Tools of the Week

The Michael Cohen testimony before the House Oversight Committee didn't contain a smoking gun, but it sure highlighted the difference between Republicans and Democrats in the House. Democrats, who called the hearing that the GOP refused to, asked questions about Cohen's knowledge of President Trump's actions. The Republicans did not, instead trying to damage Cohen's reputation or uphold the godliness of their orange leader. It seemed like another nail in the coffin of the Republican Party (but they are tough to kill).

Three men particularly distinguished themselves as first-class tools, and I was lucky enough to find them all in this picture (the man in the background is not involved in this discussion). Second from right is Matt Gaetz, who isn't even on the committee but managed to get himself investigated by the Florida Bar for witness tampering. In the age of Trump, who believes he could shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and still get elected, Republicans seem to have no concept of consequences. Gaetz, who looks like the black sheep of the Osmond family, tweeted threats to Cohen about revealing his alleged affairs to his wife and father-in-law. That is illegal. Some sleuths found that Gaetz had been stopped for drunken driving, refused to take a Breathalyzer test, which should have suspended his license for one year, but somehow did not. He had sixteen speeding tickets in fifteen years.

Gaetz hasn't stopped there. He invited a notorious Holocaust denier to the State of the Union address, and threw out a father of a murdered child from Parkland from a hearing, as Gaetz thinks a wall is a better idea than gun laws.

Mark Meadows, second from left, is a racist congressman from North Carolina, who is one of Trump's staunchest defenders. In 2012 he said of Barack Obama, "2012 is the time to send him back to Kenya or wherever it is." It seems to me that if you are a birther, you should at least have the conviction to maintain Obama was born in one particular African country.

Meadows made a spectacle of himself in the Cohen hearings by planting a black woman behind him, who happens to work in the administration. He asked how could Donald Trump be a racist when this woman supports him? It reminded me of the Seinfeld episode (almost anything can do that) when George, hoping to convince his superior, Mr. Morgan, that he was not a racist, tries to make friends with a black exterminator, and even invites him to a fancy restaurant where Morgan will see him.

Thankfully, Rashida Tlaib, one of the new women in congress, called him out on it, referring to the unfortunate woman as a prop and the act itself as being racist. This made Meadows melt down and say that his niece and nephew are black. There is nothing so racist as saying you're not racist because you have friends that are black.

Finally, the ranking member, Jim Jordan, far right, comes in for special abuse. Not for anything he did during the Cohen hearing, although he was like the other Republicans in that he attacked Cohen rather than imagine that his orange leader could do any wrong. Jordan was an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State when eight wrestlers accused the team doctor of sexual molestation. Jordan looked the other way, although there are many who say he knew. Somehow he got elected to congress. If the GOP had held the House, Jordan would have run for Speaker.

Meanwhile, the Democrats did a nice job of questioning Cohen. I read again today that Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is very stupid. She certainly has several IQ points on many Republicans, especially indicated by her questioning of Cohen, in which she efficiently opened up avenues of investigation on inflating his wealth for insurance purposes. Insurance fraud, just another crime that Trump could go down for.