At President Donald Trump’s 2019 State of the Union address, Democratic female lawmakers wore white. Together. And sat together. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, also in white and from her dais, beamed at the group with great satisfaction.
It was intended to be a Democratic sign of solidarity for women’s rights. As if the nearly 40% of women who voted for Trump in 2016 weren’t also individuals who championed equal rights.
It was an orchestrated message using fashion. One can just imagine cell phones ringing and vibrating with the very important message to be sure to wear white.
That’s what high school kids do when they want to have “white-out” night at the gym for a basketball game.
Except this was a State of the Union address being given by the President of the United States, and lawmakers were there to represent their constituents—not follow silly party leadership requests.
Is it too much to ask our elected officials to take the job of ensuring the well-being of our country seriously?
That requires independent thinking—not a phone calling tree instructing you to do as you’re told.
There are 300 million living in this country. Only 435 are elected to the House. Stand tall and lead, all on your own. There’s no need to become a minion to party leadership. Had one of those female Democratic representatives gone rogue and wore all red in defiance to the calling tree command—it would have delivered a more important message to voters, especially those with daughters. Think for yourself. Always.
The 2022 mid-term elections brought a return of Republican majority to the House of Representatives.
Republicans have had a heck of a time filling the speaker of the House position. It took Kevin McCarthy (R., Calif.) 15 votes before ascending to the speakership, and one perceived betrayal to lose it. Steve Scalise (R., La.) briefly considered the role before withdrawing. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) tried three times, without securing enough votes and withdrew from consideration. Nine others competed before Tom Emmer (R., Minn.) emerged as a nominee. But a nomination is still a long way from a confirmation. Then came along Mike Johnson (R., La.). He was someone these eclectic Republicans—the conservatives, moderates, RINOs, MAGAs, Tea Partiers, and the Freedom Caucus—could get behind, and he became the 56th speaker of the House of Representative.
The process was messy, and it’s a human tendency to avoid messiness.
But there is also pride in catching a glimmer of individuals who fight for what they believe in—not mindlessly nodding their heads at whatever leadership told them to do. The shame isn’t that there is chaos. It’s that not enough honor their unique role in our representative government. Instead, dictatorship by party leadership has become the norm.
The continued success of our country absolutely requires independent thinking, but we’re seeing less of it.
In The Federalist, Stella Morabito bemoans this “aversion to speaking openly” in her column, “Students’ Support for Terrorism Isn’t Ideology, It’s Conditioning.” Morabito refers mainly to college students, but one could easily make substitutions when she writes, “The conditioner calls the shots, and the masses conform. That’s where most college students (members of Congress) are today. They enter a university (the House of Representatives) striving to get credentialed but are threatened at every turn with ridicule or expulsion if they don’t agree to the assigned narrative.”
It explains the many unanimous, partisan votes coming out of Congress. Fall in line, or else.
The Democrats get this. They receive their marching orders, not from constituents but from House leadership. And they obey.
On the Republican side, there are too many who refuse to be tethered. The struggle was real, and admirable, in the quest to make the very best decision about who to elect to the important role of speaker of the House.
“White-Out Night” at the high school gym is fun for the kids. For a couple of hours and all in white, students cheer for their home basketball team.
But it’s just a game. The final score will not have lasting national or worldly ramifications. Students aren’t responsible for the national deficit, high inflation, open borders or global unrest.
Voters must now consider whether candidates—especially incumbents—are capable of thinking independently. Because there’s something worse than chaos in the House.
It’s an orderly authority that is never questioned or challenged. While that may not be messy, it’s far from being American.
Moving the Conversation Along 