Matt, you always have clear eyed views and some heartachingly beautiful ones too.
My impression of Mr. Meadows, is of, as you used the word for another, a florid faced sot.
Maybe I just see sots everywhere (I don’t really but it helps me explain some of what is erupting here on airplanes and in our body politic). I imagine Mr. Meadows inside a bottle with a mirrored interior and everywhere he looks all he sees is himself. Ms. Hutchinson’s testimony sort of confirmed this for me. Why do we keep electing people like this? I tell people that we like the sick ones, that there’s something about them that fascinates and intrigues us. Yikes! Scary stuff.
Hard agree. Every word. My only criticism is that Matt may be too kind to Mr. Meadows, who supports another man's perpetual self-interest and infinite betrayal to country.
I honestly do not get how someone who could write something as gloriously beautiful as the blue bird story or the Semper Fly piece could write this. (I re-read those from time to time (translate: a lot) just so I can cry and remember so many people in my own life who know the two-plane crash theory.) Those pieces (grammar errors aside) were the stuff of novels (the right stuff!) (Tom Wolfe or Kurt Vonnegut-worthy (banana fish)), but this is just, well.
Well that's ingratitude for you. But I'll play along: We all contain multitudes. Sometimes you soar. Sometimes you write about bluebirds and transcendent injured Marines fly fishing in beautiful places. Sometimes you get down and dirty, and write about political treachery and the darkness that has overtaken the country. Life ain't all beauty. And it ain't all ugliness. If you're demanding only one or the other here, you're in the wrong place. I go where the spirit moves on any given day. And that can vary wildly. So there's a little of everything, as I promised at the outset. If you want unbending predictability, there are plenty of other places to go.
About infatuation with his phone while Rome was burning, I can’t help but wonder whether Meadows was doing what British lawmaker Neil Parish was doing for which he resigned - watching porn in the House of Commons.
Two comments seems selfish but Christine (American Hero) Hutchinson needs it. This hero is now enduring the full measure of GOP wrath after spreading a great dollop of the butter of truth all over Trump Toast. For this national patriotic service the GOP is stringing her up, metaphorically speaking, and allowing her to spin in the fetid wind of lies and imaginings that is now GOP discourse, Liz Cheney excused. Please, let at least a few other Republicans show some courage. Just a few. Any identifiably decent and moral souls.
Not holdin' your breath on that, are you, Ron? Would be nice to see and hear, though. I guess I could say stranger things have happened, just can't think of any at the moment. That young lady certainly earned my respect, though.
I do not know what it will take to turn this around. I am a registered Republican but started voting Dem when Romney ran. Why? Those guys find it inconvenient to celebrate the 4th on Sunday. Kiss of death in my book. Have not returned though Cheney gives me at least faint hope. If they are successful riding this smoking, rattling, belching Trumpcycle then why change? Republicans are going to have to catch courage and principles to stop this.
Another great piece. I've been away too long, saving your columns for when I have time to read them. I 100 percent agree with your assessment, so it still gives me a little comfort knowing there are others out there who grew up as Republicans but don't recognize this iteration of the party. Will this new breed of Republicans wake up and realize this? I doubt it.
My only reservation here is the hagiography arising around Cassidy Hutchinson.
1) She worked for Meadows. (That doesn't raise ANY questions? At all?)
2) She's so brave and a hero and whatever NOW... at what cost? Death threats? Meh. Along with how many other public figures? Even I've been on the receiving end of that stuff. Unpleasant, but....
At what benefit? Well, she's the darling of the hour, praised from all corners, recipient of countless perks and financial advantages, heralded by....
She may be a saint for all I know.
But she's a Christine-Blasey-Ford hero, an Anita-Hill hero. Both have benefited enormously from their testimonies. (A quick Google of Ford's net worth shot up from $1.5M a few years ago to $2.5M now.)
Let the abuse toward me begin, but let's get REAL here about cost/benefit.
No abuse. That's a fair reservation. And she may very well end up having credibility issues. I didn't vet her. But when clocking her credibility vs. say that of Trump or Meadows, both of whom we know lie with the same frequency that they exhale, I know who I'd put my money on. It's also a fair point to say that she worked for Meadows/Trump very late in the game, which suggests less than exacting standards on her end. But I'd suggest it's also easy to sit in the cheap seats, and dismiss death threats, and being completely ostracized by your old social circle, and doing it all under oath in front of the world. Not a day at the office I'd care to have. Whenever someone turns in Trump world, the accusation is always that they're cashing in. That presumes they will or can. The presumption from Trump voters never seems to be that they actually might be telling the truth. Especially since what they're saying squares with what we already know about Trump. Which doesn't require any guesswork because much of Trump's abhorrent behavior is right out there in the open. And if telling the truth about Trump were so easy, why don't more Trumpsters do it? Another fair question.
Beginning with the end ("if telling the truth about Trump were so easy, why don't more Trumpsters do it?"), I suspect that the psychological cost is at least as great as the social cost? Dunno. I never supported him, voted against him twice.
As for telling "the truth," I'm pretty sure that she believes what she says. (And comparing "her credibility vs. say that of Trump or Meadows"? That's like comparing limbo dancers.)
But—new line of discussion—there is precious little interest in noting that her most dramatic stuff is what, in a trial, gets slapped silly as "hearsay."
That truly bothers me. These are not "show trials" as many claim. But they are not fair hearings either; no defense witnesses forthcoming.
(And Adam Schiff dances limbo professionally, little known fact.)
Well it is a hearing, not a trial. And of course, all kinds of people who would purportedly like to say otherwise have been invited to testify, and have declined. Sometimes, when they've been "invited" by subpoena. Which tells us plenty. As for the committee being "unfair," well, you'll recall that back in the long-ago days of the spring of 2021, there was supposed to be an independent commission investigating all this business. But Republicans shot it down! So they sink the independent commission, then complain when the January 6 committee doesn't seat "real Republicans." (Liz Cheney and Kinzinger were considered real Republicans in great standing right up until the second they started bucking Trump.) If you think there'd be a more honest accounting with a propagandizing gasbag like Jim Jordan sitting on that committee, I might snort iced tea through my nose. He shouldn't be on the committee, he should be subpoenaed by it to testify about his conversations with Trump on January 6 that he's conveniently forgotten.
Yeah, well, no argument there. I spent my entire life distrusting Democrats, who are basically Republicans with weirder pronoun preferences. But sometimes, a guy has enemies because he deserves them. In fact, he deserves more on his own side. And as much as the hearings are a bit of a show - in that they're not open-ended and they are pre-produced, almost all the stars of that show are actual Republicans who served in the Trump administration. Right up until the end. Which ought to carry some weight. This is the first time we are hearing from most of them.
I think this point is very important. That is, bringing mostly Republican witnesses. This serves two goals: 1) trying to urge cult members to listen and think, 2) and showing that it’s not all about bashing republicans. But I want to make one point. Pelosi was willing to entertain more reasonable republicans. That was a swing and a miss by McCarthy. Sure, it’s easy to bash him over that, but these are things that affect my judgement of people (right or wrong). I hate to be this judgmental ( …judge not, lest you be judged, some guy said), but he stared a huge issue in the face, and whiffed.
Of all the great lines in the piece, this was by far my favorite: “You know you’ve entered an ethical abyss when Laura Ingraham and DJT Jr, are your voices of conscience.”
@Rick: It continues to baffle me how intelligent, rational, educated people who pay attention to things continually need to, absolutely can't avoid, tying themselves in knots to justify not just what happened on J6 but the entire campaign and 4 year tenure of DT. As a republican and conservative I was only able to ever understand the Trump thing as far as the anyone-but-Hilary vote. What a steep price to keep Hilary out, and we, republicans and conservatives, continue today that price. I'm glad to see it (hopefully, please lord god of all that is good in heaven and the world) unravelling. Hopefully.
Usually enjoy reading these essays but this one made me glad I'm a subscriber. The shining city on the hill is growing dimmer by the day - if it's not already cloaked in the gloom of darkness.
Is Mark Meadows a perfect example of the leadership that has driven 50% of the country insane with frustration and outrage?
Yes.
Are there more examples of this opportunistic, self-promoting profiteer species still mucking up what was at one point a pretty decent place to build a life?
Yes.
Is it at all possible to turn the corner and reimagine what we could become again if we embraced the Preamble of the Constitution?
Possible but we haven't quite hit bottom yet. We will need to do that to be fully disabused of the dick-measuring illusions that drive our downward spiral.
So we have that to look forward to.
Stellar profile. You are Cyrano because 'then when I end the refrain . . . ' Nicely done, Labash.
Jonah Goldberg often uses the phrase "feckless crapweasel" - and Meadows is uncut, undiluted, cask strength feckless crapweasel.
Matt, this article is complete, comprehensive, and well-deserved destruction. I have nothing to add.
Funny and sad all rolled into one.
Matt, you always have clear eyed views and some heartachingly beautiful ones too.
My impression of Mr. Meadows, is of, as you used the word for another, a florid faced sot.
Maybe I just see sots everywhere (I don’t really but it helps me explain some of what is erupting here on airplanes and in our body politic). I imagine Mr. Meadows inside a bottle with a mirrored interior and everywhere he looks all he sees is himself. Ms. Hutchinson’s testimony sort of confirmed this for me. Why do we keep electing people like this? I tell people that we like the sick ones, that there’s something about them that fascinates and intrigues us. Yikes! Scary stuff.
Found this article linked on another site. It convinced me to subscribe. Keep fighting the good fight; I’ll be there with you!
Thank you, dear. Good to have you.
Welcome Barb
Hard agree. Every word. My only criticism is that Matt may be too kind to Mr. Meadows, who supports another man's perpetual self-interest and infinite betrayal to country.
I honestly do not get how someone who could write something as gloriously beautiful as the blue bird story or the Semper Fly piece could write this. (I re-read those from time to time (translate: a lot) just so I can cry and remember so many people in my own life who know the two-plane crash theory.) Those pieces (grammar errors aside) were the stuff of novels (the right stuff!) (Tom Wolfe or Kurt Vonnegut-worthy (banana fish)), but this is just, well.
Well that's ingratitude for you. But I'll play along: We all contain multitudes. Sometimes you soar. Sometimes you write about bluebirds and transcendent injured Marines fly fishing in beautiful places. Sometimes you get down and dirty, and write about political treachery and the darkness that has overtaken the country. Life ain't all beauty. And it ain't all ugliness. If you're demanding only one or the other here, you're in the wrong place. I go where the spirit moves on any given day. And that can vary wildly. So there's a little of everything, as I promised at the outset. If you want unbending predictability, there are plenty of other places to go.
Thank you for the laughs today. I really needed that.
About infatuation with his phone while Rome was burning, I can’t help but wonder whether Meadows was doing what British lawmaker Neil Parish was doing for which he resigned - watching porn in the House of Commons.
🤔😂
Two comments seems selfish but Christine (American Hero) Hutchinson needs it. This hero is now enduring the full measure of GOP wrath after spreading a great dollop of the butter of truth all over Trump Toast. For this national patriotic service the GOP is stringing her up, metaphorically speaking, and allowing her to spin in the fetid wind of lies and imaginings that is now GOP discourse, Liz Cheney excused. Please, let at least a few other Republicans show some courage. Just a few. Any identifiably decent and moral souls.
Not holdin' your breath on that, are you, Ron? Would be nice to see and hear, though. I guess I could say stranger things have happened, just can't think of any at the moment. That young lady certainly earned my respect, though.
I do not know what it will take to turn this around. I am a registered Republican but started voting Dem when Romney ran. Why? Those guys find it inconvenient to celebrate the 4th on Sunday. Kiss of death in my book. Have not returned though Cheney gives me at least faint hope. If they are successful riding this smoking, rattling, belching Trumpcycle then why change? Republicans are going to have to catch courage and principles to stop this.
Too bad 'courage' isn't as *catching* as Covid, eh? Maybe a small Pandemic of Principles would start breaking out?
Nah. Sorry...I don't do science fiction well.
Another great piece. I've been away too long, saving your columns for when I have time to read them. I 100 percent agree with your assessment, so it still gives me a little comfort knowing there are others out there who grew up as Republicans but don't recognize this iteration of the party. Will this new breed of Republicans wake up and realize this? I doubt it.
My only reservation here is the hagiography arising around Cassidy Hutchinson.
1) She worked for Meadows. (That doesn't raise ANY questions? At all?)
2) She's so brave and a hero and whatever NOW... at what cost? Death threats? Meh. Along with how many other public figures? Even I've been on the receiving end of that stuff. Unpleasant, but....
At what benefit? Well, she's the darling of the hour, praised from all corners, recipient of countless perks and financial advantages, heralded by....
She may be a saint for all I know.
But she's a Christine-Blasey-Ford hero, an Anita-Hill hero. Both have benefited enormously from their testimonies. (A quick Google of Ford's net worth shot up from $1.5M a few years ago to $2.5M now.)
Let the abuse toward me begin, but let's get REAL here about cost/benefit.
No abuse. That's a fair reservation. And she may very well end up having credibility issues. I didn't vet her. But when clocking her credibility vs. say that of Trump or Meadows, both of whom we know lie with the same frequency that they exhale, I know who I'd put my money on. It's also a fair point to say that she worked for Meadows/Trump very late in the game, which suggests less than exacting standards on her end. But I'd suggest it's also easy to sit in the cheap seats, and dismiss death threats, and being completely ostracized by your old social circle, and doing it all under oath in front of the world. Not a day at the office I'd care to have. Whenever someone turns in Trump world, the accusation is always that they're cashing in. That presumes they will or can. The presumption from Trump voters never seems to be that they actually might be telling the truth. Especially since what they're saying squares with what we already know about Trump. Which doesn't require any guesswork because much of Trump's abhorrent behavior is right out there in the open. And if telling the truth about Trump were so easy, why don't more Trumpsters do it? Another fair question.
Damn Matt, that’s pretty good
Good thoughts.
Beginning with the end ("if telling the truth about Trump were so easy, why don't more Trumpsters do it?"), I suspect that the psychological cost is at least as great as the social cost? Dunno. I never supported him, voted against him twice.
As for telling "the truth," I'm pretty sure that she believes what she says. (And comparing "her credibility vs. say that of Trump or Meadows"? That's like comparing limbo dancers.)
But—new line of discussion—there is precious little interest in noting that her most dramatic stuff is what, in a trial, gets slapped silly as "hearsay."
That truly bothers me. These are not "show trials" as many claim. But they are not fair hearings either; no defense witnesses forthcoming.
(And Adam Schiff dances limbo professionally, little known fact.)
Well it is a hearing, not a trial. And of course, all kinds of people who would purportedly like to say otherwise have been invited to testify, and have declined. Sometimes, when they've been "invited" by subpoena. Which tells us plenty. As for the committee being "unfair," well, you'll recall that back in the long-ago days of the spring of 2021, there was supposed to be an independent commission investigating all this business. But Republicans shot it down! So they sink the independent commission, then complain when the January 6 committee doesn't seat "real Republicans." (Liz Cheney and Kinzinger were considered real Republicans in great standing right up until the second they started bucking Trump.) If you think there'd be a more honest accounting with a propagandizing gasbag like Jim Jordan sitting on that committee, I might snort iced tea through my nose. He shouldn't be on the committee, he should be subpoenaed by it to testify about his conversations with Trump on January 6 that he's conveniently forgotten.
I have no love for Trump. But I wouldn't subject myself to the fairness of his political enemies either.
And I don't have to think well of the Republicans, or their role in ANY of this, to object to the behavior of their opponents.
Consider: They may well ALL be wretches.
(Think outside the binary!)
Yeah, well, no argument there. I spent my entire life distrusting Democrats, who are basically Republicans with weirder pronoun preferences. But sometimes, a guy has enemies because he deserves them. In fact, he deserves more on his own side. And as much as the hearings are a bit of a show - in that they're not open-ended and they are pre-produced, almost all the stars of that show are actual Republicans who served in the Trump administration. Right up until the end. Which ought to carry some weight. This is the first time we are hearing from most of them.
I think this point is very important. That is, bringing mostly Republican witnesses. This serves two goals: 1) trying to urge cult members to listen and think, 2) and showing that it’s not all about bashing republicans. But I want to make one point. Pelosi was willing to entertain more reasonable republicans. That was a swing and a miss by McCarthy. Sure, it’s easy to bash him over that, but these are things that affect my judgement of people (right or wrong). I hate to be this judgmental ( …judge not, lest you be judged, some guy said), but he stared a huge issue in the face, and whiffed.
Of all the great lines in the piece, this was by far my favorite: “You know you’ve entered an ethical abyss when Laura Ingraham and DJT Jr, are your voices of conscience.”
Ditto
@Rick: It continues to baffle me how intelligent, rational, educated people who pay attention to things continually need to, absolutely can't avoid, tying themselves in knots to justify not just what happened on J6 but the entire campaign and 4 year tenure of DT. As a republican and conservative I was only able to ever understand the Trump thing as far as the anyone-but-Hilary vote. What a steep price to keep Hilary out, and we, republicans and conservatives, continue today that price. I'm glad to see it (hopefully, please lord god of all that is good in heaven and the world) unravelling. Hopefully.
Usually enjoy reading these essays but this one made me glad I'm a subscriber. The shining city on the hill is growing dimmer by the day - if it's not already cloaked in the gloom of darkness.
Is Mark Meadows a perfect example of the leadership that has driven 50% of the country insane with frustration and outrage?
Yes.
Are there more examples of this opportunistic, self-promoting profiteer species still mucking up what was at one point a pretty decent place to build a life?
Yes.
Is it at all possible to turn the corner and reimagine what we could become again if we embraced the Preamble of the Constitution?
Possible but we haven't quite hit bottom yet. We will need to do that to be fully disabused of the dick-measuring illusions that drive our downward spiral.
So we have that to look forward to.
Stellar profile. You are Cyrano because 'then when I end the refrain . . . ' Nicely done, Labash.