American Politics: Whatever Happened to Class?

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There’s a song in the musical Chicago called “Class.” It’s a comedic lamentation performed in earnest by the characters, Velma Kelly and Matron “Mama” Morton bemoaning society’s loss of decorum and manners.

 

The fact that Velma is in jail for murder and “Mama” is the warden who will scratch your back if you scratch hers makes the song even funnier.

 

These are not paragons of society. They are a murderer and an extortionist, respectively. Yet there they are singing:

“Whatever happened to fair dealing? And pure ethics? And nice manners?”

This musical’s story was originally set in the 1920s, but truly, the action could be any time. The lack of respect for others and the deplorable behavior that these two characters are lamenting has never been timelier than right now.

 

In the current political reality show that is American politics—more tragedy than comedy—there is no class on the side of the Republican Party. Most of its members have crossed over to the dark side and should consider renaming themselves the MAGA Party. But I’ll just call them MAGA Republicans for now.

 

The de facto leader of the MAGA Republicans, those Fox-News-watching conservatives, most of whom also consider themselves Christians, is the wolf in sheep’s clothing that my Sunday School teacher warned me about.

He masquerades as a conservative man, a Christian, a savior trying to Make America Great Again, all while stoking the fears associated with Other and Different. He’s a dangerous man. Willing, without compunction, to lie to his followers in order to incite the desired reactions: fear and anger. He’s a revenge-threatening bully; a narcissist with hateful tendencies as ugly as his combover. And the speeches he gives at his rallies and press conferences often make no sense. There isn’t enough money in the Federal Reserve to buy this man class.

 

He has no desire to be courteous. His followers wouldn’t stand for it anyway. He, and they, only want him to be as nasty and politically incorrect as he can. The MAGA Republicans thrive on meals of mockery and disrespect, leaving the table satiated with ignorance. And blissfully happy. They have no desire to seek the truth, believing without hesitation—unquestioning—just as I was taught to do in the pews of the Baptist churches of my childhood. And if they happen to discover the lies aren’t true, they don't apologize for sharing and promoting the lies. Nor do they share the actual truth.

I recently watched John McCain’s concession speech from when he lost the presidential election to Barack Obama in 2008. The man held up his hands to stop those who supported him, disappointed by his loss, from booing as he began the speech. He didn’t speak negatively against Barack Obama. He commended him for “his ability and perseverance.” And admired him for “inspiring the hopes of so many millions of Americans.” He acknowledged the two had differences and that those differences would probably remain, but he pledged his support for the newly elected president and encouraged his supporters to do so as well.

 

A speech that started with booing ended in applause. It was a time when it seems Republicans and Democrats could negotiate their differences, find a compromise, shake hands across the aisle, work together.

That was 2008.

Now we have a fool that purposefully mispronounces the name of the woman running against him for the office of president. And his MAGA followers eat it up.

Sixteen years later, we are in the shadow of a would-be dictator. In two Obama terms and their subsequent years, how did we get here? In sixteen years, how did decades of political civility turn into January 6, 2020? How did it turn into the least productive Congress in our country’s history? How did it turn into name calling and demands for loyalty? How did it turn into such a deeply divided Us vs Them?

A friend once told me that Newt Gingrich, as Speaker of the House, was the man who used his power to inject divisive division into the Party line, cracking it by telling his Republican colleagues to treat their Democrat co-workers as the enemy and to have no dealings with them outside of work. Did it start there in the late 90s? How was that good for the country? For the People?

Back to the grifting shyster who has risen to power as the leader of the MAGA Republicans. He likes to hurl accusatory barbs at the other side, accusing them—us—of doing the very things that he and his followers are actually doing. He demonizes Democrats, Black people, Hispanic people, science, women, democracy, facts, truth. And let’s not forget how he mocked the disabled and veterans. He is concerned with his own power, not with the good of the country.

As for the elected officials who have brown on their faces because their heads are so far up his ass—Marjorie Taylor-Greene, Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Tom Cotton, Josh Hawley, Lindsey Graham (to name a few)—they worship at his feet, forgetting all about the first of the Ten Commandments in the Holy Bible, a book they claim to revere above all others: “Thou Shalt Have No Other Gods Before Me.”

I don’t get it. I’m dumbfounded that we are here. I shake my head in disbelief. I continue to wonder how this happened. I no longer trust an American populace that could and would elect Donald Trump. Or any of the above mentioned senators and representatives. They are fucking with too many lives. For what? So women can’t get abortions? So gay people can’t get married? So trans people can’t get the medical care they need or use the goddamn bathroom that goes with their gender identity?

(Side note: No one is coming for their churches. Their right to pray. Or their Bible. Although in the 2024, maybe the Bible should be the top challenged book to be banned instead of Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe. But I digress.)

I leave the last word to “Mama”:

“Jesus Christ, ain’t there no decency left?”

The American Political Stage: A Theatrical Extravaganza

When did religious views and opinions become the standard political platform for the GOP? When did believing in the God of the Bible and following what the Bible says become the one and only right way to live ones life? This is America, right? Freedom of (from) religion!! Has it always been this way? Or is it now simply more pronounced than ever before? When did shouting your religious views from the rooftops become as second nature as, say, who you're attracted to? 

Remember when discussing politics and/or religion was simply not gauche? We kept our views to ourselves or at least we only shared them when we were in the right setting. Sure, there were instances where coherent, informative discussions with differing opinions could be had then walked away from without one party dismissing the others opinions as ignorant and uninformed. But for the most part I remember people keeping most of those thoughts to themselves. 

In today's high-trafficked internet world, one can't seem to escape the constant barrage of I'm-right-you're-wrong rhetoric spewed from the assholes of opinionated people (myself included) that becomes more blah, blah, blah than useful information. The news cycle, which is now endless, is filled with politicians who use strong, conservative, Christian views to pander to the religious right merely to gain voter support. Many of those politicians are off-their-rocker Christians themselves who want the laws of our land to reflect the laws of a book written for a different time. We progress. We change. Stop standing in the way. Broaden your mind to the possibilities and changes or step aside.

Many of our politicians don't have the rights, fair treatment, and just concerns of our nation's citizens in their best interests. They have their own wants, desires, and agendas in their best interests. 

Abortion, same-sex marriage, the Affordable Care Act should all be moot points at this point, but no, they are used to rile the conservative masses almost daily, be it through interviews, political debates, or rallies held around the country. This season's targets seem to be Planned Parenthood and Immigration. Again, pandering to the morals and fears of the Right.

How is it possible that a woman can blatantly break the law in this country, keep her job, and be considered a hero by so many? How is it possible that a former congresswoman can continue to spread fear, suggesting God will destroy our nation because our Supreme Court voted for equality? (As if we're the ONLY nation in the world who believes in equal rights for all!) How is it possible that a former Governor (and beauty queen) still has a platform in this country for her incoherent, uninformed ramblings that stoke the fires of the lowest common denominator? How does a crass, no-filter billionaire with no real political background become the front runner for the GOP Presidential nomination? Answer for all: by catering to the morality police and conservative Christians! It's a fuck-everyone-else, I'm-right-and-you're-wrong mentality. These people are filling their followers' heads with lies and no one knows what lies at the bottom of that rabbit hole, yet so many are blindly jumping in. No thanks!

And for that matter, how is it possible we live in a country where men and women would rather shut down the government than hammer out the details in a compromise that could and should benefit all people? Who shuts down the government? Two years ago when our government shut down I was stunned. And now we're on the verge again. Figure it out people! We put our trust in you, voted to elect you to lead us, and many of you are too busy playing childish games, making the political stage look like one hell of a theatrical production. When is the Phantom going to make the chandelier crash down in the middle of congress? Seriously! I want my money's worth. 

The conservative right will say the country has lost its way. I beg to differ. The country hasn't lost its way, but many have forgotten "All men are created equal" and many of those with this memory loss wish to keep those of us they don't agree with -- those of us they find less than, those of us they find morally bankrupt (according to the laws of their God) -- held under foot so we have no voice. To quote from the fantastic new musical Hamilton let me say that we continue to "Rise Up" and we refuse to not be seen and heard. "We hold these truths to be self-evident." 

Many of our leaders today are on the wrong side of history. Time will validate same-sex marriage as the best thing to happen in 2015. Time will prove that we can all live together with differing political and religious views (as we've been doing for years) if we love, support, and respect one another without the "I'm right and you're wrong" attitude. 

Grow up. Stop quibbling over not getting your way. Be leaders. Stop acting like children who never learned the basic principle of sharing.