Bottom Of The Ninth

 If you are only tracking the defeats of former game show host and every court's least favorite defendant, then you might be missing the big picture. 

On Tuesday, the Republican Majority in the House of Representatives failed to deliver its base on three major points. GOP senators put the kibosh on a border deal that has become a curious and somewhat ridiculous political football. Funding for border security has been cynically stapled to legislation regarding further support of Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. While Mitch McConnell was trying to get a deal done, he got the messages from the folks down the hall that the House would not allow any such law to pass. So the "crisis" at the southern border that burns as such a bright issue for so many conservatives will have to go back on the shelf, unattended once again because the right wing has tipped the scales so far that compromise of any sort has become as difficult as passing a big fat camel through a very small needle. 

Strike One. 

An aid package for Israel went down to defeat in the House as well. Nearly two billion dollars in military funding because Democrats refused to support a bill that did not include similar money set aside for the war in Ukraine. But it wasn't just Democrats voting against the plan. Several hard-right Republicans hopped on the opposition train because the legislation didn't include spending cuts as well. 

Strike Two.

Then there was the matter of impeaching homeland security secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. This has been a promise made and insisted upon by just about any Republican congressman with a microphone in front of them for months. Hungry for what must seem like retribution for the two impeachments of their rumored-to-be fearless leader, the most televised version of the Grand Old Party went after the guy they felt had kicked the gate to our southern border open. After weeks of hearings filled with little or no substance, with a focus on undermining the policy decisions made by the Biden administration. In the end, not enough of their own could be persuaded to hop aboard and their effort failed. 

Strike Three. 

And just when you thought that there couldn't be any better news, a federal court decided that the nominal leader of this dysfunctional band of malcontents is not immune from prosecution for the crimes he committed in and around January 6, 2021. 

I am not sure which ones are insult and which are injury, but you can go ahead and add it all up to a very bad no-good horrible week for the Red Team.