It Starts Anew
AJ Robinson

Well, it didn’t take long, did it? Joe Biden hasn’t sworn to the oath of office and the Republicans are already shifting back to their old ways. Where shall I begin?

Wow! Hey, boys and girls, can you spell hypocrisy?

One senator, I won’t dignify by mentioning his name, stood on the Senate floor, arrogantly. He said he was going to demand total transparency from all Biden appointees. Then we’d all see the 2020 US Presidential election was a hoax and T**** won.

Must I list all the ways in which the entire T**** Administration has been anything but transparent? I’ll just mention two words and leave it at that: Tax Returns. A couple of other senators chided Tanden, Biden’s pick to head the Office of Management and Budget, for an active Twitter account.

Again, wow! Again, is it necessary to aver the obvious? How often does T**** tweet? How many lies does he routinely spew? How many of his tweets has Twitter flagged or removed for exactly that reason? Now Republicans in Congress have the nerve to chide a Biden appointee for doing less than The Great Orange. How is that possible?

Well, it’s easy. First, the Republicans paid absolutely no price for their total devotion to T****, not a single drop of political capital. Not only did Mitch Moscow McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Susan Collins and all the rest easily win re-election, but the Republicans gained in the House. So, they have zero incentive to change their ways.

Second, no one is ever going to call them on their actions. Nobody in the media, at say a press conference, will ask Mitch, Susan or anyone else a tough question about their acts of hypocrisy. No newspapers will run stories or editorials about it and, most important, the voters will never press them on it or vote against them.

The debt and deficit will suddenly become important, again.

Sure, some reporters and pundits on various shows will ask, rhetorically, how the Republicans think they can get away with such acts and not pay a price or feel bad about violating their oath of office and maybe even the Constitution, but that’s as far as it’ll go. Why all these transgressions will take place, I have no clue, but they will and thus the Republicans can go back to their old ways. So, at 12:20 pm on 20 January 2021 you can expect the following.

The National Debt and the budget deficit will suddenly become critically important again. That means no big spending, taxes cuts are a must and programmes funding cut. Honesty and integrity, in the form of capitulation to the Republicans will called for from Biden, Kamala and their entire administration.

A single misstep, a word out of place in a sentence will be cause for multiple investigations or at the very least a public flogging by the entire Republican Party. If Biden dares to say a nasty word aimed at Fox News, a public figure or a rival politician he’ll railed on for months on end. Every aspect of his finances will be put under a microscope, his son will be called to testify before congressional hearings and, if he or any member of the administration refuses to answer a senate subpoena, they’ll be held in contempt of Congress.

Yes, the Republicans in Congress will suddenly find their spines. Oh, and once again, the media, the pundits and the voters will let them get away with all of this. In addition, if the Republicans win the two senate seats in Georgia, something I fully expect them to do, unfortunately, Mitch will block everything Biden wants to do and then the Republicans will blame Biden for all the troubles of the nation.

As always, the media, pundits and voters will let McConnell and the party get away with it and Biden and the Democrats won’t point out any of it. Why? Again, I don’t know I just don’t get it.

I sound rather the pessimist. Given the last few years of our nation, it’s kind of called for. Mitch has done almost nothing for the last twelve years and he’s rewarded for it.

I have zero expectations of Moscow Mitch changing his ways. Now, who knows, maybe Biden will call Mitch to the Oval Office and lay down the law to him saying, “Okay, Mitch, I know you have to save face with your constituents, so tell you what. I’ll let you blather on about all manner of my shortcomings, but we need to get some things done around here. You fight me on this or that and I’ll just appoint all my people as interim heads of their various departments. I’ll issue endless executive orders to get things done and every member of my administration will go on every news show to tell the American people that I’m doing this because you and your tribe is obstructionists.” I really don’t see this happening, but I can dream.

I do have one tiny ray of hope: 2022. I know that typically the party of the president loses seats in the follow-up election. One aspect of our current political milieu makes me hope for a different outcome.

Can hope become reality?

If, as I expect the Republicans win one or both of the Georgia senate seats and we get gridlock for two years, Biden could point that out to the voters and maybe, just maybe, the people will finally have enough and Go Blue. It’s a long shot, but given the challenging times ahead of us, the voters might just come through this time. We shall see if my hope shines through into reality.