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Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthy
Before congress was even sworn in, the uncontrollable chaotic dysfunction of the Republican House that will be a nightmare for American democracy for the next two years was already on full display.
Winning is always supposed to be better than losing in politics. But it would be absurd to call the four days of public humiliation for Kevin McCarthy by his own party we just witnessed a victory in his groveling quest to become House Speaker.
The craziest pack of elected Republicans in captivity defeated McCarthy on 14 straight ballots before finally allowing him to crawl into the office he desperately wanted after stripping it of most of its powers.
American Nightmare
The nightmare for patriotic Americans is that both the anti-McCarthy and pro-McCarthy Republican factions are filled with ultra-MAGA election deniers who are still out to destroy democracy. Most House Republicans—175 out of 222—publicly embraced former President Trump’s lies that he won the 2020 election after President Biden’s election with the most votes in American history.
Last week’s Republican war was between an anti-McCarthy minority supported by sleazy, unethical Matt Gaetz and a pro-McCarthy majority supported by sleazy, unethical Marjorie Taylor Greene.
Republicans barely won a four-vote House majority in their disastrous midterms when the surging red tidal wave they expected turned into a trickle. The powers McCarthy gave up to become speaker will make 2023 an even worse year for Republicans.
Out of Control
McCarthy won’t control the House this year. Any five rightwing extremists out to sabotage democracy will control the House. Even worse, just one of them can call a new election to remove McCarthy from leadership if he tries to pass anything radical, rightwing extremists don’t like. Those are the new rules.
Now here’s the understatement of the century that’s going to make 2023 an even worse political year for Republicans: McCarthy is no Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi made passing legislation with a razor-thin majority look easy. McCarthy has already made it look almost impossible.
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Both Democratic and Republican voters are going to hate political gridlock going into a presidential election year, but that’s exactly what House Republicans intend to create. Political terrorists now control the House.
The Greatest Danger
The greatest danger for nearly every American will come in September. That’s when House Republicans are planning to shut down the government under Biden and hold the U.S. economy hostage to force drastic cuts in Social Security, health care and other essential government services all but the wealthiest Americans depend upon.
Senate Republicans know that would be economically catastrophic at a time when every democracy on earth is fighting to fend off another disastrous recession. That’s why 18 Senate Republicans joined Democrats to pass Biden’s budget for the next fiscal year just like Pelosi’s House did.
House Republicans were outraged. During last week’s debate, they vowed no bipartisan budget bill to protect the economy would ever pass their House.
Blocking the Worst
Most Senate Republicans have to act more rationally than House members do. Because Senators are elected statewide, many try to appear more moderate to avoid offending voters in the other party. House members in many Republican states run in such corruptly gerrymandered districts it’s nearly impossible to dislodge incumbents from office.
Fortunately, the historic midterm success for Biden and Senate Democrats will allow them to block reprehensible legislation passed by the House. House Republicans will spend most of their time conducting fraudulent investigations into nonexistent administration scandals.
Americans face serious problems they want elected officials to address in rebuilding the economy. Hunter Biden isn’t one of them. And surely by now House threats to impeach Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland and investigate the FBI for raiding Mar-a-Lago are over.
Federal prosecutors are moving full speed ahead with criminal investigations into Trump’s actions before and during the January 6 insurrection and his possible theft of hundreds of secret government documents after he lost the presidency.
Legal experts once thought charging Trump might be a difficult decision for Garland. No president has ever before been criminally prosecuted for his actions in office. But after riveting testimony from Republican White House witnesses before the bipartisan House Jan. 6th Committee, it would be more surprising if Trump were not criminally charged.
Throughout his presidency, Trump used to boast almost daily of his imaginary historic achievements. Now Trump is about to achieve his fantasy of making history.
The highest official ever tried for his role in an armed insurrection was President Thomas Jefferson’s former vice president Aaron Burr in 1807. Burr was acquitted because there were no eyewitnesses to his planning of an armed rebellion against Jefferson. Americans back then didn’t have the technology we do today to watch our violent insurrections on live television.
It’s getting late, but there’s still time for Republicans to distance themselves from Trump. Relax and enjoy the trials. Remember, Americans are supposed to be on democracy’s side.
