In November we think about giving thanks, but there are other important days on the calendar. November is election month. Our local election was on the 7th, and Republicans in Virginia took a trouncing. I will give thanks that our governor, now without any legislative support, will not get to track women’s menstrual cycles. Nor will he get his abortion ban. Democrats now control our legislature, and that is a fine thing. Voters across America realize that this election was between the party that wants to take away our rights and the party who wants all citizens to have the right to control their -own lives without governmental interference. Most Americans know that we, the people, should be in charge of what we do with our bodies and who we love, not politicians. Another - often overshadowed by the others - holiday in the November calendar is Veteran’s Day. It used to be called Armistice Day, to celebrate the end of WWI and pay homage to the many who gave their lives in that war. W
For Democrats, the year has begun on a high as we watch the continuing implosion of the Republican Party.
The chaos within their ranks sharply contrasts the calm, successful governing of the Democrats and the Biden Administration.
The expected “Red Tsunami” that was supposed to engulf the nation with substantial Republican gains in the midterm election was a pink fizzle: Republicans hold a razor-thin edge in the House, and they lost the Senate.
And they’re bickering amongst themselves. Mainstream media loves to present Democrats in disarray, but it’s the Republican party. Last week we all watched Republican Rep. Kevin McCarthy trying desperately to become Speaker of the House vote after vote. After more than four days and 15 ballots, he finally barely got his speakership but has no control or strength in his party.
We all watched last week as the Republican Party was held hostage by 20 far-right extremists and 14 members of the obstructionist Freedom Caucus, their stated goal to dismantle democracy.
In a Politico article, Heidi Przybyla recalled in his 2021 memoir, former Republican speaker John Boehner said of this faction: “What they’re really interested in is chaos.… They want to throw sand in the gears of the hated federal government until it fails, and they’ve finally proved that it’s beyond saving. Every time they vote down a bill, they get another invitation to go on Fox News or talk radio. It’s a narcissistic — and dangerous — feedback loop.”
Democrats in the House, on the other hand, have pulled together their leadership team with no fuss.
Until Friday, there had been no speaker since Jan. 1. That means no one had been sworn in, and no one could perform their duties or hire staff.
This anarchy proves Republicans do not have legislative skills.
As Heather Cox Richardson points out, when Democrats were in charge, they had a small margin too. Still, they passed major legislation rivaling the accomplishments of President Franklin D. Roosevelt or President Lyndon B. Johnson. And their speaker, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, held the House together for the American people.
The newly-elected majority in the House has no interest in (or talent for) governance or legislation. Instead, their interest is, as Steve Bannon famously said, “The deconstruction of the administrative state.”
The Democrats remain in charge, meaning the county lives with a working government. Nevertheless, the Biden administration has created jobs, invested in social services, for instance, the cap on insulin — for seniors — at $35, and rebuilt infrastructure.
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