Experts in autocracies have pointed out that it is, unfortunately, easy to slip into normalizing the tyrant, hence it is important to hang on to outrage. These incidents which seem to call for the efforts of the Greek Furies (Erinyes) to come and deal with them will, I hope, help with that. As a reminder, though no one really knows how many there were supposed to be, the three names we have are Alecto, Megaera, and Tisiphone. These roughly translate as “unceasing,” “grudging,” and “vengeful destruction.”
It really is a mystery why the story of seven Republican Senators and one Republican Congresswoman (who decided the best place to spend their Fourth of July was an Moscow) was not the biggest story of the week. Yes, there was a terrible human tragedy in Thailand – but the United States has never cared about foreign children (at least in the sense of them being news – I don’t mean to belittle the millions of American who have hearts and DO care), and this seems like an odd time to start.
There are many reasons why this event looks, for lack of a better word, fishy. For one thing, the stated purpose of the event (as far as it can be determined from the vagueness of various statements by the participants) was to “improve relations.” That is called “diplomacy.” It is constitutionally the function of the Exectutive branch, not the Legislative branch. Specifically, it comes under the purview of the State Department. Not that Mike Pompeo could possibly ever dot he best job of it – but Congress is supposed to be doing their own jobs, not other people’s.
For a second thing (random order), not one of these Senators is running for reelection in 2018 (the Representative is, because every representative is, every two years), which leads to the speculation that they may be hoping this little trip may be forgotten by 2020 – a good bet, if Democrats don’t aggressively continue to bring it up, especially since the reporting was so underwhelming.
In connection with the above, one person (“Space Butler”) commenting at Daily Kos points out that
Also hate to double comment, but have you noticed where some of these Senators come from? Montana, where Tester is up for reelection, ND where Heitkamp is up for reelection, AL where Doug Jones will be up in 2020, a Rep from Texas where Cruz is up for reelection, Kansas is headed towards a close fought gubernatorial race this year likely, Wisconsin where we have Baldwin running this year, and Louisana apparently Kennedy is looking to challenge JBE for governor in the next election there.
(The thing about Daily Kos is that the article authors and those making comments are all in the same pool. Any member can write either without prior approval; though there is moderation, it’s not applied to matters of fact: those are policed by the whole community with counter-comments. So it is good to be aware of just who is writing and what is their reputation for accuracy, and how hard is it to check. In the case of the above comment it’s not hard at all.)
Thirdly, certainly legislators do like to get out of DC at every opportunity, but why Russia? Why now? Well, one thought is, and some have even admitted this openly as a general principle, they always have time for their donors.
Fourthly, the results of the trip, at least for the United States, appear to be questionable at best. In fact, even before the trip, Russia appeared to be more amused than engaged.
“What trouble did we cause?” one Russian TV analyst said last week, before the senators arrived. “We just elected Trump, that’s all.”
And afterwards:
Duma member Vyacheslav Nikonov.. said he had met with many American lawmakers in years past and that this meeting “was one of the easiest ones in my life.” The question of election interference, he said, was resolved quickly because “the question was raised in a general form… One shouldn’t interfere in elections — well, we don’t interfere.”
I personally can’t help wondering, as a taxpayer, wouldn’t it have been cheaper to put up a huge billboard on Capitol Hill:
Dear America, we don’t really care what you think, we are a fully owned subsidiary of Russia, and our allegiance is there. /s/ The GOP
It would have sent the same message for less money.
Dear Furies, apparently we Democrats, particularly our party leaders, need some training in your techniques, specifically in rubbing the guilt of the guilty in their faces without mercy until they break down. And not stopping until the breakdown is complete. Whether you should concentrate on Nancy Pelosi, Chuck Schumer, and the present DNC, or work at helping us put in new leadership with more Erynical skills, or a combination of the two, I will leave to you. But we certainly need something,
The Furies and I will be back.
Cross posted to Care2 HERE.
