Along Came Clyde

 Until the other day Georgia Congressman, Andrew Clyde's only claim to fame, or rather odd coincidence, was that he entered this world on the same day President John F. Kennedy exited it. While some psychic/reincarnation types might find that significant it should be noted Mr. Clyde was out of country on the date of his birth, having landed on the planet somewhere in Ontario, Canada.

After college he served as an active duty officer in the United States Navy for 11 years, then another 17, or so in the reserves. He also received an MBA from the University of Georgia and began selling firearms out of his Athens garage as a hobby. 

The hobby quickly grew into a thriving business known as Clyde Armory Inc. which has two expansive locations. It also had tax problems. The IRS seized around $940,000 from it at one point, although they ended up returning all but $40,000. Brother Clyde raised enough hell about the whole affair he ended up testifying in front of congress. Later a section of a bill signed by Donald Trump limiting the amount of money the IRS can grab was named in part after him.

No one knows for sure, but the odds are pretty good that testimony whetted Andy Clyde's taste for politics of the right wing persuasion. Last year he ran to represent Georgia's 9th congressional district. It was a crowded republican primary, but he came in second, then won the runoff. Since Georgia's 9th is so deep red--according to polling sources even redder than Marjory Taylor-Greene's 14th district--winning the general election was a foregone conclusion.

So on January 3rd, 2021 Athens' own Andrew Clyde was sworn in as a duly elected member of the United States House of Representatives. 72 hours later all hell broke loose.

After the coup failed the newly minted representative was one of  12 republican members of congress  to vote against awarding Capital Police gold medals for their defense of the building on that terrible day. Last Wednesday we found out why.

During a house committee meeting Mr. Clyde said, "Let me be clear. There was no insurrection. And to call it an insurrection, in my opinion, is a bald faced lie." He added that the video evidence of the rampaging mob looked like, "A normal tourist visit."

Yes, but only if you believe the German army was enjoying a group tour of Stalingrad in 1942.

Given his statements you have to wonder where Andrew Clyde was that cloudy afternoon during the, "non insurrection." Well we now have photo evidence of his whereabouts at least during part of it. He was, along with others, frantically barricading a door to the House Chamber with furniture--presumably in an effort to prevent the normal tourists from lynching him and everyone else in the place.

So is Congressman Clyde bat shit crazy, or simply an evil fuck? I prefer the latter, it's the realist in me.

He is where too many in the republican party are at right now. This gaggle of fascists are willing to say anything, including day is night and night is day to perpetuate their own power and myths. We have, as a nation, reached the surreal moment when Newspeak has become part of the rhetorical canon. It arrived only 37 years after Orwell's novel predicted it would.

Good luck negotiating deals with people like Andrew Clyde, Mr. Biden. And while  you're at it, for God's sake watch out for those tourists.

5-17-21