Screaming Bloody Murder

There’s a gorgeous scene in the Book of Exodus that should be photocopied and distributed to Congressional Democrats. It’s arguably the climax of the whole ancient narrative. Moses and the People Israel have reached the Sea of Reeds with the officers of Pharaoh in white hot pursuit. Another moment and the bloodbath will begin. I imagine it right out of the Colosseum scenes in “Gladiator,” with big swords affixed to the spokes of the chariot wheels.

Except Moses doesn’t seem to have a clue. Faced with the prospect of imminent defeat, he freezes in place, paralyzed by indecision. He makes a bold show of ordering the Israelites to stand by, but then seems to waver in a moment of confusion. In the covenantal relationship between Moses and God, he’s supposed to do something. Without human initiative, the project of Exodus is doomed.

God is enraged and shames Moses into action: “Why do you cry out to Me? Tell the Israelites to go forward.” Or as we might say: “Tell the damn Israelites to put their feet into the water.” We don’t even hear this supposed cry. Maybe it’s in the telepathy between Moses and God. Only when the Israelites actually take the risk do the waters split and human agency is rewarded. It’s a close call, but God keeps betting on these sorry former slaves.

Senator Schumer and company should start reading Chapter 14. Earlier this week, he told us that he was getting angry. Then he added that he was really angry, while his counterpart, Hakeem Jeffries assured us that he was still committed to bi-partisanship. This while our republic is being dismembered before our eyes, with heaps of civil servants littering the roadsides, and Sauron Jr. threatening that he will ignore the courts.

This is not the way to react to a rolling catastrophe. Schumer and Jeffries should be screaming bloody murder. Instead, they behave as if the likes of RFK Jr. are temporary disruptions or simply sub-standard choices instead of full-fledged embodiments of debasement and stupidity. At the very least, there need to be months of filibustering so that we communicate our sense that the disease is metastasizing.

Meanwhile, Americans continue to do the right thing by protesting against Democratic officeholders, demanding that they take some action on their behalf. Will Schumer and Jeffries hear the voice of God?