20 May—This is a “Quotable” selection that follows the unrelated editorial in today’s Hearst RepublicanAmerican. The quotation is taken from the 18 May New York Post: “Remember, please, that the perps themselves filmed and even livestreamed much of this savagery. They were gleefully proud of their atrocities; it was a major part of the mission, meant to crush . . . spirits and force submission to the terror masters’ will.”

That’s a spot-on description of the Trump-inspired 6 January 2021 Capitol insurrectionists and other thugs, who stand to get their “anti-weaponization” rewards tax-free. (Who said that crime doesn’t pay?) Problem is, the word replaced here by the ellipsis (three dots) is “Israeli” and the title of the NY Post editorial is “Don’t let the deniers ignore this record of Hamas’ Oct. 7 sexual atrocities.”

Even the title of the Post editorial could easily apply to Trump’s 6 January thugs with an ellipsis: “Don’t let the deniers ignore this record of . . . atrocities.” Make no mistake, Trump’s MAGA mob at the U.S. Capitol certainly did commit atrocities—heinous, horrible, savage, wicked deeds.

And it’s no surprise that Donald Trump’s eleventh-hour endorsement yesterday of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rather than four-term incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn in the state’s GOP primary run-off next week wasn’t at all well received by Senate Republicans.

Maine Senator Susan Collins, for instance, was “disappointed” at the endorsement. “I don’t understand,” Senator Collins said. “He is an ethically challenged individual.” She was probably referring to Paxton, who, in his first year as attorney general, was charged in 2015 with defrauding Dallas investors and completed a pretrial diversion program to keep him out of the slammer only in 2024. And don’t forget that he was impeached by the GOP-majority Texas House of Representatives in 2023 for bribery, abuse of public trust, and obstruction of justice; but he was acquitted by his grifter pals in the Texas Senate.

Incredible what these bastards get away with!

Thus, “probably” is italicized because Senator Collins could just as well have been referring to Donald Trump as “an ethically challenged individual.” Even his supporters don’t deny it when they’re not being recorded or quoted. Yet they support him and what he does. It’s amazing that Trump, with abysmal popularity and hardly any respect nevertheless commands so much power among Republicans. And it certainly doesn’t speak at all highly of them. What happened to principle?

So Trump’s endorsement of Paxton will more than likely get the Texas grifter the Republican nomination. But it may also work to the advantage of Democrat State Representative James Talarico, who’s running for the U.S. Senate seat and is currently in a surprising dead heat with Cornyn and Paxton.

The nation and world can only hope . . .