It started with lead impeachment
manager Adam Schiff fearfully speculating that, if the Senate didn’t convict
President Trump on the two articles of impeachment, he might up and give Alaska to the
Russians. Yes, Adam, that’s precisely what a proud “America First” nationalist
would do, isn’t it? I bet he might give back the Louisiana Purchase, as well. (Weren’t
you clowns just mocking him for musing about buying Greenland?)
And then came the Iowa caucus
debacle. Though the evening grew long, the results did not. In fact, there were
none. Vote totals weren’t released to the public due to unexplained
“inconsistencies.” Precinct chairs were unable to connect with party leaders,
the state party hung up on a phone call with at least one candidate’s campaign.
Sean Bagniewski, Democratic Party chairman of Polk County, Iowa’s most
populous, said of the state party in the wee hours of Tuesday morning, “I don’t
even know if they know what they don’t know.” Much of the blame was placed on a
new mobile reporting app that was developed by Hillary Clinton operatives and
apparently financed in part by Pete Buttigieg, who, oddly enough now appears to
have won. Many placed the blame at the feet of Tom Perez, Chair of the
Democratic National Committee, who they claim didn’t provide much oversight of
the Iowa caucuses.
Derek Eadon, a former Iowa
Democratic chairman, characterized the events as “A systemwide disaster.” Adding fuel to the fire, reports indicate that Iowa
Democrats refused an offer
from the Department of Homeland Security to vet the new app prior to the
election. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf said on Fox &
Friends that no one hacked into the app, it was “more of a stress or a load
issue, as well as a reporting issue.” He added, “Given the amount of scrutiny
that we have on election security these days, this is a concerning event, and
it really goes to the public confidence of our elections.”
Yet, all of this couldn’t explain
why the state party still hadn’t released any results, even from the
precincts that had successfully filed their results, as of late Monday
night, February 3rd, the day of the election. The party cryptically
noted that it was performing “quality control” efforts.
None of the chaos and uncertainty
prevented candidates from claiming early victory, however. Sen. Bernie Sanders
campaign released what it claimed were very positive partial results. Sen. Amy
Klobuchar was fairly giddy with what her campaign deemed early returns to be. And
Mayor Pete Buttigieg essentially did claim victory, almost as if he had inside
knowledge of the proceedings.
Moreover, despite their man’s relatively
strong showing, Bernie’s Base is irate. They believe their hero is already
being shafted again, after being the victim of devious machinations by the
Hillary-besotted DNC in 2016. They see Perez’ efforts, or lack thereof, to
ensure a fair contest-- along with the Hillary Clinton supporter developed and
Pete Buttigieg financed app-- as ample evidence of establishment Democrats’
continuing malfeasance.
As if this were not enough, it was
then announced that the two top officials of Milwaukee’s Host Committee for the
2020 Democratic National Convention this July have been placed on
administrative leave due to allegations that they have created a toxic work culture. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel obtained a letter
from the committee’s board to staff members, stating that it had retained an
attorney to investigate concerns about the work environment. The letter says
that Host Committee President Liz Gilbert and Chief of Staff Adam Alonso have
been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the probe. Since the
committee is responsible for raising the $70 million needed to stage the event
and for recruiting the nearly 15,000 volunteers needed to staff it, this is an
unwelcome development indeed. (The chief executive of the Democratic National
Convention Committee, Joe Solmonese, subsequently issued a statement
acknowledging the seriousness of the allegations.) Somewhat humorously at this
point, the board’s letter averred: “We are committed to an inclusive,
non-discriminatory, and supportive environment at the host committee and we
will work to ensure that all employees live up to these ideals.” (Ask Bernie
Sanders how committed the Democratic National Committee is to inclusive,
non-discriminatory, supportive environments.)
Then, on Tuesday, a new Gallup poll
was released showing that President Trump’s approval rating is now the highest
to date. Perhaps even worse than all of this, on Tuesday night Speaker
of the House Nancy Pelosi tore up a copy of President Trump’s State of the
Union speech immediately upon its conclusion, in the process tearing up
Congressional tradition and etiquette and callously disrespecting the various
heroes to whom the president had paid tribute just minutes earlier. This did
not play well with independents, and even some Democrats.
The next day President Trump was
acquitted by the Senate, effectively rendering moot the Democrats three-year
assault on the nearly 63 million Americans who voted for him.
And then, on Thursday, with 100%
of the precincts reporting, there was still no announced winner of
the aforementioned Iowa caucuses, due to “irregularities” and
“inconsistencies.” This prompted Tom Perez, the downtrodden Democratic National
Committee Chairman, to demand that the Iowa Democratic Party immediately begin
a “recanvass” in order to “assure public confidence in the results.” An openly frustrated Perez tweeted, “Enough
is enough.”
Many of us have been saying that
about the Democratic Party for some time now.
Perhaps things will go better for
them this week. They could hardly go worse.
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