Mike Johnson, come on down! The Republicans finally elected a Speaker, though for a while there after doing so I thought it might be more a case of selecting a new House Chaplain. That’s because, in his first speech before his minions, Johnson explained that he was ordained by God for this position "I believe that scripture, the Bible, is very clear that God is the one that raises up those in authority," he evangelized. "He raised up each of you. All of us. And I believe that God has allowed and ordained each and every one of us to be here at this specific moment. This is my belief." It should be noted that he did this without even genuflecting, or without a responsive “Hallelujah, brother!” in response from the GOP adherents. I should at least mention that I suspect the room was filled with people who were not raised under the same Bible that Johnson was referencing. Though if it happens that his God did raise him up for this specific moment, it’s because the Lord wants the House to pass the budget bill in three weeks, because otherwise He would have just let the Speaker seat remain unfilled. With all this in mind, while I understand the GOP elation at finally being able to selecti a House leader for their party on the fourth try (or fifth if you count Kevin McCarthy before his own party evicted him), Johnson and Republicans have a daunting task facing them. The first of which is something that's rushing up like a tsunami to hit them when the current Continuing Budget Resolution runs out on November 18, just 23 days from now. To deal with this imminent issue, there are two options for Speaker Johnson. Work with Democrats and pass a bill that can also pass the Senate and be signed by President Biden – or don’t pass a bill. In the latter case, the government will shut down, which the public always hates, and (most especially after the debacle the country watched aghast for three weeks of GOP Dysfunction) Republicans will get blamed for it. The problem for Johnson – and Republicans – is that, in the former case, if he does work with Democrats to pass a workable bill, that’s exactly what the previous GOP Speaker Kevin McCarthy did that got him kicked out of his job by the Chaos Caucus. But that problem, massive as it is, is just the tip of the iceberg peeking above the waterline. Underneath the surface is the classic conundrum of the dog chasing a car and then catching it. This is also known as the adage: “Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.” Washington Post journalist Greg Sargent said that while Jim Jordan is “Vulgar MAGA,” Mike Johnson is more of a “Refined MAGA” who might not be “as alienating in the suburbs and thus poses less of a threat to their reelection hopes.” Of course, the reality is that few people could be as alienating as Jim Jordan, so that’s a high standard few others should be expected to meet. But even if one doesn’t reach Jordan-level, a person can still be incredibly alienating. And Mike Johnson carries around with him a mass of baggage that is indeed incredibly alienating. As Rep. Jamie Raskin said, “You can’t get to the right of Mike Johnson,” adding that he has “good manners” and is a “nice guy.” But Raskin also made clear, “No one should be fooled by it.” And it’s hard to think many people not on the extreme right will be fooled by it. After all -- as is the case with Mike Johnson -- wanting a national abortion ban with absolutely no exceptions, wanting to criminalize women traveling across state lines for health care, blaming Social Security and Medicare problems on abortion by saying that because of abortion there weren’t enough “able-bodied workers” in the economy (yes, really, he said that, on video), wanting to ban women’s existing contraceptive rights, wanting to end gay marriage, being virulently against LGBTQ rights (claiming in an op-ed written before being elected to Congress that homosexuals don’t deserve equal protections because they are capable of “altering their abnormal lifestyle” and therefore can be criminalized), supporting Russia over Ukraine, wanting to increase the age to receive Medicare and Social Security, and being the lead architect of the MAGA effort to block electoral vote certification in the House is – for starters -- pretty darn alienating. No matter how good your manners are. Even if it’s not at Jim Jordan alienating level. It’s certainly a whole lot more alienating than even Kevin McCarthy was. Including, lest it be overlooked, that in the same afore-mentioned op-ed, Johnson supported the position that U.S. states maintain “the right to discourage the evils of sexual conduct outside of marriage.” So, with all due respect to Greg Sargent, an excellent, thoughtful journalist, Republican Speaker Mike Johnson has a mountain of things about him that are incredibly alienating. (In fairness to Greg Sargent, and to show his insight, he subsequently also wrote a tweet that said -- "Johnson called homosexuality a 'inherently unnatural' and 'dangerous lifestyle' that would lead to legalized pedophilia and possibly even destroy 'the entire democratic system.'" Perils of a rushed Speaker vote; lots more will come out.") Indeed, which brings us back to that dog rushing after a car and then having to figure out what to do after catching it. But the Republican problems with Mike Johnson as their Speaker are even more than all this. Those issues center on him being out of his depths for the job of Speaker. Putting aside that he’s only been in the House for 5-1/2 years and that he’s now second in line to the presidency, he has no experience dealing with Republican leadership, no experience in having prepared for the job of Speaker, and no experience for one of the more critical, practical jobs as Speaker – fundraising for the party members. The extreme, fascist right might love him, but Trump has that covered, so it's unnecessary. Dealing with his Congressional members in their districts that aren't "safe Red" is another matter entirely. Particularly when there's no one to the right of Mike Johnson. And you believe in total ban on abortion. And that, y'know, sex outside of marriage is evil and probably illegal. And he is now the face of the Republican Party going into a national election next year, full-extremist MAGA. And this comes when history from 2020 shows GOP extremism caused the party’s expected Red Wave to instead become a trickle. A mere five-seat majority which turns out to be what allowed him to become Speaker – after four others, who the party initially preferred to Mike Johnson, floundered before him. Mike Johnson -- who believes he was ordained by God to be Speaker, thinks all abortion should be banned, believes sex outside of marriage could be criminalized and lead the push in the House to overthrow the government -- is now the House general who will lead the Republican Party marching into the 2024 election. But at least he has good manners. Even though he thinks you are abnormal, deviant and are destroying the American economy by having an abortion. It’s pretty hard to be fooled by that. Unless you want to be. For everyone else, there aren’t enough smiles to cover a face when it’s bashing you with a bludgeon. Meet the Republicans’ choice for Speaker, fifth try, Mike Johnson. “We don’t live in a democracy,” he says. A democracy, to Mike Johnson, is bad. Majority rules, to Mike Johnson, is bad, even deadly. To Mike Johnson, democracy is like two wolves and a lamb deciding on what is for dinner. Analogies are always cute, except that the problem here is that in a democracy the government doesn't get to decide what you eat for dinner. That's an autocratic state. Majority rules decide the protection and welfare of the state -- and eating your opponent does not fit into that. Unless you're Mike Johnson. Keep in mind, too, that while new Republican Speaker (fifth try) Mike Johnson wants Americans to believe that the United States isn't a democracy, but rather just a Constitutional Republic -- he doesn't even believe in the Constitution, which is why he lead the effort to not certify Electoral Votes in the House as mandated in the Constitution, in order for his MAGA fascist wing to overthrow the government. That is the face of the House GOP. Be careful what you wish for. And rush to push through just because your three preferred options didn't pan out, and you quickly need something. Because you just might get it. Eight years ago, I had what I called the First Elisberg Industries International Film Festival. It used a compendium of videos of an all-star cast production of The Wizard of Oz done live on TBS. A few years later, I did a second Festival, with the musical Fiorello! Since then, I’ve wanted to do a third and taken tentative steps for that, looking for the right show – but we can push those plans aside because something else came up to take its place. And boy, howdy, is this special, a real treasure. It all came up accidentally, after recently re-watching the Kennedy Center Honors presentation for Lerner and Loewe, which I posted yesterday. I started doing some research and by chance struck pure gold. And it all centers on their musical., Camelot. For now the Fest should last for eight episodes, but I should add that I’m still finding new material, so there might be some late additions. However, we begin it tonight. Before getting to the treasure find itself, though, we’ll start first with this video below that’s special and wonderful in its own right. So, let’s consider it an Overture. Here then begins the Third Elisberg Industries Film Festival. This first video is a 10-minute piece with most of the principles from the original 1960 Broadway production of Camelot talking about the show during rehearsals, intercut with a few short sequences from TV appearances at the time. It’s extremely enjoyable. Jenga. A game where if you pull out one piece wrongly from the teetering tower, it risks all falling down. As if Jenna Ellis pleading guilty and flipping, and Michael Cohen testifying in the New York fraud trial wasn't a bad enough day for Trump, then came the ABC News story that Mark Meadows was granted immunity and has told the Special Counsel warned Trump that the claims of election fraud were false. And that he saw no evidence of election fraud and agreed with the government assessment that 2020 was the most secure election in U.S. history. (All of which contradicts what he wrote in his book, making that nothing more than a grift.) And then there’s the House Republicans winnowing their nine Speaker candidates down to one, Tom Emmer, the GOP Whip – who was later called a RINO by Trump, lost even more support, and dropped out of the race. It was just a really awful day for Republicans. And that’s an incredibly high standard to pass these days. That means we are now in Day 22 without a House Speaker and Congress not being open. So, which story to go with today? Of course, you could throw a dart, have it land anywhere and not go wrong. What I’m choosing is Jenna Ellis pleading guilty, the third Trump lawyer to do so in the Georgia RICO case, and fourth person overall to do so. Not necessarily because it’s bigger than the Meadows story, but mostly because…well, it’s so weepy. And disingenuous. And deeply self-serving. And very damaging for Trump. And important for D.A. Fani Willis’s RICO case. Besides which, there’s video. Ellis agreed to be sentenced to five years of probation, pay a fine of $5,000 and perform 100 hours of community service. She also has already written the required (and now obligatory) letter of an apology letter to the citizens of Georgia. And -- she agreed to cooperate fully with prosecutors in the case. Bad as this is for Trump, and it’s truly awful, it might be worse for Rudy Giuliani, with whom she worked closely, side-by-side. But it’s Ellis's plea statement that leaps out for being weepy garbage. How awful and disingenuous was it? After playing a brief clip, MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace said, “My only hope is that SNL was watching that.” But still she piles it on, going for the “Place in Heaven” gambit and hoping no one will notice in the beatific light all the crimes she committed – and is pleading guilty to – underneath. “As an attorney who is also a Christian,” she began, snuffingly, not only invoking the piety button right at the start, but impressively doing so without genuflecting, “I take my responsibilities as a lawyer very seriously and I endeavor to be a person of sound moral and ethical character in all of my dealings. In the wake of the 2020 presidential election, I believed that challenging the results on behalf of President Trump should be pursued in a just and legal way. I endeavored to represent my client to the best of my ability." But of course, if this was even remotely true, Ms. Ellis wouldn't have had to just plead guilty. Being a Christian not only doesn't mitigate her guilt one scintilla, it shines a light on how significantly she transgressed from her professed beliefs. But worse, it also insults all lawyers who aren't Christians as if suggesting that they – not being Christian – would not have taken their responsibilities as a lawyer as seriously as she did. To which it should be noted that, unlike the Christian Jenna Ellis, they (like, for instance, Trump’s White House lawyer Eric Herschmann) haven’t had to plead guilty in this case, but also haven’t been indicted. “I failed to do my due diligence,” she later stated amid her tears (lest anyone think this is too harsh, keep in mind that she tried to help stage a coup and overthrow the government -- and got off with probation, community service and a $5,000 fine. And a “Gee, I’m sorry” letter of apology). “I believe in and I value election integrity. If I knew then what I know now, I would have declined to represent Donald Trump in these post election challenges.” I often suspect that when someone like Jenna Ellis who did Trump's dirty work for so long with no compunction says, "If I knew then what I know now," the part that's "what I know now" isn't that "I realize now how wrong it was" but rather "that I didn’t cover my illegal actions well enough, would be indicted and have to plead guilty." I mean, seriously, now. “I failed to do my due diligence”??? Hey, she could have just listened to the all the sane, confirmed lawyers (like the Attorney of the United States and Trump's appointed White House lawyer) and officials (like Trump’s campaign manager Bill Stepien) in the room who were saying that there was no election fraud and the plans to challenge were not only crazy but illegal. That’s not “failing to do my due diligence,” that choosing not to listen. Or she could have used Google and just searched for “Election fraud 2020 reality.” And not doing any of that, most likely, because it would have meant no longer keeping her cushy job attached to White House. This was a statement that’s almost trying to justify her illegal actions, not admit that what she is pleading guilty to for what she did was wrong. In fact, given that she was with Trump a long time, and saw him in action from the inside, it’s hard to imagine what she could have known now that she didn’t know then – other than that Trump wouldn’t pay her legal bills, and she’d have to go to a crowdsourcing website to raise money for herself. Further, keep in mind that what she says is that if she knew then what she knows now, she would not have participated in her election fraud crimes. Not a word of regret, though, for all the reprehensible actions she took on behalf of Trump before the election. In fairness, none of them were illegal – well, at least she hasn’t been charged with anything – but that doesn’t make them irresponsible, none of which she’s apparently sorry for. Just the things to overthrow democracy she got caught at. The only thing I might agree with what Jenna Ellis said is that part about “to the best of my ability.” After all, she’s the same lawyer who sent a “cease and desist” letter to threaten CNN that they retract a story they reported about a poll that had low numbers for Trump. Still, in the end, as bad as Jenna Ellis’ day was – and it was bad (though, for all her weeping, she got a great deal without any prison time) – Trump’s was much worse. And Rudy Giuliani’s, too. This 1985 Kennedy Center Honors to Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe is, not shockingly, filled with wonderful music and joyously entertaining. There’s also a really well-done film bio of them. (One quibble: it says they never wrote a musical after Camelot – and while that’s true for the stage because Loewe retired, he was convinced by Lerner 10 years later to come out of retirement for them to write the score to the movie, The Little Prince. And after all, Gigi was written for the movies, as well, which they rightly included in the tribute.) The tribute begins by being introduced by Rex Harrison, followed by some words from Louis Jordan, and then – those songs, starting with being sung by Robert Goulet. It’s all very good, though the two highlights for me are a wonderful, shortened version (unfortunately....because it’s so good) of “I Remember It Well,” sung by Don Ameche and Maureen Stapleton, and “A Little Bit of Luck” performed rambunctiously lively by Anthony Newley. There’s one, minor screw-up that few people likely noticed, other than those of us who pay attention to lyrics – and Alan Jay Lerner, who was likely galled by it. It’s when Michelle Lee performs, “Almost Like Being in Love” from Brigadoon, and in the opening verse sings – But I could swim Loch Lomond And be back in half an hour. Except the line actually is written – But I could swim Loch Lomond And be home in half an hour. It’s not that she got one word wrong…it’s that “home in” is specifically written as a rhyme for “Loch Lomond” – and not just a rhyme, but being an internal rhyme, a clever one, at that. One of my favorite of Lerner’s. And I suspect he, sitting there in the honorees’ seats, likes it, too. That aside, it’s a terrific tribute. The segment is divided into two videos – And just know that although the second segment says 14 minutes, the Lerner & Loewe portion ends at the 9:30 mark. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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