Shorter congressional Republicans: Yes, Donald Trump says irresponsible and dangerous things on a daily basis, looks eager to provoke a constitutional crisis, is producing unprecedented levels of protest, and his team is probably leaking directly to Russia. But that’s all fine, because we expect him to give us our wish list by signing tax cuts for the rich and shredding the safety net.
“There’s a widely held view among our members that, yes, he’s going to say things on a daily basis that we’re not going to like,” said Senator John Thune of South Dakota, the third-ranking Senate Republican, “but that the broad legislative agenda and goals that we have — if we can stay focused on those and try and get that stuff enacted — those would be big wins.” [...]
“I think we can get a lot done with the people around him,” Mr. McCain said, dismissing policy pronouncements from Mr. Trump that often differ from “the day before.”
Practically patting Mr. Trump on the head, Senator Lamar Alexander, Republican of Tennessee, said, “If he pays attention to people like General Kelly when he’s doing a travel restriction and if he appoints people like Neil Gorsuch when he’s making appointments, he’ll be rewarded for that by all the praise, and maybe he’ll do more of it.” (Former Gen. John F. Kelly is the Homeland Security secretary.)
These idiots want to treat the president of the United States as a distraction and pretend they can control him, or at least work around him. But based on the last three weeks, who’s setting the agenda?
These Republicans may eventually get the tax cuts they want, but at what cost to them? That’s not a question about what happens when they sell their souls to Trump, as we are not talking about people who have souls to sell to begin with. It’s a practical question about all of the stuff they’re trying to wave off as irrelevant to the larger agenda. It’s a question about the fact that they keep talking about “the people around him” like Mattis and Kelly, when it’s clear he’s listening to Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller and Mike Flynn.
Those of us who always thought Republicans cared more about tax cuts for the rich and punishing poor people than about the Constitution or any possible concept of American values are turning out to be much more right than we even thought.