America has apparently entered its "Jersey Shore" phase of democracy with the country now superficially governed by a slew of JWowws and Snookis.
In one recent episode, an altercation broke out on the Congress floor between Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene, known to viewers as MTG, and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, with special guest appearance by show regular, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, known as AOC.
During the exchange, MTG attacked Crockett's fake eyelashes, prompting Crockett to diss MTG's "bleach-blonde, bad-built, butch body."
While entertaining, like all reality shows, this drama was mostly fake and performative.
Crockett, for her part, even attempted to launch a clothing line based upon it, which she dubbed the "Clapback Collection."
Far from an aberration, this sort of manufactured drama — and profiting from it — has become the norm for today's politicians, many of whom now use elected office for purposes of personal enrichment and possess no real interest in the serious business of legislating — or even the mental capacities for it.
Indeed, Congress is increasingly just another way for wannabe celebrities and theater kids who cannot make it in Hollywood or on Broadway to become famous.
But in truth, these unserious and unqualified people — hardly capable of running a lemonade stand, let alone the world's superpower — are not really governing the country—not in any real sense, anyway.
Nor, for that matter, is the current president — scarcely able to speak in coherent sentences and every day appearing better suited for the nursing home than the White House — clearly making any real decisions either.
The actual work of the nation's governance has been outsourced to the unelected elites residing in the vast regulatory agencies and government bureaucracy, the courts, and in private corporations and other nongovernmental entities.
In fact, the vast majority of the U.S. federal budget has already been placed on autopilot and effectively taken out of the hands of Congress.
And as Congress comes to resemble a bad parody of the movie "Mean Girls" and the presidency a real-life "Weekend at Bernie's," the authority of the unelected elites has only grown further — for if they do not govern, then the clown show will.
Moreover, like the horse that the Emperor Caligula once attempted to make a Roman consul, placing a veritable vegetable at the head of the U.S. government and stocking Congress full of celebrity bartenders demonstrates not only their irrelevance, but the power of those really in charge.
In this way, America has been transformed into a form of quasi-dictatorship, which could be called "Stage-Managed Democracy" — whereby the unelected elites act as Hollywood directors, calling the shots, writing the lines, and running the entire production from behind the scenes, according to their own designs and preferences.
Democracy is thus rendered a carefully scripted and controlled show, and the masses converted from active and informed participants into mere spectators through a steady diet of bread and circuses.
Elections add a necessary sheen of authenticity to the whole charade, providing not only the illusion of choice but that the peoples' desires will be effectuated by those they vote into office.
Of course, nothing really happens that the directors do not want. And though elections occasionally change the cast and even add some suspense, they do not alter the plot in any meaningful sense.
The border never closes, mass immigration is perpetual, and foreign wars are funded indefinitely — all regardless of the will of the audience.
Further, much like the show "American Idol," even the choices presented to the electorate are carefully curated beforehand by judges for whom the contestants audition. And in various ways the scales are tipped and the audience manipulated, so that ultimately the directors' favorite wins.
Additionally, swings from one party to the other occur only within the tightest margins, so that neither side can govern effectively, and are useful for purposes of creating a bit of drama and fake opposition; after all, someone must be the show's Omarosa.
And for those elected actors who play their parts well, numerous benefits are bestowed: TV shows, book deals, speaking engagements, and much more. Why, just look at how many have become rich since entering public service.
This all makes for an ironic twist that it is, in fact, a former reality show star who democracy's directors fear most and who now threatens their program with cancellation.
To express their alarm, the directors even recently staged a news conference featuring actor Robert De Niro to warn that if Donald Trump were elected, the government as we know it would end.
Though to many Americans longing to finally change the channel, that is the entire point, and the directors have only themselves to blame for not respecting their audience.
And come November, for once, the show may no longer go on, as the directors are the ones who are voted off the island.
Lee Steinhauer is a strategic policy and political consultant known for his book "The Art of The New Cold War: America vs. China. What America Must Do to Win." Lee is a frequent guest on Fox, Fox Business, Newsmax, and a published policy and opinion writer for numerous media publications. Read Lee Steinhauer's Reports — More Here.
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