Ten Months In, the Swamp is Draining Itself

Donald Trump promised to come into Washington and drain the swamp of all the politicians and lobbyists who were soaking up taxpayer money while doing nothing for the American people, but it appears that his mere presence in the White House is enough to put a serious leak in the boggy waters of Capitol Hill. Over the past month, both Bob Corker of Tennessee and Jeff Flake of Arizona have announced their impending retirements, as they find themselves unable to fend off primary challengers in their home districts. Corker and Flake (along with John McCain and a couple of others) have re-dedicated their doomed careers to bashing Trump, Trumpism, and everyone who thinks we’re lucky to have a president who isn’t six stages removed from the concerns of the people.

This week, we saw an intense flare-up between Corker and Trump just before Flake took to the Senate floor for his embarrassing rant against the president. On Tuesday morning, Trump unleashed a torrent of invective against “Liddle Bob” for his stance against tax cuts.

“Bob Corker, who helped President O give us the bad Iran Deal & couldn’t get elected dog catcher in Tennessee, is now fighting Tax Cuts,” Trump tweeted. “Corker dropped out of the race in Tennessee when I refused to endorse him, and now is only negative on anything Trump. Look at his record!

Corker responded in kind, tweeting: “Same untruths from an utterly untruthful president.” He attached a hashtag: #AlertTheDaycareStaff, proving that he’s not as “above it all” as he pretends to be.

The daily drama aside – and there was plenty of it on display Tuesday – we’re watching the last vestiges of the “old” Republican Party – the Establishment – realize finally that there is no room for them in the new order. The conservative base has spoken loudly and clearly about what they want, and it is not the same old feckless Republican agenda. It is the Trump agenda, and the American people are getting sick and tired of watching these NeverTrump Republicans stand on their imagined principles, which apparently includes thwarting legislation THEY THEMSELVES promised to their own voters.

Senators like McCain, Flake, and Corker are so used to sitting up in their fancy Washington, D.C. country clubs doing nothing whatsoever for the American people that they don’t really know what to do now that it’s put-up-or-shut-up time. So they’re taking their balls and going home.

Bye-bye.