Goldberg: Gaetz an appointment so bad it may do some good

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

By Michelle Goldberg / The New York Times

The expression “The worse, the better” is often attributed to Vladimir Lenin, and captures a sort of messianic nihilism; the dream that escalating misery will hasten the fall of a corrupt order. Usually, I find this ethos despicable; in my experience, suffering only begets more suffering. I’m making an exception, however, for Donald Trump’s nomination of former Florida congressman Matt Gaetz to be attorney general, a flagrant provocation that is, like a pulpy B movie, so bad it’s good.

While Trump’s choice of Gaetz to lead the Justice Department is a clear sign that his second administration will be catastrophically chaotic, vengeful and corrupt, that should never have been in doubt. Trump made no secret during his campaign of his desire to persecute his political enemies. Anyone he chose as attorney general would share his interest in turning the justice system into the enforcement arm of the MAGA movement. The selection of Gaetz just rips the mask off. With it, Trump is trolling not just his defeated opponents but many of his craven establishment supporters. It’s like Caligula trying to make his horse a consul.

Of all the people Trump was considering for AG, Gaetz is unique mainly for how much he is hated by other Republicans, and not just moderate ones. In the final months of the last Trump administration, the Justice Department opened an investigation into whether Gaetz had a relationship with an underage girl that violated federal sex trafficking laws. Although that inquiry was closed without charges, the House opened an ethics investigation into him. It was reportedly set to vote on releasing a damning report last Friday, which Gaetz may have tried to preempt by resigning, though it could still become public.

When Gaetz was accused of sleeping with the girl, “there’s a reason why no one in the conference came and defended him,” Markwayne Mullin, a very conservative Republican senator from Oklahoma, told CNN last year. His colleagues, said Mullin, had seen videos “of the girls that he had slept with,” which Gaetz allegedly showed off on the House floor. Gaetz was such a force for chaos in the chamber that during the messy struggle to elect a House speaker in January 2023, Mike Rogers, a Republican congressman from Alabama, seemed ready to physically attack him and had to be restrained by colleagues.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/goldberg-gaetz-an-appointment-so-bad-it-may-do-some-good/

[The Roux Comes First]

1. That Is a Tough Sentiment to Subscribe to, But to the Extent It Inflames Congressionals and Impairs

Teamwork, that might indeed be a pewter lining.

[sop]

2. I never believed in the "Let it all burn down" philosophy.

Like The Phoenix rising from the ashes, believing that something new and better will come after societal destruction seems delusional. That sort of rebirth takes a long time, and it always gets messy before it gets better.