Guest Commentary: An open letter to Congress
Dear Sirs and Mesdames:
You certainly have a mess on your hands, don’t you? Let me recap.
Last January, through the first 14 rounds of voting, Kevin McCarthy failed to win enough Republicans to get himself elected Speaker of the House. On the 15th try, he finally won.
However, that was only because he ceded (that means he handed over) significant power to a small band of rebels. And it took them only 269 days to use that power to give him the boot.
Last week, Steve Scalise withdrew his name because he knew he could not garner the necessary support.
Jim Jordan was not so sagacious (that’s a synonym for wise). He held on for three failed rounds of voting before being shown the door unceremoniously (rudely) by his compatriots.
Now, maybe you have finally found your speaker in Mike Johnson, after waving off Tom Emmer. Let’s see how long that lasts.
When you try to do the people’s business, you’ve been no better. You’ve passed the least number of bills of any Congress in modern history.
You’ve twice come within a whisker of shutting down the government. And I know you’re uncomfortable with this, but there’s still that speaker thing.
What is going on here? It’s so simple only a moron could fail to understand. So for you, our esteemed members of Congress, let me explain.
There are, in fact, three political parties operating in Congress today: the Democrats, the Republicans and the MAGAs. There are 212 Democrats, 213 Republicans, eight MAGAs, two vacancies and 218 votes needed to pass legislation.
Now I think I know why you’re confused.
You think Republicans hold a majority of the chamber’s 435 seats. Silly children, 213 does not equal 218.
I know the 3 and the 8 both have curls and loops, so sure look a lot alike. But they’re not. Trust me.
You see, no single party has enough votes to control.
For any legislation to garner 218 votes, two of the three parties have to compromise to reach an agreement. Any two will do, but given the extreme intransigence of the MAGAs, that leaves the fate of our nation — its governance, its wisdom and its functioning — to Republicans and Democrats working together cooperatively.
It’s called a coalition. (Note the presence of “co” in this word. It means “together.”)
That’s a common and workable arrangement elsewhere in the world.
Take Australia. It’s had a coalition of four parties that have been cooperating harmoniously for 77 years. In fact, the only governments that don’t rely on cooperation are dictatorships and monarchies, and that’s what our ancestors were fleeing when they founded America.
Imagine that. Members having to talk to each other, work with each other, understand and respect each other and compromise with each other in order to do the jobs we elected you — and are paying you — to do.
This is how our government operated the last 233 years, showing Australia the way. I know you think it’s time for a new breed of cat, but so far, all you’ve done is scratch and claw to see who’ll be king of the litterbox.
Time is running out on keeping the doors open.
Can you turn things around? Simple math points the way.
Sincerely,
A loyal American
Leland Thoburn is a retired business consultant who has been making his home in McMinnville’s West Hills for 11 years.
Comments
BigfootLives
Wow, what a condescending pr**k. So the evil MAGA Eight tossed McCarthey for rubber stamping Joe Biden’s and his handlers agenda. Tell you a little secret. McCarthy is a lying sack of swamp dung, that is why he had to cut the deal he did to even get the speaker job.
But you go ahead and bluster about the efficiency the democrats can pull together to destroy this country, piece by piece, while, in unison, shouting death to the j*ws!
Who had that on the forecast, that even shocked me.
Things will start moving along. From what I hear the Biden family is about to have a family reunion while they testify to Rep Comer’s committee. That is if they don’t get caught up in a democrat Nazi - death to isriel rally - those things are everywhere.