The Chaos is the Point

IOW: They're not just about the cruelty anymore.

No Speaker of the House Yet

I won’t wax too lengthily on politics to start the New Year. but we did just end Day Two of the new Republican-majority House of Representatives, without a Speaker of said House. That means no new members have been sworn in yet, that means no Rules for this Congress have been established yet. That means no work is being done for the people yet. [More here.]

There have been six votes. Democratic Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries has received the most votes each time, because the Democratic caucus has stayed absolutely in lockstep (the thing that the Republicans used to be so good at). Despite that reputation, in the past decade it has in fact been the Dems who have been united within the walls of the Capitol. Nancy Pelosi had a 4-vote majority these past two years, but was voted Speaker in the first vote. Tell me again about the Dems in Disarray narrative???

Back to today: 20 super alt-right Representatives continue to eschew voting for former Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in favor of Rep. Jim Jordan (an unsavory figure, but they obviously don’t care). It would take six sane Republicans to join the Dems to make Jeffries Speaker. Alternatively it could take those six Republicans coming up with a more palatable moderate non-Trump-apologist/non-insurrectionist colleague to put up for Speaker and try to get Dems to go along. The latter seems more likely than the former, but I really have no idea what’s going to happen.

There’s one thing I do have an idea about, though…

And that is that these holdouts don’t actually feel any responsibility to get to the work of the people. They do not have a plan for the people. They do not have policies to fight for. They know that with a Democratic Senate and President any legislation that has hopes of passing must be built on compromise, carving out a path to bi-partisan agreement. The Biden Administration has actually managed to get a lot of legislation passed despite a razor-thin House majority and a non-filibuster-proof Senate majority.

Today’s GOP has no interest in continuing to let that happen.

They would rather spend the next two years doing literally nothing rather than give Dems and Biden more accomplishments to point to in ‘24. They have no interest in negotiation, in bi-partisanship, in compromise or trade-offs.

And that’s because the GOP has moved beyond the idea of policy and legislative accomplishment…they didn’t even really put a platform together for 2022…beyond the idea of serving the people. Their current plan seems to be a cult of personality+ a enough ideological judges = election wins. And the win is the point. The power is the point. And the few priorities they have indicate that the cuelty is also the point.

So for now, the chaos is the point.

I’d say pass me the popcorn, but it’s too sad.

Are you paying attention to what’s happening on Capitol Hill? Do you see a different angle?

What else is going on?

I took a real break over the holidays, which involved a lot of binge-watching and book reading (and listening. Here are some thoughts and recommendations:

• Of course I watched It’s a Wonderful Life on Christmas Eve. Even though I had never seen that movie until I was college-aged, I now watch it every year, and the same two emotional beats get me every time [Spoiler Alert, obvs., but come on, it’s an 75 year old movie.] The first is when Mr Gower boxes George’s ear so badly it bleeds, and George cries out, “Not my sore ear!!” And then goes on to tell Mr Gower he knows he’s upset, and he knows he didn’t mean to make a (pharmaceutical) mistake. George flinches as Mr Gower reaches for him again, but this time it’s to hug him. The second is the moment that gets us all, probably, the toast to George as the richest man in town. The movie has such a rosy holiday reputation that every year I’m struck again by what a weird and dark movie it is. George is a repressed and depressed protagonist, and the scene where Mary and George first kiss is compellingly odd. The one moment that has always stood out as anachronistic for me (and many others) is the climactic moment when George finds out that Mary has, in a world where he was never born, become an…gasp!…old maid. If you too have inwardly groaned at that scene, perhaps the piece “There Is No Mary Problem in ‘It’s a Wonderful Life’ in The Bulwark by Clare Coffey will make you feel better. It’s nice to read a fresh take on a perennial favorite.

• Rogue One is probably of the best 21st century Star Wars movie, and its prequel, Andor, is an excellent series. I first watched the first two episodes of Andor without it sticking, probably because it is a little darker than much of the Star Wars canon. I started it over, mentally prepared, and it was an excellent wild ride. We then watched Rogue One again soon after finishing Andor, and it’s fascinating to see how they took the seeds planted in Rogue One (itself a Star Wars prequel) and grew those seeds into the series. One thing I’ve always appreciated about Star Wars is that it eschews a future that is clean, white, minimalist, in favor of a future that looks lived in. If sometimes that future is a little grittier, the characters more conflicted, the scenarios full of gray areas between the dark and light side, I have adjusted to it. Star Wars is the most nostalic franchise for me, evoking memories of my 13-year-old self being utterly capitvated by the first movie (which will always be Star Wars to me, period, not A New Hope.) Play that music, show me that lived-in galaxy far far away and a long long time ago, and I’m happy.

• After reading almost zero books in 2020, due to a pandemic-addled lack of focus, I set small daily reading targets and came roaring back. Part of my success in reading 86 books in 2021 and a whopping 92 in 2022 was that I gave myself permission to read frothy books, to read genre books, to listen to audio books, to not just attempt important books, fiction or non. I discovered two fiction authors in 2022 whose work I loved and proceeded to gobble up, reading 4-5 books from each during the year. The first is Elizabeth Strout. On New Years Day 2022 my friend Susan McPherson shared she had just finished a book called Oh William! I wasn’t working on an y book at the time, so I downloaded it and read it cover to cover that day. I read the book for which Oh William! was a sequel, My Name is Lucy Barton, the next day. I then read 4 more of her books last year. She writes characters that are quirky yet recognizable. She explores humanity in the little choices we make, and has enormous empathy for how we humans just muddle through. Her prose is simple yet straight to the heart. Every book has moments where tears suddenly spring to my eyes, a poignancy hitting me right where it stings. The second author is Emily St John Mandel. Her book Station Eleven was recently made into an HBO Max series, and I heard its pandemic storyline was a little too close to home. Nonetheless, that’s the book I started with. And read another three of her works in 2022. Somewhat like a video game or Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mandel weaves Easter Eggs into her books. References to past novels. Characters that are primary in one being tertiary in another. Her novels read more like alternate history than futuristic, even when they are definitely set in the future. Her characters are grounded, and yet the tone of each novel is ethereal. Ten out of ten would recommend both these authors.

I’ll leave it there for now, but more to come in coming issues and podacst episodes.

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts on any or all of the above. This is basically my blog now! And as always I appreciate a share of this newsletter or my podcast.

If I can help you break through the things that are keeping you stuck, set up your first introductory 30-minute consult for free by booking it in my Calendly. And you can always check out my new LinkedIn Learning Course, Telling Stories That Stick, a 57-minute course on crafting your stories for different audiences (media, investors, prospects, hiring managers) and making sure those stories stick…and convey exactly what you hope to convey.