There has never been a time in my adult life that I have been more disgusted at national politics, with each day revealing more about the disfunctional mess we have in Washington D.C.
We’ve got legislators who are so old that they have a hard time putting cogent thoughts together, standing up, or keeping out of the hospital. Senator Dianne Feinstein recently died at age 90 and… cast a vote in the Senate the day she died. Nancy Pelosi, the ex-Speaker of the House and still a Congresswoman from California, is 83-years-old and … running again for Congress! Republican Minority Leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell, who is a spry 81-year-old fuddy duddy, has recently experienced “freezing up” (on several occasions) while making a public statement. Just as well, as what he was about to say was probably stupid.
They are but a few of the couple dozen Representatives and Senators who are more than 80-years-old. Well meaning people, I’m sure, but most of them would be better off (as would the Nation) if they traded in their D.C. perks for shuffleboard at the local Senior center or “greeter” jobs at Walmart.
What is it about OLD politicians hanging on to the Federal gravy train until they are too decrepit to get out of bed? How about giving the younger folks a chance to fuck up the Nation? Why are we potentially looking at two old farts (Biden and Trump) running for President again in 2024? Biden seems confused and stumbles a lot, while Trump says so many stupid things that it’s obvious that his brain is totally mush.
Can’t we just put them out to pasture? Help us, Jesus!
Seriously, isn’t Mister Magoo available??
Of course, it’s not just the old fogies who are doing their best to screw up our democracy. As in most years, American voters, in their wisdom, have put into office a slew of totally useless “legislators” whose primary objective in D.C. is to get rich off of lobbyists and make damn fools of themselves any time they see a camera or someone puts a microphone in front of their face. It’s a fucking clown show, each day producing another elected imbecile saying or doing ridiculous things just to get attention while spending zero time actually trying to solve the Nation’s problems. Legislators, who are there to address critical problems though the development of laws and approval of budgets, spend most of their day shooting spitwads at each other in the Capitol.
Bozo would fit into the troupe.
How about Congressman George Santos of New York? He’s the gay guy (who dresses in drag in his spare time) who hasn’t told one truth since he campaigned for office. Everything about him is a lie (he’s a Trump “mini me”) and he has recently been indicted for all manner of fraudulent fundraising, theft, and misrepresentation. He should have been expelled from the House months ago, but his Republican vote is more important to Congressional leadership than the shame he brings on the institution.
Have you heard about Congresswoman Lauren Boebert of Colorado? She’s a legislator who is often on TV invariably spouting right-wing nonsense, heckling the President at his State of the Union Address, and advancing pro-gun and anti-vaccine initiatives. She recently embarrassed herself by: (1) Attending a playhouse presentation of “Beetlejuice” where she vaped, which is prohibited in the theater; (2) chewed out in coarse language a patron who complained; (3) loudly sang during the performance; (4) groped her date’s junk during the performance while he manually checked out her melons; (5) got thrown out of the theater by management while shouting “Don’t you know who I am?!”; (6) Denied any inappropriate behavior until in-theater video surveillance caught her in the lie; (7) then minimized her actions by stating that the incident was a “lapse in judgment” that didn’t represent her “moral values”. Interestingly, Congresswoman Beobert makes a political living by complaining that America’s “family values” are going down the toilet. She should know.
Oh, boy, Senator Bob Menendez of New Jersey, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, seems to have slimed his way to the top of the D.C. swamp! He’s currently under indictment for accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash and gold bars as bribes (“No way! In our Nation’s capital?) and for acting as a paid agent of the Egyptian government. Should he step down? Of course. Will he? Not a chance while there’s still opportunity for another grift.
Speaking about another shameless grifter who should relinquish his Federal job, how about Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas? This judge, who enjoys a LIFETIME appointment to the highest court in the land, and who is the most extreme, far right “Conservative” on the Court, has been exposed as a puppet directed by some of his uber rich Republican donors. He’s enjoyed lavish trips at home and abroad, courtesy of these billionaire political manipulators. He’s either too stupid to understand or just plain corrupt. His wife, by the way, is an EXTREME right-wing operative who was intimately involved in Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement which culminated in the Capitol Riot. This married couple will leave a lasting stain on democracy in our Nation.
This past week has found America somewhat absorbed in the drama around choosing a Speaker of the House of Representatives, a politician who will be second in line to the President should the Geezer in Chief expire while in office.
Astoundingly, the primary contestants for the job are are “stolen election” Trump sycophants, corrupt politicians who helped, or at least looked the other way, when the 2021 insurrection went down. Why our Congress should be led by individuals who actively worked to engineer a bloodless coup (which turned out not to be bloodless) to “correct” the will of the people… is a mystery to me. Did these individuals (along with an additional 140 plus Republican Congressmen) even read their oath of office after being elected? As I recall, their job was to “support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic”, which would presumably include giving no support to the lynch mob that ransacked our Capitol Building on January 6, 2021.
Almost three years after that shameful episode in American history, about half of Republican Party elected officials in Washington D.C. will not admit publicly that Donald Trump lost the 2020 election. Why, when the whole world knows the truth? Because the ex-President has their testicles in his mitts, and he knows how and when to squeeze (as in… there is an election coming in 2024). “Play ball or I’ll primary you!”
The fight for the Speaker of the House job (what imbecile would want such a post with the Democrats controlling the Senate and the White House?) has deteriorated into a Republican intra-Party mudwrestling match, further demonstrating that the G.O.P. has gone completely off the rails thanks to the toxic “campaign” that Trump is conducting to bully Republicans in general and poison jury pools selected to evaluate and cast judgment on the ex-President’s nefarious activities.
Congressman Jim Jordan of Ohio is the latest nominee of the G.O.P. to lead the House. He’s having difficulty corralling the votes, probably because he is one of the most divisive and destructive politicians in Washington D.C., a guy who was intimately involved in the Capitol Riot machinations and remains a dedicated Trumpist to this day. Jordan is uniquely unsuited to the job he seeks, as the Speaker is the guy who is supposed to work with both political parties to craft legislation that is acceptable to all Americans. Congressman Jordan is not “into” that kind of governing; he’s a wrecking ball kind-of-guy, not a diplomat carrying an olive branch. If he is elected Speaker, the D.C. shit show will get markedly worse in the coming year.
Send in the clowns.
Jordan may not be able to get the votes he needs, as every Democrat will oppose his candidacy and maybe a dozen of his Republican brethren don’t like the cut of his jib. He may be able to bribe a half dozen of the holdouts with juicy perks and assignments (should he be elected), but if even five of the holdouts continue to hold their nose, Jordan’s campaign is toast.
Then what?
Probably some schmuck who no one has heard of will get stuck with the thankless job. Most likely it will be one of the 147 “stolen election” idiots who continue to kiss Trump’s ring, but a Congressman who has been less divisive than pitbull Jim Jordan.
That would rule out Republican flotsam such as Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene, a raging “Karen” who embarrasses herself each day by spewing Q Anon nonsense and Florida’s Matt Gaetz, a nincompoop of the highest order that no one in D.C.(except Donald Trump) can abide. And, of course, whack jobs like Paul Gosar of Arizona and Chip Roy of Texas, who daily embarrass themselves and the Nation with idiotic public statements that seem to be lifted directly from Hitler’s “Mein Kampf”.
We don’t need Nazis or skinheads crafting national policy, thank you.
There has been some mention of giving the Speaker job to (drum roll, please!) the ex-President himself. It would be perfectly legal to do so, as long as the votes are there. The Democrats might consider helping out, as it would put the 2024 campaigner in the public spotlight, further revealing his ineptness in all manners governmental. Between his many serious legal battles (in D.C., Georgia, New York and Florida) and the Speaker’s job, the self-avowed “smartest man in any room” would be kept pretty busy.
I say, “Send in that clown!”, he loves humiliation.
