Can Jeff Flake really be this naive?

Outgoing senator Jeff Flake of Arizona has expressed bewilderment: that his Republican colleagues are not moving with more dispatch to protect Bob Mueller's investigation.

 “How in the world my colleagues don’t see this as a priority now I just don’t understand,” Flake said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

I find it hard to believe that Jeff Flake could really be that naive, but I have an equally hard time coming up with any more plausible explanation for that statement.  Let me esplain it to you, senator: the Republican party in in thrall to Donald Trump.  He has enough power to pose a credible threat to any Republican who opposes him, and no compunctions about using that power to advance his agenda even if it means trampling over every political and social norm this country has ever prided itself on having, even if it means destroying American democracy itself.  At the top of Trump's agenda is protecting himself and his family from the prying eyes of law enforcement because that would bring down the house of cards.  So the Mueller investigation must be stopped by any means necessary.  Any Republican who actively stands in the way of that stands a very good chance of having their career destroyed.  Hence, standing up to Trump requires courage.  It requires patriotism.  It requires someone who puts their country above their party and above their career.  People with such qualities are extinct in the Republican party.  And so, apparently, are people who understand reality, because Jeff Flake manifestly does not.

Lock her up!

From the Washington post comes the news that Ivanka Trump used a personal email account to send hundreds of emails about government business last year.  So, do you think that Donald Trump is going to call for Ivanka's prosecution and imprisonment?  I'll give you long odds against.

God doesn't have very good aim

I would not have thought it possible in light of recent events, but Republicans continue to plumb new depths of ignorance and stupidity.  An Ohio Republican party chairman has opined that the Camp Fire, the deadliest and most destructive fire in California history, was "God’s punishment to liberal California".  If that's true, then God needs to update his database: the Camp fire is in California's first congressional district, which is overwhelmingly Republican.  Its congressman is a Republican, elected by a 12-point margin.  It voted for Donald Trump by an overwhelming 20 point margin.  You would be hard pressed to find a more conservative district outside of the deep south.

Without Evidence

It is an illuminating exercise to go to Google News and do a search for the phrase "without evidence" Here are the top ten results as of 5:30PM PST:

Republicans claim, without evidence, Florida seats being stolen as top Democrat pushes back

Key Races Still Undecided; Trump Calls Fraud Without Evidence

Without evidence, Trump and Sessions warn of voter fraud in Tuesday's elections

Trump, Without Evidence, Alleges ‘Electoral Corruption’ in Arizona Race

Lawsuit says without evidence new lawmaker isn’t a citizen

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona woman elected to the state Legislature is facing a lawsuit from an anti-immigrant activist who accuses her of living in the country illegally and, as a result, being unqualified for public office.  The lawsuit makes the accusation against Raquel Teran, a Phoenix Democrat, without evidence.

Without evidence, Trump calls Florida Democrat a ‘thief’

Without evidence or explanation, Trump accuses CNN of airing polls meant to suppress the vote

Trump calls Gillum a 'thief' without evidence. What's the federal investigation all about?

Georgia gubernatorial candidate accuses Democratic opponent of hacking, without evidence

Trump declares without evidence that 'Criminals and unknown Middle Easterners are mixed in' with migrant caravan making its way from Honduras

Notice any trends there?

If a member of your own party calls you a "racist pig", maybe you actually are a racist pig

From Newsweek:

During a discussion with host Chris Cuomo on Sunday, Republican political commentator Ana Navarro branded Trump “racist” in a debate with fellow commentator Steve Cortes, who supports the president. 

Navarro served as a strategist for former Republican Governor Jeb Bush of Florida and the late Republican Senator John McCain but has said she will vote for a Democrat for the first time this year in her state of Florida's gubernatorial race. She said Democratic candidate Andrew Gillum ran a positive campaign compared with the GOP’s “campaign run on fear-mongering, division, hostility, gloom and doom.” 

... 

“Well, I think he’s racist. He called Mexicans criminals and rapists. He called El Salvador and Haiti shitholes. Sign me up in the category of the people who think he’s racist. He has said so many racist things,” Navarro said. 

Cortes countered by saying: “You call him a racist when you don’t want to talk about policy.” 

“He is a racist pig!” Navarro shouted before Cuomo brought the segment to a close.

(Emphasis added.)

The idea that Donald Trump isn't really a racist is about as tenable as the idea that the Civil War was not fought over slavery.  It was.  And he is.

So tomorrow we in the U.S. are faced with a very stark choice: vote for Republicans, who will continue to enable this president and embolden him to become even more extreme in his rhetoric.  Vote for Republicans who will continue to practice racial gerrymandering and suppress minority votes in any way they can,  Vote for Republicans who view the rise of domestic terrorism not in terms of lives lost but in terms of political setbacks for themselves.

Or you can vote for Democrats who might, maybe, start to steer us away from this dark place towards which we are currently barreling at full speed.

If you are an American voter, this is the choice you are faced with completely independent of any question of policy.  It's a sad pass we have come to that after 242 years we still can't agree that a person ought not to be judged by the color of their skin.  And yet, here we are.

Think about which side of that historical question you want to be on when you vote tomorrow.