Thread by @fenrir_71

<thread from hell>

I caught this @jonathanchait piece this morning, and it really lays bare some truths about the repubs that should constantly be part of the conversation.

Take a dive with me?

1/
nymag.com/intelligencer/…

@MickMulvaneyOMB (afraid of that CoS moniker Micky?) was asked by Chris Wallace on Sunday, his thoughts on congressional oversight into the trump administration, given his role in House oversight during the Obama administration.

He answered thusly:
2/

That's a STUNNING admission from a public servant.

"Meh, we were just there to fuck with Obama," really isn't a governing strategy. And quite frankly, it's anti-democratic.

But this was a FEATURE not a bug.

@johnboenher admitted as much in 2015:
3/
nbcnews.com/politics/polit…

And lest we think The People's House was the only place that the people's WILL took a back seat to #PartyBeforeCountry, @senatemajldr McConnell became the uncontested all time champion of Senate obstructionism.

Least. Productive. Congress. EVER.
4/
theatlantic.com/magazine/archi…

Nobody will ever forget your words Mitch, you've nailed your sign on the wall of history, and besmirched your name for all time.

For who can forget this @senatemajldr?

“The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term president.”
5/

But I digress.

We were talking about oversight, something the repubs had a love affair with during the Obama administration.

Darrell Issa said this TWO DAYS after the Tea Party wave of 2010:

“I want seven hearings a week, times 40 weeks..."
6/
politico.com/story/2010/11/…

And Issa did it too. Not as much as he wanted, maybe that was a bit TOO obvious, but the repubs investigated the IRS, The DOJ, The DOI, The Dept. of State, etc.

Of course @MarkMeadows, @MickMulvaneyOMB & @kevinomccarthy were all intimately involved.
7/
npr.org/2018/01/11/577…

Hell, @jasoninthehouse was planning investigations into @HillaryClinton before the 2016 election WAS EVEN OVER.
8/
washingtonpost.com/politics/house…

Rightfully so, Chait goes on to point out that suddenly, deficits just don't seem to matter anymore to @MickMulvaneyOMB, who rode into Congress on the anti-deficit Tea Party wave.

“When asked if the deficit will be mentioned in SOTU speech...Mulvaney said 'nobody cares,'"
9/

It bears repeating that @MickMulvaneyOMB was not only willing, but EAGER to shut the gov't down over deficits in 2011.

Remember: "We're just here to fuck with Obama."

Because screw the people.

#PartyBeforeCountry
10/
c-span.org/video/?298886-…

But that's all of a pattern of behavior for the repubs. @newtgingrich TWICE triggered a shutdown over his "passion" to cut US deficits and debt.

(ProTip: #GingrichWasLying)
11/
history.com/news/bill-clin…

Kinda funny how as soon as a Republican was in the White House again, Dick Cheney suddenly didn't care about deficits either isn't it?

"You know...Reagan proved deficits don't matter." - Dick Cheney

Here we see the pattern of hypocrisy.
12/
chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-20…

This behavior is the #GreatHypocrisy of what the @GOP SAY they stand for and what they ACTUALLY stand for (i.e. the rule of law & fiscal responsibility), depending on who's in the White House:

#PartyBeforeCountry
#PartyOfLies
13/

Just in case you think Chait's phrase "wild crime sprees" is a little too harsh, I present to you a handy thread I made last year that backs that claim up.

It's a fact that goes WAY back.

#PartyOfCorruption
14/

https://twitter.com/fenrir_71/status/1019159643686342656?s=19

This has GOT TO END folks. The @GOP doesn't CARE about governing, they only care about more power for themselves and their rich donors, legal or not.

I'd posit their very political philosophy has become anti-democratic, as George Packer points out:
15/
theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/…

The only solution left to us is to CONSTANTLY fight to keep them from power. Use your voice and importantly your TIME to ensure they are soundly defeated at the ballot box EVERY ELECTION until they fix themselves, or fade away.

Democracy depends on it.
16/

And finally, if you liked this thread, I'd like to offer to you @conormahood's and my podcast The Watcher.

We put current events into historical context like this in every episode because knowledge is the TRUE power in a democracy.

(Castbox for android)

itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/the…