It doesn’t take much to see that the United States Congress, House and Senate are broken. The Democrats are ineffective, and the Republicans do nothing but Nay-Say. And the Tea-Partiers… well, they are the worst of the worst, the minions of the Koch Brothers.
What can we do to restore sanity and effectiveness to our Legislature? How can we get Congress fixed (and, I mean repaired, not the Euphemism we use when people neuter their pets). Well, Hmmm? …Yeah, Repaired I guess. Darn!
I’ve written at great length in this Blog about all of the elaborate steps we need to fix our government. But there is one very simple thing that could help, immediately.
Have you ever seen a session of the British Parliament? Here’s a clip:
This is real people debating real issues. None of the fake niceness and “civility” our House and Senate practice.
I am calling for an immediate end to civility in Congress, both Houses. False Civility isn’t working. When John Boehner gets up and spouts some of his stupidities, I want to hear a chorus of “Liar!” from the chamber. When Ted Cruz rises and proposes one of his absurdities, I want the other Senators to shout him down. Enough is enough. And I know the Conservatives will do the same thing. Fine. Let’s bring it. I have confidence that truth will out in the marketplace of ideas. Finally, C-Span will be interesting!
…And in the Supreme Court I do not want the Justices to be buddies. The clear heads on the Court need to call Antonin Scalia the Fascist that he is to his face. I bet some of those Justices could give him and his sycophant Clarence Thomas a tongue lashing!
(In 2010, Boehner, Scalia and Thomas attended a “retreat” hosted by the Koch Brothers. All three should have been removed from Office. Let’s begin telling them to their faces. No more fake niceness.)
We know that Political Washington is the cesspool so vividly and hilariously depicted in one of our favorite shows, the brilliant Veep on HBO. Here’s a trailer (Warning: they use bad language just like real politicians do):
State Capitals are just mini-DCs, so they are at fault too. Come to think of it, let’s drop fake civility in State Legislatures too. The current approach certainly isn’t working, so something that wakes people up is an improvement.
I do draw the line at physical violence in the Legislative Chamber. You’ve seen the videos of that from around the world:
I sympathize with the shoe thrower, but we can’t go there as a society. Words are enough.
And by the way, Good reflexes Dubya! You learned something at Yale.
Ok, that’s my rant for today.
Steven A. Armstrong
Tutor, Editor, Consultant
