The Grand Illusion
The Republicans in the House have elected a new Speaker – Mike Johnson. By any definition, Johnson is a far-right idealogue – election denier, extreme evangelical, anti-abortion without exception, America-firster who voted against aid to Ukraine, who opposed same-sex marriage and any LBGTQ civil rights, and who continues to back Donald Trump with bogus claims of election fraud of various sorts.
Like all idealogues, for all of his genial soft-spoken manner, he’s an absolutist. Everything is black or white. And that’s the biggest problem with absolutists in politics. Life is filled with shades of gray, and trying to force everything into black and white always results in tyranny, as well as a denial of any facts that don’t fit within the absolutists’ beliefs.
Is Johnson a true idealogue, or an ambitious politician using ideology to gain great power? Or both? In practice, it doesn’t matter. The results will be the same, because idealogues don’t compromise. That should be obvious from the voting patterns of Republicans in the U.S. House.
I don’t see Johnson compromising unless he’s forced to by the defection of moderate Republicans, but if those moderates do defect, the Republican establishment will attempt to handle them in the same fashion as they did with Liz Cheney. If Johnson can hold the House in line, he’s the type to bring the government to a halt until he gets his way, just as the far-right has paralyzed the U.S. House until they got their way.
That kind of mindset can destroy democracy under the guise of saving it, and Mike Johnson is just the type to lead such a crusade.
Agreed. His selection is more bad news for the country. Making America Godawful Again.
I’m afraid you’re right. We live in a troubling world. I was hoping that moderate (if there are any left) Republicans could merge with moderate Democrats and isolate the extreme & dangerous sections of both parties.
While I can appreciate where you’re coming from, I have to say that from the pov of the rest of the world, the average Democrat is still very right wing. Even their extreme left wing nutters are generally about the level of an average centrist Scandi or Scottish politician.
The US doesn’t have a left wing in political discourse any more, only right and insane.
I suspect part of the reason for that is that a lot of Europe can afford to dabble with socialism – because they don’t have to pay for a nuclear umbrella and other superpower protection.
As an American, I shake my head just as much at the underlying assumptions of European politics. But hey, whatever works for whoever it works for. (Which gets back to LEM’s post – the US right wing doesn’t work and doesn’t want to.)
I agree on your summary. That certainly characterizes Johnson as the politician he’s been able to safely exhibit (from a safe distric and from the back bench of the house). Let’s see how he does under the klieg lights and with no cover in the coming months. Those members from competitive districts are going to be getting pretty uncomfortable by next year this time.
Would one call Mitch McConnell or T.H. Tuberville an ideologue or absolutist? I would say McConnell saw an opportunity and said “in this case to hell with ethics!” Tuberville seems more like a Johnson absolutist: is this strain of politicians a recent appearance or have we missed some in the past because they had more of a social conscience?
I cannot understand how someone can say they are an America-firster and then destroy the very strengths that have made America First. Such as government via rule of law and interpreting the US Constitution as a document for government policies aimed toward equality of citizenship.
Let’s not forget that he thinks people like me shouldn’t exist, thinks you can electrocute gay people straight and feels all women “owe” 1 able bodied worker (IE required pregnancy)….
The man is scum, nothing more.