The Rot Goes All The Way Down

Noone is surprised that Mitch McConnell hates Donald Trump. Nor does anyone care. McConnell has always been willing to make any deal for power and has always been insulated from the actual needs of Kentucky Voters. So insulated in fact that if the criminal he backs lets them die in a storm it costs him nothing.

But local reps, the kinds of people who actually hear from constituents (who don’t bundle donations) should be different. One would expect that a congressional Rep from a hard-hit area to focus their attention on the needs of their constituents and not on the needs of the party. And so it seemed when Congressman Chuck Edwards (R NC-11) took the time to debunk myths about the Helene response on his website.

One would expect that a man of convition would focus on the needs of his contituents and on dispelling the lies that are putting them, and the disaster response experts helping them, at risk. And he did.

So what does he do when one of the sources of those lies appears in his state? Does he call him on it, or perhaps, gently suggest that it is not true?

No

No! he stands there and smiles while Trump repeats lies about people being left to fend for themselves and thus puts the lie to everything he posted online.

After which he found the time to give Trump a special medal for pretending to serve fries at McDonalds.

I get that party loyalty is a thing. And I get that an ambitious republican does not want to miss a visit from the Republican Candidate for President. I get that but I don’t care.

Your job as a rep is to serve your constituents. Your constituents lives are being put at risk by lies about a nonexistent federal response, land theft, and money being sent to illegal immigrants. First Responders’ lives are being put at risk by militias who believe those lies and that slows the help your constituents need. Lining up to smile behind the architect of those lies, as he tells those lies (and then giving him a little boy award) is not only an act of cowardice but a spit in the face of people who need it.