It’s been a few weeks since my last post as I was traveling in Crete. Crete is a glorious place. Sparkling turquoise waters of the Mediterranean, Libyan and Aegean seas; rugged mountain landscapes dotted with charming little villages where men congregate in tavernas and drink Raki; goats and sheep wandering on mountain roads; 4,000 year old ruins of the Minoan civilization; the best tomatoes and Feta you have ever tasted, but most impactful, were the Greek people: warm, genuine, kind, and salt-of-the-earth. With all the madness in the world, I left feeling we all need to be a lot more like the Greeks.
This column is not about the Middle East, but I would be remiss if I said nothing about it. As a Jew, and as a human, I was mortified by the actions of Hamas. It was the most horrific attack on Jews since the Holocaust. The slaughter of innocent children and civilians was inhuman. But as a Jew, and a human, I am also mortified by Israel’s decision to deprive the Palestinians water, food, and electricity; and fear the loss of life that will come from a ground war they are preparing for. Already, 1,500 Palestinian children have been killed from Israel’s bombing of Gaza and reliable sources have estimated that around one third of homes in Gaza have been destroyed or damaged. Intense bombing of Gaza continues.
I have been opposed to the continued building of settlements in the West Bank and how the Israelis have sustained (from their point of view for security reasons) what many humanitarian organizations have called an “outdoor prison” for Palestinians. Hamas, for its part, has diverted financial support away from the people of Gaza and used it to build tunnels (estimates are that the amount of tunnels equals half the New York Subway system) and develop its military capacity, undermining the very people it has been elected to serve.
I fear the rage on both sides will lead to much destruction and loss of life. There are many in Israel who want to live in peace with the Palestinians and many in Gaza who don’t support Hamas, whose stated goal is to eradicate Israel. However, the increasing right-wing movement in Israel led by Benjamin Netanyahu, has some in their ranks who would like to expel the Palestinians from their land. Any understanding of what is happening at this treacherous and perilous moment only makes sense in an historical context. As long as hate and revenge are the drivers of any actions, there will never be any peace. We have no idea how this will end, but I fear the worst. It is a battle for the right to exist for both Jews and Palestinians.
Now to the piece.
The mayhem in the Republican party continues. Two weeks after the ouster of Kevin McCarthy as speaker by the radical right, the House of Representatives is rudderless.* The extreme members of the party have no penchant for governing but they have been very successful at one thing: sowing chaos.
The most recent madness was the attempt to anoint Jim-Foaming-at-the-Mouth-Jordan to the speakership.. Thankfully, his attempt was thwarted by a coalition of moderates.
But how crazy and scary would it have been for Jordan to have been successful?
To start, Jordan, who is head of the Judiciary committee, is leading the investigation into impeaching Joe Biden. As we know to date, there is no there, there, but Jordan and his cronies are desperately trying to create the illusion that there is something there. As one of The Don’s fiercest supporters he has his marching orders. The Don knows that starting an impeachment inquiry into Biden (bogus as it is) muddies the water: He wants the electorate to believe Biden is as corrupt as him so there is no distinction between the two.
I have one question for Mr Jordan; What sense does it make to impeach someone who you don’t believe is president? Answer: These people have stopped making sense a long time ago. It’s all about the theater of it all.
Jordan was probably more involved in trying to overturn the election than any other politician. Here’s what Liz Cheney said recently: “Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for Jan. 6 than any other member of the House of Representatives. Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election,”
Trump spoke on the phone with Jordan for 10 minutes on the morning of Jan. 6. Jordan has never divulged the nature of the conversation, saying only that he had spoken to Trump “a number of times” that day. I imagine Jordan was giving live updates as they unfolded, not unlike an embedded reporter in a war zone.
Jordan also sent a text to Mark Meadows on Jan. 5 outlining a legal theory that then-Vice President Mike Pence, who presided over the Senate chamber on Jan. 6, had the authority to block the certification of Joe Biden’s 2020 election win.
Jordan was also actively involved in spreading falsehoods about the 2020 presidential election before and after it had taken place, baselessly alleging fraud had occurred in the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Georgia. Many of his false claims were aired again and again in repeated appearances on Fox News.
Jordan is also the guy who six former wrestlers claim knew about an Ohio State University doctor who had been molesting student-athletes during his tenure as assistant wrestling coach and did nothing.
An independent report commissioned by the university concluded last year that Strauss “sexually abused at least 177 male student-patients” between 1979 and 1998. The doctor died by suicide in 2005. Tito Vasquez, one of Strauss’s abuse victims from the wrestling team, had this to say about Jordan’s denial. “When these complaints come and he pretends now that he had no knowledge of it, that’s betrayal in the highest level,”
One can extrapolate to present day Jordan and say the same thing: His efforts and unwavering support of The Don to overturn the election results is a betrayal of our democracy at the highest level.
When I observe Jordan’s foaming in the mouth antics, I immediately flash to someone in a wrestling match. In his jacketless attire, I imagine that at any moment he is going to rip off his shirt and start pinning down his opponents, insisting they yell “uncle.”
In fact, in his efforts to become Speaker, he did just that. (Jordan of course denied that he would ever do anything threatening or supporting violence.)
Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) received this pleasant email:
“If I see your face, I will rip all the hair out of your head you scumbag.” The bullying and threats were so daunting that Bacon’s wife began sleeping with a loaded gun.
Representative Drew Ferguson of Georgia said he and his family received death threats. The threats prompted him to dispatch a sheriff to his daughter’s school.
The incidents of bullying and threats goes on, but I think you get the point. Thanks to some Republicans who grew a spine and finally drew the line when their families were threatened, we have dodged a bullet for now. The question for us going forward is: will The Don and his wrestling team successfully wrestle our democracy and get Uncle Sam to yell “UNCLE!”?
*After the writing of this piece, the Republicans finally elected a speaker, Mike Johnson. Described as an affable guy (as opposed to a foaming in the mouth guy) Johnson is a staunch defender of the far right’s agenda and was a stalwart supporter of The Don’s attempt to overturn the election. So now we have someone as speaker who has defied the democratic process of a peaceful transfer of power in charge of The House of Representatives. What happened to the voices of reason that stopped Jordan? I guess killing democracy softly is more acceptable to them than screaming it out from the rafters.
The Grand Offal Party 