There are too many important story lines coming out of last week's riot at the Capitol Building for me to keep up with, everything from the sheer brutality and danger of what went on during the incident (it was much, much worse than what ABC News showed our household while it was going on), to what President Trump was doing while the mayhem was taking place (apparently, watching television news coverage, getting pumped up by the anarchy on his behalf, and declining to take the many phone calls from officials imploring him to direct his followers to stop lest things get even more out of hand), to the on-going investigations and arrests to those who took part, to impeachment proceedings in the House and the question of when the Senate might take it up, to Trump's rift and then make-up session with his vice-president, to reported plans for the anarchists to attack state capitals and disrupt the presidential inauguration on January 20th. And then there are the wider political implications, especially what this all means for the future of the GOP (hint: not bright).
Among the outcomes of last week's attack is a change of tune by corporate supporters of Republican candidates.
The Dispatch reports:In the days since violent insurrectionists—incited by GOP officials—attacked both the Capitol building and our democratic process, the private sector has come out swinging against the president and the Republicans that echoed his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue said Tuesday that Trump “undermined our institutions and ideals,” putting the onus on Vice President Mike Pence, the Cabinet, and Congress to address these grievances through established processes. “We trust them to use those tools judiciously, if needed, to ensure our nation’s well-being and security.” Neil Bradley, who oversees the Chamber’s formidable political spending, added that the group’s political action committee will no longer financially support politicians that do not “demonstrate respect for democracy.”
Some companies—including Google, Facebook, Microsoft, JPMorgan, and Citigroup—are using Wednesday’s violence as a rationale to phase out political giving entirely, at least for the moment. “Following last week’s awful violence in DC,” a Facebook spokesman said, “we are pausing all of our PAC contributions for at least the current quarter, while we review our policies.”
Other corporations are taking a more targeted approach. “In light of last week’s attack on the U.S. Capitol, Walmart’s political action committee is indefinitely suspending contributions to those members of Congress who voted against the lawful certification of state Electoral College votes,” the retail giant said in a statement. The Walt Disney Company came to the same conclusion, at least for 2021.
The drying up of financial support will hurt individual politicians—Kansas City-based Hallmark Cards specifically demanded Sens. Josh Hawley and Roger Marshall return the thousands of dollars the Hallmark Card political action committee gave them in recent years—but the moves will have a broader impact on the party.
“This is a leadership play,” Republican campaign strategist David Kochel told The Dispatch. “Leadership raises money from corporate PACs, and if they get the message from corporate PACs, they will listen. It’s a big damn deal.”
Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has long been a prolific fundraiser for the GOP, and Sen. Rick Scott of Florida is set to head the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2022 cycle. Both voted to object to the electoral results in at least one state last week.
The perception that workers support the Democratic Party, while managers and owners support the GOP, has been obsolete for years; those weren't hedge fund traders or Princeton MBA students who were waving Confederate flags and attacking Capitol police last week. But what is being reported here seems to transcend ideological considerations. These are business leaders acting, as they always do, in cold-blooded corporate self-interest. These multinational corporations are well-versed in the risks of establishing business operations in banana republics which teem with instability and corruption. They have no desire for the United States to become one of them. And so they are redirecting their political expenditures accordingly. The free market is at work again.
Donald Trump's base of power isn't the White House; it's the 70% of Republicans who remain loyal to him. Corporations cutting off their political donations won't bankrupt the GOP immediately, but it will put stress on some of the right joints.
As you say, I doubt any of these companies are motivated by commitment to American ideals unless you define "doing the right thing" very narrowly as "posturing for the good of profits." But if that shuts off some of the money to Trumpists, fine by me.
ReplyDeleteYou raise an interesting question about who belongs to the GOP. Republicans are quite masterful at bifurcating their message of privilege and tax relief for the corporate class, and "God, guns, and guts" for working-class voters who do not have union protection. I don't see this changing.
Finally, as for impeachment, here's what I wrote to my friend Larry, a retired history prof, who was sending his pro-impeachment rants around to friends last night:
"In a perfect world, I would prefer to see Republicans, led by Mike Pence, oust Trump under the 25th Amendment. Then, after Biden is sworn in, the Justice Department would form a commission to charge Trump with incitement and sedition, and whatever else they think they can make stick. Meantime, Biden and Harris would get busy with the pandemic, economy, environment, foreign policy, and overturning all of Trump's mean and dangerous policies.
"But that won't happen because my dreams never come true and Jesus never answers my prayers.
"Democrats could still set up a justice commission to look into charging Trump with crimes after he leaves office. But impeachment will use up a lot of energy needed to focus on our national problems, and, worst of all, will keep Trump center stage. Especially if the Senate delays the trial for 100 days as James Clyburn has suggested. That gives Trump three months to enjoy issuing statements on the social media network he's threatening to build and to hold maskless rallies and to gin up donations and rage.
"Impeachment will allow Republicans to accuse Democrats of ignoring important business to conduct a politically motivated vendetta. Hell, Larry, they're already singing that song. Democrats will be punished for punishing the dogs who sh*t on their office carpets and smeared it around while killing people, stealing mail, and building a gallows on the Capitol steps because, of course, those dogs were really antifa.
Even if Trump is convicted by the Senate, he'll be trying to get Supreme Court to declare that they don't have the right to try a president who is out of office (and he has friends on the Court).
"By 2024, however an impeachment trial turns out, Republicans will claim that the Biden-Harris administration has been too busy focusing on Trump to get anything done (and they wold be right, to some extent, IMO). That will allow Trump to run again. He will, of course, be 78, and he's not in great shape. Myocardial infarction seems our best hope, but it's a sin to pray for that."
As our late friend Tom said, the Democrats are brain dead, and we all know this isn't over, not by a long-shot.
I take the attitude that the "enemy of your enemy is sometimes your friend". If the financial PTB are going to apply some painful pressure to the neo-fascists, I'm all for it. Trump has certainly stirred up an auto-immune disorder in the body politic.
ReplyDeleteWe still have the cynical gamers among the Republicans who think they have a long enough spoon to sup with the devils that have been stirred up. Such as the nimrod governor of Nebraska, who decided it was okay to bring guns to the state capitol for show'n tell. He urges gun owners to be "considerate". You can't make this stuff up.
It's possible that Sheldon Adelson's death will hurt the GOP more financially speaking than cutting off these corporate donations will.
ReplyDeletePeter Steinfels makes a case on the Commonweal site that censure would be better than impeachment. But it appears that the impeachment ship has already been launched. McConnell (of course!) won't expedite a trial, virtually guaranteeing that it will occur after inauguration.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering whether convicting Trump after he leaves office would (a) bar him from ever holding federal office again while (b) convicting him when he no longer possesses the power to pardon himself. That's a double play for Mitch McConnell, I expect.
DeleteOf course, if Trump claims that the Biden presidency is illegitimate, he could claim to still be president and try to pardon himself anyway. That would be severely disconnected from reality but ... after last week at the Capitol, I think we have to ask, What does reality have to do with it?
"Severely disconnected": Trump and other Repubs alternate between claiming that the mob in the Capitol were antifa dressed up to frame Trump supporters, and asking supporters not to commit mayhem, which presupposes The supporters were Trumpers.
DeleteThe Trumpian mode of thought is to offer two opposing versions of reality until the one most advantageous to Trump emerges, and then believe that one. There was a BBC report about how Boris Johnson does the same thing to a somewhat lesser degree.
I expect Trump will believe he is still President long after he leaves office
Re Steinfels column, Trump won't be convicted b/c the Den majority in the Senate is too small. So we will be treated to Trump gleefully claiming to be "exonerated by a majority Democrat Senate." Those will be his exact words.
DeleteYou are probably right about that. On the off chance that he *might* get convicted, my understanding is that he can't run for office again, and would lose his perks like his pension, and secret service protection for life.
DeleteI can picture him living out his life like Kaiser Bill in some place like Corfu, writing a slim memoir insisting that he was done wrong, and that he was the best president, evah.
The Republicans are in deep trouble for 2022. They are almost all tied to Trump. And the issue will not be just Trump in general (so that they can argue that he did some good things like appoint conservative judges) but rather how complicit they were in the attack on the Capital, the Congress and the Constitution. Those who voted against certification of the Biden win are in very deep trouble, and those who voted against impeachment are in deep trouble.
ReplyDeleteNow the money equation involves not only the corporate world but also individual donors. Sanders and his organization Our Revolution have perfected the $27 donation and have a national organization. For example I contributed to the campaign for the two new Democratic Senators by contributing to Our Revolution which campaigned there. I could have signed up for phone duty to call people in Georgia but I am too old and too much an introvert for that.
In our own District the Republican Representative has been safe because he has not had sufficient primary nor Democratic opposition. He did vote for certification but he voted against impeachment. I suspect he will have a Republican challenger because he voted for certification, and a stronger Democratic challenger who will see him as vulnerable on the impeachment issue. He will have to appeal to the Republic base by going to the right in the primary then justify his centralist credentials in the general election. I think the Democrats could pick up a seat here.
Jack, I have read that 45% of trump voters approved of the assault on the Capitol. It may not hurt these folk as much as we would hope.
ReplyDeleteHeard at recent K of C meeting, "Biden thinks it's fine to kill a full term baby, and even beyond!" When you characterize someone you oppose as a murderer, it makes violence justifiable (in their mind).
DeleteBiden wants to overturn the federal death penalty, as noted in the NPR story about Lisa Montgomery's execution this morning. I don't know if that makes the Knights and those seeking legal remedies against abortion more or less angry with Biden. https://www.npr.org/2021/01/12/955984890/u-s-executes-lisa-montgomery-the-only-female-on-federal-death-row
DeleteEJ Dionne has a piece about impeachment today in the WaPo:
ReplyDelete"In opposing impeachment, few [Republicans] tried to defend Trump. They just sought excuses to vote with him one last time. Thus, many who last week were willing to rip the nation apart by voting to challenge Biden’s victory were suddenly apostles of St. Francis of Assisi. Warm togetherness, they insisted, was their only purpose.
"That sounds lovely until you recognize a hard lesson from history: After a deeply divisive struggle, there can be no durable unity if one side continues to propagate myths, if those who have ripped a nation apart refuse to acknowledge their role in deepening its schisms, if crimes committed are swept under a rug woven from the threads of politically convenient forgetfulness."