Today’s Op-Ed Reaction comes from the article:
Chaos is everywhere but the House of the Representatives by Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) This article was published on October 20 in The Hill
Anyone who has done any scrolling online or listened to any sound bites discussing the House of Representatives within the last couple of weeks will have heard the term chaos repeatedly. The standard refrain is that the House is in chaos. The language has become so common place that when I saw the title of this Opinion piece by Representative Biggs I knew it would be my Op-Ed Reaction.
Representative Biggs begins with outlining the areas where he sees chaos and explains why he sees chaos in those areas.
He lists the border, the economy, our educational system, big democratic run cities, global relations, and our energy policies as places of chaos. While explaining all of the chaos he notes: “The only thing predictable is that Biden and company will always do the wrong thing for the nation.”
He continues by noting: “There is a lot of chaos in our land and world today. I suggest that having Congress out of session without a Speaker for a couple of weeks isn’t chaotic, nor will it even be felt by the vast majority of Americans today.”
I can agree with this point. Not having a Speaker for the last couple of weeks has had no bearing on my life. Nor should it. If the actions of the House of Representatives is having a direct effect on my daily life we are either in an active war involving United States troops and a draft or military rationing or I have become far too reliant on government and deserve to lose my liberties.
Representative Biggs continues “The simple truth is that the American government is so big, and the bureaucracy is so nonresponsive to the legislative branch, that it will just keep on operating even without a Speaker of the House. Even when the House is not in session, you know, just like the seven-week recess taken every year by the House of Representatives.”
While discussing what he views as chaos Representative Biggs explains: “Our determination is that the existential crisis is so acute that unprecedented action must be taken. Even if, even if it meant that we ruffled feathers.”
I think it is clear that most people have a low opinion of Congress. It has constantly received low approval ratings. Congress has abdicated its responsibilities for decades and continued on a business as usual approach ceding power to the executive branch of government. I agree that it is time to ruffle some feathers. Business as usual is bad for the average American. If congress can’t pass single spending bills or balance a budget they deserve ridicule.
Watching the “chaos” unfold on the House floor as round after round of voting on a speaker continues I don’t mind if the Speaker isn’t elected for another week or two. A House of Representatives with Representative McCarthy as Speaker and Representative Jeffries as minority leader would most likely have passed another bloated Omnibus bill when the 45 day continuing resolution expires. Once a new Speaker is selected there is a slim chance that might not be the case.
Representatives are re-elected term after term and settle into their routines expecting to pass omnibus spending bills or continuing resolutions year after year. There is a comfortable complacency in routine. Ousting a Speaker for continuing the long tradition of business as usual is a bold action and it ruffles feathers. Whether it will ultimately turn out to be chaotic remains to be seen. If a Speaker is selected next week nothing chaotic will have occurred.
William Wilberforce has been called an agitator for his commitment to ending the slave trade. One of his well known speeches on the subject was given on May 12, 1789.
Cardinal Richelieu has been hailed as a great statesman and as a subversive authoritarian. Depending on who you talk to he was a man needed to strengthen the monarchy in France, or he was a tyrant seeking personal power. Next week I will have a book review that may shed more light on Cardinal Richelieu.
When Lenin was working on his major writing projects he would often pace across the room formulating the ideas that he would write down by saying them out loud. Once he had the idea for what he wanted to write he would often repeat the idea to Nadezhda Krupskaya, who would provide feedback. Once this process was complete he would then write the ideas down.
Here is an AI rendering of what that might have looked like when he was drafting What is to be Done.
This month this community will focus on political subversion. What is subversion? When is it justified? What is the interplay between subversion and agitation? These are some of the topics to be discussed this month.
“You get used to the despot’s shortcomings, when they are not great vices, and the change of an autocratic ruler leads to involuntary fear.”
Sergei Trubetskoi
