The Sex of Angels

The Republicans came out of the last mid-term election in control of the House of Representatives, but not the Senate. The Big Red Wave broke far from shore. Their control of the House was a mere four seats. Then, they argued for weeks over who should be Speaker and, after a few months, removed him. A renegade group voted with Democrats and removed their own Speaker. Then, he pouted and resigned his own congressional seat, reducing their majority. Why vote for them or give them money, if they are so irresponsible that they quit and jeopardize all the committee chairmanships and investigations that come with a majority? 

Since then, Republicans have fought with each other over various legislation and demonstrated for all the world to see that they are unable to govern. Another congressman resigned mid-term.  They have reduced their own majority to one. Yes, one.  With a majority of one, some are now trying to remove the Speaker again.

The country is falling apart. The borders are open to drug thugs, Chinese infiltrators, and Mid-Eastern terrorists. The legal system is corrupt and used as a political weapon. Inflation is increasing and destroying the currency. Adversaries are taking advantage of our weakness and lack of resolve to start wars and destabilize the world economy. Our government wants to impoverish the middle and working classes, in the name of climate change.

With all this, some Republican nutcases want to remove their own Speaker again, because they do not like some of his compromises to get some bills passed. With a one-seat majority, of course, two or three Republicans in a snit can vote with Democrats and remove him.  

The Democrats are having a great time with this. So are Putin, Xi, and the Ayatollahs. They all want to destroy the United States and the Republicans are too irresponsible to resist.

It is worth remembering at this point that, for the first two years of Trump’s presidency, the Republicans controlled the House, the Senate, and the White House. They could have done many good things for this country and they didn’t. They refused to support their own President, because Paul Ryan, the Speaker, and a few other Republicans did not like his style. He is a New York real estate developer so, of course, he is a bit brash and irritating; get used to it. Do not refuse to govern.

In spite of weak support from his own party, Trump did many good things: closed the border, avoided wars, cut taxes, lowered inflation, and negotiated the Abraham Accords in the Middle East. Now, Paul Ryan is long gone, the country is in the ditch, and the Republicans still refuse to grow up.   

An Italian colleague used to quote a jibe at is own countrymen’s penchant for long discussions when other things needed doing:

“The Romans were debating the sex of angels when the barbarians were pounding on the gates.”

So went Rome; so goes the United States of America.