Symbolic Opposition vs. Effective Political ActionThe power of the purse and prosecuting rogue intel officials are but two arrows in the Right's quiver
By Christopher Roach
September 18, 2023
Republicans are famous for performing symbolic opposition. They harried Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with Benghazi hearings and endless oaths to overturn Obamacare. But on Benghazi, the narrative was always incoherent, and they forgot that our Libya operation was a huge mistake. They never took a principled stand against interventionism and did not impose any punitive action for its botched execution, such as impeaching Hillary.
Similarly, on Obamacare, as soon as they had the chance to overturn this byzantine redistribution scheme after Trump’s election, the fink John McCain voted to keep it in place. This law did nothing to make us healthier and placed real burdens on middle-class Americans, but McCain earned media plaudits for his “courageous stand” in favor of the conventional wisdom. Like many Washingtonian fixtures, he loved approval from the media.
Hunter Biden’s Sham ProsecutionMore recently, we see other types of distractions. Hunter Biden’s recent indictment appears, at first, to be a good news story and a triumph for the rule of law. Just a few months ago, an inquisitive federal judge noticed some real peculiarities in his plea deal, which included a diversion program for his gun crimes. Then, Republicans piled on with indignation. The deal was thrown out, and now he’s being indicted for gun crimes related to his drug addiction by the special counsel (and original prosecuting counsel), Delaware U.S. Attorney, David Weiss.
Contrary to the obsessions of Twitter and the right-wing commentariat, the big crime was not that Hunter did crack, consorted with hookers, and lived a dissolute life. This is all embarrassing for him and his family and also titillating for people looking over photos from his laptop, but it is not generally a public concern. The problem is that he was the family “bag man” for a money-making scheme, and access to his father was the scheme’s key asset. Remember “10% for the Big Guy” and “My Chairman.”
Critics are right that the statute under which Hunter is being prosecuted rarely creates a standalone basis for prosecution, and it is of at least debatable constitutionality. But this is not true of the crimes the Delaware U.S. attorney has slept on. People who commit seven figure tax evasion are routinely prosecuted. People who commit bribery overseas are as well. People who act as unregistered foreign agents also face prosecution—ask Paul Manafort.
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Source:
https://amgreatness.com/2023/09/18/symbolism-opposition-vs-reality-and-results/
