More recent headlines.
CNN, 3 Sep 2022: Donald Trump has repeatedly called for lengthy jail sentences for those who he claimed mishandled classified information
“On political corruption, we are going to restore honor to our government, ” Trump said in August 2016. “In my administration, I’m going to enforce all laws concerning the protection of classified information. No one will be above the law.”
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Speaking in July of that year, Trump said Clinton’s mishandling “disqualifies” her from public service.
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NY Times, Jamelle Bouie, 3 Sep 2022: Republicans Are Showing Contempt for the Rules
There are almost always new examples of Republican politicians rejecting any result or rule that doesn’t favor their interests, and this week we have two.
He discusses how Republicans in Michigan kept an abortion-rights amendment off the November ballot because of “less than optimal spacing between the words on the petition,” whereas “Had this been an amendment to ban abortion, there is no question that Republican officials would have allowed it on the ballot.” And their complaints about the voting system in Alaska (which I discussed yesterday) because Sarah Palin didn’t win.
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Another example:
Washington Post, Dana Milbank, 30 Aug 2022: Trump wants to be treated like Hillary Clinton? By all means.
Condensing greatly, matching investigations into Clinton point by point:
- The FBI should undertake a sprawling, multiyear investigation into Trump’s conduct … while he runs for president in 2024. …
- After Trump secures the GOP nomination, the head of the FBI should break with long-standing Justice Department protocols and publicly announce that while he doesn’t recommend prosecuting Trump, Trump was “extremely careless” with classified information. …
- 13 days before the 2024 election, a top official with the Democratic nominee’s campaign should announce that he has heard via leaks by “active” FBI agents of a coming “surprise” related to the Trump investigation.
- Eleven days before the election…
- Two days before the election…
That is precisely what happened to Clinton in 2016. And Trump wants to be held to the same standard? Well, fair is fair.
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NY Times, 2 Sep 2022 (on today’s front page): Parties’ Divergent Realities Challenge Biden’s Defense of Democracy
Because Republicans/conservatives have one set of rules for their enemies, different rules for themselves.
The Republicans’ reaction to Mr. Biden’s speech was remarkable. For years, they stood quietly by as Mr. Trump vilified and demonized anyone who disagreed with him — encouraging supporters to beat up protesters; demanding that his rivals be arrested; accusing critics of treason and even murder; calling opponents “fascists”; and retweeting a supporter saying “the only good Democrat is a dead Democrat.” But they rose up as one on Thursday night and Friday to complain that Mr. Biden was the one being divisive.
“It’s unthinkable that a president would speak about half of Americans that way,” said Nikki Haley, who was Mr. Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations. “Leaders protect the Constitution,” added Mike Pompeo, who was Mr. Trump’s secretary of state. “They don’t declare half of America to be enemies of the state like Joe Biden did last night.”
The hypocrisy here should not be difficult to detect.
The question is, what are the complaints Republicans/conservatives have about their opponents that merit this kind of “both-side-ism” (a topic covered a day or two ago here) coverage? In fact, the article soon admits,
When it comes to democracy in America, there is no real equivalence, of course. The elder Mr. Trump sought to use the power of his office to overturn a democratic election, pressuring state and local officials, the Justice Department, members of Congress and his own vice president to disregard the will of the people to keep him in office. When that did not work, he riled up a crowd that stormed the Capitol, disrupting the counting of Electoral College votes and threatening to execute those standing in Mr. Trump’s way.
A bit farther down, we get this:
“There is a real difference in how the parties define democracy,” said Nicole Hemmer, a historian at Vanderbilt University and author of “Partisans,” a newly published history of the rise of conservative movement figures in the 1990s and their transformation of American politics.
“The Republican Party at the moment subscribes to a much narrower definition, as is evident in their support for everything from voter suppression to extensive gerrymandering to the right of Republican officials to overturn voter preferences in the certification process,” she added. “The Democratic Party favors not only a more inclusive voting system but more robust systems to support majoritarian politics.”
OK, the Democrats are inclusive, the Republicans exclusive. We knew this. And this is an academic generalization. Where are the specific awful things Democrats are doing that begin to compare to what the Trump and MAGA Republicans are doing? Nothing here.
