Subscribe to the IHARE Blog

Freedom Caucus

Who Would You Cast as Cassidy Hutchinson?

December 23, 2022
by Peter Feinman
Alexander Butterfield testifying at Watergate (PBS)

On Thursday, December 22, 2022, at 9:42 PM ET, I issued the blog 2023: The Year of Indictments. The opening line was:

What a week and it is not even over.

The closing was:

And there is more to come.

About ten minutes later, the Trump hit the fan with the release of the 845-page of the House Select Committee. That action has made it very difficult to keep up in my blogs with the historic news of the visit of Zelenskyy and the disclosure of the former President’s tax returns. While a newspaper can cover multiple stories on one day, for a blogger this means catch-up. But by the time you catch-up, it’s on to the next big story.

Be that as it may, there are several big takeaways from the House Select Committee that may be overlooked in the haste to read the report while being interviewed live on a cable talk show.

DIRECT HIT TO THE FREEDOM CAUCUS

For weeks if not months we have been hearing about the slew of investigations the Freedom Caucus will conduct once it is part of the majority party in the House of Representatives. Clear your calendar and save your paper has been the mantra. Prepare for shock and awe or a blitzkrieg or whatever metaphor you wish to use.

The House Select Committee report is game changer for such efforts. Bluntly put, the Freedom Caucus us out of its league if it attempts to produce anything even roughly comparable as a media presentation or in print to what the House Select Committee has done. That Committee has raised the bar for what committees should produce.

Remember after January 6 when Jim Jordan was asked about his telephone calls to the President of the United States? His answers made him a laughing stock. Now that same person will be in charge of investigating the number one issue in the United States today – the laptop of Hunter Biden. Democrats would be wise simply to stand back and let the Freedom Caucus make a spectacle of itself. John Durham spent over $6 million for what? We could use some comic relief from Congress and the Freedom Caucus is poised to provide it.

If you have any doubts, considered the report just issued by Republicans on the breakdown in security on January 6 due to Nancy Pelosi. They have yet to explain why tourists engaged in legitimate political discourse would even generate special security. What would warrant anything unusual being done if patriotic Americans were touring the Capitol? Oh! Of course. They were Antifa and FBI plants in a false flag operation, all 900 of them. The inability of freedom Caucus to think things through guarantees anything it produces will be a joke especially in comparison to what the House Select Committee did. The Freedom Caucus should stick to short sound bites on Foxhub rather than try to emulate what they lack the mental necessities to produce.

In the meantime, there investigations will serve to trash the Republican brand for the upcoming election.

WITNESS TAMPERING   

In the blog yesterday, I reviewed the various indictments expected in 2023. Here is what I wrote about witness tampering:

Witness tampering is hard to prove so let us wait and see what else is in the transcripts or what the DOJ uncovers.

Ten minutes later, the House Select Committee dropped a bombshell on witness tampering. Cassidy Hutchinson detailed the efforts by Stefan Passsantino, a Trump-affiliated lawyer to ensure her testimony would not be critical of the former President. Hutchinson described the personal ordeal she experienced as she confronted the reality she would not be able to look herself in the mirror if she complied with the instructions from the free lawyer with whom she never entered a service agreement and whose source of funding remains unknown. These scenes in the movie and/or TV series will be the ones actresses will be clamoring to portray.

In the midst of this anguish, an important thought came to her. She might not be the first person in American history to have undergone such an experience. So she turned to that great fount of corruption in American Presidential politics, Watergate. There she found the comfort and solace she needed in the person of Alexander Butterfield, a White House aide during Watergate. He is not as well known today as the Howard Baker moment, but he was the one who testified to the   Senate Watergate Committee that President Richard Nixon had a taping system in place in the Oval Office. With that revelation soon it was the missing 18 minutes and soon afterwards the Nixon resignation. It was striking on Thursday night after my blog had been sent to then see Butterfield on tape testifying to the Senate and then conversing on-line with Laurence O’Donnell. I confess I would not have recognized him 50 years apart.

This situation between Hutchinson and Passsantino reminded me a little of a #MeToo scenario. Here the older male was dangling job and financial security if only the younger woman would play ball. True there was no sex involved but one should underestimate the power differential and how difficult it was for her to wrench herself free of the Trump grasp.

Yesterday I wrote about the alternate elector scam precisely targeting the battleground states a candidate needed to win in 2024. I suggested that the media coverage of the scandal will tarnish the Republican image throughout the year. Now we see the white suburban college educated women will receive the same treatment in the Cassidy Hutchinson situation and be repelled but how she was treated … or do you think they will identify with Stefan Passantino? It is as if Trump is a one-man wrecking ball against the very audiences the Republicans seek to win over.

As for Passantino, he has taken a leave of absence. For inspiration, he does not need to go back 50 years. He should be on the phone with Michael Cohen, an earlier fixer. This is Passantino’s “come to Jesus” “look in the mirror” moment that will shape the rest of his life. Who was paying him? Was he in direct contact with Mark Meadows, Donald Trump, or both? Are there other people he was “counseling”? Will Cassidy Hutchinson revelations cause other witnesses to step forward in a cascading effect? Passantino does not have much time to decide what he wants to do now that he is in the crosshairs.

“as a city upon a hill, the eyes of all people are upon us”

 On a recent talk show, the question was asked what does the world think of us as we work our through legal actions against a former President. The question called to mind the words of John Winthrop on the Arabella as it prepared to sail for the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1630. Centuries later those words directly or in paraphrase became part of American mythology as an expression of America’s destiny in the world.

This past week we have had two shining examples that illustrate the indispensable position of the United States of America as the leader of the world in the quest for democracy and freedom. By no means does it mean the United States has always lived up to the ideals embedded within that phrase. Certainly the Woke have carved out a niche for themselves in their constant belittling of everything the United States has done. And the MAGAs with their voter suppression and support for the insurrection have n acquitted themselves well as false patriots.

Still, in the real world in which we live, there is no substitute for American leadership. Zelenskyy made that point quite clear although he did not use this phrase. The party of Reagan who used it against the Soviet Union has abandoned it. But in the span of a few brief days we had the opportunity to glimpse what is exceptional about this country, that we can stand up for freedom as Ukraine battles against Putin and his genocide, that we can hold people in power accountable. Both efforts remain precarious and subject to reversal.

But the visit of Zelenskyy to the chamber of the House of Representatives and the investigation of the President who assaulted that very chamber rather than accept a peaceful transfer of power after he had lost show that the vision is not mere words. Now that the winter solstice has passed and Christmas is upon us, we should rejoice that we still are a city on a hill, the eyes of the world are still upon us, and they still light our way to a better to tomorrow.

How Nancy Pelosi Helped Elect Donald Trump: A Tale of Two Women

January 7, 2019
by Peter Feinman
Nancy Pelosi, August 18, 2011 (https://www.realclearpolitics.com)

Several years ago, Rachel Maddow, MSNBC, devoted the opening segment of her show to government shutdowns. She was interested to know why the federal government always seemed to be shut down, on the verge of a shutdown, or threatened with a shutdown. She traced the cause to a group of RHINO Representatives then called “Tea Party” and now called “Freedom Caucus.”

Her examination led her to the conclusion that these representatives came from districts where they did not have to worry about Democratic candidates. I do not recall if she used the word “gerrymander” in her analysis, but what she did was to compare the state vote totals for Representatives with the actual allocation of Representatives for the state. As best I can recall she used the three states of Michigan, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania for her data set. What she found in each case was that the number of Republicans elected was disproportionately higher than the statewide Republican vote. The result was the proliferation of these RHINOs who were rambunctious, disruptive, and uppity leading to government shutdowns.

Her analysis stopped there. Let’s examine what she omitted.

WHY DOES THE MORE REPUBLICAN A DISTRICT IS MEAN THE LESS THE REPRESENTATIVE ADMIRES LINCOLN?

Just because a district is primarily Republican in its demographics should not necessarily mean its representatives are people of malice who despise or do not admire Abraham Lincoln. How come the first Republican President and Mount Rushmore President is not a hero to the RHINOs from Republican districts? What about Teddy Roosevelt? What about Dwight D. Eisenhower? What about Ronald Reagan? Nancy Pelosi on the floor of the House recently quoted Reagan on immigration to deafening silence from Republicans. She demonstrated that Republicans have abandoned not just Lincoln but Reagan, too. After all, a Republican who could win in California is of no interest to Republicans today.

WHY ISN’T THE CONGRESSIONAL BLACK CAUCUS UPPITY?

The Congressional Black Caucus is about equal in size to the RHINO Freedom Caucus. To the best of my knowledge, its members never worry about Republican Party opposition candidates. Their seats are as safe and secure as those of the RHINO Freedom Caucus. Members can hold them for decades and sometimes even bequeath them as a legacy. Maxine Waters may be colorful may she is not uppity like the RHINO Freedom Caucus. The Congressional Black Caucus is not in the business of shutting down the government even though it is just as well positioned numerically to do so as the RHINO Freedom Caucus.

WHAT ABOUT THE WHITE URBAN LIBERALS LIKE NANCY PELOSI?

Another group of elected representatives who never have to worry about opposition candidates are the urban white liberals like Nancy Pelosi herself. I am not familiar enough with Congressional politics to know how such representatives there are. Regardless of the exact number, one presumes there are enough of them from the major cities of the country to be a formidable presence. For example, my own suburban New York district is represented by Nita Lowey who has been in Congress forever, had no opponent in the 2018 election, and now through seniority and the Democratic takeover holds a powerful committee position in the new Congress. She is not uppity nor are her fellow white urban liberals.

2010 Elections

Maddow’s analysis was incomplete. It failed to show why this particular group of Representatives who do not have to worry about opposition candidates acts in a way entirely inconsistent with the way other similar groups of Representatives behave. Nor did it address the diminished status of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Reagan in the Republican Party. Nor did address how it came to be that Republicans were in position after the 2010 census to draw such gerrymandered districts so that they could elect Congressional (and state) representatives far in excess of popular vote count.

The missing piece from her analysis was the impact of the 2010 elections, a wave election that substantially benefited the Republican Party. This redistricting did not happen in a vacuum. It occurred in response to other events. Yes, there had been problems with the economy. Yes, America had elected its first bi-racial President. And then there was healthcare.

Remember Nancy Pelosi and the passage of a healthcare? Now that she has returned for second stint as Speaker of House, her accomplishments the first time around are being touted. Foremost among her achievements as a great Speaker is the passage of healthcare legislation. When confronted with Republican obstacles to its passage, she adamantly declared almost eight years ago:

We’ll go through the gate. If the gate’s closed, we’ll go over the fence. If the fence is too high, we’ll pole vault in. If that doesn’t work, we’ll parachute in but we’re going to get health care reform passed for the America people.

Like Churchill voicing the indomitable British will to never surrender, Pelosi exclaimed the Democrats would triumph no matter what wall the Republicans built to prevent them from reaching their goal.

It was at the moment when Pelosi became the poster-person for the condescending arrogant self-righteous elitists, a position she holds to this very day. There is in America a significant portion of the population that adheres to the motto “Don’t tread on me.” These people do not like being told what to do. It is relevant whether or not what they are being told to do is in their own interest. The guiding principle is that they are being told what to do and have no choice but to comply, to obey, to be treated as slaves.  Since colonial times, this segment of the American population has expressed its antipathy to condescending arrogant self-righteous elitists. They hate having no choice and that is what Pelosi told they had: no choice. Then came the elections. Payback.

I get home delivery of the New York Times. I read the paper with two hands, the way people are supposed to get the news.  That means about once every other month, there will be an op-ed piece by Paul Krugman on healthcare. He will praise what it has accomplished, note there is room for improvement, and mock the Republicans for being unable to even develop an alternative of their own despite all their whining and shouting. But what economist Krugman never does is to consider the political costs of healthcare.  He never considers what subsequently happened to the Democratic Party beginning in the 2010 election. While it is easy to blame deplorable white racists who fear losing white privilege, that also is an explanation that makes condescending arrogant self-righteous elitists feel good about themselves. Perhaps instead of telling Don’t-Tread-on-Me Americans what was going to be done to them, they might have started by asking the people what they wanted. Instead, like the Very Stable Genius, they already knew the answer and were ready to force it on people if necessary.

While there may not be a direct connection between Pelosi going over, under, around, and through the wall to prevent healthcare to the 2016 election, it is a major part of the story that helped worsen the divide among Americans that a skilled con artist could exploit. Somehow this spoiled billionaire with no sense of empathy or sympathy has convinced Don’t-Tread-on-Me Americans that he cares about them. Keep in mind though that the Queens boy from the wrong side of the river has his own genuine issues with the elitists from the right side of the river in Manhattan.

Ann Coulter

At the same time that Maddow was omitting all this from her analysis of the government shut down, Ann Coulter, the second woman, offered an alternative view. She expressed how proud she was of her “boys,” apparently not a racially offensive term when used by white people about white people. She exulted in their courage. As a result of their heroic actions, spending was cut and the budget was balanced. At least it was in that timeline. In our timeline, the practical results were non-existent. However, it did enable uppity, rambunctious RHINOs to feel empowered.

So here were are years later with yet another shutdown. In this instance, the shutdown was snatched from the jaws of cooperation. When Fox, Ann, Rush, and the leaders of the RHINO Freedom Caucus read the weeny President the riot act he quickly folded. What had been a professional wrestling arena campaign gimmick suddenly became a hole he was digging himself deeper into. The talking heads are right: whatever compromise should emerge to resolve the situation, the Republican base can be conned into thinking it is a victory. However that may not work with Fox, Ann, Rush, and the RHINO Freedom Caucus. They will be harder to con hence the hardening of the lines.

Now the shutdown ratchets up in intensity threatening to become a national emergency. It may come down to first there being enough Republican Senators to pass the budget legislation and second there being enough the override a veto as well. Come to think of it, that would require the same number of Republican Senators as to remove a President should he be impeached. There is a lot a stake here.

Maybe in the end, Pelosi will not only have helped to elect Trump, she and Ann will have helped to remove him.