Is there a "norm" any more? It seems like every day we have to exasperatedly proclaim "this is the new norm". And yet - everyday something grotesquely abnormal occurs. What we used to call "statesmanship" has gone completely out the window, at least for half of the members of Congress.

Back in the "olde days", a scandal or embarrassment could end a career. Remember Gary Hart and the picture of a young woman sitting on his lap on his boat the "Hanky Panky"? Remember Mike Dukakis riding around in a tank? Remember Al Franken posing with his hands over a woman's breasts?

All of them were career-ending actions - some by the voters, and others by the Democratic party itself. The Democrats will quickly shun any party pol who steps outside of what should be normal behavior for a leader in the U.S. Government.

This is in sharp contrast to the Republicans, who will circle the wagons and sneer at anyone who brings up Republicans' bad behavior. How else do you explain that a man who cheated on each of his 3 wives (one with a porn star), paid hush money to a porn star, has bragged about grabbing women "by the pussy", and who has 91 - count 'em - 91 charges pending against him in 4 courts is the leading 2024 presidential candidate for that party?

How else do you explain that Lauren Boebert and George Santos are still in Congress?

Just this week we had stories about the former Republican Speaker of the House giving a cheap elbow shot to the kidneys of a fellow republican who voted him out of the Speaker's chair... we had a republican committee chair make false accusations against a democratic congressman... we had a republican senator try to start a fistfight with a union leader during a hearing.

Is any of that "normal"?

As bad as McCarthy was as Speaker, the new one - christo-fascist Mike Johnson (who?) - is worse. While they want to build a wall at the southern border to keep immigrants out, he wants to knock down the wall between church and state. Of course, he doesn't mean any religion, he means HIS religion, despite Thomas Jefferson (you know - one of the founding fathers) clearly saying otherwise.

The camel already has its nose in the tent. It will require a hard push back to keep the rest of it out. I hope the voters in this country are ready to do so.