Clown Car Politics

American politicians often make reference to the near scared inner-workings of democracy. That the shrine that is the Capitol is steeped in a wise decision-making mystery that us mere mortals can’t really understand but at the same time, should be eternally grateful for. And then, two years after the bloody insurrection of January 6th, 2021, we get to hear the distinct honk of a clown car as it trundles up Louisiana Avenue on its way to Congress to try and get a House Speaker in place. And the number one clown driver of that bitter-sweet comedy car? Kevin McCarthy.

When Trump descended his tacky gold escalator in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy, very few of us knew that he would go on to cast his questionable shadow over the GOP as much as he did. His influence over the Republican party is now undoubtedly waning, years later, but just like a good horror movie creature, the GOP monster he created is now out of control and stalking the corridors of the Capitol.

It has been said that history that repeats itself turns to farce. And nothing more could be more farcical than the 15 attempts it took the House GOP to get McCarthy elected. The history that led to that? Look no further than what Trump warped the Republican Party into, all for the sake of his ego, influence and wallet. That the likes of right-wing maniacs such as Paul Gosar, Marjorie Taylor-Greene and Matt Gaetz have had the nefarious input in to the election of the Speaker in the way that they have, underscores the reality of the GOP having lost its electability, its integrity, its principles, and ultimately its mind. Gosar and Co. should be found under rocks, not in the supposed citadel of democracy that is Congress.

Somehow, someway, pseudo-fascism has entered American mainstream politics. In fact, drop the “pseudo” because it is actual fascism. Built on the cult of personality (albeit a failed TV reality “star” with a distinct lack of personality), with a fear of outsiders or anything that isn’t an identi-kit fit of themselves, Christian fundamentalism and a wanton rejection of scientific rationalism and reason, and there wanton desire to gleefully roll around in the sewer of ignorance and conspiracy.

Ask yourself this. How does any of this relate to the average American? Boil this down to its bare bones and you get an overwhelming number of old White men endlessly arguing about who gets to pull the levers of power. Not that that may not be an immediate concern to you as a Black American, or a female American or anyone economically disenfranchised from the billionaire dominated economy who really pull the levers of power. But as Donald Trump will tell you, old-school politics is about nothing more than ego and bluster.

So, we have the Democrats on the one side, who are far from guilt-free, and then we have the GOP, or whatever in God’s creation it now is, on the other side. Still, death by poisoning or death by hanging really isn’t much of choice now is it? Yet that’s what the long suffering American people are asked to choose from time after time – the Republican party or the Republican party lite? And the oscillation between the two over the last century can hardly be chalked up as a resounding success now can it? Economic inequality like never before, a militarized police force out of control and butchering Black Americans in the streets with impunity and a judicial system that panders to the profit-needs of the private prison complex.

What’s happened in the House in the last few days was a lot of things. But one particular one was the inevitability of it all. The rabid right, revved up by Donald Trump, are out of control and out to wreck as much as they can. As well as being bigots and fanatics, they are also political nihilists. Beyond spite, malice and prejudice, they have nothing of any material worth to offer the American people. While old Kevin chugs along in his new Speaker’s clown car, his bat-shit crazy Trump-adoring colleagues look to not only tear him out at the jugular, but the long suffering majority of us also.

Clown cars can, of course, be funny. But not Kevin’s. Oh no. While it may prove to be a train-wreck distraction to be viewed through fingers spread over the face, there is way more at stake than McCarthy’s buffoonery. That’s why we at TIPNation do what we do. Offer something genuine. Not comical. And not certainly not dangerous.