The Witness Chronicles, 3/4/25
The problem with the boys…
The Farce in the Republican House
Mike Johnson and the art of kissing ass
It’s two weeks before the government shuts down without a continuing resolution (a temporary fix) to keep it open. And the Republican House is ignoring reality and kowtowing to Trump in the face of yet another embrassing financial catastrophe.
Trump wants a ‘big beautiful bill’ that is really a wish list with no connection to reality. Raise the debt ceiling so he can pass another huge tax bill as a giveaway to the very wealthy, a giveaway that would cost us $4.5 trillion (with a T) over the next five years. This from the great government cost cutter.
It also calls for $880 billion in cuts without detailing where they come from, because it is very likely that they will target Medicaid, which affects one in five Americans. But they won’t talk about that. Actually Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security have long constituted the third rail of American politics and if these goons mess with them they will be in for a shock.
What they passed was essentially a memorandum of intent, not any actual budget work, because the devil’s in the details and they are not good at details. Details are the hard part because their fellow congresspeople will see exactly what gets chopped and they won’t be happy. In other words this big ‘victory’ is nothing more than an empty document passed to give Trump a pretend win. But the clock is ticking fast.
Multiple Democrats have said that maybe we should just let them fail and shut the government down, which would inevitably hit the GOP hard because they are theoretically in power. It’s false power because they need a lot of Democrats to cross over and vote with them and that is not happening, not this time.
Trump and Johnson are working under the delusion that they have a mandate and that this is what we the American people want, both fantasies, not reality. But Trump thinks he still has a reality distortion field but as he gets more and more deranged, and Elon Musk chops off more and more heads, the country is finally starting to realize how bad these people are.
Or are we? That’s the hundred trillion dollar question and the huge gamble they are taking with our democracy, just because they can. It was not broken, the economy under Biden was flourishing and in just 42 days we are facing an impending Trump Recession. And if the Democrats finally wake up they should branding it that. And hammering him with it over and over again.
A Trump Recession seems inevitable with tariffs starting this week. Prices will skyrocket as the cost of goods immediately goes up 10-20%. The country-wide uncertainty about Musk’s acts will freeze spending as people start to see government services and support become uncertain or outright canceled. Inflation is already moving up and Trump has abandoned any pretense of lowering prices. Cap this all off with a government shutdown and maybe, just maybe, Republicans will wake up and Democrats will finally show the strength they have.
Trump knows the value of power words, phrases that when repeated constantly take on a reality for many who start to believe they must be real. The prime example was the Trump campaign’s huge focus on trans issues, which are so minor that 99% of Americans have had no actual personal exposure to anyone trans.
Now the Democrats need to learn that lesson and start hitting Trump with phrases that clearly imply he is a loser and that his policies are losers. It’s pretty basic marketing, actually propaganda, and it works. We need to turn his own tactics back on him. Why this is not obvious to the Democrats is simply bewildering to this former marketing guy.
Despite the constant presence of Elon Musk, this is not rocket science. It’s as old as politics. Turn the message back on your opponent. And Trump is giving them boodles of ammunition. Guys, this is called a communications strategy and it appears we do not have one, which is criminal in its negligence on our side.
If we try to use logic, reason and decency with these people we will get laughed out of the room. Trump has a notoriously thin skin and 90% of Dems seem unwilling to take advantage of it. But the budget battle offers a second chance to rejoin the battle, possibly our only chance.
Personally I want to walk into the Democratic committee offices and shake them up and demand they go on the attack in a united effort. No one gets to go off message and we have to use every opportunity to get that message out. Keep it simple and emotional. Trump Recession works for me.
A guy like Mike Johnson has a major weakness. His evangelical background shows us a man who is desperate to believe and desperate to be manipulated, a needy and weak man who thinks he has power. But save the ridicule for Donald Trump because he can’t handle it.
Forget about the high road because these guys could care less. For them doing the right thing is a route for suckers. Until the Democratic Party and a handful of Republicans realize this, Trump, Vance, and Musk will keep winning. That is reality.
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Martin Edic