15 XI 2019: Trump may not be the worst of them

President Trump and his entourage are so scandalous that other political blaggards have been able to lurk in the shadows. But the current crisis has forced congressional Republicans out of the shadows and made it clear that there is a lot more wrong with our government than Mr. Trump. Of these congressmen, the naive and contemptuous make no attempt to conceal their contempt for truth and law. The cunning are careful to obscure their real motives and attitudes. But in a time of crisis like this the cunnings’ pretenses to statesmanship fall away and their guile and fundamental selfishness are made plain. They are driven not, as it might seem, by mindless partisanship, but by passionate self-interest. What we are now observing in the Republican congressional delegation is not so much politicians putting party before country as individual putting self before all else.