"CONGRESS AND THE WILDCAT GROWL"

 “CONGRESS AND THE WILDCAT GROWL”

In 1995 Georgian Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the House after the Republicans had taken control of the House in the 1994 elections for the first time in 40 years.  He drove the second nail in the coffin of American democracy, the first having been driven by the Reagan Revolution in 1980.  Gingrich had been a back-bencher in Congress, but he came to understand the power of the media (CSPAN) and the growing anxiety and anger of white men who felt that they were being replaced and being pushed out.  Gingrich was not so much interested in governing as he was in airing white grievances.  He lasted as Speaker only 3 years and was replaced by his own party in 1998.

Gingrich’s pattern of complaining and whining became a part of American culture, and Fox News and other news outlets latched onto that method – there was money to be made and votes to be had in this approach.  That led to the third nail in the coffin of American democracy – the election of the ultimate grifter, Donald Trump, to be President in 2016.  The two-term presidency of Barack Obama and the possibility of Hilary Clinton as the first woman president sent chills into the hearts of white men, especially white supremacists.  The election of Trump by a slim Electoral College margin (though he lost the popular vote) led us into the wilderness in which we now find ourselves.  Trump, like Gingrich, had no interest in governing or in the common good of the country – as he has continued to demonstrate, he only cares about himself and the grift that has been his approach to all of his life.  

The current chaos in the Republicans seeking to find a new Speaker is directly related to this whining and complaining culture established by white men, who feel like our entitlement is slipping. Kevin McCarthy was part of this, and it is a sad reflection of where we are, that now we wish that McCarthy were still the Speaker.   As his record indicates, Jim Jordan was not interested in governing, just dictating, modeled by his hero and mentor Donald Trump.  I don’t know if Tom Emmer will be able to gather the votes this week or not to become Speaker, but he at least knows something about governance.  Perhaps the Republicans will see a light and will work with Democrats to craft a somewhat coalition government, but in our age of juvenile white males running around proclaiming about blowing everything up, that does not seem likely.  All we seem to be getting is the “wildcat growl,” as Bob Dylan put it in his song “All Along the Watchtower.”

All of this makes 2024 seem like a really scary year.  Joe Biden has been a good President, but his age is showing, and his ego is showing – he can’t turn loose of the power to a younger leader.  Biden’s fragility and vulnerability gives life to Donald Trump’s bid for election for another term as President.  Again, perhaps the Republicans will come to their senses and nominate someone who is not so thoroughly corrupt and narcissistic as Trump.  At this juncture, that does not seem likely, though I do find some solace in Sidney Powell and Ken Chesebro pleading out here in Georgia rather than going to trial next week.  Perhaps Trump’s criminal liabilities will bring him down after all – that wildcat is growling too.

As many have said, if Trump is elected president again, we can kiss democracy good-bye, because he intends to be dictator this time.  Our white supremacist culture has coupled our complaints and fears with a narcissist who intends to rule his own way, not to govern in a democracy.  I indicated a few years ago that the 2020 election was crucial, and it was.  Now the 2024 election seems even more crucial.  We all have work to do.  Yet, I can’t let the moment pass without sharing the lyrics of that powerful Dylan song, written in 1968, that includes the wildcat growl.  It is entitled “All Along the Watchtower,” and it was given a great cover by Jimi Hendrix, but for me, no one gets the essence of this song like Bob Dylan – go listen to it.  

“There must be some way out of here,” said the joker to the thief

“There’s too much confusion, I can’t get no relief

Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth

None of them along the line know what any of it is worth”

“No reason to get excited,” the thief, he kindly spoke

“There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke

But you and I, we’ve been through that, and this is not our fate

So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late”

All along the watchtower, princes kept the view

While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl

Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl