You know things are going to get turned up to 11 when the Democrats approach any situation like they're going to be the adults in the room. Like clockwork, the Democrats are already talking as if they're going to be even-handed, level-headed, and completely fair in their approach to Trump's cabinet nominees.
Soon-to-be former Senate Majority leader Chuck Schumer is broadcasting just how bipartisan Democrats will be with Republicans during these hearings, and was sure to make sure everyone knew how balanced they would be by penning to soon-to-be Senate Majority leader John Thune. According to the New York Times, Schumer is being super-duper mature and bipartisan:
In a letter to Senator John Thune, the South Dakota Republican who is set to become majority leader in January, Senator Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York and the current leader, said that he and his colleagues “stand ready and willing to work” with Senate Republicans in considering the nominations, several of which have already proved to be explosive. The latest was announced on Saturday, when Mr. Trump disclosed that he intended to name Kash Patel, a loyalist and right-wing provocateur, as director of the F.B.I.
“In particular,” Mr. Schumer wrote to Mr. Thune, “we commit to working in a bipartisan fashion to process each nominee by reviewing standard F.B.I. background-investigation materials, scheduling hearings and markups in the committees of jurisdiction, and considering nominees on the Senate floor.”
[...]
“In our system of checks and balances, this Senate plays a vital role in ensuring the president appoints well-qualified public officials that will dutifully serve the American people and honor their oaths to the Constitution,” Mr. Schumer wrote. “Regardless of party, the Senate has upheld this sacred duty for generations and we should not and must not waver in our constitutional duty.”
Let me translate that for you: "We're going to go completely bananas during these confirmation hearings and ream every person who sits before us with all the drama and over-the top accusations we can because we hate Republicans, we hate Trump, and we can't allow this man to have any power whatsoever."
In short, buckle-up, because this is about to get exhausting.
I need not remind my readers how horrific the Democrats were during the confirmation hearings for Trump's SCOTUS picks, especially with that of Brett Kavanaugh, a man so squeaky clean that he makes the most pious monks look like degenerates by comparison. Democrats pulled out all the stops to make Kavanaugh look like a drunken pervert who created an underground sex trafficking ring in college, and was apparently so good at what he did that no one ever knew a thing about it until some brave women came forward decades later and just in time to complicate his confirmation process.
Of course, none of these women could corroborate their stories, and it was pretty clear they were lying through their teeth, but there was a dual purpose here. The fact that he would be confirmed was likely, but what they were after was a narrative that not only painted Kavanaugh as a dangerous villain, but the Republicans as shameless enablers and Trump as the root of all evil.
The theatrics around Kavanaugh's confirmation were Democrats trying to play the long game, but they overplayed their hand so severely that the sympathy built up for the embattled nominee. Sure, the narrative survived in too many people, but anyone remotely paying attention found themselves disgusted by the Democrats, effectively giving Republicans and Kavanaugh the PR victory.
But while Kavanaugh was and still is technically a threat to the left, Trump's incoming cabinet is one built for one purpose, and that's deconstructing the deep state and exposing the corruption within the government so it can be reduced and its power decreased. The Democrat Party, whose entire concern is maintaining that power and influence, considers this a nightmare scenario. This is a code red situation for them.
(READ: Trump's Cabinet Is Both 'Reform' and 'Revenge')
As such, I see the Democrats going absolutely overboard in ways that make the Kavanaugh hearing look like an elementary school stage production. The fearmongering they will resort to will be such that future generations will want to study it.
There is no way that the Democrats will want their deepest secrets uncovered, and they will do what they always have done in order to avert losing even an ounce of their power: they will resort to lies, drama, and fear. Schumer's letter confirms this for me, as it sets the tone for the Democrats being "the adults in the room," and as such, any overblown accusations they resort to will be taken with some form of belief by onlookers.
But this won't work this time around. The Kavanaugh hearings came at a time when voter's fatigue with Democrats hadn't reached its height and the orange man effectively passed off as "bad." Now, Democrats are going into these hearings with the public actually behind Trump, and excited about this nominees. Democrats are going to be fighting an uphill battle in both Washington and the public square.
The media will, of course, try to help them get their narrative going, but as I've pointed out before, the corporate media doesn't nearly have the power and influence it used to.
(READ: The Left's Muted Outrage Shows a Rising 'Leftist Media Fatigue')
In fact, the media's attempts to amplify the Democrat's fearmongering will only cost them more credibility, just like it did during Kavanaugh.
The Democrats will do all this, not just because they have to, but because they can't help themselves. They've been using this same playbook for decades, and old habits die hard. They aren't suddenly going to become level-headed now. They're going to be feral, and as much as I'm already exhausted by the prospect of their behavior, I pray for the patience and strength of the nominees.
