Barrett Rainey's Second Thoughts

So the state of Indiana has adopted a new non-religious “Religious Freedom Restoration Act” (RFRA). The national media has come unglued with coverage every five minutes. “Breaking News,” you know. Corporations and governors and millions of individuals are threatening to boycott the state. Human rights groups are up in arms. Why? Why now?

What’s curious about all this attention is Indiana is the 20th state to put this garbage on the books. It ain’t new! And this. The National Council of State Legislatures says 13 other states have it in process. And this. Forty percent of the states have done it or something similar. And this. The federal government, too! Feds call it “Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).

RFRA was enacted in 1993 – signed by Bill Clinton – but was successfully challenged in 1997 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled states wouldn’t have to comply. So, over the next few years, some states wrote their own.

But the dam broke a couple of years ago when the billionaire-backed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) sent out “sample” legislative bills so no one in the states would have to think too hard. Just fill in the blanks. Went by a lot of names but the guts were the same.

In our Northwest backyard, Idaho Republican bigots made the list of 20 with electronic copying (Idaho Code §73-402). Oh, there was local muttering from folks who could see this discriminatory trash for what it was. But the national media – the folks who’re now bombarding us with minute-by-minute updates – didn’t say “squat.” “What the Hell – it’s just Idaho. Again.”

Checking the list of 20 entities who’ve decided to discriminate “legally,” more than half are in the “bible belt.” All 20 – all – Republican-dominated. Though Arizona’s effort was repealed in 2014 after a lot of economic pressures were brought to bear – including playing the Super Bowl – the bill was passed and made law in 2012 so it made the list. New Mexico, Texas and Oklahoma are the only other western states among the 20.

Aside from the obvious targeting of gay and lesbian Americans in this trash, the thing that makes it so insidious is that it leaves the “discriminator” free to invent any sort of excuse to do his/her discriminating. You don’t have to be LDS or Presbyterian or Catholic or Lutheran or Hindu or anything else. You can just claim providing goods and/or services violates “your beliefs.” Whatever the hell that means. Make something up. That’s your “out.”

The one thing different this time is the national reaction to Indiana joining the other bigoted legislative cretins under the bridge. I have damned little use for the NCAA. But I think if this law had been enacted 30 days sooner, the final four playoff would likely have been played in Chicago or New York or Philadelphia and not Indianapolis.

So, here we are. The Republican age of cut ‘em off by law. These 20 GOP-run states are discriminating against different sexuality or race or anything else different from the “norm.” Some of them – and others – are using new laws to cut off voter access. More than a dozen are violating common sense and public safety by passing laws putting guns in schools, on college campuses, bars, churches and everyplace else. Some are abolishing training for concealed carry. U.S. House Republicans passed a budget cutting taxes for the “haves” while slashing food stamps, Medicaid and other critical welfare programs for the “have nots,” hitting seniors with cuts in Medicare as well.

Putting all this into some kind of perspective is damned difficult. But I found this on my Facebook page the other day and it makes the point about as well as anything I’ve seen:

“Isn’t it interesting that a country founded to allow freedom from religious persecution is now using religion to persecute freedoms?” Works for me.

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Ted Cruz is running for president. I’ve got to get the gutters cleaned this week. At most American homes, I’m happy to say, the latter is far more important than the former.

Gov. Jerry Brown (D-CA) said it best on a weekend talk show the other day. “Ted Cruz is unfit to run for president,” was the quote. Note he didn’t comment on whether Cruz was fit to be president. Didn’t have to.

So, we’ve got the Cruz “missile” and about 15 politico’s of various intellect making noises about wanting to live in the White House. Any of ‘em qualified for the job? Any of ‘em strike your fancy? Any make you want to run to the polls today?

Or this. Any of ‘em running – or likely to – seem like a person of honesty, intelligence, compassion, sincerity, common sense or experience that you’d turn to for help if you had a problem? Either party? Any one?

We’ll be bombarded with presidential candidate B.S. for more than a year before we get to the first national political convention. Primary after primary will prove nearly nothing. Various names will surface as “flavor-of-the-month” signifying nearly nothing. The names Cain or Paul or Bachman or Santorum from 2012 mean anything these days? National media will coronate one after the other as “front runner.” Again, meaning nothing.

Unless Hillary Clinton hits some sort of unexpected wall between now and July, 2016, Democrats will meet in Philadelphia simply to kiss the ring and spend five days partying and singing “Kumbaya.”

But Republicans – ah, Republicans. Only people who’ll make bet on who comes out of that convention at this point are those 1-800-California psychics. We’ve got about 20 GOP primaries to suffer through before convention and, in the end, most of those will signify- again – nothing, But there is something to watch on that side of the rabbit run.

For many elections, Republicans have used a divide-and-conquer strategy. From courthouse to White House, they put up more than one candidate of their choosing. If you go back a number of elections, you’ll find that’s how we got Bachman, Gohmert, Issa, Paul and the rest won. Multiple candidates in their own races so they never had to reach 51-percent to be elected. Some won with way less than 30 percent.

At the moment, we’ve got at least 10 GOP names out there. Statistically, the one getting 11 percent wins. Not 51 percent. Not 40 or 30 or 25. Just 11. So, what about the 89 percent who voted for somebody else? If the minority crazies can get just a few other, similarly inclined minority voters to join the cause, you’ve got another minority winner. Playing the numbers just like Vegas. Now, add to that several hundred millions dollars from ambitious billionaires who want to own one or more officeholders and you can win all sorts of elections without a majority. Marco Rubio’s already signed one up. Or, has been “signed up” would be more like it. Santorum, too.

Then, there’s the “binding” and “non-binding” primaries that may – or may not – mean anything at convention. A state containing rational Republican voters may elect a rational GOP candidate. But that same state may also have a “non-binding” clause that allows delegates to go to other, less rational candidates at the national convention. Happens every four years.

And this. Conventions are mostly controlled by party officers who’ve worked their way up. The current Republican bosses no more represent the rank-and-file Republican voter than Mickey Mouse. (With apologies to Walt.) Even if a candidate comes into convention with the most states “won,” the crazies at the top can nullify that with one barroom deal. So, winning some primaries before convention is important. To a point. Unless sanity suddenly comes to Priebus and his hand-picked loons, they’ll go on their merry way to the edge of their flat earth and nominate a member of the loser Paul family while loudly pledging “purity-over-winning.” Again.

As for Dems, Hillary’s got a heavy load. First legitimate presidential candidacy for a woman. Plus the name “Clinton.” That name conjures up all sorts of mixed national feelings. And, there’s the question of Bill being “First Husband.” I’d guess, if Sen. Clinton is the nominee, Republicans will deliberately run against both of ‘em. Interesting strategy if it comes to pass. Though not necessarily a winning one. Still, imagine Bill out their hustling the Clinton Foundation donors all over the world for eight years while sleeping in the Lincoln Bedroom. “What a country!”

I don’t mean to say national politics in the coming months will be inconsequential. Far from it. But we’ll take it all with a grain – make that a tablespoon – of salt at our house. You’d probably be wise to do that, too. “Sound and fury signifying nothing” as that Brit writer wrote.

The real meat for this political buffet is a long way down the table. Between here and there, you’ll find a lot of tasteless salads, some limp vegetables, stale rolls and mashed potatoes with too much garlic. Wise buffet-ers usually pass on all the stuff meant to fill you up and concentrate on that big hunk of beef – or ham, in this case – at the end.

Now, about those gutters.

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February, 1865, emissaries from the North and South were meeting secretly, trying to set terms for ending America’s Civil War. Killing continued on the battlefields. But talks continued in private meeting places. And it was the results of those talks that brought an end to the killing in April, 1865.

Imagine this alternate scenario. Imagine that 47 members of the then-U.S. Congress wrote to Confederate President Jefferson Davis in February, 1865, warning him any deal he cut with President Lincoln to end the war would not be binding – that Lincoln would not be president forever – that the next Congress could (and likely would) void any agreement arrived at in the current negotiations.

That didn’t happen to Lincoln. But it has to Barack Obama. In an effort almost perfectly defined in the word “sedition,” 47 Republican senators very publically wrote the leaders of Iran that any agreement reached in current multi-nation efforts to keep Iran from owning nuclear weapons could – and might – be ended by Congress. Further, such agreement negotiated would not likely last beyond the Obama presidency.

Reaction – nearly all of it surprise, anger, disgust and negative for what those 47 did – is raining down in this country and in many abroad. The action was unprecedented, dangerous, unnecessarily divisive, wrong, just plain stupid. And it might’ve been illegal.

Ironically named for a Republican, the Logan Act, created in 1799, has seldom been used. In sum, it prohibits U.S. citizens from negotiating directly with other nations on behalf of the American government. It specifically prohibits “correspondence … with intent to influence the measures or conduct of any foreign government … in relation to any disputes or controversies with the United States, or to defeat the measures of the United States.” Whether the Act would apply in this case depends on which lawyer you’ve talked to last. Some “yes.” Some “no.”

Several incidents where Logan could’ve been applied have occured in recent years though no one was charged. One was when Rev. Jesse Jackson went to Cuba and Nicaragua in 1984, while President Reagan was involved in his secret deal with Iran to trade American prisoners for military hardware. Jackson was threatened, but that was it.

The second was Idaho’s own international publicity seeker and professional interloper – the late former Republican Cong. George Hansen. He trotted off to Iran in the ‘80’s to be a one man negotiating team. He got lots of publicity but – like most everything he did – the effort was mostly for self-aggrandizement. No charges.

This most recent attempt to kneecap the President also touches Idaho in a direct way. Both U.S. Senators signed on. I’ve known each for more than 40 years. The participation of James Risch doesn’t surprise except his name is out there on this and his usual modus operandi is to do his deeds behind your back. This time – 3rd name, right column, second page.

Mike Crapo’s participation is also not surprising though, a few years ago when he seemed to be thinking more clearly, he likely would’ve kept a lower profile and not publically signed such an odorous document. This is another personal disappointment in how far to the right he’s drifted since his more effective earlier days as a Senator and – previously – in the Idaho Legislature. This time, 4th name, right column, second page.

Though real damage to our international credibility and trustworthiness has been done, it’s unlikely there’ll be legal action against the 47 miscreants. Some should. But it won’t. They’ve undercut efforts of this president and others to follow him. Their arrogance has publically demonstrated how little they really know about our U.S. Constitution – to say nothing about the totality of their own job descriptions and the balance of powers of American government.

Perhaps there was a fitting irony when one of Iran’s leaders – with a proper American university pHd in government – had to publically correct the 47 and accurately define for them the limitations members of Congress have in such international affairs. In fact, of the two dozen or so at the top of Iran’s political system, about half have attended U.S. educational institutions. More of them speak and understand English than any of the 47 speak or understand things Iranian.

Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton – self-acknowledged primer cord in this foreign affairs bomb – has been a senator for less than two months. You’ll probably still find bread crumbs scattered on the floor from his senate seat to the men’s room so he doesn’t have an accident. His publically demonstrated ignorance of the duties of his office – and of the role of the Senate as one-half of the legislative branch of government – are not surprising. He exhibited the same vacuous abilities in the U.S. House for several years. But, there he was one of 435 – not one of 100.

Cotton is the poster child for what’s wrong in our Congress. Empty-headed, self-serving, ignorant of protocol or responsibility, operating in an ideological vacuum with no sense of compromise or give-and-take required of successful politicians. He comes from the same intellectually-challenged brood as Imhofe, Bachman, Irish, Lee, Cruz, Ghomert, etc.

Their single-minded goal in life was to get to Congress. Having achieved that, the single-minded goal is now staying in Congress at all costs – including abusing the electoral system to assure their “permanence.” Now, with Republican-controlled state legislatures rigging local election laws in their favor, the likelihood of getting rid of them grows dimmer with each passing year.

The far right has been a cancer on the body politic for too many years. Where members were previously just a damned nuisance, some – like Cotton – have now become dangerous in their disregard of both law and protocol. This latest bomb-throwing could well sink hopes of a peaceful no-nuke agreement if not actually light the political fuse for a new international war. Such activities by these – and their equally as uninformed ilk across the rotunda – have now slopped over into dangerous, life-threatening places where they don’t belong.

Our peace – our security – even our lives – cannot afford the likes of Tom Cotton. And, with their signatures on this inflammatory document, the likes of Crapo and Risch, either.

Posted in Column | | Comments Off on The dangers of ignorance

Couple of weeks ago, I wrote about we folk living with the tsunami “Sword of Damocles” off our Pacific shores here on the far west edge of Oregon. A reader/friend accused me of making light of the daily threat and said – given the 9.0 Fukushima quake – there had to be major facts I was omitting.

He’s right. I did omit. I was “making light.” So, here’s tsunami redux – the “story-behind-the-story.”

Should we get hit with a 9-point shaker, it’ll likely be because the Cascadia Subduction Plate on the ocean floor about 50 miles out and the San Juan Plate from the north either collide or one suddenly moves atop the other. The same deadly results will probably occur either way. At the moment, Oregon State University geologists and others have evidence those plates may’ve already met and are locked. They believe that likely means pressure is building up which has no apparent means of escape short of a real blast when it can no longer be contained. Underwater seismograph evidence.

Which means, we could have a real “barn burner” of a blast – possibly that 9.0. Or more. And what would that mean?

Well, Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) surmises all bridges along the coast … ALL bridges … will fail! Further, most of the bridges for 50-70 miles inland between us and Interstate 5 – which runs north and south between Washington and California – will go, too. Hundreds of major landslides. Most – if not all roads from I-5 to the coast – would be impassable. ODOT believes we on the coast would be isolated for up to three years!

We coastal folk couldn’t go north or south. We couldn’t go inland, either. Again, ODOT predicting we’d be completely cut off for three years or so.

Want more? Bonneville Power estimates all coastal communities – from Astoria to Brookings – could be without power for three to five years before the electrical infrastructure could be rebuilt. How would that affect your daily lives?

More? Well, water, sewer and other necessary services would be destroyed within the first few minutes of a major quake. No public entity is willing to even hazzard a guess about how long it would take to replace all that, too.

So, yes, I was underplaying the effects of a tsunami a couple of weeks ago. Truth is, it would be Hell! But there’s one thing that keeps most coastal dwellers calm. Most – yes. MOST – don’t know what you do now. I’ve talked to many – in church – at service clubs – socially – and the projections from ODOT and Bonneville and other agencies don’t come up in the conversations. Even when you ask. Sort of “What-I-don’t-know-can’t-hurt-me,” I guess. Or, “Que Sara.”

Among those of us who are aware of the danger out there in the Pacific, I can’t tell you how others reconcile living here – waiting for “that day.” But here’s how I handle it.

When it comes, I hope me and mine go in the first large tidal wave. ‘Cause there ain’t gonna be much of a life left for survivors. If there are any.

For many years in my Air Force life, I was stationed at Strategic Air Command bases in various locations. All were high on the missile targeting list of the old Soviet Union. The last several years were in the underground command post near Omaha. Since all U.S. intercontinental nuclear operations were controlled there, we knew we were in the top three or four on that Soviet target list.

During those years, the biggest scam going in this country was building underground “shelters” in your backyard. For what? To marginally survive six or seven months and come up to what? Radiation so high you’d die in a week. No food left. No potable water. Not even healthy air! Survive for what? How?

In the military at that time, unless your dad was a member of Congress who could get you assigned far, far away, you learned to live with “swords” like that hanging over your daily lives in many places. Part of the job. The lives of your nearby family, too. Trained by the military in the after-effects of nuclear blasts, it wasn’t so much surviving as it was deciding when you wanted to go. And how. I chose quick!

To some of us, that same sort of mindset is handy when thinking of tsunami’s and 9.0 quakes and immense tidal waves. Yes, there are days when life inland seems a smarter, safer way to live. Then, you think, “What are the odds? Today? This week? This month? This year?”

Maybe when we were in our 20’s or 30’s, living near the Cascadia Plate would’ve meant rethinking the decision that brought us to the water’s edge. Maybe. But, when the years you’ve got left can probably be counted on your fingers, the lure of blue skies, warm temps, crazy-but-beautiful coastal storms and all that beach-time can bring you to a different conclusion.

So, to my reader/friend who thought I was holding out on describing the tsunami dangers, now you know what some of us know. But you’re still 450 miles inland in Boise. We’re still at ground zero. And it’s not so bad.

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Political divisiveness and national polarization are, in my mind, the two most destructive forces in our country today. Much has been said and written about both. But, let’s add a third: the death of the American “melting pot.”

I grew up with lots of native born kids – Mexican-American, Japanese-American, a set of Canadian twins, a couple of Jews and others thrown into that grade school. Different? Who knew? We were kids accepting the world around us as the natural order of things. Teachers often mentioned the “melting pot” of America and we were taught that was a good thing.

No more. Like the hula hoop, 78rpm records and poodle skirts, the concept of blending races, relations and even political thought in one great goulash of citizenship just a memory. We’re a poorer nation for it. Much poorer.

In the 1800’s, large eastern cities grew larger and stronger with the mingling concept. A new nation was growing and work and talents of many races and creeds were needed. Then, early in the 1900’s, cities became more divided along ethnic lines. Jews, Oriental, Norwegian, Irish, European and all the rest became neighborhoods of similar language, custom and religion. Still supporting the larger city concept by their labors, but evolving into more well-defined cultures in which to live. Together but separate.

Still, the idea of America being a “melting pot” persisted for a long, long time. As we grew, small communities started out mixing races and creeds. But, somewhere along the line, they started splintering.

In Pocatello, Blacks that worked the passenger trains lived east of downtown in one neighborhood. Same for railroad workers in Nampa and Boise. Early migrants coming to Idaho to work the crops set up little groups outside the established communities of Twin Falls, American Falls, Gooding, Caldwell – keeping largely to themselves.

Now we have deliberate separations. Not just neighborhoods but radio, TV channels, print media, individual dress. Even language. We’re a nation of “tribes.” The confluence of a “melting pot” has disappeared. Now there are parts of cities – not necessarily large cities, either – where races of different skin colors or religious beliefs don’t go. We’re walled out.

Something else began to divide us even deeper some years back – religious separation. Most who participate in lives of faith were taught to accept the belief practices of others. After all, our founders made it very clear this nation would not have an established religion and – in the spirit of those who first came here to avoid religious persecution – we would be tolerant and acceptive of all others. True then. But not now. Not for many.

Not only have religion and politics become bedfellows, some calling themselves “Christians” have separated themselves and use their “faith” practices to hammer the rest of us. No “melting pot” philosophy for them. Their “way” is the “only way” and they’ve used their divisive “faith” to create laws and stifle rights of citizenship for “non-believers.” Those being fellow Americans with different skin color, different languages, different religious practices. Or no practices at all.

Currently, more than 15 state legislatures are working on the same draft bill – a gift from the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). On the surface, the bills would end discrimination against the LGBT community. Great ideal. But, read closely because there are “exemptions” to allow discrimination on “religious grounds.” Utah has already sent its copy of that trash to the governor for signature. Fully supported by the Mormon church.

So, pick a “religious” ground if you’re a doctor or a dentist who won’t treat gay patients. For “religious” reasons. Or a hotel operator. Or a car dealer. Or a photographer or cake baker? What “religious” reason? Doesn’t matter. Make one up. After all, we’re a very “tolerant” nation when it comes to “religion?” Remember those founding documents?

Bottom line is, it’s more divisive “religious” B.S.. Where Christianity is most certainly spelled with a small “c.” Using religion to separate – to discriminate.

The melting pot philosophy we learned as children doesn’t live in these folks or their bigoted legislation. Those who sign on to this legally permissive crap hold up their own “beliefs” for mocking from people who take their faith life more seriously.

Unless I grew up with a complete misunderstanding of the Bible, I look for words like “acceptance,” “faith,” “tolerance,” “inclusion” and “love” when someone talks about being a Christian. Or A Jew. Or – with no hint of apology to several Idaho legislators – a Hindu. Even faith-based Muslims.

The melting pot description of our country has become a distant memory for many of us. I don’t see it anymore. I don’t see it in politics. I don’t see it in society. I don’t see it in geography. I certainly don’t see it in the “religious” practices of far too many people.

We have a president in the White House who’s angered millions of “Americans.” Just because he’s not white like them. No other reason. Just skin color. Or he doesn’t practice their “religion.” They judge him contemporaneously because he’s different. History will be more fair.

Melting pot? With large, friendly neighborhoods of mixed ethnicities, mixed colors, different religions, cultural acceptance of differences, effective two- party politics? Not hardly.

We may have 48 contiguous states by geography. But not united in one nation as we were. Divisive politics. Issue polarization. Disappearance of the melting pot of religious and cultural differences that made us a stronger country seem lost to us today. Those three, I think, have made us a poorer nation. A weaker nation. And a more intolerant nation.

And that ain’t good!

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Our congratulations to Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on selection as Speaker du jour of the U.S. House of Representatives. And our thanks to the 52 Republicans who made it possible while cutting the legs off titular Speaker John Boehner. While he may retain the title, the power referred to in that nomenclature clearly belongs to the lady from California.

To me, it’s not a Republican or Democrat thing. It’s a who-can-govern issue. He can’t. She can. The Friday night edge-of-the-cliff-follies dealing with continued funding for the Department of Homeland Security could more aptly be titled “Night of the Long Knives” for Boehner and his political party of the perpetual Chinese fire drill. It was not Boehner’s first public humiliation. It won’t be his last. Bet the farm.

Apparently without giving marching – read voting – orders to her Democrat soldiers, the Minority leader sat on the sidelines, watched the Republican bloodletting as the first DHS bill was killed by GOP subversives, then called a quick news conference.

She announced she was “asking” Democrats in the House to get behind the second DHS bill because “national security is at stake and the issue is too important for partisan politics.” And that’s how it appeared in living rooms from coast to coast. A request based on national interest and common sense. Jolly good!

What it really was was gut politics at its best. And the guy getting the gut shot was Boehner. Without Pelosi and her Democrat soldiers, Boehner couldn’t do what he’d had at least three weeks to get done. DHS would close up shop in a couple of hours. He and his “leadership” team publically proved they (1) couldn’t accurately count the noses of their own troops, (2) couldn’t “whip” enough loyal troops to pass what had to pass, and (3) couldn’t avoid a DHS shutdown without votes from the Democrat caucus.

Pelosi quietly – and behind-the-scenes – did what Boehner and his minions couldn’t do in public. Or in private either, for that matter. Again, it’s not a matter of liking Pelosi or disliking Boehner. It’s two contestants in the ring. One who knows what to do there – the other without a clue – who stopped training too early for the big fight. She whipped him. Fair and square.

While the DHS funding bill was important, there’s an even larger matter to consider. Pelosi’s agenda – and that of the Democrat party – is immigration reform, tax reform, public works spending, voting rights protections and a half dozen more subjects of national importance. If you make a vertical list of those, then a second list of what the Republican crazies oppose, you’ll pretty much be able to draw a straight line from items in column “A” to items in column “B.”

The clown bus folk can scream, holler and pound their little fists on the well-carpeted House floor. But, if Boehner wants to survive with all the perks of being Speaker, he’s going to have to come to terms with the lady from California to save his own butt….er….bacon.

Then there’s a matter of some goofy GOP Brutus taking a procedural blade to Caesar Boehner’s backside. It’s called “Motion To Vacate.” In House rules, it takes priority over almost anything else and must be dealt with. It’s similar to calling a vote of “no confidence” with Boehner the target. If one of the crazies – Idaho’s Labrador comes to mind – thinks he’s got the votes from both parties to take the Speaker down, listen closely. The next House member to take a floor microphone may be on just such a mission.

Two other points also make this possible. One is Labrador and 24 others who’ve twice tried in caucus to take Mr. Tan out and failed. Second, the miscreants might figure they could live with anyone else for the next 20 months and – with gerrymandered voting district lines still in place – continue majority status in 2016 and elect a new Speaker – one more to their liking.

Politics is a blood sport. It’s not for the “faint-of-heart.” It’s got rules and it’s got “unwritten” rules. Those who survive best make sure they’ve committed both sets to memory. Republicans, at the moment, are saddled with a bunch of ideologues in Congress. They don’t know either set of rules and don’t give a damn. Which is why they can only muck things up but never achieve an outright victory for what they want. They’ve managed to shove Boehner to the edge of their flat earth – making him less effective than he could be with some smarter troops to deal with. But they can’t win.

They’ve also put Boehner in a box by weakening his effectiveness to the point he can’t achieve major goals without Democrats. Boehner’s political survival and prestige are now in the hands of Nancy Pelosi. She can’t do all the things she wants. But she can keep Boehner in tow. She can bargain.

The nut cases aren’t going to change. Ideologues don’t change. But Pelosi has demonstrated again and again she knows both sets of rules. Boehner’s no idiot. But he’s hobbled with a caucus he can’t control.

Politics is also a spectator sport. Make sure your popcorn’s popped and there’s lots of beer in the fridge. As Bette Davis famously said, “It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

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