{"id":5378,"date":"2022-02-28T08:45:10","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T13:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5378"},"modified":"2022-02-28T08:45:14","modified_gmt":"2022-02-28T13:45:14","slug":"the-third-rail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/02\/28\/the-third-rail\/","title":{"rendered":"The Third Rail"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Midwest<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you grew up in the Midwest you might not be familiar with the concept of a\u00a0\u00a0\u201cthird rail\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Public transportation was buses, and even the light rail in Cleveland used overhead electric cables to provide power.\u00a0\u00a0But if you grew in the \u201cbig city\u201d you know what it is.\u00a0\u00a0On those Subway trains the electric power is provided by a third rail (two for the wheels, one for the power) located in between the tracks.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Touch the third rail and you\u2019ll get a jolt of 750 volts of electricity. That’s seven times the current that comes out of the plugs in your house.\u00a0\u00a0Touching the third rail is deadly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In American politics it used to be Social Security that was considered the \u201cthird rail\u201d.  If you tried to alter the social security system, increase the retirement age or reduce the benefit; every person over the age of fifty would consider you an absolute threat.  And since that is one of the highest voting turnout groups in the nation, you\u2019d lose the next election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God, Guns, and Trump<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But for Republicans, particularly those that intend to run for higher office, there is a new \u201cthird rail\u201d in politics.\u00a0\u00a0His name is Donald Trump.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How critical do they see Trump to their candidacies?\u00a0\u00a0Look at the latest ad for Republican Senate candidate Josh Mandel of Ohio:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPro God, Pro Guns, Pro Trump<\/strong>\u201d (not making that up!!!).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I watched Republican Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas on\u00a0This Week,\u00a0<\/em>the ABC Sunday news show.\u00a0\u00a0Cotton is taking a tough stand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine, demanding that every possible sanction be placed on Vladimir Putin and Russia – TODAY.\u00a0\u00a0He wants arms shipped to the Ukrainian Army \u201cyesterday\u201d, and is adamant that Putin is a world danger.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0He\u2019s getting as far \u201cbeyond\u201d the Biden Administration as he can, trying to \u201cout support\u201d them for Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But when he was asked about Donald Trump, the titular leader of the his own political party he failed to answer. Trump called Putin “smart and very savvy\u201d, Cotton dodged a rebuttal.\u00a0\u00a0George Stephanopoulos asked him over and over again about Trump\u2019s Putin-supportive speech at the Conservative Politic Action Committee. Cotton said he \u201crefused to comment on other politicians\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Of course, that refusal doesn\u2019t include Joe Biden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Rock and A Hard Place<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Cotton isn\u2019t the only Republican Senator (and potential Presidential candidate) who decided to shy away from the \u201cthird rail\u201d.  In fact, the list is so long, that it\u2019s easier to name the Republican Senators who aren\u2019t \u201cafraid\u201d of Trump:  Romney, McConnell, and Portman.  That one of them is retiring and the other two are in \u201csafe\u201d seats with no further ambitions, makes them \u201cimmune\u201d from Trumpism.  Romney even said, \u201c\u2026(H)ow anybody in this country who loves freedom\u2026 can side with Putin; it\u2019s almost treasonous\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the Republican Party is stuck between the proverbial \u201crock and a hard place\u201d:\u00a0\u00a0\u201cPutin and Trump\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The reasonable sense of the American people (Tucker Carlson excepted) is that Putin is leading a war of conquest against democratic Ukraine.\u00a0Even renegade Democrat Tulsi Gabbard agrees. \u00a0We Americans know a bully when we see one, and the tanks move across the border remind us of the Cold War.\u00a0\u00a0We knew who \u201cthe enemy\u201d was then, watching tanks roll over people as revolts were put down in Hungary and Czechoslovakia.\u00a0\u00a0And we know it now, as Putin literally cannot personally stand the \u201cscent\u201d of democracy on his own front door step.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cold War<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

So it\u2019s easy for Republicans (and most Democrats as well) to fall into the old Cold War language and reactions.  And, by the way, it\u2019s the right thing to do.  But the former President has somehow set himself in the position where he cannot find any \u201cgood\u201d in the Biden Administration.  To paraphrase Trump; \u201cPutin is smart, NATO is not so smart, and the current Administration is \u2018very dumb\u2019\u201d.  So if Biden is \u201cwrong\u201d, then Putin is \u201cright\u201d \u2013 and for those Republicans who need Trump voters to get re-elected, there is that crushing feeling of the walls closing in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At least Tom Cotton simply refused to comment.  Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was effusive about Putin:  calling him talented, savvy, and a capable statesman.  In fact, Pompeo went on to say, \u201c\u201cHe was a KGB agent, for goodness sakes. He knows how to use power. We should respect that,\u201d as if the Soviet secret police was an admirable institution (Kansas City<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most Americans \u2013 Democrats and Republicans alike, rise to defend democracy against oppression.\u00a0\u00a0Ukraine is not Afghanistan, President Zelenskyy did not get on a plane out of town at the first hint of trouble, and the Ukrainian Army is being joined by their civilians as they fight against the Russians.\u00a0\u00a0We, in the \u201cfree world\u201d (more Cold War terminology) are doing the right thing \u2013 standing with them.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The former President in Mara Lago\u00a0\u00a0stands with Putin. Maybe,\u00a0he’s finally found a way to get \u201cleft behind\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Other Republicans should take note.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Midwest If you grew up in the Midwest you might not be familiar with the concept of a\u00a0\u00a0\u201cthird rail\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0Public transportation was buses, and even the light rail in Cleveland used overhead electric cables to provide power.\u00a0\u00a0But if you grew in the \u201cbig city\u201d you know what it is.\u00a0\u00a0On those Subway trains the electric power is … Continue reading “The Third Rail”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5378","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Third Rail : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Republican Party has a new third rail - Donald Trump. 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