“With the world in flames, Republicans in the House need to elect a Speaker ASAP…”
— Posted on ‘X’ by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) in support of Jim Jordan as Speaker of the House.
“We need to unify behind our candidate and get back in the game… The world is burning, and so is our republic…”
— Rep. Jodey Arrington (R-Tex.) as quoted in the Washington Post.
Despite what we’re hearing from alarmist politicians, the world isn’t burning, or in flames.
It’s just a few degrees warmer.
Maybe if you’re a Republican in Congress, it probably feels like the house is on fire. But out here, in the middle of nowhere — Pagosa Springs — it’s only been a little warmer than usual for this time of year, these past few days. Quite pleasant, actually. It got up to 72 degrees yesterday, and tomorrow is expected to be 74.
Not bad for mid-October.
My cat, Roscoe, has been happily napping in the sun, on the front porch. Soaking up the last warm days before we have to bring out the snow shovels. (Roscoe, himself, is contemptuous of snow shovels, of course. As most cats are.)
My point is, the world is not in flames. So I’m assuming Republicans like Sen. Johnson and Rep. Arrington are speaking metaphorically. Typically, Republicans don’t endorse the nonsense about climate change and the world being destroyed by fossil fuels. But when they can’t seem to get their candidate elected Speaker of the House, then they start howling, “The world is burning, and so is our republic…”
We could tell them a little bit about actual burning. We had a couple of pretty major wildfires this summer, up in the San Juan Mountains, and then the Forest Service came along and set ‘prescribed fires’, on purpose, up in the Mill Creek area. They keep telling us fire is beneficial, when it’s intentionally started by the government. I suspect the people living around Mill Creek have some choice words on that subject. Folks around here don’t always believe what the government tells us.
I definitely don’t believe someone from the government telling me “the world is in flames.” I have a pretty nice view from my house, looking mostly east. I can see Squaretop and Nipple Mountain, for example. If the world were in flames, I could see it pretty well from my house.
Of course, I can’t see all the way to Washington DC. (Squaretop blocks my view, thankfully.)
I suppose it’s possible that Washington DC is in flames, and that make them think the ‘whole world’ is on fire.
My big question is — even if Washington is really on fire — whether electing a Speaker is going to help matters. Seems to me it will just make everything worse.
What I gather, from following the Lamestream Media — admittedly, an activity fraught with peril — is the House of Representatives can’t function without a Speaker. No laws can get passed. All I can say is, judging by the laws they’ve passed over the past century, that might be the very best situation we could ever hope for.
The folks in Washington may not know it, but we actually have our own little County government here in Pagosa Springs, and sometimes, they even do what we expect them to do. If Republicans truly want smaller government, we have that here, in spades. I bet you could fit almost the entire County government into a single school bus. Like I said, small.
And we’re not on fire. At the moment.
In fact, it’s been downright pleasant.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all.