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Grover: “Hey! You Talkin’ To Me?”
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Daring to cross Al Capone in 1928 was typically a career-ending experience. Capone made his power and authority so clear and unambiguous that rare was the need to enforce it. So too has become the power of our country’s current political thug, Grover Norquist. Just a few occasional words of warning from Grover are usually enough to frighten any politician into signing and keeping a life-time pledge to never ever, ever increase taxes (did I mention ever?).
And on that rare occasion when a daring Republican implies that he might break this no-tax pledge, Grover is right there to remind him of the consequences of such disloyalty. In the case of Capone, it would have been a brief call to “Louie Da Bull “. In the case of Grover, it’s a similar call to a few friends who will have you unseated in the next primary. A less bloody end, but an end nevertheless.
You even thinkin‘ of breakin’ da pledge? Fuggeddaboutit!
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Desperate Times & Desperate Measures:
As we stare into the abyss that is the looming fiscal cliff, everyone in Congress finally knows it’s time for that Grand Bargain. There’s simply no time left for sacred cows. Democrats are finally prepared to put entitlements on the chopping block. And Republicans are finally ready to increase revenues … or… they would be ready to increase revenues but for their pathologic fear of The Grover. In fact, Grover now has Republicans squirming in their boots, desperately searching for any way to increase revenues without actually looking like they are increasing revenues.
So these anxious Republicans are now faced with a very simple choice that feels so terribly difficult: pledge-to-country or pledge-to-a-lobbyist ? It’s really that simple. While displays of political courage are rare, the words of Republicans Bob Corker, Lindsey Graham, Peter King and Saxby Chambliss this week give us cautious cause for optimism. We will now see whether these few brave men will be able to inspire similar courage in a majority of their peers.
Who could have imagined that a fear of crossing one solitary lobbyist could potentially lead an entire party to shove America off the fiscal cliff (that is, who besides Al Capone)?
So what will it be Republicans, your country or your lobbyist?
If you decide to put your country first, you can one day tell your grandkids about the time you bravely stood up to Al Capone and saved America.
If instead your loyalty lies with your lobbyist, when your little granddaughter asks why Grandpa cowardly turned his back on his country during its moment of crisis, you should tell her the truth: because you were really really scared of this guy:
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the politically challenged 