The owner donated $100,000 to Trump, and you won't believe what happened next!

d.c. hijinks

Congressional Democrats accelerate their efforts to bring down Washington “Commanders”

I don’t have much interest in football, and I certainly don’t admire the ownership of this team’s political cowardice (see, eg, “Commanders”) but this story struck my eye because I couldn’t image why Congress was involved in this at all, let alone why two obscure congressmen were leading the charge on behalf of their states’ constituents. You have to go to the end of the article to discover the reason, though that still leaves open the question of why these clowns are pretending that this is an issue of any importance; surely, there must be something else of concern to the people whose interests they’re in Washington to represent? Something more serious, like, oh, say, runaway inflation, gasoline prices, nuclear war?

There actually is an important issue here, and that’s the Democrats’ continued abuse of the government to punish their political enemies. With each passing day, we more and more resemble one of the world’s worst, most corrupt banana republics.

House Democrats have ramped up their investigation of the Washington Commanders football team and owner Dan Snyder, relying on a familiar "Me Too" playbook to do it.

Reps. Carolyn Maloney (D., N.Y.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D., Ill.) have invited Snyder and NFL commissioner Roger Goodell to testify before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on June 22 as part of their sprawling probe into the football team. Democrats opened the investigation last year after the NFL fined the team $10 million for workplace harassment issues. The probe has expanded to include sexual misconduct allegations against Snyder himself and an inspection of the Commanders’ finances.

Democrats’ case is based on testimony from former Commanders employees represented by Debra Katz and Lisa Banks, the activist lawyers who represented Christine Blasey Ford, the woman who made unfounded allegations against Supreme Court justice Brett Kavanaugh. Democratic lobbyists long opposed to Snyder have also pushed the lawmakers to investigate the Commanders. Last month, they organized a fundraiser for Krishnamoorthi, who they said offered the best shot at "getting rid of Snyder." The lobbyists, Andy and Mike Manatos, also have close ties to President Joe Biden. A powerhouse Democratic consulting firm founded by Biden adviser Anita Dunn is also representing former Commanders employees.

The confluence of activists and lobbyists has all the makings of an orchestrated smear campaign, critics of the investigation claim. 

"Running a coordinated political hit job with professional Democratic operatives is a complete perversion of Congress," said Rick Manning, president of Americans for Limited Government. "By attempting a hostile takeover of an NFL team through a partisan committee, Maloney and Krishnamoorthi are exceeding their authority and corrupting the congressional investigation process."

Republicans on the committee—as well as supporters of the team—have questioned why Congress is investigating the workplace issues of a private business in the first place. The Oversight Committee is tasked with investigating waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal government. The committee also has no power to punish the Commanders or the NFL even if it finds wrongdoing. 

"It’s an obvious distraction for them to not have to talk about their record," said Republican pollster John Rogers. A former executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee, Rogers said voters he has polled are concerned about inflation, gas prices, and the baby formula shortage. Not a single person Rogers has interviewed has identified the Commanders as an important issue. 

“Oh! I see”, said the blind man, as he picked up his hammer and saw

Democrats’ motives for the investigation has been a source of speculation. Taking down Snyder would have the dual benefit of helping the "Me Too" cause while hurting a major Republican donor. Snyder contributed $100,000 to the Trump Victory Fund in 2017 and has given $203,900 to the Republican National Committee since 2005, according to campaign finance records. 

• Per Wikipedia: “Typically, a banana republic has a society of extremely stratified social classes, usually a large impoverished working class and a ruling class plutocracy, composed of the business, political, and military elites of that society. The ruling class controls the primary sector of the economy by way of the exploitation of labor; thus, the term banana republic is a pejorative descriptor for a servile oligarchy that abets and supports, for kickbacks, the exploitation of large-scale plantation agriculture, especially banana cultivation.”

  Yes, we have no bananas; otherwise, I’d say Wikipedia’s nailed it.