Shallow displays are all the legislative rage

Maybe it’s the rise of social media. Maybe it’s the rampant polarization. Maybe it’s the constant fundraising frenzy, or the unending campaign season, or cracks in our collective devotion to democracy.

Whatever the cause, elected lawmakers in various bodies at the local, state and federal levels seem to habitually favor shallow performances over substance, sensation and symbolic protest over meaningful action for constituents.

A nearly cartoonish illustration arose last year when the New York City Council passed a budget that included a $215 million cut in funding to schools due to lower enrollment. When word got out, members went out and rallied against the cut — in effect demonstrating against what they authorized.

There are signs these days that legislative caucuses can’t seem to muster the practice of taking yes for an answer from voters and then pivoting away from self-promotion to govern in earnest. Sometimes Republican or Democratic caucuses may claim a new majority in a chamber, but then keep rebelling against those who were in power before.

Progressive Democrats in the New York State Legislature seem this year to continue chafing against centrist Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo — a year and a half after the party’s top players pressured him out.

It felt like a resumption of that intraparty rebellion when the State Senate voted against confirming a former Suffolk County prosecutor, Appellate Division Justice Hector LaSalle, as Gov. Kathy Hochul's pick to head the state’s top court.

For his part, new GOP House of Representatives Speaker Kevin McCarthy seems less focused on the nation’s future than on trying to retroactively malign the tenure of his Democratic predecessor, Nancy Pelosi.

Coming off a Democratic-led investigation of the Jan. 6 insurrection, McCarthy is reportedly making thousands of hours of official surveillance footage from that day available to Fox News Channel’s Tucker Carlson. The goal appears to be historical revision, perhaps to throw shade on Pelosi and her handling of security in the chamber.

Today's histrionics risk little. Being elected in a "safe seat" allows an incumbent the latitude to advertise extreme positions in line with their district's sentiments.

In parts of New York City, the spirit of “defund the police” lingers, if not the mantra. Meanwhile, ever-frenzied Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweets: “We need to separate by red states and blue states” in a "national divorce."

Legislative calls to smash one institution or another always generate attention, whether it’s local police, the IRS, the EPA, or in Greene’s very special case, the constitutional makeup of the nation. Such rants produce little, except to provide fodder for one party to claim the other is full of crazies.

Budgets and bills appear to take a back seat to politicians’ building their personal “brands,” which requires far less drudgery, discipline, and negotiating ability.

Legislative follies are forever. Alexis de Tocqueville noticed how the more outstanding Americans avoided elected office. James Madison deplored the corruption he witnessed in the Virginia House of Burgesses. An old joke about a local council went that a rubber stamp leaves more of an impression.

But New York's seasoned political pros will tell you the general legislative style of today has a far more exhibitionist and lightweight feel, regardless of party, than it did decades ago. The relevant question is if and when government fashion across the spectrum might change toward the functional.

Columnist Dan Janison's opinions are his own.

By Dan Janison

dan.janison@newsday.comDanJanison

Dan Janison is a member of the Newsday editorial board.