So it has come to this. Faced with the inability to muster enough votes to prevent a Trump-inspired rebellion to oust Kevin McCarthy, the House Republicans decided to blame Democrats. As the New Republic pointed out, "Democrats providing the votes necessary to protect [McCarthy] would have essentially been endorsing a ridiculous impeachment inquiry, the stonewalling of the January 6 investigation, the use of the House of Representatives to politically protect Donald Trump, the continued existence of the debt ceiling, and a host of other ills."
No, this was MAGA mayhem, pure and simple.
And, heaven help us, who have we got as candidates for the vacant Speaker's Chair? Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise. Scalise, who once described himself as "[former Klansman] David Duke, without the baggage," would be bad enough. But Jordan??? Speaking of his bid for the gavel, Liz Cheney said "...if they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution." She knows full well that the reason Trump endorsed Jordan is because he can demand and expect undying loyalty from him.
And that undying loyalty will be essential as part of Trump's plans to create a fascist state. Is that going too far? No. Read former-Republican Jennifer Rubin's column - "How fascism advances: The culprits are all around us," for look at the growing derangement of the MAGA cult leader and GOP front-runner — and those, like Jordan, who enable him.
Or read Will Bunch's piece, in which he cogently argues that "[the] alleged brain trust of an increasingly fascist MAGA movement wants an American dictatorship that would “suspend” democracy in January 2025 — just 15 months from now."
We cannot bury our heads in the sand and pretend that what is happening in the GOP is "politics as usual." We have a five alarm fire consuming our democracy, as surely as the Great Fire of Rome consumed that city in AD64. Famously, Nero is said to have fiddled while Rome burned, and our own Congressman is similarly oblivious or indifferent to the conflagration that threatens the American democratic experiment.
Kean's newsletters and his Facebook feeds feature his usual brand of parish pump politics, practiced behind the cloak of invisibility in which he wraps himself. Another phony "phone-in" Town Hall, with cream puff questions tossed his way and survey posed as leading questions. But discussion of the burning issue of the day? Nothing.
Kean will soon be forced to make a choice for Speaker. A vote for either Scalise or Jordan is a vote for the extremist politics Kean claims to disavow. Yet there is another way. Hakeem Jeffries has proposed that a "bipartisan coalition is the way forward for the House." His suggestion: "The House should be restructured to promote governance by consensus and facilitate up-or-down votes on bills that have strong bipartisan support."
Are there enough Republicans with the spine to confront the extremism in their party and work across the aisle, to ensure that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not vanish from this earth? Congressman Kean - you can ensure your place in history by standing up for reason, and rejecting the MAGA wing of your party. Raise your hand!
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