Anchor Struck

In 1968 I was a casualty clerk in the Marines on the USS Princeton off the coast of Vietnam. Periodically, the other two clerks and I would crumple up classified documents into grocery sacks and take them to the ship’s furnace to burn. It was huge, circular with many doors, and beastly hot. After all the bags were there, one of us stayed to throw them in, then drag himself to his bunk to dream of beef jerky. As an agnostic, I didn’t consider it a glimpse of Hell; but I’m counting it as a peek into the Abyss.

Point being: the government takes classified material very seriously. However the Trump and Biden carelessness with it plays out, I hope justice is fair and swift. The GOPers are gleefully playing with fire again, pointing out the similarities; but I think they’re going to run out of road as the differences come more into focus.

Based on the first two weeks, 2023 could be the most politically volatile year in the U.S. since 1776. We’re still learning of the mammoth concessions Kevin McCarthy had to promise to land the Speakership. Curiously, one of them made it easier for the House to oust the Speaker. Given the hubris Matt Gaetz and Marjorie Taylor Greene have already displayed, it might be best that we keep them in plain sight. They both come from 75% white districts, so they can safely spout their shit and be re-elected. But I’d be surprised if they can rise above that. That’s the Louie Gohmert track.

You remember Louie, eh? He’s the Texas member of the House who talked of terror babies, compared Obama to Hitler, wanted to impeach Biden and proposed changing Cesar Chavez Day to Border Protection Day. Lincoln Project founder Steve Schmidt called him “America’s craziest and dumbest congressman.” Tragically, Louie did not get re-elected, so he will have to give up the crown, maybe to Gaetz.

The Dems would be smart to tend their own garden and let the Repubs self-immolate. They’ve already forgotten the political price they paid when Aging Orange shut down the government in 2018. If the GOP can’t learn from the results of the last three elections, they deserve the dustbin of history