March Madness

Don’t you long for the days when the only madness in March was the NCAA Basketball Tournament? In a still young Presidency characterized by a lack of reality perception, March is shaping up to be a constant tournament of turmoil. The Nunez Memo is going to be released, the Democratic response may be released (President Trump will have to approve the release of the memo that exposes the lies in the Nunez Memo, so it’s release is tenuous at best), another possible government shutdown, a crisis with the debt ceiling, threats of military action in Syria… That’s just a partial list!

The Nunez memo is actually the product of a collaboration between Nunez and his staffers with the White House, is a transparent attempt to undermine the investigation into the Trump-Russia collusion. Maybe the most important aspect of the memo may be the longer term consequences to national security and the GOP. The Nunez memo and GOP attacks on the FBI is a godsend for Russian intelligence. Nothing the Russians have been able to do since the early days of the Soviet Union to undermine the counter-intelligence capabilities of the FBI has been nearly as successful as the GOP attempts to protect Trump. Republicans are literally undermining our national security for political gain. They may even force a Constitutional showdown if they attempt to block the Democratic response, let alone the responses of the FBI and the Justice Department.

Also on the table is another government shutdown looming. It’s a well known secret that Republicans allied with Trump don’t want a compromise solution over immigration. There are deals to be made among some rank and file Senators, but Mitch McConnell will not allow a vote on any of the compromises shaping up. Ultimately, they want the adoption of the white nationalist agenda of limiting immigration from Muslim, African and Latin Countries – and “the Wall”.

The Trump tax break – aka the trillion-dollar loan to give to rich people and rich corporations – has had an exponential effect on growing the national debt. The consequences of the rapidly expanding debt is that Congress will have to raise the debt ceiling soon. Of course, this is yet another opportunity for Conservatives to demonstrate their hypocrisy or lack of real principles. Remember, Conservatives have threatened their own government shutdowns in the past to prevent a raise in the debt ceiling.

I haven’t even begun to discuss the reports of imminent military actions in Syria and discussions of military options in the Korean Peninsula. It’s wearying, troubling… Let’s pray for April and Opening Day. Maybe baseball will be a welcome relief. Then again, Republicans will probably fore a controversy over throwing out the first pitch.