Is There A Third Rail Anymore?

In 1861, John B. Clark, John W. Reid and Henry C. Burnett were expelled from the United States House of Representatives for their support of the Confederate rebellion.

Oh well, timing is everything. Apparently if they had just waited for today they would have been seen as simply quirky.

Leadership, true leadership, can have consequences. When Congress expelled these men from their midst before the Civil War actually broke out, there could have been no doubt that there would be massive fallout from that decision, that they had been elected by real people in Missouri and Kansas who would find the decision unacceptable. They made the decision anyway.

I recently referred to when Johnson signed his Civil Rights Act of 1964 he knew the consequences ahead of time, that he had cut off the South from Democratic influence for a generation and more, and he did it anyway.

When John McCain faced a woman convinced his opponent was a secret Muslim with evil intent during a campaign town hall event, he calmly took the microphone away from the sad gaslit victim and said “No”. He explained that Barack Obama was a good family man, a loyal American who McCain simply had disagreements with about how to move America forward. As the exchange went out on the airwaves, Senator McCain had to know that a huge chunk of his support had just been sucked away in a flash. Trump’s first salvo in the destruction of the Republican Party had been launched, fooling millions of people about the birth origins of Obama, but it was a tactic McCain refused to take advantage of. He would lead, and he would lose.

In 1988, George H.W. Bush challenged us all, “Read my lips! No new taxes!” By 1990 the pressure to reduce the deficit became too great to ignore, and though he tried to negotiate with Congress to maintain his campaign pledge, in the end he agreed to a compromise that would raise the maximum individual income tax rate from 28 to 31 percent and limit itemized deductions on high income individuals among other tax increases. With a stroke of a pen he crippled his own political future and ended many of his congressional brethren’s chances in the 1990 midterms. But he signed the Reconciliation Act anyway. He led, and he knew he would lose.

True leadership is hard. It has consequences. Sometimes it’s fatal, not just politically, but in real terms. The leaders of the civil rights movement in the sixties would attest to this. So would Abraham and John and Bobby. With great responsibility comes great risk, and true leaders know and accept this. In Martin Luther King, Jr.’s last speech he personified this for all time. He told the crowd in clear terms that his days were numbered, but the cause was worth it. He would press forward and pay the ultimate price the very next day.

Which brings us to House Minority “Leader” Kevin McCarthy. A week after the January 6th attempted coup of the United States government by a tragically manipulated mob, McCarthy said, “The president bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters.” A bold statement, a courageous step forward considering the unhinged character of the base of his party. He flirted with leadership with all of its attendant risks, setting a course for the reconstruction of a GOP that was rapidly becoming a civic threat. That same day the AP led with a headline “GOP Support Breaks” and even I was fooled, posting on here that there just might be an outbreak of decency in the body politic. Would Kevin McCarthy be the leader of a Republican atonement?

But it just wasn’t in his nature. The moment was simply too big for him, and he would reveal his true lack of character in a shockingly short amount of time. While the nation was revolted by the insurgency, polling showed that the republican base was vehemently against impeachment and so, in spite of finding the president culpable, McCarthy also came out against impeachment. The rapid testicular retraction was almost comical if the stakes weren’t so high. Almost immediately McCarthy would show he simply had no balls at all. Just over a week after pointing the finger at the president, he said “I don’t believe he provoked if you listen to what he said at the rally.” Just a few days later during an interview with Greta Van Susteren on Fox News he retreated even further with “I also think everybody across this country has some responsibility”. Shortly thereafter he would fly off to Florida to meet with Trump, once again in the good graces of the Inciter in Chief to develop a Republican strategy to retake the House and Senate. With only two years to go to the midterms, that race has already begun.

Meanwhile other so called leaders continue to court the rabid rabble. Senators Cruz and Hawley have not backed down from their calls for investigations into the viability of the election process, despite a complete lack of evidence for a problem existing in the first place. Their arguments have nuanced differences. While Hawley has insisted that he is simply voicing the concerns of the electorate that he represents thus avoiding personal responsibility for his role in the insurrection, Cruz has cleverly repeated that there have been an unprecedented number of accusations of voter fraud and that requires a serious probing. Why clever? Because the wording makes his statement factually true. There have been an unheard of number of accusations of voter fraud, but they have not been connected to any evidence that the accusations have any credibility. Accusations are not justification for any kind of congressional action. Without a factual basis to them, they are ideological noise. Noise that McCain heard and rejected and tried desperately to lead his party back to credibility.

He failed. McCarthy, Cruz and Hawley all watched what happened to John McCain. It damn sure wasn’t going to happen to them.

The Grand Ole Party started to resemble the Terminator after being blown to bits. The scattered molten remains gradually found each other and re-congealed into a unified evil force.

Then came Marjorie Taylor Greene. Surely that would do it.

If you took every bat-shit crazy conspiracy theory and wrapped it up in one big QAnon flag, out would tumble Representative Greene. Every frothing Karen and Ken have found their voice. From 9/11 to Parkland High School, Pizzagate to Jewish space laser induced forest fires, from birtherism to false flag Vegas massacres and so much more, Marjorie Taylor Green is a perfect representative of her district and she has no shame in being their voice in the United States Congress. In a speech on the floor of the House she complained she was being silenced.

In a speech. In a session of Congress. Silenced.

It has been reported that this coming week Kevin McCarthy is going to have a chat with her.

Clark, Reid and Burnett were expelled from the House for their support of the Confederacy. Michael J. Myers (1980) and James Traficant (2002) for bribery. William D. Bynum and Thomas L. Blanton were both censured for using unparliamentary language. Bob Dornan was reprimanded for saying that Bill Clinton had given “aid and comfort to the enemy” in a speech on the floor. Joe Wilson for shouting “Liar!” during a State of the Union Address. Laura Richardson for getting her staff to work on her campaign and do personal errands. Barney Frank for fixing parking tickets for a friend.

McCarthy will meet with Greene.

It is anyone’s guess as to what will be said and what the upshot of the meeting will be. McCarthy is terrified of Greene’s base, and Greene is proud of them. What the newly elected congresswoman represents is the very part of the party that has made Kevin backtrack on his impersonation of a leader. He has been bounced violently by the thrashing bumpers in this political pinball game. It is impossible to guess where he will wind up next.

Lines have been crossed. Or have they? Do lines exist anymore? When Trump bragged about fame being a free pass to sexual assault, we elected him. When he mocked a disabled reporter, many joined in the laughs. When he said there were very fine Proud Boys in Charlottesville, it was a blip, a modest news day. When we died for lack of leadership, isolated from loved ones, we renominated him to represent a major political party. When he incited an attempted coup, we impeached him and most likely will find him not guilty.

There are no lines left.

While Democrats will continue to try to lead the country back to just bare bones sanity, Republicans desperately need to find a voice that can lead them. Someone that can hold the mirror up, expect greater things of their constituency, even if it means they lose everything themselves.

Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio?