“They say ‘It’s not what you know; it’s who you know.’ I say ‘It’s not who you know; it’s what you’ve got on ‘em.’” – Lawrence Block
It was a foregone conclusion that every Senate Democrat would vote to convict President Trump of inciting the January 6 disturbance at the Capitol so inaccurately called an “insurrection.” The Democrat Party practices party discipline at a level that would intimidate a legion of dominatrices. There’s no “voting your conscience” among Democrats. Any Democrat who might dare to imagine that he could defy his party’s bosses would find himself the recipient of a very severe punishment – probably sufficient to remove him from his office at the next election, and possibly worse. What’s amazed many onlookers is the willingness of seven Republicans to vote against Trump, despite the utterly clear evidence that he was in no way responsible for the disturbance.
Those seven Republican Senators were:
- Richard Burr of North Carolina
- Susan Collins of Maine
- Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
- Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
- Mitt Romney of Utah
- Ben Sasse of Nebraska
- Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
A few of them were known denigrators of President Trump. Those might be expected to take a little vengeance against him for “invading their precinct:” i.e., getting elected to the presidency, an office every Senator imagines he’ll hold one day, as a complete political outsider. What about the others?
One explanation is a warped perception of events. That’s barely possible, given all the evidence available in Trump’s defense. While implausible, it might serve as a cover behind which to conceal other motives.
Another is a desire to cuddle up to the de facto Democrat majority (50 plus the vice-president). The principal attraction of politics is power over others, and power is difficult to exercise from a minority position. Remember the Jim Jeffords and Arlen Specter defections. They were not singular events destined to be historically unique.
The third explanation is the one I find most credible. It’s expressed by the Lawrence Block quote at the top of this piece.
The Deep State, including its investigative components in the Department of Justice and the intelligence agencies, is firmly aligned with the Democrats and the political Establishment generally. Deep Staters see their future as dependent on Establishmentarian control of the corridors of power…and they’re absolutely correct about that. Donald Trump threatened their “rice bowls” as did no other president of the century behind us. Thus they would naturally see it as in their interests to remove Trump from the White House, and to weaken any of his remaining political supports. If they could do so by suborning Senate Republicans, they would have no problem with it.
Commentators once trumpeted warningly about the ability of the FBI under Hoover, and the IRS under anyone, to amass compromising information about political figures. It’s been rumored for some time that President Richard Nixon made use of such information to secure his power. It’s certain – documented – that the Clintons did so, whether or not the FBI was actively engaged in their efforts.
So when we look to “our” representatives and see them behaving in ways contrary to their supposed convictions and their campaign promises, we are fully justified in wondering: What have the Democrats and the Deep State got on ‘em? Considering the river of money that flows through Congress, it’s a lead-pipe cinch that every member of Congress is tempted, at the very least, to dip a spoon into the stream. It would take quite a lot of strength of character to resist for one’s entire tenure in office…and strength of character is not commonly found in members of the political class in this Year of Our Lord 2021.
