The Republicans will control the Senate, the House and the Presidency after the first of the year.  From a political science point of view, that is as close to absolute power by one party, until it isn’t.

The Republican Party, and especially those in the House of Representatives, continues to make history for trying to waste political opportunity. The Republicans destroyed their chances for political power when they voted Speaker Kevin McCarthy out of the Speakership. Give the Democrats credit under former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, they knew how to exercise power. Yes, they had their infighting, but when it came to votes on the floor they were unified. Even AOC and her squad fell in line. Not so the Republicans with their Freedom Caucus.

The Speakership is up for vote on January 3. The Republicans have only one vote they can lose to retain that Speakership. The Freedom Caucus is once again threatening to withhold their votes, which may well mean chaos in Washington.

Nothing happens politically in Washington without the Speaker. The vote of the electoral college cannot be certified without a Speaker as the House can enact no business until the Speaker is elected. The ultimate disaster is the Trump would not be certified as President on his scheduled inauguration day of January 20.  These are unchartered waters that the nation doesn’t need to go down.

This nation has thriven on hardball negotiations and debate. But debate that has the potential of political suicide is simply adverse to our American concept of democracy. The first rule of government is that the government must survive whatever actions its representatives enact.

Letting the Squad on the Democratic side or the Freedom Caucus on the Republican side dictate the policy of the party is simply asinine and should not be allowed to prevail. Both political parties need to realize that this nation is centrist.

The nation wants a dominate working class that protects those in need and affords opportunity for those that desire to work. Elites from either end of the spectrum are not what the American public is seeking for governance. The public wants stability in government. A government that protects the downtrodden and provides a helping hand, not a handout. My observation is that the Freedom Caucus is overly concerned with the hand outs and the Squad views all as downtrodden and in need of government assistance. Neither position will work in the long term.  The pressing issue for this week is that the Republicans need to elect a Speaker of the House and get on with business.

JIMMY CARTER—President Carter passed away yesterday at the age of 100. Carter was a mild mannered individual who was both loved and hated during his Presidency. Carter brokered the Camp David accords which resulted in a peace agreement between Israel and Egypt, which is still in effect. During his tenure the U. S. embassy in Iran was overran and Americans were held hostage for over 400 days, only being released on the day Carter left office and Reagan began his Presidency. Those two extremes defined Carter and he could not seem to move on from either of them.

On a lighter note, the county had an energy crisis during his term and gas was rationed for a time. Those two-lane highways that we all drove at 65 MPH were reduced to 55 MPH to save gasoline. If I am not careful, I still tend towards that 65 MPH speed limit as our driver’s ed teacher instilled in all of us to go the limit when driving on dry roads.

Perhaps Carter will be more remembered for his actions after he left office. Carter was a driving force for Habitat for Humanity, building homes in the U. S. and internationally. He was instrumental in election reform on a worldwide basis and acting as a peace ambassador in many parts of the world. In Africa he was well known for eradicating a worm parasite that afflicted many of the poor.

Carter was also a man of faith who taught Sunday School in his local church until his 90s.