Another Line

Morning Dispatch

[Written in haste; please forgive typos, etc.]

A few weeks into the transition, after the shock and numbness had begun to wear off, the Nerd Avengers and I began to wonder what was going on with the Democrats. Joe Biden appeared adamantly unwilling to use the power the corrupt illegitimate super-majority of the Supreme Court had conferred upon him (albeit tangentially) and Kamala Harris had essentially disappeared. While Democrats in the Senate, who still held the majority, were getting judges confirmed, they weren’t doing anything else.

As the weeks wore on the number of days during which Democrats could actually do something dwindled the closer we got to the inauguration, the Nerds and I were mystified, and increasingly angered by the glaring leadership vacuum at the top of the Democratic Party, the Democrat’s seeming unwillingness to wield the power they still had, and their stubborn refusal to acknowledge the reality that a fascist was about to take up residence in the White House.

My friend and fellow Nerd Avenger, Norm Ornstein, was particularly prescient about his concerns. Why, he insisted, are the Democrats not holding hearings on the unqualified, extremist, and, in most cases, dangerous nominees to positions of incredible power, like Pete Hegseth, Tulsi Gabbard, Robert Kennedy, and Kash Patel? Where was the sense of urgency?

You could argue, I suppose, that holding such informational hearings (which had no real power to rescind said nominations) so far out from the actual confirmation hearings would have been an exercise in futility, but Norm and the rest of us believed that it would be an invaluable opportunity to for the Democrats 1) to demonstrate they understood the gravity of the situation, 2) were willing to engage in the messaging war (the only one they could fight and potentially win), and 3) alert the American people, vehemently and repeatedly just how grave the threat we were facing.

Nothing happened. The nominations came and went. We resigned ourselves to the reality that the only thing standing between us and a catastrophic blow to American democracy was Senate Republicans. Even they would understand how damaging it would be to this country’s safety, national security, and health to confirm these miscreants. Right?

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The first test was Pete Hegseth. The Republican-controlled Senate failed. Now we have a corrupt, ignorant, misogynist leading the Defense Department and overseeing 3.4 million people including 1.2 million active-duty service members.

Then Kristi Norm, puppy-murderer and racist, who, also without any relevant experience (this is a feature not a bug of these nominees almost across the board) was elevated to be Secretary of Homeland Security with the votes of six Democrats. This to the eternal shame of those Democrats who seem not understand want resistance means. It’s even worse, because their votes were gratuitous—the Republicans have a solid majority and do not need any Democratic votes.

Pam Bondi, nominated to head the DOJ, sailed through with only pseudo-Democrat John Fetterman defecting. Unlike many of the other nominees, Bondi is technically qualified—she was the attorney general of Florida—but she is also corrupt to the core and has been a long time ally and enabler of Donald’s.

On Day 1, Donald signed an executive order called “Ending the Weaponization of the Federal Government,” which directs the attorney general, in part, to look into any instances of “weaponization” federal law enforcement over the course of Biden’s term, which is merely code for dragging any prosecutors who were involved in Jack Smith’s well-founded and well-documented cases against Donald into investigations into their conduct.

Bondi enthusiastically took up this mandate and created a “working group” within the DOJ. But here’s what makes that even worse—the working group has to report to Nazi Stephen Miller, who is the White House deputy chief of staff for policy. He works for the executive branch and should have no contact with—and should not at all be coordinating with—the DOJ about anything. This is Nixon-level corruption on steroids, exponentially.

Which brings us to Tulsi Gabbard who, yesterday was confirmed to be Director of National Intelligence. The only Republican defector was Mitch McConnell. And good riddance to him. One of the most powerful people in the cabinet is a known Russian asset, a defender of the murderous dictator Bashar al-Assad, and enemy to our ally (?) Ukraine.

There are many reasons Gabbard is unfit, but they lead to one potentially catastrophic outcome—having her in such a sensitive position will give our allies pause. Why should they trust us if they cannot trust that we will use any intelligence they share in a way that does not undermine or harm them? What if they stop sharing intelligence at all?

These confirmations have already made the United States vulnerable in a way it has not ever been in modern times.

And just like that, virulent anti-vaxxer and literal psychopath Robert Kennedy has been confirmed as Secretary of Health Human Services where he will wreak absolute havoc on the health of all Americans, but especially our children.

A lot of people are going to die because of these people. We just don’t yet know how many.

I have no religion, but Thomas Nash’s “A Litany in a Time of Plague” keeps going through my head. I won’t post it here but you can find it at the link.