Watching the world burn
“Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
J. Robert Oppenheimer invoked the line from the Bhagavad Gita in life and in film in reference to the towering pillar of fire he witnessed in exploding the world’s first atomic bomb. Donald “91 Counts” Trump is not literate enough to know the reference, but the 77-year-old toddler means to destroy ours if he does not get his way. With the country. With women. With his political adversaries. With Europe. With the itchy mind-worm of Daddy Fred’s judgment: Loser.
Republicans have ginned up public concern over the southern border into a major 2024 campaign issue. They hold President Joe Biden responsible for a supposedly “open” southern border while actively working — at Donald Trump’s behest — to prevent any congressional action to address border issues.
Military aid to Ukraine for repelling (Trump pal) Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invaders is tied up in a border security deal being negotiated in the Senate (and opposed by House Republicans). Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has “reluctantly agreed to tie” Ukraine and other foreign aid “to border security,” reports The Washington Post:
The border deal, which negotiators say may be released as soon as next week, is focused on making it harder for migrants to seek asylum, changes to the use of parole for migrants, and a mechanism to effectively close down the border on days when crossings were particularly high. The overall aid package requested by President Biden includes $106 billion in military assistance for Israel, Ukraine and Indo-Pacific nations as well as humanitarian aid and U.S. border funds.
But passage is entangled with Trump’s need for a campaign issue (NBC News):
Tempers flared Thursday as Republicans battled among themselves over whether to accept or reject a deal for tougher immigration laws, with some pushing back on colleagues who want to bow to former President Donald Trump’s wishes and kill it.
“The border is a very important issue for Donald Trump. And the fact that he would communicate to Republican senators and Congress people that he doesn’t want us to solve the border problem — because he wants to blame Biden for it — is really appalling,” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, told reporters.
“The American people are suffering as a result of what’s happening at the border,” he said. “And someone running for president ought to try and get the problem solved, as opposed to saying, ‘Hey, save that problem! Don’t solve it! Let me take credit for solving it later.’”
Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., urged his colleagues not to make it all about politics at the behest of another candidate.
“I didn’t come here to have the president as a boss or a candidate as a boss. I came here to pass good, solid policy,” Tillis said. “It is immoral for me to think you looked the other way because you think this is the linchpin for President Trump to win.”
Morality? This is Donald John Trump’s party we’re talking about. “Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent.”
Now, about blowing up things (CNN):
Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged in a private meeting on Wednesday that Trump’s animosity toward the yet-to-be-released border deal puts Republicans in a serious bind as they try to move forward on the already complex issue. For weeks, Republicans have been warning that Trump’s opposition could blow up the bipartisan proposal, but the admission from McConnell was particularly striking, given he has been a chief advocate for a border-Ukraine package.
U.S. failure to resupply Ukraine’s defense against Russia presents a serious threat to NATO (already on Trump’s shit-list) and to broader European security. Not that Trump cares about anything other than his personal fortunes and petty grievances.
“Do Republicans want to sponsor the 2024 equivalent of Saigon 1975?” the Wall Street Journal’s Editorial Board asks of Republican dithering on Ukraine aid.
Democrats have an opening here to further drive home Republicans’ fecklessness on national and international security policy and their obsequiousness to Trump. Dan Pfeiffer explains “the way Trump, McConnell, and the Republicans torpedoed this bipartisan deal is so ham-handed and patently cynical as to present Democrats with the chance to turn a weakness into a strength; and hopefully put Trump on the defensive on his top issue. “
Turd Blossom would do it in a skinny minute if he thought there was political advantage in it.
And Trump? If that joker cannot get his win, he’ll watch the world burn.