Diogenes is on TDY. In his absence we're reposting some of his more popular pieces.
435 Representatives
100 Senators
15 Cabinet members
1 Vice-president
And not a scruple of conscience among them. Not a whiff of courage to
call out dishonesty and injustice. Not a shred of evidence that each one
of them once swore to "support and defend the Constitution of the
United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic."
Every day these 551 individuals plus a host of staff watch the alleged
leader of the free world lie, scheme, cheat and swindle his bumbling way
through life and not one raises their voice to call him out.
Only the press, in their Constitutional position as government watchdog,
call him out regularly. The 551 should be listening. There was a time
when the editorial boards of major newspapers had the ear of Congress.
Now the portion of Congress that isn't deaf listens only to its own
voice crying for attention in a masturbatory maelstrom of fear and
self-loathing.
Donald John Trump is not special. He is a man, not a superbeing. He is
not unstoppable. He puts his pants on one leg at a time. He belches,
farts, and picks his nose. He is nobody's Chosen One. He has such little
self respect that when he cannot gain praise from others he invents it
himself.
His Twitter handle is @realDonaldTrump, but there is nothing real about
him. He is a creature of his own imagining, cobbled together from whole
cloth into a simulacrum of a leader, but lacking any knowledge or talent
for the role. He is material but lacks substance. He is false from the
hair on his head and the complexion of his face to the emptiness of his
heart. He is the living embodiment of the emperor's new clothes.
The 551 know this but cannot admit it. They are politicians, hacks, and
wonks so entrapped by the system they have built for themselves to
ensure a continuing spot at the trough of public money that they can
understand nothing else. They are cowards, cretins, and fools who will
continue to be accomplices to the crimes and misdeeds of the
Poser-in-Chief who squats atop the house of cards they have built. They
disagree superficially but know they are totally interdependent, so not
one will say "Enough! Stop!" Not one. Not. one. They are beyond shame.
Meanwhile the Traitor-in-Chief who has not betrayed his oath because he
never intended to follow it attacks genuine patriots. He defends
murderers and domestic terrorists like Kyle Rittenhouse, and the
mouth-breathing, tattooed lowlifes who drove into peaceful demonstrators
in Portland, Oregon.
Speaking to the National Republican Club in February 1938, Vermont
Governor George Aiken said Abraham Lincoln "would be ashamed of his
party's leadership today."¹ A plaque with that quote should hang in
every Congressional Republican's office to remind them of their
responsibility to be a check on executive actions.
Government functionaries don't fear the Bully-in-Chief; they fear the
power he wields. That is a small but significant distinction. There is
nothing to be feared from Trump the man. He is a small, insignificant
entity whose personal power over others is limited to insults and
epithets. But he holds the presidency, and with that can cause
irreparable damage, if not destruction, of careers. He holds it over his
minions like Damocles' sword, threatening them with the worst possible
fate: expulsion from a government job and the loss of their place at the
trough.
Elected officials are beyond his reach, but cower nonetheless because
even after four years he remains a phenomenon foreign to their culture.
They fear the unknown and therefore bow before it.
There are 551 of them and not one will stand up. The refusal of every
one of them to stand and announce their opposition to the
Cretin-in-Chief is disgraceful and cowardly. Bullies respond to being
pushed back, but we Americans and our Constitution have no one to push
for us.
In a post several weeks ago I said I would not condone assassination as a means of removing Tyrant Trump.
I have reconsidered that position.
--- Diogenes, 9/1/2020 Reposted 10/10/2020
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¹ D. Gregory Sanford, "You Can't Get There From Here: The Presidential Boomlet for Governor George D. Aiken, 1937-1939," Vermont History, Vol. 49, No. 4 (Fall, 1981), p. 204.