"But at least as important as these [policy] changes has been the insistence on displays of tactical or procedural radicalism—the willingness to fight ruthlessly for victory, even when it entails breaking from longstanding norms and even laws that limit and constrain the behavior of elected representatives."
Damon Linker, Dept. of Political Science, University of Pennsylvania
Norms matter. Facts matter.
I have written about procedural radicalism without having had a term for it. Damon Linker's article at his Substack site provided one.
Mike Johnson, the new Speaker of the House proved his loyalty to Trump and came to the attention of GOP House members by orchestrating an elegant way for GOP House members to justify rejecting electoral votes certified for Joe Biden.
In the weeks after the 2020 election, Trump and his allies were spreading a message of election fraud. They cited dead voters, counterfeit ballots, Venezuelan tabulating machines, harvested ballots, and more. Trump sold that story. Fox and the conservative media broadcast it. GOP voters bought it. By the first days of January of 2021, GOP Representatives knew what the text messages show Fox News hosts knew, but wouldn't say. Attorney General Bill Barr and Election Security Chief Chris Krebs knew and said it. Governors in battleground states knew and said it. There wasn't any meaningful, election-result-changing fraud. It was a lie.
GOP Representatives needed a excuse to vote "in good conscience" to reject ballots. Mike Johnson came up with the pretext. They did not need to argue that the election rules were unreasonable, nor that they failed to be examined and approved by the courts of each state. Just assert that the legislatures of the state didn't write the administrative rules. Call the votes unconstitutional. Discard them.
Johnson offered a pretext. A majority of GOP Representatives went along, including my own Representative, Cliff Bentz. Johnson served a purpose. He let GOP House members vote the way their GOP voters wanted, to overthrow the election, even as the fraud story disintegrated.
It was an example of procedural radicalism. Ignore the procedural safeguards of our democracy and use some pretext to get the desired result, under cover of legality. It is a feature, not a bug. He draws liberal tears of frustration as Democrats watch Trump and the MAGA GOP ignore norms. Refuse to carry out ministerial duties like certifying an election. Assert that a Vice President can throw out votes on his own discretion. Refuse to respond to subpoenas. Ignore criminal behavior. Block military promotions. In budget negotiations hold essential services hostage. Kevin McCarthy's fatal "sin" was that he compromised with Democrats. He had the power to injure the hostage -- our government -- but didn't. That meant McCarthy wasn't trying hard enough. He was a squish. A RINO.
The public notices what happens in the House and Senate. There are limits to pretext there. The greater danger of procedural radicalism takes place as MAGA drifts down to the state and local level. If a County Clerk in one of Arizona's 15 counties, or a member of the four-person Board of State Canvassers in Michigan, uses some pretext to refuse to sign an election certification, the election system fails.
We act on the basis of trust and good faith a hundred times a day. We assume oncoming traffic will stay in their lanes. A stripe of paint is all that protects us from a fatal crash. When our groceries are rung up and we hand cash to the cashier, we assume the cashier acknowledges it. But what if the cashier looks you in the eye and says, "You didn't hand me money. I deny it. You can't prove it." That could happen, but it doesn't. We trust people will acknowledge facts.
But a new norm has taken a foothold in the MAGA GOP. Assert what you want. Let them fight you. Only a RINO holds back. This is a bleak situation, but there is a corrective. Simultaneous with MAGA's procedural radicalism is policy radicalism. The ethic of grabbing whatever one can get away with extends to abortion bans, budget cuts, taxation, immigration, Ukraine, and LGBTQ issues. Some of what the MAGA GOP wants will be unpopular.
The MAGA ethic calls for players to run up the score when winning. That will be their undoing.
Thank you, Peter!
"Ignore the procedural safeguards of our democracy and use some pretext to get the desired result, under cover of legality."
Democracy is at stake.
Note that Mike Johnson does not believe in democracy, but asserts that we are a Biblical Republic. He is viscerally anti-LGBTQ+ and anti-voting rights.
Note that Cliff Bentz and Lori Michelle Chavez-DeRemer both voted for Johnson. They are apparently just fine with overturning democracy and substituting a white Christo-Nationalist theocracy. By any means necessary.
Every one of us who cherishes democracy and a free, pluralistic society must oppose Bentz and Chavez-DeRemer. Take back the House! And support Democrats up and down the ballot. Donate, volunteer, and work like hell to save democracy.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2023/10/27/mike-johnson-christian-nationalist-ideas-qa-00123882
The legacy of Newt Gingrich’s world view has taken hold and won’t let go.