Around 1848, the Democratic Party in New York State was split into two factions over the issue of slavery. The moderate of the two factions (called the “Hunkers”) wanted to “hunker down” and hope that the issue of slavery would disappear or resolve itself somehow without leading to war. The more radical of the two factions were the Barnburners who wanted to rid the country of slavery so badly that they were willing to destroy the Democratic Party in the process. They were compared to a farmer who had rats in his barn. And to the Barnburners, the “rats” in the barn (i.e. party) were Democrats who wanted to increase the public debt, establish state run corporations and expand slavery into the territories. The Barnburners were so radically committed to their cause that their party became expendable to them. Now, the time appears ripe for another barn burning.

Today, the lessons of history are wasted on the Republican Party as their own Barnburners are threatening to burn down the Grand Old Party, and the nation as well if necessary. As far as the Republican Party in the House of Representatives is concerned, extremists such as Majorie Taylor Green (GA) and Thomas Massie (KY) are pushing for a motion to vacate the Speaker’s chair. All it takes is one vote, thanks to the desperation of previous Speaker Kevin McCarthy who wanted that position so badly that he tied up House business for weeks and promised representatives practically anything they wanted in order to get elected. In fact, he moved into the Speaker’s office before the first of fifteen votes was even taken. When McCarthy was predictably ousted last October, Donald Trump, who was never completely comfortable with McCarthy, pushed Jim Jordan (OH) for Speaker, but Jordan was not chosen. The current speaker is Mike Johnson (LA) and he has at least a lukewarm endorsement from Mr. Trump, perhaps provisional on wasting House time investigating what the ex-president believes was voter fraud in the 2020 election. But Trump’s favorite is likely still Jim Jordan. To his credit, Speaker Johnson enjoys the healthy respect of most Democrats in the House, though they differ, of course, on policy.

Part of the reason the Republican barn is on fire has to do with a movement within the party to align with overseas dictators such as Vladimir Putin of Russia and Aleksandr Lukashenko of Belorus to the expense of young democratic regimes such as Ukraine which has been invaded by Russia for the second time in less than a decade. It makes the world a more dangerous place if dictators like Vladimir Putin can do “whatever the hell they want.” Another reason for the fire is that the institutions in our government including our treaty commitments are being steadily erroded by members of the Republican Party and those who parrot their slogans. These endangered institutions include the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Internal Revenue Service and others. Treaties that are in danger of being discarded during a second Trump term include the North Atlantic Treaty which provides for a U.S. membership in NATO, an organization of thirty-one friendly nations that we currently lead. Add to this scrap pile entitlements such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicade which face severe cutbacks in favor of tax benefits to business and the wealthy and you can begin to see the problem.

So, almost half a year after being elected as Speaker, Mike Johnson has decided it is time to come to the aid of Ukraine before Russian soldiers or their mercenaries reach the gates of Kyiv. And he only has until Saturday before the House takes yet another week off from business (having just returned from Easter Break.) During the next twenty-four hours, we’ll find out if Ukraine will finally get more munitions or not, and whether the House will spend another three weeks electing yet a third Speaker during this term. Regardless of what you might think of Nancy Pelosi (CA), she is a patriot and she ran the House of Representatives like the fine institution it is, not the menagerie it has become.

Hopefully, the radical Republicans will not be allowed to burn down this barn and we might actually see some useful legislation. Meanwhile, the Democrats will continue to play games on their phones until the member of the GOP decide to actually decide to legislate. Until then, our other allies such as Taiwan and Israel will be left twising in the wind.