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TODAY’S QUOTE
“How did it get late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness, how the time has flewn. How did it get late so soon?” — Dr. Seuss
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MORNING BECOMES NIGHT
Yep, I’m late with my post today. Sue me.
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OH, THOSE WACKY PAGANS!
Happy Winter Solstice!
The Shortest Day At Stonehenge
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LET’S GO HALVSIES
Conventional wisdom has it that Congress isn’t working. It’s broke.
Pundits, wags, and the guy behind you in the grocery checkout line all agree — our men and women in the United States House of Representatives and the Senate can’t compromise, can’t work together, and flat out can’t effectively legislate anymore.
Only a fool would say otherwise.
Call me a fool.
Maybe — just maybe — Congress for the first time in generations is actually representing the people.
The Representative Of Our Dreams
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I know this sounds crazy coming from a guy who firmly believes far too many of our politicians are in thrall to huge corporate interests and the bushels-full of cash wealthy campaign donors throw at them.
That’s still all true. But, strangely, I believe a bothersome percentage of the citizenry also buys into the thought processes and philosophies of plutocrats, robber barons, hyper-capitalists and other frightening creatures.
I’m not happy about it. I wish all people would understand that the interests of transnational corporations and Midas-rich individuals are at best not their interests and at worst — and far too often — exactly opposite our needs.
Gold-Leaf Toilet Paper
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But that would take education, calm discussion, and rational discourse — none of which is terribly thrilling to a huge swath of residents of this holy land.
So, they believe unfettered capitalism equals freedom and that the market is protected by some mystical, god-like invisible hand. And that the rich are just like us. It’s this nation’s semi-official religion.
And, as I do whenever I pontificate about religion, I call bullshit.
Nevertheless, the vicars of Adam Smith and Ayn Rand and Alan Greenspan are still among us, muttering incantations and sprinkling holy water on us in the form of grudgingly dispensed tax holidays and insufficient incentives.
We’re a species that needs to believe even (or, especially?) when the belief is based on nothing.
A Lot Of Us Actually Do Want A Solid Gold Toilet
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So, if half of us believe in economic ghosts and I think they’re as wrong as flat-earthers, that half is still out there and they vote. And their guys are in office.
Those guys used to be called, simply, Republicans. What depresses me is that a pile of Democrats are buying into that religion now, too.
Sure, there’s talk of the 1 percent and the 99 percent. Street protesters and my leftie friends say, How can anybody defend the 1 percent?
Easy, I say. The religion of these Great United States, Inc. holds that any of us can become part of the 1 percent, if only we work hard enough, are crafty enough, and ignore messy government regulations enough.
If only.
Now, back to Congress.Why does it seem to be stuck?
Can it be that at this moment in history half of us buy into the prevailing economic religion and half of us don’t?
That half of us want our fellow citizens to be self-sufficient and hard-working because that’s the magic formula for prosperity?
And that the other half think the deck is stacked against the little guy so we need to help people when they’re unemployed, when they’re sick, and even when they go to jail?
A Lazy Bum Or A Brother In Need?
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That half of us are scared to death that we’re fouling our air, water, and land to such an extent that disaster is right around the corner? And the other half is just as scared that environmental protections will shatter the economy?
I can go on but you get the point. This is a weird era — call it the Era of the Two Halves. And Congress’s seeming inability to work is merely a reflection of the duality in our national consciousness.
A simple historical example. When Harold Washington was elected the first black mayor of Chicago, the city population was almost precisely divided into black and white.
Just about half of Chicagoans suffered the vapors when Washington was sworn in. The other half danced in the streets.
Dancing In The Streets
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The city’s aldermen split similarly. Washington allies like Tim Evans and Bobby Rush bickered daily with the anti Washington bloc, led by Ed Vrdolyak and Ed Burke. I don’t think I need to identify any of these esteemed statesmen by color, do I?
Anyway, over the next four years, until Washington gorged himself into a fatal heart attack, the two sides of the City Council couldn’t get a thing done. The stalemate became a punchline. National politic wags snorted in derision.
My old pal, the comedian Aaron Freeman even created an entire act based on the city’s troubles. He called it Council Wars. He’d go on stage around the city and the country, telling the tale of Darth Vrdolyak battling Harold Skywalker.
Council Wars
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The real funny thing was, it was the epitome of democracy. No matter that one side was at very least crypto-racist. That was a given.
Even if I completely disagree with the other guy’s side, if I’m a true democrat (small d) I have to accept his or her position. Believe me, I didn’t like it then as much as I don’t like it mow.
But it doesn’t really matter what I like or dislike in a democracy, does it?
In any case, as I said, Washington stuffed sandwiches into his mouth until his heart grew to the size of old Comiskey Park. On November 25, 1987, he dropped a pencil next to his desk during a meeting, bent over to pick it up, and his heart’s electrical system exploded. He was dead before the other people in the room started to wonder why he wasn’t sitting back up.
Only two years later, Richie Daley was elected mayor on the strength of a coalition of voters that was black and white. People forgot what Council Wars was all about. And now the city even has a Jewish mayor.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel
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Stalemates never last. This one won’t either.
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