Americans are shocked and horrified by the drama in Washington, but I’m nothing but grateful. We are witnessing The Greatest Show On Earth, Washington style.

We may never see the likes. And democracy is being reborn right before our eyes every single day.

“Democracy,” wrote H.L. Mencken, “is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

He is hopefully smiling in his grave.

The problem with the neo-fascists who have taken over the Republican Party and are trying to do to the House Of Representatives what they tried to do to the U.S. Capitol two years ago on this date is that they don’t do their homework.

Like their Father, they and their spiritual leader make lousy fascists. Americans just aren’t good at it.

I think the model for the Taliban 20, as they are being called, is Benito Mussolini, whose playbook they are closely following, knowingly or not.

You undermine the government, take advantage of the crises and suffering we, falsely accuse people of wrongdoing, cast doubt on law enforcement and those who work in government, traffic in lies and conspiracy, and then violently take over the weakened government, most often using a compliant military.

Neo-fascists don’t run for office since most people don’t voluntarily give up their freedom.

They stage various coups and bloody insurrections to gain power.

Trump was defeated relatively and squarely at the battle box, but he bungled it, as he always does, just as the Taliban 20 will inevitably blow it.

But in his defense, he did at least try to overthrow Congress as it was certifying a presidential election violently. That was his best Mussolini move.

He might have pulled it off if he had ever read a book about fascism and how it works.

But when the Secret Service told him that they wouldn’t drive him to lead the violent insurrection, he stomped and cursed like a two-year-old and went home to pout, leaving his brain-washed troops to their fate.

Oh, well.

The 10,00 people who marched on the capital were well-equipped and aroused and even managed to kill four or five people. But they didn’t have anything like a fully-equipped military to do the job, and they forgot to bring the American public with them.

They were run off, rounded up, and arrested when possible.

The establishment the rebels so love to hate will squash, punish or defeat them one way or another; that establishment are the most potent force in the country, and Matt Gaetz and his gang of creepy followers are no match for them, even with Fox News and their eager followers.

They never really lose.

If you didn’t notice, Tucker Carlson has been on the wrong side of every issue for the past five years.

Fox News is making billions of dollars flirting with fascists and bigots, but remember that only 3 million people are watching that cable network, most are angry old white men or angry young white men seeking to keep their power intact in a changing world.

They are not the future.

There are 331 million people in America, meaning only a tiny fraction of the population watches Fox News or has even heard of it. These are good figures to remember as we enter this new phase of Republican insurrection, bigotry, and hatred of democracy.

If there were two institutions in America, I would never want to mess with them; they would be the FBI and Corporate Republican America. They make the American Taliban seem like Girl Scouts.

Get a good seat and watch what happens. My boss at my first newspaper told me there is only one story in America; the rich screwing the poor.

I think it’s time to try to offer some perspective on the circus emanating from Washington.

The big real circuses may have shut down and run out of business by the animal rights neo-fascists, but don’t be surprised if an elephant doesn’t start marching down the aisles of Congress.

There is much to savor. As good as this is, the best is yet to come.

I love the images of the Democrats sitting at the sidelines, laughing, hooting, eating popcorn, and sipping whiskey. I’m not interested in ever setting foot in Washington again, but I wouldn’t mind a ringside seat to this show.

Some things to keep in mind:

First, Kevin McCarthy.

He is, in many ways, a Shakespearean symbol, a tragic but very real human being. He has bared his weakness to the world, and it will eat him up. There are hungry lions all around him.

McCarthy has only one goal or policy: his advancement and survival.

He will prevail but most likely not last long. He’s made himself the juiciest target in Washington. There are predators everywhere.

The Republican Party is a mess in many ways. I’m starting to suspect them of being secret agents for Joe Biden and the Democrats. The party of corporate America has become the Marx Brothers.

I wonder if Elon Musk will spread that conspiracy theory — this is all really a Democratic plot.

The Democrats have never looked better. The very people – election deniers and conspiracy theorists –  that most Americans soundly rejected in November are now running the House of Representatives and making the rules.

Wow.

McCarthy has given away the house and the garden. He will get elected; God help him.  If there was ever a pyrrhic victory, it is this one.

History should note that one of the most reasonable congresspeople in the current show is Marjorie Taylor Greene. Of all people, the Jewish Laser Discoverer is now the voice of reason and perspective.

If you can still laugh at it, there is nothing like politics for entertainment. You can almost pity these people.

Even Shakespeare knew that leaders have to stand for something besides existing. And if they have no morals, they can at least pretend.

Otherwise, they fall vulnerable to almost anyone with a conviction. I didn’t pay much attention to Nancy Pelosi. Still, she is giving us another look at one of the most significant political truths: people who stand for something always prevail over those who stand for nothing, as Mr. McCarthy is learning.

People who are getting worried should settle down and enjoy the show. It is, at the moment, the Greatest Show On Earth. People all over the world are laughing at us and enjoying it.

Nothing has changed, and nothing will change. Beyond the Taliban 20, as they are being called, are scores of extremists who feel just the way they do; they want to get on with their actual business – investigating Hunter Biden and pummeling the FBI agents who took Donald Trump’s Top Secret toys away and keep the IRS from collecting taxes.

It’s in every extremist’s interest to get this over with and get on with the dirty work. That will happen.

Don’t forget George Santos, whose lies make Trump look like St. Augustine.

He will be seated, and he is probably raking in millions of dollars from surviving Trumpies, who adore anybody the media beats up on and have learned from their leader that lies are no longer evil, but proof of the new virtue.

The vengeful Republicans, who despise Joe Biden for winning and consider it treason,  can’t do much but hold some hearings for Fox News and the other cable programs of the far right and bully government officials.

The Democrats control the Senate And the White House. They are looking better by the day. At this rate, they will be in a position for a grand sweep in 2024 as things stand now.

I never imagined Joe Biden would choose to run again, but more and more, he looks undefeatable.

The Republicans have sent in the clowns to take over America. They are already a joke. They can’t even block “our Kevin,” one of the weakest and gutless political figures ever coming out of Washington.

The new Republican Party has a growing gift for self-delusion and tunnel thinking. That’s their problem; they only talk to one another and their media.

They live in an echo chamber of rage and anger. One of the good things about old media was that we were all exposed to different kinds of thinking. Now we only talk to ourselves.

It isn’t healthy, as we see every day.

Ron DeSantis is a more sophisticated clown, he is a savvy and well-educated neo-fascist, but there is nothing new about him other than that he is not a sociopathic liar.

He also targets his enemies – anyone who disagrees with him, a la Mussolini – and threatens them with government power.

That makes him heroic in the MAGA world,  but it isn’t working in real America.

More than half of those 331 million people are women, African-Americans, young people, immigrants, and various other people of color. You can do the math. They won’t like one thing about Governor DeSantis.

As different as he claims to be, he is the very embodiment of Trumpism at its worse.

Gaetz and his fellow Taliban are not the future; they are the past. And look at the disappearing Trump, reduced to peddling superhero digital cards online to pay for his growing bevy of lawyers.

So long, Mr. Trump, I can’t say we’ll miss you, but life will be much duller. Matt Gaetz,  you, sir, are no  Trump.

Ron DeSantis is, in many ways, even creepier than Trump because he is so much smarter.

I am intrigued by the idea of this Yale/Harvard insider setting himself up as the new Huey Long. Wait until he starts trying to jail the scientists who came up with the vaccines said to have saved nearly 4 million lives. There’s an intelligent campaign position for you.

Kevin McCarthy is undoubtedly not going to lead his representatives to glory; he has shown he is a leader with no shame, no conviction, and no power.

He holds the title of Most Pathetic Politician of my lifetime, and his humiliation and disgrace are just beginning.

Win or lose this week; he’s already the biggest loser in this bizarre drama with a cast of characters that would make P.T. Barnum drool – all kinds of freaks performing in one of the world’s most enormous tents.

That is not a formula for success, not in a country that has been shocked into realizing that democracy has some good points in the world of Putin, China, Iran.

Trumpists may not have noticed, but democracy is having a big comeback. And Trumpists are really the season. They have revived the very thing they set out to destroy.

The people of America have made it clear they don’t want to give power to liars, deniers, and fascists. Before January 6, these people were just extremists.

After that, they are officially fascists. Check it out for yourself.

Many of the neo-fascists in Washington haven’t gotten the message because they don’t care about democracy or government.  And they only talk to one another.

They are running for publicity and donations.

Donald Trump, the hapless wizard, is on the other side of this disheartening mess hiding behind the magic curtain. He is over. As with most lizards, when you cut off the head, the body twitches for awhile. That’s what you are seeing on TV.

He is the most incompetent politician imaginable, perhaps second in humiliation only to Kevin McCarthy himself. What a crew.

When will these so-called intelligent people realize that supporting Trump is political euthanasia? Or doesn’t that matter to them? The indictments and trials haven’t even begun.

The Taliban 20 are almost all election deniers, Trump supporters, and conspiracy theorists. And what are they fighting for? Making the Republican Party even less credible, popular, and effective than Trump has already made it?

They are the very thing that cost the Republican Party its grand sweep two months ago.

They will get on Fox News a lot, tickle the heart of Tucker Carlson, and raise a lot of money from the same sad people who are buying Trump’s superhero digital trading cards.

DeSantis is wise enough to stay away from his mentor now, but mostly he is Trump on steroids. In case nobody has noticed, that has already failed three different times.

And DeSantis has all the charisma of a fish. All Biden should have to do to win is keep breathing and be careful riding his bicycles. He’s looking better to Americans every day.

Trump is over and fading fast. Even his little mini-me Frankenstein monsters are ignoring him.

He hasn’t come out of his Florida Castle for two months now except to play golf down the road. I doubt he is even planning to run.

This kind of circus is a once-in-a-lifetime thing. The cast of characters is phenomenal. I wish H.L. Mencken were around to see his dreams come true.

It is better to sit back and enjoy it than fret. There have never been dumber, more bumbling, or ineffective groups of neo-fascists in modern history. Being rigid in far-right interviews isn’t enough.

What you are seeing in a distorted and surprising way is the reinvention of democracy.  It’s a leap, but I think it’s the truth.

Every day, they make more and more of us appreciate it. Patriotism,  decency, and empathy are making a comeback.

Some politicians may even start to tell the truth again. Some leaders who lie might actually be held accountable.

George Santos is the new poster boy for the new Congress.

Enjoy it.