califootman
califootman's JournalWhat will it take to get Republican Senators to convict?
I think it will take an act of God. Fortunately for us most of them worship the almighty dollar, so that may not be quite as difficult to arrange as calling lightning down from the heavens.
I think it will take a number of large corporations speaking out about their unwillingness to donate to politicians who fail to hold accountable those who attempted to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power. This would be similar to what several of them stated after some Senators and Representatives voted against certifying the election, but would have to be pre-emptive and probably a larger number of companies than that earlier case.
They wouldn't have to specify they want a vote to convict; perhaps something more along the lines of, "As with our decision not to donate to lawmakers who voted against certifying the 2020 election results, Company X continues to closely monitor the process of holding accountable those who attempted to interfere with the peaceful transfer of power in our national government, and will make contribution decisions taking into consideration lawmakers' record on this matter." I'm sure they have PR people who could phrase this much better.
Okay, so maybe lightning is the more likely occurrence.
First they made the Coast Guard work without pay
(With apologies to Niemoller and the many victims of the Holocaust... I realize this is an entirely different scale.)
First they made the Coast Guard work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because I do not live near the coast.
Then they made the TSA work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not flying any time soon.
Then they made the National Park Service work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because, hey... now I can get into Parks for free!
Then they made the IRS work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because I was not getting a refund.
Then they made the State Department work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because I do not have any dealings with foreign countries.
Then they made the Farm Service Agency work without pay, and I did not speak out—
Because I am not a farmer.
Then they made...
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My apologies also to the many other federal agencies working without pay that I have not listed above, but I'm hoping everyone see where this is going...
Why not open the "non-border security" departments?
As my wife and I are both DHS employees, I'm a little hesitant to bring this up, but...
Has anyone in the media asked the Senate Republicans why they can't fund and open the departments within the federal government that don't deal with border security? Border security is pretty much all in the Department of Homeland Security's wheelhouse, so shouldn't it be possible to fund the other departments (Interior, Commerce, Agriculture, State, Justice... maybe others) while still negotiating border security funding for DHS?
I believe the House has passed bills to fund some of these individual departments. If the Senate is not acting on them, can the Republicans say why they won't put those forward? (And if they say it is because the President would not sign them, the media should put that question to him, or his spokesliars.)
Frame this correctly: Trump is holding federal workers hostage.
Trump has essentially resorted to terrorism. He is currently holding 800,000 federal workers as economic hostages. That doesn't even factor in the damage to National Parks and other public lands, the economic toll on small businesses like restaurants and coffee shops that got much of their business from nearby federal workers, and the impacts of lost productivity at Federal agencies.
Democrats need to push that point. Emphasize that Democrats want to improve border security just as Trump and the Republicans want to improve border security. We are willing to negotiate how much to spend and how it should be spent to achieve improved border security. But we don't negotiate with terrorists. As long as the Trump admin holds federal workers as hostages, Democrats cannot in good conscience even begin to negotiate.
Democrats are willing to reopen the federal government immediately and then negotiate a solution on border security. Congressional Republicans can join them and end the hardships that federal workers and the entire country are experiencing, or they can be complicit with the Trump administration in this economic assault on the federal workforce.
A chilling thought...
Not that we need any more of them lately but it really scares me that Trump, who spent so much of the campaign projecting his own thoughts and faults on other people, yesterday accused two Senators of trying to start World War III.
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