Opening Day: The Reign Of Morons Dawns --- By Charles P. Pierce [View all]

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Opening Day: The Republican Controlled Congress Has Arrived
By Charles P. Pierce 1/6/2015 AT 11:15 AM



And the Reign Of Morons dawns. Many in the Beltway are beside themselves which, I guess, is easier than talking to some of the new unmoored members of our national legislature -- and speaking of unmoored members, congrats to my new friend, United States Senator Joni Ernst. And all of you sweaty people waiting on hold in your cars for Mark Levin or Laura Ingraham, dream big. Anything is possible. Of course, the overall narrative is that we are in for a period of sensible conservative governance which, while it may collide from time to time with a Democratic president who declines to become whit...er...turn into Mitt Romney despite the clear verdict of a third of the voting populace, can prove that our new congressional leadership can "govern" while keeping its toes out of the oatmeal. This is why I saw Dana Bash this morning, talking to new Congressman Lee Zeldin of New York, who looks more like a member of the largely mythical Not Insane caucus than does, say, Jody Hice, the guy from Georgia who believes Islam is not a religion, or Glenn Grothman of Wisconsin, who believes that gay people are after him (Not bloody likely, Glenn), or Mark Walker, the North Carolinian who wants to start a new Mexican war, this time with...frickin' laser beams. Better to bring out Zeldin as the face of the freshman follies. He did, after all, get elected from a "blue state." Of course, Zeldin is a good little GOP squirrel who knows where all the nuts are buried.

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It will be interesting to see if this constructed narrative of Responsible Conservative Government holds true through the first time the president vetoes something on the new Congress's wish list. In fact, the person for whom I would have sympathy, if I felt any sympathy for him at all, is not Boehner but Mitch McConnell, whose new senatorial majority is studded with jumped-up loons from the fringes of Republican state goverrnments, like my new friend Joni, and which also still contains both Ted Cruz and Rand Paul, with their national ambitions and their utterly self-involved attitude toward their jobs. This is a harder wrangle for McConnell, who still isn't altogether popular, than the one Boehner faces. And, of course, it should be said that the Democratic party is positioned quite well to make the lives of both Boehner and McConnell utterly miserable, but very likely won't do it, because Joe Manchin (D-Anthracite). If there really is rising populist power in the Democratic party, then here's a chance to prove it. Screw with these people every way you can. Make the even more radical Republican state governments more furious at the "Washington establishment" than it already is. Monkeywrench the whole business and explain in simple terms to the country why you're doing it. This has to start in the White House. The rest of the country needs to be protected from the hazardous material for which a third of it voted.


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