I am sick.
My brother had strep over break and I assume I do. I’m probably running a fever and my thoughts are barely coherent to me. So let’s talk about Trump, because at this point all pundits' ramblings on the subject are delirious.
I’m going to be honest, I kind of thought that we’d be seeing a lot more pushback against a guy with three types of staffers and cabinet members — those under fire for lying before Congress or their ties to Russia, those who will be under fire for one of those things, and those who are too inept to warrant Russian attention or understand how “lying” works.
But we have nothing. Rep. Jason Chaffetz, the man ostensibly in charge of holding Trump accountable, has suggested more interest in investigating Obama based on a madman’s ravings about wiretaps in Trump Tower than looking into the attorney general’s lies to Congress.
So why is this the case? Given the massive protests against the administration every time the Alec Baldwin impersonator in the White House signs an executive order, you’d think Congress would be resisting, if only to save their own political careers.
As far as I can tell, it’s because Republicans are still in the Tea Party mindset of assuming the only real threat to them is from Colbert Report-style parodies of the GOP coming to life and mauling them in a primary challenge. In the meantime, general elections can be won by gerrymandering seats up so that most House races can be won by pointing at the black man in Washington and screaming something about Kenya and welfare queens.
If that’s still the case, they’re pretty safe. Trump has an approval rating around 45 percent, which means that a slight minority of Americans are looking at the situation in Washington, shrugging and saying that this is fine. Sure, the president has the vocabulary and temperament of a delinquent fourth grader, but at least we’re keeping the nation safe from food stamps.
The problem for congressional Republicans is that roughly an equal number of Americans think Trump should be impeached.
Maybe it’s impossible to lose the support of people who decided that the problem with Washington was a lack of overgrown oompa loompas. But when millions are losing Medicaid, the economy inevitably contracts and we get into a foolish trade war (or actual war) to sooth the president’s ego, the Republicans might be forced to remember what it’s like to be accountable to someone other than your own base.