The following was written (but not published) when Mitch McConnell had that moment of Deer Lost in the Headlights.
I kept it as a draft, and intended to re-visit the content when the dust had settled.
In the last week, Mark Gaetz spearheaded the actions that took Kevin McCarthy out of the Speaker position. So much for settled dust.
I’m hearing a lot of pontification about the future of the House leadership - many are suggesting that Gaetz may have created a chaotic situation that he will not be able to control.
Well. duh.
Of course, the GOP Conservatives could be out-maneuvered by Dems-with-an-agenda. That’s their modus operandi - they are a swarm that acts in concert to keep any coordinated action by the GOP from occurring.
The thing is, a sizable portion of the GOP is clueless. The RINOs compose perhaps 1/4 (or less) of the group. Many just follow along with their leadership, asking in return only for some goodies for the folks back home.
Backbone in most is severely lacking. They are the grown-up version of those kids that just go along with the crowd.
I don’t mean to imply that the GOP is unique in their going along with the mainstream - much of the bloated House membership does the same.
That is a common feature of just about ALL public figures (and a significant portion of the people who vote for them). They go along with the crowd. They are ruled by their emotional connections with others; they do not act on principles.
Some can be reasonably articulate, stringing words into a seemingly coherent stream of verbiage that appears to have some logical point.
Don’t be fooled - those people are the perfect representatives for the LIV - Low Information Voter. That demographic is ruled by the way they “feel” about an issue, candidate, or group.
Why?
This linked article suggests that such an orientation towards public discourse is led by the way they derive their information - primarily visual, not textual. Visual narrative, that sweeps a person along with the emotional content of the presentation - movies, powerpoints, graphics, short videos framed to make a point. Those who are influenced by those means gain little actual knowledge that they can use to frame an argument (as opposed to talking points).
In contrast, those whose knowledge is formed by text - books, articles, transcripts, actual source materials - can generally make a case that relies on that information in a logical, rational way.
In the process of writing this, I inadvertently wiped out the previous text. Not important, as I think the case of McConnell is a dead issue. He will be just another aging politician propped up by his staff, eager to keep their jobs until he can be safely removed when his term expires (were he to leave now, his replacement would likely be a Democrat, or that near-twin, a reliable RINO). So, rather than risk being out of a job, the staff will extend that Weekend at Bernie’s for another year.