For lots of very good reasons, not the least of which is that he is—let us face it—an ignoramus, an awful lot of people find Donald Trump’s election to be simply unpalatable. Within this group are two distinct camps. There are the adults who will use checks and balances in the way they were intended. And then there are the Democrats, currently led by Tom Perez, former Obama Administration Labor Secretary.
Meet the New Chair of the DNC
Tom Perez, now Chairman of the DNC, gave a speech in Newark, NJ the other day in which he asserted among other things that (1) Donald Trump did not win the 2016 Presidential election, (2) the marches that followed i.e.—the “Resistance”—are far more important, and (3) “the GOP doesn’t give a shit about people”. Thus far no Democrats have come forward to disagree with Perez or at least give him a primer on how the Electoral College works.
Most amazing of all, the people who sponsored Perez’s speech seem to be quite pleased with themselves over the whole affair. They have proudly posted his performance on the Facebook page of NJ Working Families. The part of the video showing Perez’s rant, taken with a hand held camera, is about 24 minutes or so into the tape. It can be seen below.
The resistance is strong in New Jersey! Watch our live stream of the We Build the Resistance Rally with DNC Chair Tom Perez, DNC Deputy Chair Rep. Keith Ellison, New Jersey Democratic State Committee Chair John Currie, Rep, Donald M. Payne Jr., Newark City Mayor Ras J. Baraka, and CWA District 1 Director Hetty Rosenstein.
Posted by New Jersey Working Families Alliance on Friday, March 31, 2017
Susan Rice…Again
In the meantime, Susan Rice, who made her last appearance as the Obama Administration’s designated liar in the Benghazi Affair, is once again in the news. It turns out that she was the Obama Administration official who was responsible for requesting the “unmasking” of the identities of Trump associates whose communications were “incidentally” intercepted as a result of of NSA surveillance of foreign nationals. Whether the interceptions truly were “incidental” or a political bank shot remains to be seen.
Chuck Schumer as Otter
Not to be outdone, there is Chuck Schumer, who appears ready to filibuster the nomination of Gorsuch knowing full well there is virtually no chance it will succeed in derailing Gorsuch’s march to the Supreme Court. In this, his behavior is remarkably similar to Otter’s in that American classic, Animal House. When Otter realizes how dire their fraternity’s situation is, he demands one “futile and stupid gesture” of defiance.
Schumer’s gesture will however prompt Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to trigger the nuclear option on Supreme Court nominees, eliminating the de facto 60-vote requirement for confirmation. It will likely not apply to legislation.
But contrary to popular belief, the filibuster itself will not actually be eliminated. Any Senator will be able to take the floor and speak forever in order to delay a vote. This is actually a sensible result. The point of the filibuster was to force debate by allowing the minority to make its case. It was not supposed to be a way to create a requirement for a super-majority that was not already required by the Constitution. And as for Senator Schumer’s insistence that there really is a 60-vote tradition for confirming Supreme Court justices, there is the fact that Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito were confirmed with 52 and 58 votes respectively.
Schumer, who graduated from Harvard Law School, argues that Gorsuch is “out of the mainstream” because he allegedly has a history of siding with powerful corporations rather than “the little guy”. It does make you wonder though which of Schumer’s law school professors taught him that judges were supposed to look at the litigants respective balance sheets before deciding a case.
Leaving that aside, since Schumer is so enamored of “the mainstream” it does raise the interesting question of what the Senator from New York thinks the mainstream represents. And now we have a hint, brought to us by none other than Tom Perez, the Chairman of the Democratic Party’s organizational arm. Senator Schumer, who has yet to dispute Perez’s rather bizarre claims, apparently thinks that the mainstream doesn’t know who won the 2016 Presidential election and prefers mob rule to elections.
Thankfully, it is hard to imagine we have driven so far off the rails that anyone serious takes these people seriously.
JFB
