Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham have become so protective of Mr. Donald Trump that they will do virtually anything to try to prevent special counsel Robert Mueller from getting to the bottom of what Russia did to interfere in our 2016 election and whether or not Mr. Trump and his campaign assisted them in doing it. Both of these senators are (were?) considered to be statesmen who have (had?) a reputation for putting country ahead of party and doing the right thing even if it goes against their party’s interest.
Senator Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, refused to release the transcripts from his committee’s interview of Mr. Glenn Simpson, the co-founder of Fusion GPS, although he had told his constituents that he saw no reason why he would vote against releasing them. We do not know for certain why he changed his mind but considering how protective he has been toward Mr. Trump makes one wonder whether his reason was nefarious.
The action that senators Grassley and Graham took subsequent to Senator Grassley’s refusal to release these transcripts is, at best, shameful. Instead of using the intelligence information that was provided to Fusion GPS by Mr. Steele, formerly of M.I. 6 – the British intelligence agency, to try to get to the bottom of whether or not Russia interfered in the 2016 election, they attacked Mr. Steele’s credibility and the dossier that he had given to Fusion GPS and recommended that the FBI conduct a criminal investigation against him! They are willing to ruin his life rather than allow any potentially damaging information on Mr. Trump to come to light. Mr. Steele has always been, and still remains, highly respected by US intelligence agencies.
It took the courage of Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to allow the American people to have access to these transcripts and decide for themselves whether or not what Mr. Steele reported is valid and does not warrant that he be subjected to a criminal investigation. No matter how patriotic Senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham might try to sound when going off course to investigate the dossier itself, who funded it and why while denigrating the FBI and supporting Mr. Trump in his attacks on America’s other intelligence agencies by using phrases like ‘rule of law’; savvy Americans know that although these phrases have real meaning they are also code words in dog-whistle politics for white supremacists and other hard right organizations.
In Mr. Trump’s latest embarrassment of America, during a meeting on immigration with six Republicans and one Democrat, he attacked immigrants from African countries and Haiti by labeling them as ‘shithole’ countries. Of course, Mr. Trump denied having made these comments but neither the White House nor senators who attended the meeting specifically denied these allegations. Instead, in order to remain on his good side and retain the opportunity to continue to kiss his ring whenever necessary, they came up with the following responses when asked by reporters whether or not he actually made the ‘shithole’ statement that he allegedly made. All of the listed responses are based on an article in the Washington Post by Anne Gearan and Ed O’Keefe dated January 12, 2018 entitled “Trump acknowledges ‘tough’ language but appears to deny ‘shithole’ remark.”
- Speaker Paul Ryan said “First thing that came to my mind was: Very unfortunate, unhelpful…”
- A joint statement from Senators Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) and David Perdue (R-Ga.) said “We do not recall the president saying these comments specifically but what he did call out was the imbalance in our current immigration system, which does not protect American workers and our national interest.”
- A comment from Senator Graham regarding Mr. Trump’s ‘shithole’ remark came from Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.). “…Senator Tim Scott told the Post & Courier newspaper that Gram told him that the reported comments are ‘basically accurate.'”
- Representative Steve King (R-Iowa) said “If those countries aren’t as you described, Democrats should be happy to deport criminal aliens back to them. &End #AnchorBabies, too.”
- This final response (#5), is my own and should not be credited to The Washington Post; and that is that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has not commented yet. He is in the underground mode of his Whack-A-Mole MO (method of operation). When he pops up, maybe reporters can get a drink with him and find out what he thinks about this whole Mr. Trump mess.
Karine Jean-Pierre said on the January 11, 2018 Lawrence O’Donnell show that “I feel like I’m everything that Donald Trump hates…” Those are this author’s sentiments exactly and I believe that there are many other people of color who feel the same way! The fact is that Mr. Trump and all of those Republican politicians (and anyone else in government) who have enabled him, whether or not they are continuing to do so, must be held to account! Let all of these folks know how you feel during the midterm elections and beyond via your vote! Mr. Trump is the head of America but he is not the king or despot of America! His position does not reign supreme despite what the rest of America wants for our country!
We must let Republicans in congress know that they cannot have it both ways. We must let them know that they were elected to serve America and not Mr. Trump and that they must choose which one it will be. If they choose to put Mr. Trump and party above country then they should and must be held to account. This is not a partisan issue. All Americans whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents should be concerned about what Mr. Trump is doing to America and those who disagree with what he is doing must work to put a stop to it immediately! We can do this by way of our vote. So always remember, whether you are a Democrat, Republican or Independent, your vote is the most important one of all…unless you don’t use it!
Eulus Dennis – author, Operation Rubik’s Cube and Living Between The Line