What about the Senate crazies?

Created
Thu, 13/07/2023 - 02:00
Updated
Thu, 13/07/2023 - 02:00
There have always been eccentric, senile and downright simple-minded members of congress. That’s democracy in action. But there is an unusually high number of them these days and they are all right wing Republicans. We’re accustomed to the House MAGA chaos agents’ preposterous escapades. Like this, for instance: It’s hard to know if Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene still doesn’t understand how the government works or how the world works but she does have a way of getting attention. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy couldn’t be more happy with her. He told Axios, “I think Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the best members we have, I think she’s the one of the most conservative members and one of the strongest legislators. I support Marjorie Greene very strongly.” (That was in response to a question about her ouster from the Freedom Caucus which is reportedly because she can’t be trusted not to share their strategies with McCarthy.) The House has always been the more fractious of the two houses of congress, more partisan and subject to volatility. The idea was that the Senate with its longer terms and larger constituencies would be the “saucer that cools the tea.” With its slower processes and the advantage of not having to run for re-election constantly it was assumed that the Senators could be more deliberate in their actions and temper any radical shifts in policy that would be dangerously destabilizing. I’m not sure that’s ever been entirely true — there have always been…