Back in the day, when you went to see a Lon Chaney movie, you knew exactly what you were getting. This guy played characters who never could catch a break. You think he’s laughing for joy here in the film The Unknown (just released as part of a Tod Browning Blu-ray collection by Criterion)?:
Of course not; he’s just been told by the character he is in love with (played by a pre-stardom Joan Crawford) that she now loves to have the hands and arms of the man who she has been rejecting all this time all over her. Before this, any man’s hands touching her had disgusted her; she had previously intimated that she allowed Chaney’s character to be close to her because he had no arms with hands to touch her. In his foot throwing circus act, Chaney’s character pretended not to have arms and hid them behind his back; afraid that he would be rejected if his fraud was discovered, he had just returned from seeing a doctor who on his request amputated both of his arms.
Don’t you get the feeling that Republicans in the House of Representatives are feeling just a little bit stupid around now like Chaney's character in that film for the past two weeks? Well to be honest they should be ever since they allowed the far-right to control the party agenda. They allowed eight renegade far-right members who have no agenda but destruction and chaos to break House rules and decorum to “amputate” the Speaker, Kevin McCarthy, for no reason save puerile vindictiveness.
Even Matt Gaetz admitted that he doubted his gang was going to succeed, assuming a few Democrats would cross over and vote to keep McCarthy afloat, but none did. Gaetz now finds himself persona non grata, and such is the fate of someone whose career in the House has been one fat PR stunt.
After Rep. Steve Scalise dropped out of the speakership race, that left Rep. Jim Jordan. After two votes where 20 and then 22 Republicans voted for someone other than Jordan, The Washington Post tells us that
The path forward for House Republicans on choosing a speaker was uncertain Thursday after members emerged from a lengthy, heated meeting. Earlier Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), the embattled GOP speaker nominee, told his conference that he would back a plan to temporarily expand the powers of Rep, Patrick T.McHenry temporarily expand the powers of Rep. Patrick McHenry (R-N.C.), the temporary speaker, and delay a third ballot for speaker. Jordan later suggested to reporters that the plan won’t move forward as of now. He said he would seek a third ballot for speaker, though the timing was unclear.
Jordan just won’t give up, even though he has been told by Republicans opposed to him that threats—including death threats—from MAGAmaniacs to themselves, their staffers and even their spouses isn’t helping to “convince” them that they should just forget that their own constituents (many in “swing” districts that voted for Joe Biden) see Jordan as a lead sower of that chaos and destruction.
Yet there are those Republicans who may not be far-right extremists who seem to think it is more important to secure the support of the extremists than that of the “moderates” who they depend on to keep those swing districts in line in order to even be in a position of majority to elect an idiot as speaker.
So
there are still people who believe that this “legislative terrorist” and “bomb-thrower,”
who did his part to enable the January 6 insurrection and continues to claim
that the 2020 election was “stolen,” is the “right” choice for speaker. This is
a man who, according to the academic group Center For Effective Lawmaking, is among
the “least effective” legislators in Congress, placing him at 202 out of 205
Republican House members whose records were analyzed. MSNBC noted that out of
36 bills introduced by Jordan, only three even received a hearing on the House
floor, which indicates his “radical” and destructive approach to governance has little real support.
Furthermore, his enthusiasm for government oversight seemed to “evaporate” when Donald Trump was president, and even now the committees he oversees are better known for his own fascination with conspiracies and personal lack of decorum and contempt for the rule of law than exposing “deep state conspiracies,” let alone “evidence” of “wrongdoing” in Biden administration.
The Daily Beast wonders what a Jordan speakership would look like:
Putting a finer point on it: Upon assuming the speakership, would Jordan cease being the insurgency and suddenly begin worrying about making sure his caucus funds the government and raises the debt ceiling? Or would he take a hardline stance on budget cuts and other positions that are frankly unattainable in a world where Democrats control the presidency and the U.S. Senate—leading to shutdowns, defaults, and other disastrous outcomes? In making this decision, Jordan would likely face a sort of Catch-22. He either lives long enough to become the villain (the establishment), or he becomes a disastrously bad and ineffective speaker.
Probably the latter. Jordan would likely shift the country’s priorities to the usual “America First” MAGA conspiracies and paranoia, show his contempt for democratic principles in an election year, and show us how the far-right has more in common with Vladimir Putin’s dictatorial ideology by opposing aid to Ukraine. We saw how “America First” worked in practice in four years of Trump: alienating allies, giving Iran and North Korea an excuse to ignore prior “agreements,” and placing tariffs on Chinese goods that didn’t stop exports but just raised prices paid by American consumers. And of course being hypocritical and racist on what groups were to be denied and demonized on the immigration and work visas front.
The fact is that Jordan is a self-promoting, egotistical a-hole whose political life is predicated on his destructive “attitude” which voters in his gerrymandered district seem to believe “speaks” for them, but only in the sense that he “shakes things up,” even to no purpose other than cause confusion and chaos. It is difficult to fathom how this could all work out for a country where an increasing majority is tiring of the divisiveness.
Let’s not forget that instead of the usual “landslide” by the party out of power in the last midterms, Democrats held on to the Senate and Republicans were four seats from staying in the minority in the House, which indicated that voters were still waiting to see what a “post-Trump” Republican party looked like. If an empty bombshell like Jordan is in control of the legislative “agenda,” then nothing has changed. In fact, it may become even worse.
Post script: After losing by an even-wider margin on Friday, Jordan was unceremoniously dumped as the nominee in a secret ballot. Previously, Gaetz--who had been roundly derided by other lawmakers during a "secret" conference when he tried to take the mike from another Republican--claimed he would "accept" being disciplined if Jordan was elected speaker; no one was swayed by this "deal" in Friday's vote, only hardening those opposed to Jordan.
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