Okay so…. let’s do a little thought experiment for a minute or two shall we?
Let’s say you drive a shuttle back and forth from the parking lots to the main entrance of an airport.
One day you decide that you are going to park your bus just to the outside of the security fence and talk to one of your good buddies who works loading and unloading baggage from commercial jet liners.
Your buddy tells you he can get you around the security checkpoints and onto a plane heading for a sunny island in the Caribbean… and of course, you would want to do that; I mean, a free trip to the Caribbean?
So you sneak onto the airplane and get into your seat. Nice…
You get to the island, and you have a hell of a time getting drunk with your new friends and generally making a nuisance of yourself. Because hey, you are a straight white American male and that’s your birthright don’t ya know. A great time is had by all… well, except for anyone who isn’t a straight white male but that’s just how the cookie crumbles right?
On the return flight just a little over half of the passengers decide they just don’t like the pilot, he is shifty and he has to go. So this mob of just a touch over ½ of the passengers storm the cabin, drag the pilot out of his seat, and throw him to the back of the plane. Of course, he is worried for his life, so eventually, the pilot decides to jump out the back door, but who cares? Good riddance, as they say.
Of course, someone has to fly the plane, so the obvious thing to do is to choose one of the other passengers who, while they don’t have experience flying a commercial jetliner, has flown a single-engine Cessna, right? Nope, none of the other Cessna flying pilots want the responsibility of flying a jumbo jet… in fact, a number of them decide to follow the jet’s original pilot out the back door as well.
What to do, what to do? Eventually, the group of passengers who started this whole mess turns to you and says, “Well, you have driven a bus before. That's good enough” and they elect you to fly the plane back to the airport.
How do you think that’s going to go?
You see, what a lot of people don’t know about Mikie Mike Johnson is that he started his political career in the Louisiana House of Representatives when he ran UNOPPOSED in 2015.
Then, less than a year later he was running for the U.S. House of Representatives where he won by 87,000’ish votes and beat a Democrat for the seat.
He won the same seat again in 2018 and 2020, by increasing margins but still by less than 190,000 total votes. And in 2022 he won unopposed.
So, he was a “Constitutional Lawer” (yes, using air quotes as I type that) before he entered politics but he has less than a decade of experience as a politician. For contrast, I have been a musician and songwriter/composer for 45 years and I have worked in the IT industry for 35 years, and I am still learning new things about each every day. From a career standpoint, Mike Johnson would be considered slightly more experienced than a newbie in the industry, but he would hardly be a seasoned professional by any stretch.
Then…. take into account that he started his political career with a layup, running for an unopposed seat in an extremely red district then landing a gig in the big leagues just a few months later. It would be like some young person coming out of college with no experience being offered a job at a startup because they ran into someone at a Wendy’s while eating a hamburger then just a year later heading off to work in IT at Google…. and just a few short years after that they are the CEO of Google.
It’s just insane if we stop to think about it.
This man, with very little experience, who made his way into politics by running for an unopposed seat in a state house, and who ran unopposed in his last election is now…. and I can’t believe I am about to type this…. is second in line of succession to the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!
When I write diaries here on DK, I usually like to interject some of my own opinions about what we can do better as Democrats / people on the left to make for a more perfect union, but I don’t know what to say about this one…. I have a couple of ideas but, well… we will see.
So first, the unopposed thing is a problem. Yes, Democrats have lost in that district by a LOT and they probably aren’t going to win anytime soon…. but the best way to reach people is to meet them where they are. When we give up on areas of the country without any pushback, we are essentially giving up the microphone to the GOP so they can say whatever they want about us. I think Democrats should embrace a 50-state strategy not because we are going to win EVERY election but because that strategy will help us win a lot more close elections after we get our message out to more people.
Second, I don’t have a problem with new faces in politics, generally speaking I think it can be great like AOC, even if it can also be a disaster like Marjorie Jewish Space Laser Greene.
That said, I think people need to recognize that “term limits” are not the be-all and end-all answer to everything when it comes to the elected office (I believe WHOLE HEARTEDLY in term limits for the Supreme Court but that is a different story).
Using the airplane analogy, who would you rather have as a pilot on your next trip, someone who has been flying jet airliners professionally for 30 years or some new guy who had never been in a cockpit before and whose only experience flying is using a drone at the local dog park?
Experience matters and we are witnessing it in action. Look at the absolute master class Nacy Pelosi put on with similar slim margins in the House juxtaposed to Johnson’s complete ineptitude over just a few short months.
Finally, I don’t know how to get us back on track as a nation, we have so many things to fix from income inequality to education to our media ecosystem to our distrust of our courts but one thing we on the left can start doing is to stand up for PROFESSIONAL politicians.
For far too long Americans have been taught that being a politician is a “bad” thing, something we should look down upon. I even see the word “Congresscritter” used here at DK far too often. That is the attitude the morbidly wealthy want us to believe, embrace, and propagate.
I have ZERO respect for MTG or Mike Johnson, both of whom are inexperienced trolls who are only interested in advancing an agenda that hurts the average American, including their own voters.
But I hold a great deal of respect for people like Nancy Pelosi and Joe Biden; while I don’t always agree with their policy choices, I greatly respect their professionalism. And with people like Katie Porter, AOC, Eric Swalwell, Jasmine Crockett, Hakeem Jeffries and many others, the future of our party is in very very good hands. I don't mind any of them flying my plane after a little more experience (obviously, Hakeem is flight-certified already).
I just think we need to demand a certain level of professionalism from our politicians and that starts with US respecting their craft. They aren’t perfect; they are human after all, but they deserve more respect than many of us have given them over the last 60 years.
When you hear someone knocking politicians as “snakes” or “crooks and liars,” I recommend you point out to them that not all politicians should be painted with that brush. For every weasel like Mike Johnson who sneaks his way onto the airplane despite his incompetence, there are 10 very competent leaders with integrity in the political arena fighting the good fight.
In short, I think it’s up to us, the rest of the passengers on the plane to stand up for the profession of being a pilot.
And one last note, I think we need to spread the message far and wide about Mike Johnson’s inexperience and incompetence. Looking past his horrific policy ideas (and believe me, they are that bad), does America really want a man with that little experience and know-how to be just a few steps away from the White House?
I think a large majority of Americans would be extremely unsettled about his ability to lead after hearing about Johnson’s backstory so let’s let them know as often as we can!