The Diversions Ahead
Chaos is not a choice; chaos is ‘the plan.’
January 7.
In the end the nays won. The people lost.
Speaker McCarthy was elected for the same reason Nancy Pelosi was elected — fundraising. The unofficial title of Speaker of the House and second in line to the Presidency (1) is chief party election fundraiser. The difference is that with even a similar slim majority, Pelosi demanded room to maneuver and collect votes. The hold-outs in the Democratic Party, the Progressives, the ‘Squad,’ were willing to give Pelosi that space as long as they could ‘own their legislative narrative.’
In other words, not have their efforts at legislating marginalized by back room deals.
Curious then that the election-denying cadre of Trumpists in the Republican Party compare themselves to the “Squad,” when they have no legislative agenda. So, fundraiser McCarthy gave away the keys to the back room to appear leader-like.
America will have no ‘real deals,’ just two years of chaos masquerading as “democracy.”
Translation: ‘We raised the funds, we own the narrative.’ ‘It’s what the founding fathers would approve,’ explained alleged insurrection conspirator Rep. Jim Jordan, Chair-elect of the House Judiciary Committee. (2)
“Democracy is messy.”
Cue another Churchillian bromide.
Consider that to fund this agenda, this make-believe at governing, look no further than corporate America and K Street…America’s lack of election reform and voter advocacy…The shadow “democracy,” the competition for lobbyist turf and influence peddling that K Street provides its clients... survived fifteen ballots.
New ‘lines in the sand’ emerged… buffed up:
Election denying is the work of passion, not government insurrection. Laws are meant to be broken until they have “their day in court.” Rhetoric is when one sounds a promise one has no intention of sharing or delivering on.
“Follow the money.” (3)
The ‘morning after,’ January 8, the mainstream media started the handwringing over appearances at governing — government funding…approving the budget… risking the integrity of US Treasuries.
Howls were heard in the Capitol Rotunda where a statue of Hamilton presides. Budget denial appeared: ‘look at what the previous Congress rushed through… we wouldn’t have done that…we would have dragged it out to the next faux election…’
The apologists ‘recoil,’ “They wouldn’t risk shutting down the government would they?”
Chaos is not a choice; chaos is the plan.
Huffington Post and Rolling Stone report that well over 50% of campaign contributions for election deniers came from ‘Fortune 500’ US Corporations (4).
America’s state of deja vu: we’ve been there before because nothing’s really changed.
Twenty-one days to “Groundhog Day.”
If one has read this far, one can conclude that no solutions have been proposed because a ‘solution’ framed in the context of chaos is to echo the chaos, not curb it.
The allure of nihilism is exactly that, allure, war paint.
The point is there are no answers, no solutions.
The point is to aggressively pursue accountability, to reject, to uncover, to challenge and keep on challenging.
After the 2022 election, and now numbering over 100, (5) “The Squad” is no longer a squad.
It’s a resolve.
January 9
Notes
1-Presidential succession
2-Wiki
3-”Deep Throat,” as quoted by Woodward and Bernstein in All the President’s Men”
4-Links
5-Official count of House Progressive Caucus in the 118th Congress is 102. Compared to centrist or “liberal” Democrats, this shows a modest but substantial increase over the 117th Congress (2 additional seats) Significantly, of 18 candidates Progressive Caucus endorsed, 15 won — Jayapal interview, November 22, The Hill)
