The invention of television may have been the worst development ever for our political system. After all, without television in every home in America, many of us would never have seen the farce that seems to unravel our government.
Of course, the debacle surrounding the election of Speaker of the House in Washington, DC is not collapsing our government. For that to happen, it would take an eventual failure far more serious than the choice of the Speaker of the House.
But so much attention has suddenly been focused on the issue that it seems tantamount to defaming the Constitution beyond regeneration. , it might look like that.
Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California has for some time longed for his apparent destiny as next Speaker. I even moved to the chairman’s office.
But as many of us witnessed, that blessing was withheld, and as the weekend approached McCarthy had to face the prospect of having to reclaim his possessions and dignity.
In our democracy, not everything happens the way we expect or want. Is this good or bad? It depends on each individual’s point of view.
But in cases like this, a surprisingly small group of dissidents can step in and bring our government to a halt.
They think they are doing the right thing. They can certainly make a compelling argument that that’s what they do.
Our government has let us down time and time again by allowing us to establish barriers to any reasonable and obvious “next step” in the political process.
In 2016, Democratic President Barack Obama nominated Merrick Garland as the next Supreme Court Justice to replace the late conservative Antonin Scalia.
But Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell soon declared that the nomination would not even be considered by the Senate. He said he should have been and not the president who would take office the following year.
As such, Garland was never officially considered, instead the choice passed to Obama’s successor, Donald Trump, who chose conservative Neil Gorsuch. He was the first of three judges elected by Trump to be conservative.
As of this writing, the catastrophic impasse between 202 pro-McCarthy Republicans and 20 anti-McCarthy Republicans is inconclusive. Because of our political system, 20 is now equal to 202.
For twenty, this was proof that rights can be achieved by those who are willing to stand up for their principles.
For 202, it was definitely proof of the impossibility.
