toxoplasma gondii

There is a process in nature that I have always found absolutely fascinating and it bears the catchy name, “toxoplasma gondii.” You may have heard of toxoplasmosis, which is a parasitic disease that infects nearly all mammals and can cause flu-like symptoms in adults. You may also have heard that pregnant women shouldn’t come in contact with used kitty litter. That’s because toxoplasmosis is spread through the excrement of cats and can cause serious complications in pregnancies.

Toxoplasmosis on its own is pretty mundane stuff, but have you heard how it gets into the cat? Enter toxoplasma gondii. It so happens that cats are the breeding ground of choice for toxoplasma gondii, and if you watched any cartoons when you were a kid, you know that the best way to get to a cat is through a mouse.

Toxoplasma gondii infects rodents, usually through ingestion, then proceeds to alter the brain chemistry in a way that makes the mouse a bit more daring. It makes the mouse unafraid of the cat. It causes the mouse to behave in a way that is not in its best interest and sooner or later, both the rodent and the toxoplasma gondii wind up in the cat where toxoplasma gondii can reproduce and the life of the rodent becomes collateral damage.

So why, you ask, am I thinking about toxoplasma gondii this week? Well, there is a cabal of about 20 Republicans in the house who appear to be emboldened beyond any reasonable measure. They have cast aside their most basic political instincts, and are not acting in their own best interest and certainly not that of their party.

In this case, toxoplasma gondii is not the culprit. Whether they’re called the Freedom Caucus, Tea Party, populists or just MAGA people, they follow an ideology that doesn’t seem to give a rodent’s rear-end if any work gets done on the behalf of the American people, or even if they look foolish on the world stage.

The 20 individuals in question have taken a strong dislike to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and are determined to block his ascendance to the high office of Speaker of the House. In that position, he would be third in line for the Presidency, so it’s a rather important position.

One of the most cited reasons for blocking Mr. McCarthy is the recently passed $1.7 T spending bill, which was not a wonderful deal for the Republicans by any measure. Many believe that they gave up more than they received, yet nine Republicans voted for the bill. As a consequence, it passed, then after sailing through the Senate, it was sent to the President’s desk for signature.

When referring to the bill as a reason for McCarthy’s ouster, few acknowledge the fact that McCarthy was not one of the nine Republicans who voted for it, but his opposition to the bill doesn’t fit their narrative. The problem with McCarthy, it seems, is that he worked across the aisle at all. The complaint is that during the time that the House was under Democrat rule, McCarthy deigned to negotiate with the opposition, and that just cannot be tolerated by our extremely vocal minority.

That brand of logic can be traced back to the recently deceased talk show host, Rush Limbaugh. Limbaugh, above all else, was a radio guy. He understood the business well enough to know that common-sense compromises would not be sexy enough to hold an audience.

In radio, one of the most valued metrics found in Arbitron and similar reports is what’s known as the “TSL,” or time spent listening. With the valued TSL score in mind, the goal of the industry is to keep us from changing the channel. Commercial radio stations are not incentivized to bring us variety (which is why commercial radio offers tried and true musical formats rather than a smattering of dissimilar genres).

Limbaugh applied the same theory to political talk radio. He spoke from only one side of the ideological aisle without variation and was known to ask why Republicans should compromise with Democrats when Democrats, he argued, never compromise with Republicans.

As someone who lived in Ben Nelson’s district, I find it hard to buy that argument. We had an extremely effective Democratic Senator who held a seat in a conservative state for exactly that reason. He did indeed work across the aisle and exercised great power on behalf of the state because his vote was never taken for granted.

Our radio-influenced neighbors may think differently, but working across the aisle has great advantages. Ben Nelson knew how to use it, and was the sweetheart of the right (as Joe Manchin of West Virginia was today) until he cast the 60th pivotal vote on the healthcare bill. As it turned out, the healthcare bill wasn’t a complete failure once the individual mandate was removed. Prices still aren’t reduced to anyone’s satisfaction, but I can remember a day when free-spirited entrepreneurs were forced to marry school teachers for their benefit packages. The ugly bill that we all despised at least benefited small business owners, who are now free to marry their own kind.

The ideology of the present-day rebels prevents any such compromise and the entire blocking maneuver makes so little sense, that it leaves me to wonder if those 20 individuals have ingested something that is impairing their judgment. We know that populism has a reputation for doing the same, causing people to nominate candidates who can’t win a general election. The track record of MAGA-type candidates in the 2022 elections is well known. The far right was so good at promoting rotten candidates that a few Democrats were caught making financial contributions to Republican underdogs.

As of this writing, Mr. McCarthy has lost six rounds of roll-call votes. By the time you read this, I sincerely hope the matter is resolved, but I’m afraid that the damage is done. The last such House battle took place in December of 1923, so this is by no means a common occurrence. The real concern is that this might stretch out for two months, as did the speaker vote in 1863 when we were at war with ourselves.

Don’t think that the world isn’t watching. Just look at the stock market. It seems to have dropped lower with every vote because quite frankly, the future does not look bright. The Republicans can do little to affect change if they are battling among themselves, but the vocal minority simply doesn’t care. They don’t act in their own best interest because they can’t, and that is why I believe they are setting themselves up to deliver the entire party agenda to the belly of the cat.