A reality based independent journal of observation & analysis, serving the Flathead Valley & Montana since 2006. © James Conner.
The descent into Banana Republicanism by the GOP caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives is the big story, but there were also strange happenings in Montana’s Republican Party.
I’ll start with the latter. Montana Cowgirl reported that Chris Shipp was fired as executive director of the MTGOP, a report confirmed by the Associated Press, and that the party was short of money. I’m not sure whether the money shortage has been confirmed, but state political parties are always short of money and sometimes get into trouble through unwise spending. Apparently Shipp’s departure was abrupt. And it wasn’t announced immediately, which suggests the circumstances may not confer honor upon the party.
Also this week, Republican legislator Rep. Matt Monforton (R-Bozeman) announced he wouldn’t seek a second term. Instead he’ll pursue his objectives through his practice of law. His parting remarks contained unkind words about Rep. Ryan Zinke. I know Monforton slightly. We disagree on a lot of things, but he’s always been straight with me. I appreciate that.
Now, on to the chaos in Washington, D.C. Let’s start at The Plum Line, where Greg Sargent gets to the heart of the matter:
As we have been dragged through one debt ceiling and government shutdown crisis after another, it has been painfully obvious what is causing the impasse: A sizable bloc of House Republicans wants to use the threat of damage to the country as leverage to extract unilateral concessions from Democrats, no matter what harm is done in the process. That is their openly held position: they view this as justifiable, because the urgency of stopping the harm President Obama is doing to the country justifies such extraordinary measures. House GOP leaders have dragged us to the brink again and again, in hopes of placating the die-hards and making their demands magically disappear, only to throw up their hands, admit they can’t be placated, and end the crisis with the help of Democrats.
The Constitution neither condemns nor condones nor prohibits this kind of behavior. No constitution can. But a responsible political culture must. Some tactics must be taboo for the good of the nation. That’s ancient wisdom. But zealots reject taboos, arguing that extremism in the service of virtue is no evil. The House GOP’s “Freedom Caucus,” the Hell No! caucus, the Burn It Down Boys, comprises less than ten percent of that chamber’s members, enjoys a veto on common sense only because the rest of the GOP caucus grants that veto. That makes the House GOP caucus not just unfit to govern, but a danger to democracy. Returning these legislators to Washington in 2016 will be an act of civic suicide.
Montana’s Rep. Ryan Zinke is not part of the Freedom Caucus, according to this map at the New York Times. That speaks well of him. Let’s hope he doesn’t allow himself to be coerced into joining it by threats of a primary opponent in 2016.