Whether it’s a network commentator, or a Democratic member of congress, the same point keeps coming up. Right now, only one party is interested in governing, the other is an anti democracy party.And of course that’s true. But if you look back, it’s nothing new.
I was watching the slow motion Hindenburg Disaster that was the GOP Klown Kar’s attempt to elect a Speaker when perfect clarity hit. MSNBC had a clip showing Sugar Daddy Matt Gaetz told a reporter, Frankly I don’t care if we elect Hakeem Jeffries Speaker, which seemed a little extreme, even for a lowlife like Gaetz. But former GOP rep David Jolly provided the clarity when he said, McCarthy will never be able to change Matt Gaetz’s mind, because that’s the persona that works with his base.
Performance Art. Gaetz actually has no interest in leading, legislating, or governing, and he never has. And you know what? Neither has anybody else in what laughingly passes in the GOP as the Freedom Caucus. Which is why, even though they’re a real minority, thanks to them, the GOP has been useless for a decade.
Come back with me to 2009. America had just elected its first African American President, causing heart spasms on the far right. But that wasn’t what concerned the infamous Koch brothers. What worried them was the fact that Obama was a young, charismatic progressive liberal, who believed in nonsense like science, global warming and climate change. And with healthy majorities in both the House and the Senate, he could seriously dent their bottom line. Something had to be done.
So they did it. Using secret donors, cut-outs, and false fronts the Koch Suckers created an astroturf movement called The Tea Party Revolution. And they even got ditzy Caribou Barbie to front for them, so it looked like they were actually a part of the Republican party.They provided training and information packets to civilian operatives to use to disrupt democratic town halls, especially over the issue of the ACA.
Which worked so well they took the next step. They recruited candidates for the US House. And they weren’t interested in governing, they were interested in two things. The candidate could be counted on to push the Koch agenda, and he had to be theatrical enough to energize the idiot Tea Party base. And it worked. Too well.
The GOP leadership, who had welcomed the Tea Party with open arms, thinking they’d tame them when they got into office, now found themselves with a loud, rowdy, ungovernable caucus that could sink actual legislation. And when the House GOP leadership tried to use the normal controls, such as fund raising help and committee assignments, the Tea Party members basically told them to blow it out their ass.
Because they weren’t interested in politics and legislating. They were rock stars. Because they were loud, obnoxious, and filthy, FUX News fell into an instant swoon with them. They got unlimited airtime which they used to fund raise and increase their bona fides at home. Who cares about things like clean water or Medicare? They have money to make and books to sell.
The same goddamned thing happened again in 2016 with the ascent of Traitor Tot. His rancorous, populist obscenity, along with his instant success, spawned a whole new generation of glory seeking Trumplets, flying to the bright candle of fame. And some of them won too. And became instant FUX News media darlings, with unlimited airtime, and unlimited income earning potential Who needs the daily grind of legislating. Not Laborious MTG. When she was stripped of her committee assignments, she used the spare time to jet around the country increasing her persona and fundraising base.
And this is the reason that Kevin McCarthy will never be Speaker. He has the support of 90% of the GOP caucus. And McCarthy has been willing to sell his very soul. But when you can only afford to lose 4 votes, and you have 20 members who are dead set against you, you can’t sell something to somebody who doesn’t want to buy. And you know what? Neither can anybody else! Because these shitheels aren’t interested in governance, they’re interested in airtime in order to stuff their wallets and egos. They don’t want a Speaker, or a functioning House, because they want to burn it down. They thrive on the chaos. Because it’s all performance art.
The Rolling Stones were rock stars. These losers are the Political Walking Dead.
What’s called Performance Art is in my opinion pretty much shitty failed actors creating a spectacle on stage. I’m sure some will say I just don’t get it. Whatever. But you raise an interesting point that’s contrary to Democratic Congressman Eric Swalwell’s belief that tonight the GOP donor class will bring the five leaders of the never Kevin movement to heel. Swalwell thinks they will fold. Your point is that they are already rich and famous and no longer need the donor class! And an attempt to primary them from the right? I don’t think that’s gonna work either. If anything their antic will make them bulletproof with maybe the exception of Bobblehead who barely eked out a win. If her district skews more Democratic she’s screwed, but can still make her pile by being what she’s always been. Caving would jeopardize that. And sticking to her guns might bring out MAGAs who’d written her off last time figuring the district was “too blue.”
I’ll stick with what I said in an update to my own earlier article – that predictions at this point are a fool’s errand. Somehow, some way this will get sorted out. How soon? Who the hell knows. But there are possibilities, some of them wilder than the human mind can dream up out there that could materialize. And whatever happens the same is true of unintended consequences, at least for Republicans. My advice to Democrats is to keep their distance because the GOP is shoving big chunks of plutonium across the negotiating table with each other. And they just might wind up causing a critical mass reaction that will be devastating, even fatal to those close to it.
Trumpism has gripped our version of the Repugs, ironically called the Liberal Party and their coalition partners the National Party (think the locals from Deliverance) put they were overwhelmingly rejected at the last federal election in May 2022. Young people and women were the prime movers in removing them from office after almost a decade of rorting, climate change denial and punching down on women, indigenous people, Chinese, LBQTI especially trans people.
Yet after a post mortem, they too have doubled down, determining that the party is not right wing enough! They cannot comprehend that they are not, as they have always believed ‘the natural party of government’. So their solution is to be worse because we the electorate are a bunch of idiots who don’t know what’s good for us.
I’ve attached an article from one of our best political analysts and I think you will see many parallels to the US political scene. Trumpism has had very far-reaching effects and will be felt for a long time to come, even in countries other than the USA.
Pretty sure you just described the Dem game plan for the immediate future. When enough of the damage has set in, they’ll make their own move.