Alternate reality: Republicans change the rules as Democrats cry foul

Washington is simply a hallway of mirrors, these days.

What Republicans spot arsenic accountability successful government is viewed by Democrats arsenic harassing national officials for doing their job.

What Republicans spot arsenic protecting the small feline from wild-eyed taxation auditors is seen by Democrats arsenic allowing abdominous cats to get distant with taxation fraud.

While many Republicans want recently elected serial fabricator George Santos to resign, helium said yesterday helium is not and the House enactment is not pressing the issue. 

WASHINGTON, DC - DECEMBER 27: U.S. President Joe Biden walks to talk to reporters arsenic helium and archetypal woman Jill Biden permission the White House and locomotion to Marine One connected the South Lawn connected December 27, 2022, successful Washington, DC.  (Anna Moneymaker)

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And what Republicans presumption arsenic hypocritical misconduct by Joe Biden connected classified documents, Democrats spot arsenic exemplary behaviour that contrasts with blatant lawbreaking by Donald Trump.

No wonderment cipher knows which mode is up. In Kevin McCarthy’s Washington, each broadside is staring astatine a polar-opposite reality. 

And the media agelong agone mislaid their quality to play the relation of honorable referee.

In each instance, this is not the accustomed partisan wrangling to summation the precocious hand. These are deep-seated beliefs astir the essence of what authorities should bash oregon refrain from doing.

As portion of the negotiations that made him speaker, McCarthy agreed to make a Judiciary subcommittee connected the weaponization of the national government. Democrats disregard this arsenic investigating the investigators – going backmost implicit morganatic probes to discredit the occupation done by the FBI and different law-enforcement agencies.

Jim Jordan, who volition tally Judiciary, said helium was not trying to undermine past Trump investigations but to support the First Amendment and support conservatives from being unfairly targeted. "We don’t privation to spell aft anyone. We conscionable privation it to stop," helium said. 

But the subcommittee, denounced by Democrats, could go the main conveyance for investigations of the Biden administration. And its insistence connected having entree to classified information, adjacent involving ongoing Justice Department probes, is apt to make a showdown implicit however acold specified a sheet tin spell without jeopardizing morganatic investigations.  

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The IRS is different battleground wherever nary 1 tin hold connected the presumption of engagement. A bid of fact-checkers, including successful the Washington Post, accidental it’s bogus for Republicans to accidental they’re going to get escaped of 87,000 IRS agents who volition marque beingness miserable for moving families and tiny businesses. 

Most of those hired nether past Biden authorities volition not beryllium agents, the wide size of the bureau volition proceed to shrink and nary 1 earning little than $400,000 a twelvemonth volition beryllium audited, the truth-squadders say. In fact, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office says if the GOP has its way, the fund shortage volition emergence by $115 cardinal due to the fact that the affluent volition get distant with taxation chicanery. 

Rep. George Santos, R-N.Y., waits for the commencement of a league successful the House enclosure arsenic the House meets for the 4th time to elite a talker and convene the 118th Congress successful Washington, Friday, Jan. 6, 2023. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Nonsense, accidental the Republicans, who are trading connected the agency’s unpopularity – who wants to beryllium audited? – by insisting they volition support hard-working wage slaves from overzealous auditors. (Reality check: This is each Kabuki theater, due to the fact that immoderate bills the House passes, they volition beryllium blocked by the Democratic Senate oregon by President Biden’s veto.)

George Santos, who has fictionalized everything from his assemblage (he ne'er attended) and Wall Street inheritance (non-existent) to his religion (which isn’t Jewish), told a scrum of reporters yesterday helium volition not quit. "I was elected to service the radical of #NY03 not the enactment & politicians," Santos tweeted.

The Republican Party of Long Island’s Nassau County is demanding his resignation, and Santos faces aggregate investigations, but astatine the infinitesimal nary 1 tin unit him out. Several Democrats told McCarthy successful a missive that Santos poses a "direct menace to nationalist security," but the talker told reporters that the voters made the determination to elite him and arsenic of present helium would springiness him committee assignments.

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Does McCarthy spot Santos?

"He’s going to person to physique the spot here," the talker said.

On Friday nighttime erstwhile Rep. Kevin McCarthy was elected Speaker of the House, peculiar sum connected "FOX News @ Night" averaged 3.4 cardinal viewers to thump competition.  (Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

But nary rotation rhythm is much dizzying than the 1 involving classified documents.

The media person rushed to constituent retired that what Joe Biden did is precisely what Trump should person done. Once Biden’s radical discovered that 10 classified documents had made their mode to the University of Pennsylvania’s Biden center, they notified the National Archives, voluntarily turned implicit the worldly and are cooperating.

And what a contrast, accidental Biden’s wide allies, with a erstwhile president whose acold greater fig of classified papers had to beryllium subpoenaed, and adjacent aft the Trump team said he’d returned everything, that FBI raid recovered different 100 classified documents astatine Mar-a-Lago.

Well, fine. But what Biden did wholly muddies the waters. And aft listening to endless self-righteous speeches astir the dangers of keeping top-secret material, you can’t blasted Trump and his supporters for exulting successful the information that Biden, upon leaving bureau arsenic VP, didn’t travel the rules.

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What’s more, the Biden Penn Center got a large surge successful donations from China aft the erstwhile vice president acceptable it up – portion Hunter Biden was engaging successful planetary buckraking. And the timing – the papers were discovered six days earlier the midterms, but not disclosed until present – feels similar an effort to fell something.

President Donald Trump and archetypal woman Melania Trump spot their hands connected their thorax during a "Salute to America" lawsuit connected the South Lawn of the White House, Saturday, July 4, 2020, successful Washington.  ((AP Photo/Patrick Semansky))

And precocious yesterday, NBC reported that Biden aides discovered astatine slightest 1 much batch of classified documents successful a determination abstracted from the Penn Washington office…drip drip drip.

It’s conscionable hard to grasp however Merrick Garland tin present prosecute Trump connected thing related to the documents if his ain brag gets a pass. It conscionable doesn’t odor right. Even with Trump throwing retired unsubstantiated allegations astir the "Biden transgression family," adjacent with the AG handing the substance to a Trump-appointed prosecutor, it volition odor similar a treble standard.

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That’s why, erstwhile you portion distant the factual finger-pointing, Biden conscionable gave Trump an tremendous governmental gift.