Brand Liability

Before we get back to normal service, I'm not quite done with US politics and particularly upon news that the odious Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConell has apparently decided to belatedly throw Trump under the bus. As his chief enabler for the last five or more years, we're told he's furious, not just for losing him control of the Senate, but for tarnishing his legacy.

With impeccable timing, BBC 2 is currently repeating their excellent four-part documentary series 'Inside Obama's White House' and I have to admit it brings a tear to my eye as I re-live the excitement and hope his election ushered-in. But it also serves to highlight what a shit McConnell is and he must not be allowed to avoid the well-deserved opprobrium coming his way despite his eleventh hour Trump epiphany. This from Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center:-

Who is Worse: Donald Trump or Mitch McConnell?

He’s maybe the most dangerous politician of my lifetime. He’s helped transform the Republican Party into a cult, worshiping at the altar of authoritarianism. He’s damaged our country in ways that may take a generation to undo. The politician I’m talking about, of course, is Mitch McConnell.

Two goals for November 3, 2020: The first and most obvious is to get the worst president in history out of the White House. That’s necessary but not sufficient. We also have to flip the Senate and remove the worst Senate Majority Leader in history.

Like Trump, Mitch McConnell is no garden-variety bad public official. McConnell puts party above America, and Trump above party. Even if Trump is gone, if the Senate remains in Republican hands and McConnell is re-elected, America loses because McConnell will still have a chokehold on our democracy.

This is the man who refused for almost a year to allow the Senate to consider President Obama’s moderate Supreme Court pick, Merrick Garland.

And then, when Trump became president, this is the man who got rid of the age-old Senate rule requiring 60 Senators to agree on a Supreme Court nomination so he could ram through not one but two Supreme Court justices, including one with a likely history of sexual assault.

This is the man who rushed through the Senate, without a single hearing, a $2 trillion tax cut for big corporations and wealthy Americans – a tax cut that raised the government debt by almost the same amount, generated no new investment, failed to raise wages, but gave the stock market a temporary sugar high because most corporations used the tax savings to buy back their own shares of stock.

Meanwhile we continue to learn more disturbing aspects of last weeks insurrection and particularly the active involvement of former and serving police and military, together even with Republican representatives! It turns out some have been in the habit of routinely entering Congress with firearms, contrary to Rules (and common sense) but ones never enforced by searches or metal detectors! This situation has been rectified and it's to be hoped the Republican Covid sceptics can be forced to wear masks as well. 

The good news appears to be that 'Big Tech' continues to de-platform the President with YouTube suspending his account, but even more significantly the money is drying up with a rush by corporate America cancelling Republican donations in a spate of shared but late epiphany moments. Trump has even lost his bank of last resort with Deutsche Bank cutting its ties and presumably calling-in its $350million+ loan? 

The Trump brand now looks like it's at last become a liability with his golf clubs losing prestigious tournaments and this is going to hurt him financially. Oh, and then there's the prospect of civil litigation by injured parties affected by the insurrection. The situation is undoubtedly serious, but it's hard not to be in awe of the speed with which Mr Trump, former disgraced President, will face justice and retribution. Apparently he's so angry about not being able to pardon himself, there's not going to be any for his mates either! It would seem Giuliani is going to need a good lawyer after all.