{"id":5978,"date":"2022-11-18T09:39:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-18T14:39:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/?p=5978"},"modified":"2023-07-13T11:24:28","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T15:24:28","slug":"its-on-the-laptop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/11\/18\/its-on-the-laptop\/","title":{"rendered":"It\u2019s on the Laptop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Kitchen Table<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some Republican candidates in the mid-terms had it right.  They weren\u2019t talking about the 2020 election, or the Insurrection, or supposed FBI over-reach.  They made \u201ckitchen table\u201d arguments.  Inflation is too high, it\u2019s eating up gains in income and making living harder.  Urban crime is increasing. In fact, homicides and rapes are down, but armed robberies and assaults are up (USA<\/a>).  But those facts aren\u2019t the \u201cfeelings\u201d of suburban voters, who worry about going \u201cinto\u201d the city, or having the city come \u201cout\u201d to them.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those were the more successful Republican candidates in the last election.  The election-denying, QAnon echoing candidates were the ones who lost.  And while Democrats might feel good about retaining control of the Senate and several state governorships, in the final result, Republicans eked out control of the House of Representatives.  Speaker Pelosi will have to pass the gavel to, probably, Kevin McCarthy, and take her place as a \u201cback-bench\u201d Democratic member.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With two years to prove their worth as a governing faction, you\u2019d think House Republicans would be talking about their plans to reduce inflation and crime.  Their \u201cfirst impression\u201d as a governing Party  should be about the issues that got them elected to office in the first place.  That is the \u201cquid-pro-quo\u201d that voters expect:  you gain the vote by your promises of action, now act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that\u2019s not what\u2019s happening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About Hunter<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

\u201cKeep it about Hunter Biden.  This is kind of a big deal we think.  If we can keep it about Hunter Biden, that would be great.\u201d  <\/em>– James Comer (R) of Kentucky (press conference, 11\/17\/22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican Congressmen Jim Jordan and James Comer held a press conference yesterday.  Jordan expects to be Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Comer Chairman of the House Oversight Committee.   Comer made it clear: the first priority of \u201chis\u201d Committee will be the investigation of Hunter Biden, the son of President Joe Biden.  And Jordan also set his priority:  supposed FBI \u201coverreach\u201d in investigating the twice-impeached former President and the January 6th<\/sup> rioters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Republican priorities are crystal clear.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2012, Republicans also controlled the House of Representatives.  They used their committee chairmanships to lead six different investigations into the death of US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans in an attack on the US embassy in Benghazi, Libya.  The investigations cost Americans more than $6.5 million over the next four years (WAPO<\/a>).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Benghazi hearings were used as a cudgel to beat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.  And while Secretary Clinton ultimately testified to the committee for eleven hours straight, responding to every question;  an off-shoot of the investigation found that she had a private e-mail server for part of her electronic correspondence.  That became a huge campaign issue in 2016, and the FBI investigation of it undoubtedly cost her the election, and cost America the four year Presidency of Donald Trump.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So while Americans might wish that the Republicans \u201cin charge\u201d would deal with the serious problems of the country; it\u2019s more likely we will be fed a steady diet of Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci, and \u201chow bad\u201d the FBI is.  None of that will \u201cMake America Great (Again)\u201d, but what it will do is further polarize the nation, in hopes that Trump, or one of his indistinguishable substitutes, can get elected President in 2024.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Democratic Response<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

What can Democrats do?  They can hope that instead of repeating the history of 2016, Biden and Congressional leadership can replicate the history of 1996.  In 1994 Republicans took over the House of Representatives, and their actions gave Democrats a perfect \u201cfoil\u201d to build Bill Clinton\u2019s position to retain the Presidency against Kansas Senator Robert Dole.  Clinton focused on making the House, and particularly Speaker Newt Gingrich, the \u201cbad guy\u201d in the government.   He was able to successfully do that, particularly when Gingrich took credit for shutting the government down for three weeks over a budget issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can be sure that Democrats will be talking about abortion rights and Medicare and Social Security and even budget issues; as Republicans desperately search through Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop for scandal and crime.  It will be up to the American people to determine which is more important.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kitchen Table Some Republican candidates in the mid-terms had it right.  They weren\u2019t talking about the 2020 election, or the Insurrection, or supposed FBI over-reach.  They made \u201ckitchen table\u201d arguments.  Inflation is too high, it\u2019s eating up gains in income and making living harder.  Urban crime is increasing. In fact, homicides and rapes are down, but armed robberies and … Continue reading “It\u2019s on the Laptop”<\/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-5978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nIt\u2019s on the Laptop : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dahlman.online\/index.php\/2022\/11\/18\/its-on-the-laptop\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"It\u2019s on the Laptop : Our America - Essays on Politics and American Life\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Kitchen Table Some Republican candidates in the mid-terms had it right.  They weren\u2019t talking about the 2020 election, or the Insurrection, or supposed FBI over-reach.  They made \u201ckitchen table\u201d arguments.  Inflation is too high, it\u2019s eating up gains in income and making living harder.  Urban crime is increasing. 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