I see that Tom Barrett, Republican, Michigan's Seventh Congressional District was one of four Republicans who voted against extending Trump's War Powers in the Iranian conflict.
I live in Michigan's Seventh Congressional District.
I believe that is a case of Barrett voting his conscience. Given the vast amount of money it takes to run a congressional seat campaign, that decision will likely cost Barrett his seat. He will either get primaried or will be starved for funds during the general election.
There is a very small window that Barrett and one other veteran could change their vote. I suspect that one of the conditions would be private meetings where they were given privileged information about the exit strategy. Trump has been cagey about sharing details. Some members of Congress share those details with people they shouldn't.
The signal-man with the ping-pong paddles
Growing up, WWII movies featuring aircraft carriers in the Pacific were a childhood staple.
There was always a scene where the signal-man guiding in the battled-battered fighters would wave one off.
The Admiral of the fleet was the above that signal-man in the chain-of-command.
The Captain of the aircraft carrier was above the signal-man in the chain-of-command.
The pilot of the aircraft was an officer and was above the signal-man in rank.
And yet, the signal-man made the call regarding the continuation of the pilot's descent based on his assessment of the probability of a successful landing. Not the Admiral. Not the Captain or the pilot. Just that lowly enlisted man. (Frequent commentor Jonathan pointed out "...the signal man was usually an officer, another pilot, so that he knew
what the airplane should be doing and what it could do if needed." My apologies for the error.)
WHY?
Because he had unique information. The wishes of the Admiral and Captain didn't count for Jack-squat. They didn't have the information he had.
I am going to give Barrett the benefit of the "Signal-man" analogy. Barrett flew a Chinook Helicopter in the middle-East. He has first-hand experience with how "sticky" wars are.
One of your strengths is your ability to come up with useful analogies . Thanks for your efforts here . I never miss a post .
ReplyDeleteTrump has a startegy?
ReplyDeleteLOL
Lucas
He obviously had a startergy, it’s the endergy that has me concerned.
DeleteNote that the signal man was usually an officer, another pilot, so that he knew what the airplane should be doing and what it could do if needed.
ReplyDeleteJonathan
Good for Barrett. Foremost elected politicians should be doing what his constituency desires. America 1st, all other countries get in line for any leftovers if there are any. No automatic foreign aid.
ReplyDeleteYou call that perfectly. ...ken
ReplyDeleteGood point. We'll see what happens. This administration IS concentrating on security much more than the last one...
ReplyDeleteHe'll be gone for sure. The MAGA party cannot tolerate dissonance.
ReplyDeleteInshallah, a member of a different party will take his place.
There is no such thing as a "sure thing" in politics.
DeleteI don't have a crystal ball, but I estimate Barrett's chances of being re-elected as between 30% and 55% if things "normalize" by Labor Day weekend. That is, the price of gas is below $3.85 in Michigan without pulling from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
If the Republicans throw him under-the-bus, then their replacement will have zero name recognition and the odds are on the order of 5%-to-30% holding the seat.
So the calculus of what happens is driven, in part, by the tension between Trump's ego and the cost of trading a modestly-likely bet to put a guy who is mostly a straight-party voter for a poor likelihood of winning guy who will be a reliable stooge.
Of course, the brackets shift depending on who the Democrats run against the Republican. The most energized segment of the Democrats are the hard-Left.
The Democrats are seriously targeting Barrett from the left and all the Michigan government employees in the Seventh will march in lockstep behind Maasdam or Brink, which ever wins the Democratic primary on August 4th.
ReplyDeleteMaasdam was Zero's nuclear football flunky and Brink was Biden's ambassador to Ukraine, so the General Election campaign in CD07 will be long on foreign policy and short on domestic policy.
Barrett is trying to establish an aura of independence to blunt the tens of millions of Democratic PAC dollars which will (falsely) accuse him of being Trump's foremost foreign policy advocate.
Barrett's waffle was straight politics, no ethics involved.
I'm in Michigan and tried to email him to thank him for his integrity. But I'm not in his district. Mr. Barrett had 22 in the military, quite a career, I think he knows better than the fools that voted against. Das Trumpenfurher calls this Patriot "Unpatriotic." Kent in Prudenville.
ReplyDelete