Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
Seven-term former U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah died last weekend, and accolades came pouring in from both sides of the political spectrum. This is not any kind of testament to his character or ability to “bring both sides together.” It’s really just proof that the toxic Washington Swamp is run by a uniparty of entrenched elites and their corrupt coterie of oligarch donors.
I’ve said it for more than two decades, and I’ll say it again because no one else will: The unvarnished truth is that Orrin Hatch was an open-borders globalist who served Big Tech oligarchs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce traitors and USS government careerists while stabbing American workers and citizens in the back for his entire public life. He was a prototypical wheeler-dealer driven by self-preservation, not by principle. His political wisdom was of the wet-finger-in-the-wind variety, claiming a Reagan conservative mantle during election cycles and then throwing constitutional conservatives under the bus once comfortably back in his well-worn Senate committee seats.
Hatch preached “civility” for all his liberal Democrat Senate buddies but attacked grassroots Tea Party conservatives as “nuts.” Collegiality only applies to the wealthy and powerful.
To wit: Hillary Clinton paid tribute to Hatch by praising his “willingness to find common ground.” She reminisced about how “When I was first lady, he worked with me and Ted Kennedy to get SCHIP done; as a fellow Senate colleague, he reached across the aisle to serve Utah and the country.” As I’ve long documented, Hatch became the alcoholic Chappaquiddick swimmer’s best Beltway barnacle pal during his 42-year tenure in Washington. Their State Children’s Health Insurance Program monstrosity was a health care Trojan Horse for Obamacare that is now a $20 billion-a-year entitlement.
Twenty years ago, Hatch and Kennedy were also original open-borders co-sponsors of the illegal alien amnesty for millions of border-crossing invaders known as the “DREAM Act.” Hatch and Kennedy then teamed up to create the $6 billion national service GIVE/SERVE boondoggle in 2009, which quickly evolved into a slush fund for endless progressive social justice pet projects and Obama pals. In the name of “bipartisanship,” Hatch backed the nominations of Obama tax-cheat Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and scandal-plagued, Constitution-sabotaging Attorney General Eric Holder.
“I like Obama,” Hatch declared, “I think he’s a clever, articulate, handsome guy with a tremendous smile, and I think he’s intelligent, and I want him to be a success.”
Speaking of Obama pals and other left-wing malefactors, encrusted Beltway operative Robert Reich eulogized Hatch as a “principled conservative and a friend.” Doddering President Joe Biden issued a White House statement mourning Hatch as “a leader of deep faith who looked out for the people who often didn’t have a voice in our laws.”
Whose voices are these oozing stooges talking about, you ask?
Answer: As I reminded amnesia-plagued “conservatives” when he finally retired in 2018, Hatch crusaded for “fiscal conservatism” while voting for massive Wall Street bailouts, 16 debt ceiling increases totaling $7.5 trillion, and scores of earmarks totaling hundreds of millions of dollars for porky projects — including $20 million for his own Solyndra-style green energy failure, a bankrupt environmental firm known as Raser Technologies.
Hatch raked in millions from Big Pharma, pocketed generous Microsoft donations (after originally crusading against Bill Gates’ monopoly), and ended his four-decade reign as the Senate’s top recipient of lobbyist cash. He spent his retirement years spearheading a multimillion-dollar fundraising campaign, squeezing donations from corporate donors and health care and tech lobbyists to subsidize a “Hatch Foundation” and “Hatch Center” to commemorate the Hatch record of back-scratching, elbow-rubbing, pay-for-play business as usual.
Is that what the globalist Beltway hacks at National Review have in mind when they hailed Hatch’s “towering” conservative record this week? Is this what all of the other Washington creatures in both parties are thinking of when they extol Hatch’s “statesmanship”?
The “civility” mob in Washington and online raps my knuckles and tells me to shush when their Swamp “heroes” finally meet their maker (just Google my name and the phrase “the ghost of John McCain”). Same with Hatch. “Let the man rest in peace,” one of his defenders lectured me this week. “Not OK to say this today,” another clucked.
Go ahead and protect the America Last traitors, fools. Just don’t come crying to me when these Beltway barnacles screw over your kids, sell out our country and kick you to the curb after you give them your votes and your money again, again, again, again, again, again and again.
Reap. Sow.
Michelle Malkin’s email address is [email protected]. To find out more about Michelle Malkin and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
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14 thoughts on “Michelle Malkin: Orrin Hatch’s beltway barnacle legacy”
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When did the tradition of trashing dead people become so popular? It reminds me of the children of movie stars who make money writing books that slander their parents who are dead! What possible purpose can this have? Seems to me we can deal with the present issues in politics without crucifying people who are already dead. Bad call, Michele–you need to be better than this.
Michelle got it right again (as always). “driven by self-preservation, not by principle” (copied from the article). Of course he was driven by principle, the principle of self-preservation (and self-aggrandizement, self-promotion, self-enhancement). And of course all at our expense, our dollar. It’s the modus operandi is the Deep State Toxic System Sewer Waste System. It’s the model operandi of the SWAMP SCUM. Hatch was the poster boy.
Michelle nailed it. Hatch was an imbedded insider whose legacy would be more worthily celebrated as a posterchild for term limits.
Thanks again Michelle. Never really followed him.
Maybe now is the time to do similar pieces on the still breathing traitors posing as Republicans. Unfortunately I think this would be a permanent feature.
Thanks for the information , I’m still getting smarter every day .so what about the other turn coat Romney ,
As a Utah conservative I agree with everything Michelle is saying. Hatch deserves no praise. As bad as Romney who is also a disgrace. Utah conservatives will cut off their noses despite their faces every time. Their so called “principled stances” are almost always to the detriment of any actual principles.
“Don’t worry Mary Joe, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it!”
Michelle is a breath of fresh air.
As a rule, modern Americans are NOT a serious people. We are not thankful, have taken our massive freedoms for granted, and EXPECT the abundance we have as our right.
Take West Virginia and Montana as glaring examples. W. VA Senator Manchin and Romney are good Senate buds. We know Romney is an unprincipled RINO but deep Red W VA is sold on the Swamp creature, Manchin, because he stood up to Biden. At the very least Manchin should switch to Republican to take the power away from Biden and Schumer, who are enemies of W. Virginians.
Same with Dim Senator Tester of Montana.
Americans are NOT a serious people.
Michelle, you are far to kind to “Oral Sna tch” as many of us in the great state of Utah would rather call him. He did all that and more during all those years that he RINOed in the cesspool known as WashDC.
And then he put the icing on the cake on his way to retirement, when he shoved Mitt the Twit Romney down the throats of Utahns, to continue his RINO infestation of the US Senate.
NO, the great state of Utah and the United States of America are better off with “O.S.” Hatch 6 feet under.
Barry Age 77
PO1 USN RET
Vietnam 3x (Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club)
#FJB #LGB #FOH
Michelle sure has it right with this line:
Beltway barnacles screw over your kids, sell out our country and kick you to the curb after you give them your votes and your money again, again, again, again, again, again and again.
Just goes to show you how uninformed people are when they vote. All they do is name recognition. We had the same problem in Arizona, John McCain, star of the Keeting five, kept getting elected on one thing, his prisoner of war status. Trump called him on it and many thought it was terrible.
In reality, the terrible thing is all these politicians come in as normal people and come out as multi millionaires. I suggest that the American voters start following the money!
John McCain Aka “The Songbird . . .”
Barry Age 77
PO1 USN RET
Vietnam 3x (Tonkin Gulf Yacht Club)
#FJB #LGB #FJM
I think McCain’s time as a POW warped his mind.
She is correct, yet news sites are proclaiming Hatch to be a conservative.
Anyone that spends 7 terms in the senate qualifies to be called a swamp creature!