This country is indeed in frightful, dispiriting peril.

A for instance: In response to the terrible Texas law, House Democrats this morning passed the Women’s Health and Protection Act, which would establish a federal right to abortion — and to no shock/surprise the measure passed on party lines: ‘With the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, presiding over the vote, the House passed the measure 218-211. All Republicans and one Democrat, congressman Henry Cuellar of Texas, opposed the bill.‘

Afterward, a shit-fight with stupid — Debbie Dingell showed the spunk:

Greene and Rep. Dingell are now shouting at each other.

“You should practice the basic thing you’re taught in church: respect your neighbor!”

Greene: “Church?! Are you kidding me? Try being a Christian!”

Dingell: “You try being a Christian and treat your colleagues decently.” pic.twitter.com/5aXtaU1dNK

— Ben Siegel (@bensiegel) September 24, 2021

Nutshell via the Guardian‘s live blog:

An extraordinary confrontation outside the Capitol today, between the Michigan Democrat Debbie Dingell and Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far right Republican from Georgia.

As reported by Ben Siegel of ABC News, the confrontation developed as Democrats prepared to host a press conference on the Capitol steps about abortion rights, after voting to protect them in the face of concerted assault from Republican-run states.

“Stand with women,” Greene shouted.

“You’re performative,” Pete Aguilar, a Democrat from California, replied.

Dingell then shouted: “You should practice the basic thing you’re taught in church: respect your neighbour!”

Greene shouted back: “Church?! Are you kidding me? Try being a Christian and supporting life.”

Dingell responded: “You try being a Christian and try treating your colleagues decently.”

Greene said: “Watch your step.”

She may have meant it literally, as Dingell briefly and slightly unsteadily stepped down towards her.

If the confrontation was not quite reminiscent of those described in The Field of Blood (a well-received book by the historian Joanne B Freeman, about brutal spats in Congress in the years before the civil war) it was certainly indicative of the bitter split between most members of Congress — and the US at large.

Greene is a way-total nutjob — yet one who does get attention, however, how horrid the attention.
Further on the incident via Mediaite:

“The border’s wide open,” Greene yelled toward a group of Democratic congresswomen, including Dingell and Reps. Melanie Stansbury of New Mexico, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, and Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania. The congresswomen then moved back inside.

Greene then proceeded down the steps and toward a gathering of Democratic lawmakers who had gathered for a “Build Back Better for Women” photo-op, where she got into a confrontation with a woman who had lined up with members on the steps.

“Congresswoman, I wish you would stand with women,” the woman said, prompting a fierce response from Greene.

“Stand with women? I do! Stand with motherhood, how about that?” Greene retorted. “You know, there’s unborn women, do they not have a right to life?”

But Greene was not done. Further down the steps, Greene stood off to the side of Democratic members of Congress and began yelling at them as well.
“Horrendous. You should all be ashamed!” Greene yelled at the members before turning away.

“You should be ashamed of your incivility,” Dingell replied, now back on the steps.

“You know what? Killing a baby up until birth is a lack of civility, it’s called murder,” Greene shouted back.
She continued, “hey, how about the border down there? Lack of civility, how about lack of laws?”

“We have lots of laws we follow, and you should practice the basic thing you’re taught in church: respect your neighbor,” Dingell yelled back.

“Taught in church, are you kidding me? Try being a Christian and supporting life!” Green retorted.

“You try being a Christian and try treating your colleagues decently,” Dingell said, briefly tripping on the steps in a fit of anger.

“Watch your step, lady, you’re going to fall down,” Greene responded.
“Control yourself.”

What a piece of work. Greene is the female T-Rump with an even more nasty face.

And just to reinforce that above mentioned ‘peril,’ and the Civil War timeframe analogy, Robert Kagan, a way-too-long asshole neoconservative-Republican now with the far-right nutcase Brookings Institute, has written an op/ed pretty-much confirming America is being destroyed — and doing the dismantling are Republicans:

We’re not taking the threat of trump seriously enough https://t.co/lLfzDoal38

— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) September 24, 2021

As Kagan explains in yesterday’s Washington Post — some high points:

The United States is heading into its greatest political and constitutional crisis since the Civil War, with a reasonable chance over the next three to four years of incidents of mass violence, a breakdown of federal authority, and the division of the country into warring red and blue enclaves.
The warning signs may be obscured by the distractions of politics, the pandemic, the economy and global crises, and by wishful thinking and denial.
But about these things there should be no doubt:

First, Donald Trump will be the Republican candidate for president in 2024. The hope and expectation that he would fade in visibility and influence have been delusional.
He enjoys mammoth leads in the polls; he is building a massive campaign war chest; and at this moment the Democratic ticket looks vulnerable. Barring health problems, he is running.

Second, Trump and his Republican allies are actively preparing to ensure his victory by whatever means necessary.
Trump’s charges of fraud in the 2020 election are now primarily aimed at establishing the predicate to challenge future election results that do not go his way.
Some Republican candidates have already begun preparing to declare fraud in 2022, just as Larry Elder tried meekly to do in the California recall contest.
…
What makes the Trump movement historically unique is not its passions and paranoias. It is the fact that for millions of Americans, Trump himself is the response to their fears and resentments. This is a stronger bond between leader and followers than anything seen before in U.S. political movements.
Although the Founders feared the rise of a king or a Caesar, for two centuries Americans proved relatively immune to unwavering hero-worship of politicians.
Their men on horseback — Theodore Roosevelt, Grant, even Washington — were not regarded as infallible.
…
The Trump movement might not have begun as an insurrection, but it became one after its leader claimed he had been cheated out of reelection. For Trump supporters, the events of Jan. 6 were not an embarrassing debacle but a patriotic effort to save the nation, by violent action if necessary.
As one 56-year-old Michigan woman explained: “We weren’t there to steal things. We weren’t there to do damage. We were just there to overthrow the government.”

Go read the whole thing, it’s a deep dive and long-shitty as shit but fairly realistic. And scary. And worrisome.

And once again, here we are…

(Image out front by illustrator and portrait painter, Tim O’Brien, and can be found here).