Today in Congress, the GOP announced that, henceforth, no one would be allowed to mention that Trump was an accused felon with a passel of indictments. They would permit no whisper that he was a civilly adjudged rapist with a brace of million dollar defamation verdicts. And reference to his fraud convictions was off-limits. In short, any word that the presidential wannabe was in a world of legal hurt of his own making was verboten. And stating that fact was now against the rules.
How did we get here?
Representatives were yawning through a procedural rule debate when Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA.), the ranking Democrat on the Rules Committee, commented on the GOP's disinterest in doing their job as they took time off for sightseeing and dressing matchy-matchy.
“And speaking of indictments, Republicans are skipping their real jobs to take day trips up to New York to try and undermine Trump's criminal trial. No time to work with Democrats. But plenty of time to put on weird matching cult uniforms and stand behind President Trump, with the bright red ties — like pathetic props.
Maybe they wanted to distract from the fact that the candidate for president has been indicted more times than he has been elected. Maybe they don't want to talk about the fact that the leader of their party is on trial for covering up hush money payments to a porn star for political gain. Not to mention the other three criminal prosecutions he is facing.”
McGovern additionally pointed out that Trump had the worst jobs record since the Great Depression. And that he had sold out our allies and had offered comfort to our enemies.
After he finished, the presiding officer, Rep. Jerry Carl (R-AL), stood to remind the members that they could not go all ad hominem on presidential candidates. McGovern, obviously puzzled, asked Carl if stating facts was out-of-bounds — or as he called it, “unparliamentary.” Carl replied it was not his job to check the veracity of what members said. Note: Carl is not an intellectually confident man and seems lost in the big city
McGovern then stated more facts:
“We have a presumptive nominee for president facing 88 felony counts, and we’re being prevented from even acknowledging it. These are not alternative facts. These are real facts.
A candidate for president of the United States is on trial for sending hush money payments to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal during his 2016 campaign, and then fraudulently disguising those payments in violation of the law. He’s also charged with conspiring to overturn the election. He’s also charged with stealing classified information, and a jury has already found him liable for rape in a civil court.”
And yet, in this Republican-controlled House, it’s OK to talk about the trial, but you have to call it a sham.”
Rep. Erin Houchin (R-IN) interrupted McGovern. She twice demanded that McGovern’s comments be disappeared. She agreed with Carl that telling the truth about Trump is somehow an insult.
“Mr. Speaker, I demand that his words be taken down.” (x2)
Carl put a stop to the proceedings while he considered the matter. Over an hour later, giving the GOP time to get their story straight — and probably an opportunity to hear what Trump had to say — Carl returned. And slit Truth’s throat.
In his words — which are not the easiest to follow (Carl has trouble saying big words, little ones too — and he reads with a moving finger on the text):
“The chair is prepared to rule. The words of the gentleman from Massachusetts accused the presumed nominee for the office of president of engaging in illegal activities. The presumed nominee for the office of President are [sic] according [sic] to [sic] the same treatment under the rules of the decorum in debate as a sitting president.”
He ruled that McGovern’s words — which he deemed “offensive” — would be taken down. He offered this rationale:
“Although remarks in debate may include criticism of such candidates’ official position as a candidate, it is a breach of order to refer to the candidate in terms personally offensive, whether by actually accusing or by merely insulting. The acquisition [sic] that the president has committed a crime or even that the president has done something illegal is not in order.”
That acquisition (I think he meant accusation) is a load of cobblers. McGovern did not accuse Trump of anything. He merely stated facts. But Carl chose to hear something McGovern did not say. He should not be so quick to congratulate himself. There is always the law of unintended consequences.
Nobody pays much attention to the nitty-gritty of what happens in the House unless M.T. Greene (R-GA) is fistulating, Jim ‘Gomer’ Comer (R-KY) is gavel-banging, or the GOP is picking a new Speaker. However, in a classic example of the Streisand effect, Carl has taken a position on words no one was listening to. And, in doing so, opened MAGA up to more scorn. Hopefully, Carl’s poor decision has lost the GOP a few more independent votes.
Here is the video. The relevant part (for this piece) starts at 2:42