Day 187: Trump, GOP Shattering Norms

TrumpTimer
Jul 25, 2017 · 3 min read

From traditionally nonpartisan events to Senate procedures, things are rapidly changing.

Brian Snyder | Reuters

Donald Trump does at least one thing every day that, at the very least, tweaks the nation’s conventions. Lately, the GOP has been tugging at his coattails, willing to do the same when the need arises or Trump puffs his chest out a little. This week is a testament to how much the nation’s norms, in many different respects, are already being eroded.


Yesterday, Trump gave a political speech to a group of mostly teenagers at the annual Boy Scout Jamboree. The Scouts are supposed to be wholly non-partisan, and the speech should have remained devoid of policies or philosophies. Instead, Trump broke from that tradition and was his typical bombastic, ridiculous self. He yelled a number of crazy things to a group of 40,000 people, most of whom aren’t old enough to drive, much less vote.

A collection of the madness:

So much for apolitical.

“Oh, you’re Boy Scouts, but you know life. You know life. So — look at you.”

Probably better than the man giving the speech.

“Some of you here tonight might even have camped out in this yard when Mike was the governor of Indiana, but the scouting was very, very important.”

No one has any idea what he’s talking about here.

“I have to tell you our economy is doing great.”

For the most part, he’s giving his standard speech, but, again, there are tens of thousands of teenagers in the audience.

“And you know we have a tremendous disadvantage in the Electoral College — popular vote is much easier.”

Trump is and always will be a walking, talking self-parody.


Meanwhile, in the Senate, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is set to bring the Senate’s many health care proposals to the floor under a motion to proceed to amendments and vote. If he can garner 50 votes, the various options can move forward, and votes on the underlying bills will happen.

Here’s what makes this insane: no one has any idea what’s actually in the underlying bills.

No Democrat will vote for McConnell’s motion to proceed. In theory, prying at least three Republicans away from voting to move forward on bills where the substance is unknown should be child’s play. But McConnell has ratcheted up the pressure and it seems like there’s a decent shot the motion to proceed succeeds.

Cancer-stricken John McCain (R-AZ) is flying back in for the bill, and despite the existence of his disease and his strong government-provided insurance, he’s seen as a lock to vote for the motion to proceed. (Apparently, he remains undecided about the underlying legislation, which, again, no one has any idea the substance of.)

Democrats are apoplectic.

None of this is normal. These forced motions to proceed on unknown legislation are not rare, they’re unprecedented. What has been a chipping away of standards by McConnell for years, has now reached smashing with a sledgehammer.

The health care bill isn’t merely an important bill. It reshapes the U.S. economy. Senate Republicans know they shouldn’t be mindlessly voting on a motion to proceed. But they’re getting the full court press from McConnell and Trump and they feel beholden to repeal and replace at all costs, even if it ends up torpedoing millions of lives.

In reality, nobody wants to be the person who stops this from proceeding, opening themselves up to ridicule on Fox News. (This is why Senators Mike Lee (R-UT) and Jerry Moran (R-KS) came out simultaneously against one of version of the GOP’s bill last week.) But becoming an elected official means that occasionally you need to grow a spine and do what’s right for your constituents. For example, Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) has been the sole Republican voice opposed to all versions of the Senate’s various proposals since it’s terrible for Mainers, taking heat but never wavering.

The motion to proceed brings the real legislation to the table and once it’s there, anything can happen.

If Republicans think Trump is going to have their back, even if they vote as he wants today, they should look at his Twitter feed from this morning.

He demands loyalty in a way that is inherently un-American, but is willing to give none back.

187 days in, 1275 to go


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TrumpTimer watches, tracks and reports about Donald Trump and his administration’s policies every day. TrumpTimer is also counting down until January 20, 2021.

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