I’m not so sure that living in interesting times is what it was cracked up to be when Sir Austen Chamberlain coined the phrase.
This week we’ve seen demonstrations on college campuses, mostly not involving college students; we’ve heard hints from the Supreme Court that it will further subvert the Constitution on behalf of a former President; and while we should all be focused on Star Wars Day we’re facing the prospect of the House of Representatives spiraling back into chaos.
Interesting, indeed!
At least on that final point it appears that smarter heads will prevail. Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the more ridiculous members of Congress, more interested in sabotaging the entire country than actually working on behalf of her “constituents” (she represents a small Georgia district where she doesn’t live). She joined with her fellow MAGA extremists to ouster former Republican Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, a move that left the Speakership open for an arduous three weeks, and now she’s proposing to give Speaker Mike Johnson the same treatment.
Why?
He allowed a bi-partisan bill to send aid to Ukraine and other allies to have a vote on the House floor. The aid package, which had been held up by Greene and her ilk for weeks, passed in a matter of minutes, as most no-brainer bills do. Greene immediately said she was going to call for Mike Johnson’s head, but the bottom line is such a move would be . . . well . . . as silly as everything else she’s done in her brief tenure in the House.
Set aside that the only rational thing we can possibly do is support Ukraine to the maximum extent possible in order to prevent Russia from completely overwhelming their democratic neighbors. Set aside the BS argument that we should be spending that money to rebuild our own country. The MAGA crowd also opposed President Biden’s trillion-dollar bi-partisan infrastructure bill that is already doing just that! Let’s bring it down to the simple fact that there aren’t enough voted to ouster Mike Johnson and sprinkle in the reality that Republicans have no one with enough support to replace him.
With House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries already pledging the support of House Democrats and the majority of House Republicans ready to stand with them, the idea of calling for a vote on vacating the Speaker chair really boils down to nothing more than a publicity stunt.
Apparently Marjorie Taylor Greene didn’t get the memo – the one that gives your job description as a member of Congress. She’s not alone in this and she’s far from the originator of the obstruct-just-to-obstruct approach, but I really don’t understand it. Why would you want a job in public service if you aren’t interested in serving the public? Sure, there’s money in it, and there is the perception of having some degree of power, but if you’re not willing to use your small sliver of power to have a positive impact on our country then why bother?
Perhaps my ideals are too high.
I’ve spent quite a bit of time reading about the Founders and their intentions, hopes and dreams for what America might become. They foresaw the possibility of partisan bickering ultimately leading to the downfall of their great experiment in democracy, and the current state of our nation represents the manifestation of their worst nightmares. We are no longer seeking to become a more perfect union, rather we are a nation of greed, corruption and short-sightedness. When a right-wing evangelical who dreams of theocracy is too far to the middle for the right-wing extremists who control the Republican Party, all semblance of fairness and balance is lost.
The demise of America will almost certainly be the result.
I think I would like to live in less interesting times.
-B
Ishmael's Legacy 