The Kevin McCarthy agenda -- the agenda of the new House Republican majority -- is it all about going after Joe Biden and the Democrats?
Was it Andrew Jackson who first said, to the victor goes the spoils? Or did William L. Marcy beat him to it, with his exact words being, "To the victor belong the spoils of the enemy"?
Are the Republicans taking that credo to a whole new level and assuming their victory means they can toss their political opponents in jail? (And, if they can't send them to jail, do the nearest thing to it.) Will this mark a new level in the weaponization of a government body (in this case, the House of Representatives)?
Every election that comes along, it seems, is heralded as one of the most important in a long time. Well, this one, indeed, may end up being more of a turning point than we thought, more pivotal than most elections. It's not just that power switched from one party to another, it's that with that switch, the Republicans are using their power to not just go after Joe Biden, but to brand him as a criminal. Yes, if they could, they'd toss him in jail.
Just saying. Just looking at some of priorities McCarthy and the Republicans have set.
"One of our first hearings will be held at the Southern border," McCarthy said. President Biden's handling of the Mexican border has for some time been seen by many Republicans as cause to impeach him.
About as quick as McCarthy was elected speaker of the House, the Biden document affair unfolded. And, about as quick as news of Biden's handling of classified documents unfolded, McCarthy called for a congressional investigation. Would there be an investigation of Trump's handling of the Mar-a-Lago documents? McCarthy dodged the question. To the victor, goes the spoils. And, that includes the right to go after your political opponent while ignoring your own flaws. When McCarthy speaks of the weaponization of government, he should consider what he, himself, is doing.
Of interest -- much interest -- should McCarthy's willingness to push aside an investigation by the less-politically invested Department of Justice and replace it with his own "investigation." "We don't think there needs to be a special prosecutor, but I think Congress has a role," he said.
McCarthy said Biden, "utilized the Justice Department to raid President Trump." But, it is the Justice Department's charge to investigate such matters, not Congress's. One cannot escape the image of dictators gaining control in other countries by taking over the policing powers and then administering vendettas against the outgoing government.
Well, this election may prove to be more crucial than we might have thought, but it hangs on the coattails of another recent election. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016, he campaigned with a slogan of sending Hillary Clinton to jail. And, once elected, he sought to toss James Comey and others opposed to him in jail.
To the degree that the current Republican Party sticks to Trump, we can expect them to stick to his toss-the-enemy-in-jail tactics.
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