If the polls we are reading are even remotely correct, the November elections will be highly successful ones for the Republican Party, undoubtedly in the House and quite possibly in the Senate.
Not only that, he is going willy-nilly into an Iran deal that’s demonstrably worse than the previous one called, pretty accurately, by Donald Trump “the worst deal ever.” The new one not only allows the theocratic fascist imperialistic leaders of the world’s greatest sponsor of terrorism to get an advanced nuclear arsenal with modern delivery systems, but it also releases billions to it faster.
And then there’s a southern border that’s still leaking like the proverbial sieve, a reactionary—allegedly “green”—energy policy that has created runaway inflation and threatens to bankrupt our country or at least drastically weaken it vis-a-vis its enemies, the ability to declare executive mandates and lockdowns at any moment for virtually any reason, and on and on.
So, to put mildly, it’s high time the GOP got its house in order. They have to be ready to step into a situation for which the word dire may have been invented. By that, I mean not just the leadership of the House and the Senate—those are mandatory (speaking of mandates)—but also the Republican National Committee.
All these are led by people who are nearly completely out of synch with the rank-and-file of the Republican Party, in other words, the people who elected them.
They are the essence of business-as-usual in an era when we need anything but.
Realizing the disconnect—how could they not—sometimes, they make efforts to seem otherwise, but if you watch carefully those attempts are paper-thin.
You could see that the other night on Sean Hannity’s show when the host asked House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) whether he would follow through on investigating the myriad obvious malfeasances of the Democrats and the minority leader assured us that he would, but his voice and eyes betrayed him.
So what do we do? Who should replace them?
I am going to use three words you rarely see in punditry: I. Don’t. Know.
I am trying to inspire serious discussion of a topic that’s admittedly already underway but needs added urgency in the hopes that enough demand from the rank-and-file (meaning you, dear reader) will create the necessary change.
That doesn’t mean I don’t have opinions. As Groucho Marx put it as Rufus T. Firefly, dictator of Freedonia, in “Duck Soup”: “These are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.”
So here goes.
Starting out, it’s hard to avoid the orange-haired elephant in the room, Donald Trump, who, it has been bandied about, could be the new speaker of the House of Representatives. Evidently, the House speaker doesn’t have to be a member of Congress.
The ensuing scenario is that the House would then vote to impeach both Biden and Harris and they would both be convicted by the Senate, installing Trump in his rightful (assuming that you agree he won in 2020) place in the presidency.
Anything can happen in this crazy world, but I wouldn’t bet on this one. And although it would certainly make Nancy Pelosi’s head explode, and might make the best theater since Shakespeare and Molière combined, I’m not altogether sure it’s a great idea. Being speaker of the House is constantly likened to herding cats.
I rather suspect Trump wouldn’t be keen on such a task and is probably not the right person to do it anyway.
Nor are the more rabid conservatives in the House such as Marjorie Taylor Greene, although it would be fun to see it.
We need a constitutional conservative with great experience and depth of knowledge and, if I were to make a choice right now, I would also reach out beyond current members for an older person and a former speaker: Newt Gingrich.
He did the job well before and has the qualifications to do it again.
Of course, there are others among the 435 current members. Make suggestions.
As for the Senate, several possibilities come to mind to replace Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), whose ties to China rival Joe Biden’s (although are probably not as illegal).
Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) has established a solid conservative record and is especially good on combating the root of that great modern evil, Big Tech. Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) can be occasionally squishy but speaks the English language more elegantly and wittily than anyone in Congress. It’s always a pleasure to hear him. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) could be the first female majority leader. Although I abhor such identity politics, it’s always amusing to see the Democrats hoisted on their own reactionary petard.
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) certainly has the intellectual qualifications, but, although I’m not averse at all, he may be a tad too strident, making too many of the issues about him. As for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), he should go the way of McConnell—out.
