Friday, January 27, 2023

ALDOUS J. PENNYFARTHING: Eric Swalwell was booted from the House Intel committee. Now he's hitting back at McCarthy and Co.

The Last of Us is a new post-apocalyptic drama series, based on the video game of the same name, that recently debuted on HBO. So far it seems more or less like standard zombie fare, but with a twist. In this version of our fraught dystopian future, people’s minds are taken over by a rampaging fungus that turns its victims into slavering automatons, laser-focused on slurping up sigmoid colons like limp lasagna noodles. That sounds pretty close to the very worst thing that could happen to a fella, with one exception—having your mind taken over by Marjorie Taylor Greene.

House (Barely) Speaker Kevin McCarthy probably wishes his weary brain was sprouting spores right about now, because he’s hitched his wagon to Greene’s TruckNutz-festooned star instead, and it’s making him act kinda goofy.

The latest? He bounced Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee, stating, “It is my assessment that the misuse of this panel during the 116th and 117th Congresses severely undermined its primary national security and oversight missions—ultimately leaving our nation less safe.” In other words, investigating Donald Trump for all the impeachable things he did was really embarrassing for Republicans, so how about a little fire, Scarecrow?

RELATED: In an act of 'political vengeance,' McCarthy blocks Swalwell and Schiff from intelligence committee

Swalwell, who’s been known to have a sense of humor (especially on Twitter), isn’t taking it lying down. After plainly stating the obvious—“It’s political vengeance,” the California rep said in the wake of McCarthy’s decision—posted a video on Twitter. That’s a a not-so-subtle reference to the gobsmacking fact that fully 13 of 15 Republican members of the new House Oversight Committee are election deniers. These include Reps. Greene and Paul Gosar, who have been earnestly understudying for the third and fourth Horsemen of the Apocalypse like Tobias Fünke for the Blue Man Group.

You can watch it on YouTube, but here is the transcript!

NARRATOR: “Were you arrested trying to overthrow the government on Jan. 6? Are you facing sleepless nights worried the rule of law will catch up to you? The lawyers at Insurrection LLC are standing by to take your call. We will fight for your right to commit treason without accountability. At Insurrection LLC, we understand it’s your right to obstruct justice and plot sedition. And, for a limited time only, if you call Insurrection LLC in the next 15 minutes, we’ll include a free gas stove!”

Hoo-boy, that was fun, huh?

McCarthy may also be wreaking vengeance on his “Democrat colleagues,” as he so graciously puts it, for stripping his new BFF MTG of her committee assignments back when the Flaxen Klaxon first beamed down to the House floor on her bodacious space laser in 2021. (And likely because then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi barred election deniers Jim Jordan and Jim Banks from the House Jan. 6 committee just for cheering on Donald Trump’s rolling coup.) 

Of course, Greene was kept off committees during the 117th Congress for very good reasons—among them, her history of advocating violence against Democrats, including “liking” a Facebook post that said Nancy Pelosi should be shot in the head, and her embrace of QAnon.  

Her behavior was so off-the-charts egregious, in fact, McCarthy had to concoct his own squishy rationales for kicking Schiff and Swalwell off the Intelligence Committee. (If you’re really interested in his lies and distortions, Daily Kos’ Laura Clawson has more.)

While the midterms were, on balance, good for Democrats (and, by extension, for the country), we narrowly missed keeping the House in the hands of Americans who, you know, care about America and democracy and shit. Unfortunately, the circus is in town now—and we’re not talking about Cirque du Soleil. Or even the Blue Man Group, for that matter. More like a Branson, Missouri, prop comic whose ventriloquist dummy doubles as his Narcotics Anonymous sponsor.

Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell will be leaving Kevin's committee room.  The truth hurts.

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