‘No man’s life, liberty or property is safe when the legislature is in session.’
Gideon J Tucker
Widely reported yesterday was Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress. Some people — mostly those who benefit from pro-Israeli campaign funds or are otherwise employed by the military/industrial/Deep State/surveillance/university/press complex — applauded wildly.
They rose to their feet 50 times…like the Supreme Soviet during an address by Josef Stalin. They seemed especially enthusiastic when the Israeli president suggested that those who objected to killing thousands of Gazans were aligned, and possibly supported, by Iran! Didn’t they know, the Iranian regime hangs gays from construction cranes?!
Other people — mostly Democrats, and notably including Kamala Harris — preferred to keep their distance. Netanyahu is widely and plausibly regarded as a war criminal, who leads an apartheid regime that steals land, tortures innocent people, destroys schools and hospitals and has killed nearly forty thousand Palestinians in the last nine months.
Just mentioning the mass murder brings charges of ‘antisemitism’. On college campuses, professors who speak up may lose their jobs. Students lose job opportunities. And media reports of ‘rising antisemitism’ make it sound like every Jew on campus lives in fear for his life. So great is the danger of being labelled an ‘anti-semite’ that the goyim held back as Jews — who can’t reasonably be charged with opposing themselves — led Wednesday’s protests at the Capitol.
For politicians, the risk of getting on the wrong side of the Israeli lobby is even greater. They’ve all seen what AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) did to Jamaal Bowman. It can outspend almost any adversary. And according to Rep. Thomas Massie, AIPAC assigns a staffer to monitor each member of Congress to make sure he votes correctly. If not, a replacement is found to challenge him in the next election.
So, when Mr. Netanyahu himself appeared before a joint session of Congress only one Republican dared to sit on his hands, the aforementioned Thomas Massie. The premise of today’s comment is that Massie deserves more attention.
‘Third Rate Grandstander’
Massie first came to the nation’s notice during the Covid pandemic.
‘He tested positive for asshole’, said John Kerry.
He’s a ‘third rate grandstander’, said Donald Trump. (Massie countered: ‘I take great offense at that; I’m at least second rate.’)
‘Thomas Massie is indeed a dumbass’, tweeted Rep. Maloney.
A man with enemies like that can’t be all bad, we thought. So, we looked more closely. As always, context mattered.
In March, 2020, the Senate rushed to authorise an extraordinary spending spree — $2.2 trillion dollars’ worth — unanimously. Then, the House of Representatives was expected to rubber stamp it. After all, the nation faced a national emergency!
Of course, the US Government didn’t have that kind of money lying around. So, it would have to be ‘printed’ and borrowed…which would inevitably lead to sorrowful results downstream.
The Constitution requires that there be a quorum in order to pass important legislation. But members of Congress were ‘sheltering in place’. And when Massie got into the House he found only two members there.
So, he wondered why it was that ‘essential workers’ — truck drivers, food store workers, nurses and many others — still had to go to the job site…but members of Congress did not? Apparently, they weren’t essential. Members of Congress had ‘the best healthcare in the world’, Massie noted.
He demanded that members return to work. They grumbled. They groused…and they said mean things about Massie. But they came back to Washington. They voted. The bill was passed…almost unanimously.
Massie voted ‘no.’
And he was right about everything. There was no reason for the peoples’ representatives to be cowering at home, while the people themselves were stocking shelves and moving freight. As it turned out, the Covid hysteria and the lockdown were unnecessary. And the trillions in excess spending — by Trump and then Biden — led to 9% inflation and a $35 trillion debt-bomb.
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| Source: US Department of the Treasury |
The elites, Deep Staters, insiders, the Establishment — all want ‘yes’ men. In the White House and in Congress. Almost all legislation transfers money and power from the people to them…their cronies…and their pet projects. ‘It’s in the national interest, they say. But it’s not the nation that gets the money…it’s specific groups for specific reasons.
Massie is a ‘no’ man. He voted against sanctions. He voted against naming Israel a ‘strategic partner’, whatever that is. He voted against the Paycheck Protection and Health Enhancement Act. He is often the only member of Congress to oppose more spending. In one session he voted ‘no’ 324 times.
Massie introduced a bill to abolish the Department of Education, for example…and co-sponsored another that would have abolished the Environmental Protection Agency. Alas, those initiatives went nowhere.
It must be lonely, being a ‘no’ man in today’s Washington. And if it means being an ‘a-hole’…or a ‘third rate grandstander’, it’s too bad there aren’t more of them.
Tune in again tomorrow…
Regards,
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Bill Bonner,
For Fat Tail Daily
