Back Full Circle to the Pre-Trumpian World

Through no bravery of their own, because his constituents overwhelmingly voted to retain him, Devin Nunes will now harmlessly recede into the mist of his office.

Gone are the committee chairmanships.

Gone is any influence.

All that remains is his own sense of importance. And, of course, the water he claims he’s secured farmers. Shall we ask them where it actually is?

You can thank the country at large for it. The Democrats’ retaking the House has cured us of this leprosy. Jesus didn’t suddenly appear–the American electorate did.

So did a check on the president.

Here’s what guest columnist David Kaiser, a Texan, wrote back on May 28:

I love America, I’m patriotic, I’m a Christian, very conservative [not alt-right etc.] but OH MY GOD, I just flat out hate the fact Russians meddled in our American election. But more importantly to me and others in the U.S., when a representative from your great Dist. 22, who only garnered about 170,000 to win his election, can hijack a Washington House Intelligence Committee and attack our great Systems and Departments of Justice, Courts, CIA and FBI, then I will get involved and express my views to the good people of Dist. 22 and Tulare. Politics is NO LONGER LOCAL when your lone “renegade” attacks all of our American Justice and Judicial System to cover up the Russian infiltration and possible involvement by U.S citizens.

This was a case of the tail wagging the dog. It was a case of party before country. The idea that Nunes, from a tiny Republican district in a Democratic supermajority state, could stymie the entire House Intelligence Committee’s Trump/Russia investigation was ridiculous. For better or worse, I think most Americans want to get to the bottom of this and see the back of it, pronto.

I know I do–and now, maybe, we can.

But, now that Nunes is no longer politically important, does it even matter anymore if he continues to frustrate his constituents by refusing to meet with them? I doubt it.

I also doubt he’ll accept a cabinet position if one should arise and be offered. He’s too secure here, in perpetuity, to compromise his position.

He has, then, gone so far with Trump as he can. Especially when you consider that there is nothing further Nunes can do for him.

It reminds me of what happened between the Republican Party and Speaker-to-be Kevin McCarthy. Speaker-to-be, that is, until McCarthy revealed live to Sean Hannity on Fox News that, “Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right? But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? They’re dropping.”

This admission confirming the nefarious politicization of the committee killed his candidacy.

While Nunes himself has committed no similar gaffe, his sell-by date has arrived.

This is good news in more ways than one.

While Nunes may remain a supporter, Trump will no longer have priority over his–our–district. Which means Nunes might, since first coming under Trump’s thrall, finally pay attention to his constituents’ wants and concerns. Prioritize those, for a change.

Back we are full circle to the pre-Trumpian world–so far, that is, as Nunes is concerned.

The country at large, ironically, remains mired in it.

We’ll see how the House investigation reconstitutes itself. We’ll see how Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation finishes. Both, I hope, unimpeded and quickly.

It reminds me of President Ford’s pardoning of disgraced former President Nixon in 1974. I was 11 years old at the time, outraged, and unable to comprehend it. But as I matured–and the Chief would dispute that I actually have–I began to understand what a healing procedure it was for the country at large.

And that’s where we are now. As a nation–and for the health of our democracy–we need to safeguard these investigations, insure their fairness, and get to the bottom and the back of them.

Pronto.