The clown show in Congress could be a good thing

On opposite ends of the world, this week’s news has included devastating death and destruction in the Middle East, alongside political news from Washington whose irony & humor could rival any comedy.

The failure of House Republicans to unite behind any proposed candidate for Speaker of the House is equal parts ridiculous, revealing, ironic, and opportune. Many reasons suggest that their intrapartisan gridlock is poorly timed, internationally embarrassing, and institutionally devastating.

But it may ultimately be a good thing for the world.

Chaos in Congress…

Many observers have proclaimed a crisis driven by the House of Representatives appearing unable to elect a Speaker, and thus remaining paralyzed while the war on Gaza continues to escalate.

In fact, when government grows unaccountably committed to ecocide and genocide, institutional dysfunction might be a good thing. The logjam in Congress should embarrass Washington before the international community, but it could at least keep yet more weapons from flowing into either Ukraine, Palestine, or any of the crisis regions around the world from which Wall Street extracts massive profit from violence.

That’s especially timely since Biden plans to request another $75 billion from Congress to funnel into the defense contracting industry. Observing feuds among Republicans emerge as the hurdle impeding the Pentagon’s latest corporate welfare racket offers no shortage of irony.

One concern presented by the dysfunction paralyzing Congress at this particular time is how it demonstrates to the world that our country’s system of governance is not nearly as resilient, dynamic, or responsive as proponents of Pax Americana have always proclaimed.

While the rest of the world is glued to a conflict enabled by weapons from Washington, the peoples’ representatives in the capital are so fragmented that they can’t even agree on who can represent and lead them—let alone any coherent policy framework to address any of the various mounting crises they have publicly proven themselves incapable of addressing.

That, also, is a good thing. The world has been fed enough lies from Washington already.

Any demonstration of Washington’s institutional ineptitude can only help encourage the further exposure of its deep-seated corruption. That, in turn, could help prevent yet another war from erupting anywhere from the south China Sea to Iran.

On one hand, the House lacking a Speaker also hamstrings Congress from dealing with pressing problems from the climate catastrophe to the housing crisis. But policymakers have been doing relatively little to address most of those fronts, anyway, so this month’s melodrama might simply expose more broadly what close observers have long recognized.

Does dysfunction threaten worthwhile social spending programs, like support for needy families, environmental testing, and food and product safety programs?

As long as previously appropriated funds remain available for those programs, the recent dysfunction in the House will not threaten them. It will relatively uniquely hamstring legislation that would otherwise be at the front of the congressional agenda this fall, such as further appropriations for weapons, whether for Israel or Ukraine.

On the other hand, the House flirted with a government shutdown just a few weeks ago. Another one may become effectively inevitable if policy makers can’t figure out soon who in the chamber is best poised to represent them. And any time the government shuts down, it places those important social programs either in suspension or at existential risk altogether.

…could offer opportunity 

Ironically, even though Republicans outnumber Democrats, the vast distinctions among the perspectives within that caucus prevent anyone from within it to ascending to the Speakership. Ultimately, the most likely Speaker of the House in the current Congress is Hakeem Jeffries, the leader of the minority party.

Just to be clear, I would rather see progressives in the House mount a strategy similar to those taken by right wing Republicans to deny the speakership to centrist leaders and force their policy issues onto the table. 

If Jeffries is to be the Speaker, progressives should at least finally demand a transparent vote on the floor on the universal healthcare proposal favored by bipartisan majorities of Americans and already in place (in one form or another) around the rest of the world.

The medical debt crisis that has already swept the country is a financial chokehold on multiple generations. It’s one reason why birth rates are dropping precipitously, which should be recognized as a national security crisis to the extent that conservatives want also to shut down our nation’s borders.

Doctors are warning that the Covid pandemic could surge again this winter. If that happens, the crisis in medical debt may be poised to grow even worse.

This week’s charade in Washington offers both drama and amusement. It also offers a crucial opportunity to advance public health and human rights, if progressives in the House discover their influence and see fit to use it.

Paid subscribers can access a few thoughts responding to the continuing controversy over the bombing of the Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital complex in Gaza. Israel and Hamas have each pointed the finger at each other, while—predictably—the U.S. has sided with Israel even though independent observers and humanitarian organizations have remained appropriately skeptical of their narrative in the face of multiple indications of Israeli involvement.