House floor—no need to guess. It was Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebbert, both wanting credit—wait for it—for the motion to impeach Biden. Greene even managed to call Boebbert “a little bitch.” In the background a man, perhaps spineless Kevin, can be heard saying, “Take if off the floor, ladies.” Such a lack of class in our elected officials really troubles me.

But a part of me wants to laugh too. The custom in the House is to refer to a male member as “the gentleman from ????” and a female member as “the gentle lady from ????” But the spectacle of McCarthy calling on Greene with, “Does the gentle lady from Georgia wish to speak?” sends me into giggles. She is neither gentle nor a lady. Still I mourn for our country.

And it seems though the House has sent several bills forward, they have all died in the Senate. So now, they have taken one concrete step: to censure Adam Schiff on the basis of facts already long ago disproven (shhh! don’t tell them—maybe they think it’s a secret). And they are building toward another ludicrous piece of legislature: impeach Joe Biden. What rock do these people live under?

No wonder with all this idiocy dominating the news, I’m glad to retreat to the world of fiction. I’m reading and enjoying, Murder at a Scottish Wedding, by Traci Hall. Lots of wonderful Scottish brogue (dialect, not shoes), some unexpected characters who don’t follow the guidelines of the cozy formula, and romance that doesn’t end all tied with a bow. I like the unexpected!

Take care out there—wicked storms are afoot tonight, and hot weather will be in many locations at least trough the first of the week. Sweet dreams!   

A red-letter day and some random thoughts

 

Eureka! I have a new keyboard, just like the one that bit that dust. I installed it in five minutes with no problems, and, knock on wood, it’s working great. This may sound neurotic, but the last few days I’ve noticed my back and shoulders hurt after a morning at the computer. I’m wondering if it’s not from trying to use the laptop keyboard. Either way, I’m delighted to have my new keyboard. Kudos to son Jamie who ordered it, tracked it, and made sure I got it.

I am always too absorbed in what’s going on in our country these days (too absorbed is my own judgment because I spend too much time reading about politics when I should be writing). But the last couple of days I’ve been worse than ever. I haven’t put my thoughts together in any cohesive order but here are some random reactions.

I am delighted to know tonight that the House failed in its vote to censure Adam Schiff for his efforts to impeach trump. Not only censure him, but fine him $16 million. Some 200 Republicans voted for the measure but enough sided with the Democrats that it failed. Talk about revenge politics! Schiff wrote that the woman who proposed the measure came up to him afterward to say that it would be filed again next week and would pass this time. I think—and hope—that she’s lost her momentum.

But at the same time I am appalled at how many Republicans, from office holders to ordinary voters, think the trump indictment was a move on Biden’s part to undercut his primary opponent. I read somewhere that few if any of those Republicans have read the indictments through. If they would, I think they would change their minds—okay, not Gym Jordan and his ilk but some of them.

Tonight on PBS I saw a journalist with a focus group in Iowa. To a man (and woman) they blame Biden for the indictment and think it was politically motivated. They think trump had every right to keep those documents and to declassify them—do these people read at all? I doubt it. If trump is convicted that will only increase their support for him. They distrust the FBI, the CIA, and all those alphabet groups. They think Hilary should be in prison. It’s amazing to me how our country has come to this.

Meanwhile I read today that the orange man has a new excuse for keeping the boxes of files: he thought some of his shirts and shoes were in them, and he just hasn’t had time to go through them. As if he himself would go searching through boxes looking for shirts and shoes. And as if the boxes weren’t clearly full of documents If nothing else His supporters should  realize that the man is making way too many excuses—the sure sign of guilt.

I also read today that his current lawyer is a real estate lawyer from Miami with no criminal experience. One almost feels sorry for the poor innocent lamb who has wandered into a fight that is way over her capabilities. Apparently, no reputable lawyer will take the case, mostly because the client is so difficult to control. I heard the new lawyer speak outside the courthouse yesterday, and she repeated old, disproven ideas. Even I could have easily beaten her arguments.

I simply cannot understand how one group of voters can see so clearly the enormity of what trump is charged with—actions that could easily lead to the destruction of our country, military attacks, cyber attacks, biological warfare (we may have yet to see the fallout and we’ll never know who he sold secrets to). Yet another group thinks it’s all fabrication. So much has been written about it that I can add nothing more.

Local politics in Texas are not much better. The Tarrant County GOP is going to vote to censure or condemn or whatever the impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton, who’s been getting away with awful stuff for years in Austin. What business is it of a country party when the case is before the Senate—and his fraud trials are now confirmed to be tried in Houston (It’s about time). What happened to the idea of letting justice play out in the courts?

Mine is definitely a biased point of view, but I am not apologetic. It seems to me that the Republican party today operates on a theory of reactive or revenge politics. The offer no meaningful policy—witness dramatic tax cuts to the wealthy just days after they moaned and whined about cutting expenses—but their principal business is attacking Democrats. In that light Joe Biden and his administration have followed the best course of action: they have kept quiet about all the meaningless drama and let the Republicans fight among themselves, while they go quietly about the business of the country, including major restoration of the economy.

I am definitely a Joe Biden fan. But that’s no surprise to anyone.