In the well-known fairy tale, “The Princess and the Pea,” the princess is so sensitive that her sleep is disturbed by a pea residing under her mattress. I was reminded of that tale when Maine’s Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska expressed “outrage” at Jerry Nadler’s comment about the Senate being on trial. In fact, Collins sent a note to Chief Justice Roberts citing her objection, though she did not send a note later when the President’s lawyer, Jay Sekulow, told a bold-faced lie about the Republicans having no voice in depositions.
Both Collins and Murkowski objected strenuously to Adam Schiff’s citing an ABC report from an anonymous source that “the president will put the head of any Republican on a pike if they oppose him.”
How very precious they are, these two Republican princesses. Yet, no outrage at the fact that the man they are prepared to absolve of any abuse of power refuses to release his tax forms. That he stood beside Vladimir Putin and took the side of an avowed enemy of democracy over that of his own intelligence services in declaring that he did not “see why Russia would have interfered in the 2016 elections.”
Only very slight and fleeing outrage when families were being separated at the border and children literally torn from parents’ arms, many of them “lost” now due to malignant incompetence and racist policies. Not a word about the long-term consequences of this president doing all he can to lift sanctions against Russian oligarchs close to Putin, and opening the floodgates for corporations to pollute the air and water by rolling back environmental regulations.
And now, despite overwhelming evidence presented over three days about the president’s clear abuse of power and his evident obstruction of Congress in carrying out its Constitutional duty of oversight, they are too, too upset over the teenie-tiny pea under their mattresses.
As Murkowski observed: “Schiff was eloquent but he lost me when he brought in the pike story.” We will remember how delicate you are, Susan and Lisa, and will do all we can to relieve you of pain by helping to defeat you in November. Sleep tight, dear ladies.
Carol Angus is a resident of Shelburne Falls.