Flapping in the Breeze

For John, BLUF:  Do you ever feel your elected officials will sell you out if they find what seems like a larger patch of voters?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Other Kind of Marxism

Here is the sub-headline:

If you don’t like a politician’s principles, there’s a good chance he has others.

From The Wall Street Journal, by Columnist Andy Kessler, 28 April 2024 at 11:51 am ET.

Here is the lede plus four:

Today’s politicians are steeped in Marxism.  Not Karl, but Groucho, who is supposed to have said:  “Those are my principles, and if you don’t like them . . . well, I have others.”

On Jan. 22, 2021, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said of Donald Trump’s second impeachment:  “Make no mistake, a trial will be held in the United States Senate and there will be a vote whether to convict the president.”  Fast forward to a week ago, when articles of impeachment were delivered to the Senate against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.  Mr. Schumer said:  “Impeachment Article 1 does not allege conduct that rises to the level of high crime or misdemeanor . . . and is therefore unconstitutional.”  No trial.  No vote.

This tossing of principles can be found everywhere.  In 2020 President Trump tried to ban social-media app TikTok over national-security concerns.  Now Mr. Trump is against a ban, writing last month on Truth Social:  “If you get rid of TikTok, Facebook and Zuckerschmuck will double their business.  I don’t want Facebook, who cheated in the last Election, doing better.”

In August 2020, Joe Biden told ABC’s David Muir, referring to Covid:  “I would shut it down.  I would listen to the scientists.”  By October 2020, Mr. Biden insisted, “I’m not going to shut down the country, I’m going to shut down the virus.”  Lockdowns continued.

Science!  Sadly, some scientists have prancing principles.  Anthony Fauci, then director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in March 2020, “There’s no reason to be walking around with a mask.”  In October 2020, when CNBC’s Shepard Smith asked if we need a national mask mandate, Dr. Fauci quickly answered, “Yes, we do.”  The Washington Post and BuzzFeed, via a Freedom of Information Act request, found this February 2020 Dr. Fauci email:  “The typical mask you buy in the drug store is not really effective in keeping out virus, which is small enough to pass through material.”  In January 2023, the respected Cochrane Review agreed:  “Wearing masks in the community probably makes little or no difference.”

And on it goes.

I don't mind politicians "growing" in their understanding and ethics.  I dislike their way of being a windsocket and going with the breeze.

Hat tip to a Friend in Texas.

Regards  —  Cliff