Tag: House Speaker

America’s New Godly House Speaker

W.J. Astore

Mike Johnson Emerges as America’s God-Chosen Speaker

America has a new House Speaker in Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana. We have something in common: we are both firefighter’s sons. But that’s about all we have in common.

His hand’s on the Bible—trust him!

Speaker Johnson believes that members of the House have been chosen by God to lead. I thought the voters chose them (actually, the oligarchs choose them, but bear with me), but Johnson is an evangelical and a godly man. His wife is godly too; she spent two weeks on her knees in prayer, according to the new Speaker, and I guess her prayers were answered in her husband’s elevation.

Speaker Johnson, besides mentioning the Lord and God repeatedly, repeated the usual platitudes about America: that we’re the “greatest nation in the history of the world,” the “freest,” most powerful one, truly exceptional, with the “best” system of governance. I guess faith really is blind. Indeed, for much of his speech, the House was applauding itself for working so hard and being so devoted to the people.

So how best to show this devotion to America? Speaker Johnson said his first bill would be in support of America’s “dear friend,” Israel! Nothing says “I love America” more than money and weapons for Israel.

Speaker Johnson was at pains to denounce the “barbarism” of Hamas but declared that the actions of Israel in response have been “good.” So it’s good versus evil yet again in the Middle East, with a “strong America” being the brightest “beacon of freedom.”

Yet that beacon dare not shine too brightly because too many “illegal migrants” are seeking to cross America’s “broken border” to the South. Dammit, America is such a godly land that too many people seek to come here and enjoy the bounty given by God to Americans. Thus Congress must act to keep these illegals out. Dim the beacon! Eject the migrants!

Speaker Johnson was at pains to note Americans can’t afford their groceries, their soaring credit card interest rates, and higher mortgages, but again his first bill in the House was not to help struggling Americans but to send more weapons to Israel to kill barbarians in Gaza. In short, he should fit in just fine in leading his fellow swamp creatures to glory.

Invoking the Founders, Johnson talked about the promise of America as a theological creed, but of course the Founders themselves rejected the coupling of religion with state power. They had had enough of state churches with the Anglican Church of England. Speaker Johnson obviously sees himself and his fellow members of Congress as bishops in the Church of America, which isn’t exactly the vision the Founders had in mind when they wrote the U.S. Constitution.

So there you have it. Speaker Johnson is on a mission from God in the greatest and strongest nation in the history of the world. What could possibly go wrong?

The Fight Over the Speaker of the House

W.J. Astore

If only Progressive Democrats had fought at all when they had the chance in 2021

There is no Left in America, not in Congress, at least. Whenever the so-called Left, or Progressives, or the Squad have an opportunity to drive policy changes, they cave to the corporate centrists within the Democratic Party. Which is why I laugh, however ruefully, when Republicans warn about the “radical left” and how powerful it allegedly is in America. What “radical left”?

Two years ago, before Nancy Pelosi was yet again elected Speaker of the House, so called Progressives (perhaps we should call them PINOs, or progressives in name only) had a rare opportunity to drive change by withholding their votes for Pelosi as Speaker, just as Republicans are doing now for Kevin McCarthy as Speaker. Like today’s Republicans, the PINOs could have extracted concessions from Pelosi, including a House vote on Medicare for all, for a $15 federal minimum wage, and similar policies the PINOs claim are at the top of their agenda. They chose to do nothing. They got no concessions. They drove no change. And thus the centrist/corporate Democrats continue to ride roughshod over them.

Remember this, Democrats? Force the vote was a rare opportunity to drive change, but the PINOs caved to Pelosi and got nothing in return

Which is why I salute the Republicans who are holding up McCarthy’s appointment as Speaker. They have convictions and are willing to fight for them. They are extracting concessions from McCarthy. Meanwhile, all the PINOs are doing is posing for selfies while poking fun at alleged Republican disorder.

No, you PINOs. This is what true democracy looks like. It’s messy. It involves in-fighting. You have to be willing to get bloodied, at least figuratively speaking. And if you’re unwilling to fight, to “bring the ruckus” to your own party, as AOC claimed she wanted to do, party rulers like Pelosi and current House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will diss, dominate, and demote you, as they did and do. 

Let’s take a quick look at the new House Minority Leader.  CNN praised Jeffries as “the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress.” That’s truly what matters, right? Diversity. More Black faces in high places. Or more women at the top. Or more LGBTQ+ and so on.

But what if “diversity” results in no meaningful policy changes? What if diversity, as my wife puts it, is mainly an optical illusion?

Jeffries, as Sabby Sabs of RBN (the Revolutionary Blackout Network) notes here, is just another corporate Democrat who’s especially skilled at fundraising for the Party. He’s against Medicare for all, he despises the Squad, he’s a fervid supporter of Israel (the “sixth borough of New York City,” he quipped), and his resume includes Georgetown University and (of course) a law degree.

Hakeem Jeffries, House Minority Leader

Can we expect progressive policies from Jeffries? Is he a radical leftist? Of course not! He’s a younger version of Pelosi, a corporate shill who’s sold as a change agent because he’s the first Black party leader in Congress, just as Pelosi was praised for the “change” she represented as the first Madam Speaker.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s generally a good thing when more women, more BIPOC, and other traditionally underrepresented groups attain positions of power. But if their ideas, policies, commitments, and practices are basically the same as those old white fat tomcats who preceded them, where’s the progress? Where’s the change?

In so many ways, today’s Democrats are yesterday’s Republicans. They are pro-war, pro-military, pro-business, and thoroughly corporate. Their alleged diversity is mostly optical. Meanwhile, the Republicans, whatever else they may be, are showing true diversity of views, as manifested by Kevin McCarthy’s messy fight for votes from his own party.

All those corporate Democrats and PINOs in Congress should take a very long look in a truth-telling mirror before crowing about how dysfunctional the Republicans allegedly are. If dysfunction means fighting for change that’s consistent with your principles and campaign promises, the Democrats could truly use some of that “dysfunction.” So too could America.