Commentary by Stephen Macaulay
So far, during the 119th session the US House of Representatives has been in session for 309 days. To put that in context, know it was convened on January 3, 2025.
Between then and now is 670 days.
Working Americans can only look at that figure with puzzlement — and disgust.
The Senate has worked 148 days, which is certainly better. But “worked” is an exaggeration because there hasn’t been a heck of a lot done during their days in the Capitol.
The House was out a whole lot in large part because Speaker Mike Johnson was afraid there would be blowback from members on the activities and actions of the Trump Administration — you know, things like blowing up boats and killing people based on claims and not facts. Or, imposing tariffs.
The Senate might as well have been in session for the same amount of time, based on how feckless they’ve been.
Many of those people didn’t want to do their jobs — which, incidentally, includes upholding the Constitution of the United States, which has key elements that describe their jobs — because they were afraid of crossing Donald Trump, which would, they thought, cause them to lose their jobs.
“The Base” would take them out. MAGA is all powerful!
Why stand up on principle when it means that you might have to do what regular Americans are doing, which is looking for work?
And so they kept their heads down. They were afraid of the MAGA Base.
And now they are looking for work.
Good luck. Most employers are interested in hiring people who want to get things done.
***
One of the more absurd headlines on the Morning After had it, “Trump Tells The New York Times He Will Accept the Results.”
Really? Like if he didn’t they wouldn’t count?
This whole idea of what he thinks being the end-all and be-all has to come to an end.
He is working for us. And if he isn’t doing his job to our benefit (think only of the tariffs with Canada: there is a trade deficit with that country because the US buys lots of oil and electricity from Canada — how is it that they are “ripping us off”?) then representatives of the people ought to stand up and point that out.
Now there is something to keep in mind about the results of the election.
This wasn’t just the Democrats — and Trump is still referring to them as “Dumocrats,” which is not only childish, but really getting quite old for an 80-year-old to be saying — who caused the enormous number of victories, but the independents who evidently have had enough and the Republicans who decided to forego voting because, well, maybe they don’t feel so good about their decisions in 2024.
It is somewhat ironic that Speaker Johnson came out Wednesday morning claiming the Democrats have “Trump derangement syndrome”? Is this what he thinks of a majority of the American people (or at least the vast number of those who voted)?
Isn’t this like the old line about the guy in the mental institution who says, “I’m not crazy, it’s everybody else”?
And again, while that phrase may have been amusing for some the first couple of times, it is well beyond its sell-by date, and maybe those who use it not only ought to come up with something new but ought to grown up, as well.
The evening of Election Day, Trump took to his social media site to, in part, attack Fox News’ coverage of politics. Of course, he had to take shots at people he doesn’t like because that’s what a grown man does: Makes fun of people.
That is, of one of the co-hosts of the Fox News panel show The Five he posted:
“Watching the Pre-Election Results on FoxNews but I can’t stand Jessica Tarlov’s voice — DUMB AS A ROCK, but it’s the voice that gets me.”
I suspect there aren’t a whole lot of people who have achieved a Ph.D. in political science from the London School of Economics who are DUMB AS A ROCK.
But, again, this is the schtick that has worn so thin that it is become transparent even to those who haven’t been accused of having Trump derangement syndrome.
Here’s the thing that the Republicans in office now and who will be next year have to think long and hard about.
Again on his social media he wrote: “FoxNews Ratings are way down (27%) because they’re spending too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats! All of those people who used to watch Fox, and no longer do, get it. It’s them, not me — My numbers are better than they have ever been.”
While the pronouns are hard to sort out, think only of that last line:
“It’s them, not me — My numbers are better than they have ever been.”
The words paranoia (“It’s them, not me”) and delusion “My numbers are better than they have ever been” come to mind.
***
But a final word on the results.
Let’s not imagine for a moment that the Democrats who won up and down the ballots are sweetness and light and philosopher kings and queens.
Let’s not think that they, too, will bend to pressures that will have them keep their jobs.
Let’s be grown up about this.
Yes, that’s something evidently hard to do when you go to the official White House website and have a pop-up proclaim “WELCOME TO THE GOLDEN AGE!”
Tell that to someone refueling their F-150.