#PutiPoodle | #WhatTheyVotedFor
There is a question of whether political messaging is similar to sentiments regarding the periods in which humans have been recording audio or video, and the proposition that we should, as a society, have passed the threshold by which it seems plausible to say one did not say it when anyone in their right mind already knows there is a definitive recording of the very words one really did say. Perhaps it seems obscure, but twenty years ago, traditional Christianist evangelism faltered on the internet and required transformation in large part because countless repetition wore it thin, while myriad objections and retorts pelted traditional religionistic grifting into remission. At some point, then, we might wonder when the necromancy required to raise the dead horse in order to kill it and beat it to chum all over again becomes apparent to political audiences. NBC News brings the latest ouroboros ’round Republican mulberries:
Former White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough on Sunday said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell “watered down” a warning about Russia’s attempts to interfere in the 2016 election and defended the Obama administration’s response to foreign meddling in the campaign.
The language in a September 2016 letter from congressional leaders to state election officials was drastically softened at McConnell’s urging, McDonough said in an exclusive interview Sunday on NBC’s “Meet The Press” . . . .
. . . . Asked if it was watered down at the insistence of McConnell and only McConnell, McDonough responded, “yes.”
Or, as Steve Benen reminds:
The problem, of course, is that every time Trump World turns its attention to officials’ response to Russian intervention in 2016, we’re reminded that it wasn’t Barack Obama who was negligent—it was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).
For some reason, Republicans keep trying. Of course, a willing audience helps. Nonetheless—
By way of a defense, McConnell’s office points to the September 2016 letter, signed by congressional leaders from both parties, which was sent to the president of the National Association of State Election Directors. It warned state officials about possible hacking efforts.
But this wasn’t the statement American intelligence officials wanted McConnell to endorse, and the letter made no reference to Russia’s attack, which McConnell was briefed on at the time.
Denis McDonough told NBC News’ Chuck Todd yesterday that this statement was “dramatically watered down” at McConnell’s insistence – and he has no idea why.
—the Senate Majority Leader has long tended to disdain the public service aspects of being a public servant. That he would put Party before country ought not suprise anyone. As far as he’s concerned, the ongoing degradation of governance and government is #WhatTheyVotedFor.
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Image note: Top — Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY; left), walks with President-elect Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol for a meeting, 10 November 2016, in Washington, D.C. (Photo: Mark Wilson/Getty Images) Right — Protest image of Vladimir Putin. (Credit: Unknown)
Benen, Steve. “On Russian attack, top Obama aide turns to McConnell’s negligence”. msnbc. 5 March 2018.
Koenig, Kailani. 4 March 2018.
See also:
Hulse, Carl and Adam Nagourney. “Senate G.O.P. Leader Finds Weapon in Unity”. The New York Times.
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