Elections and consequences

Ever since Robert Mueller was assigned the task of investigating the Russian interference into the 2016 elections and the trump team's dealing with them, the President and his toadies have attacked Mueller.   Especially because the assignment included "any matters that arose or may arise directly from the investigation." 

trump and his toadies tried everything possible to undermine the investigation.  All in plain sight.  So worried that a few--a tiny few--Republican senators were that they, along with their Democratic counterparts in a committee voted to protect the investigation.

The Senate majority leader simply refused to take the bill to the Senate floor for all the senators to vote on.

What can one do then?

All the stalling and maneuvering by Republicans remind us this: We can have all the laws in the land, yes.  But, "the law is no protection," as George Orwell wrote.  It depends on the public opinion, he argued.

Meanwhile, that kind of a question was answered in the House, where the Republicans playing similar games have lost their majority.  In a few weeks, Democrats will get to decide what will be done.  Orwell's public opinion.

While Orwell wrote that in the context of freedom of speech, the thesis that it all depends on the public opinion is valid in every way.

The point is that the relative freedom which we enjoy depends of public opinion. The law is no protection. Governments make laws, but whether they are carried out, and how the police behave, depends on the general temper in the country. If large numbers of people are interested in freedom of speech, there will be freedom of speech, even if the law forbids it; if public opinion is sluggish, inconvenient minorities will be persecuted, even if laws exist to protect them.

The law by itself does not guarantee any damn thing, especially when the executive charged with carrying out those laws couldn't care about them.

As I wrote a few days ago, participating in the resistance in order to counter this President's propaganda to corrupt the public opinion has been simply exhausting.  I am not the only tired one, of course.  There are lots of others, including Charles Blow.  He reminds us that it is ok to rest a little:

Don’t beat yourself up if you need to tune out every now and then and take a mental health break. There is no shame in it. This is a forever fight.

Forever fight!

Looks like the public opinion is that we are ready for this forever fight. Bring it on!