It may or it may not be a sign of the times, but the Capitol Steps are closing their doors.
The humor group, originally invented by a bunch of U.S. Capitol staffers on both sides of the aisle--the better to create pointed but balanced humor, some of the cleverest I've ever heard---will no longer be holding shows or making CDs. It seems to be very appropriate, but very sad, timing.
Nobody caught a break with the Capitol Steps. Everyone was mocked, especially those within presidential administrations. But members of Congress, Supreme Court members and foreign leaders got it, too. And it was all done, usually, by singing to either Broadway or otherwise popular hits, so the humor blended in with popular culture.
Starting in the '80s, they performed at the Ronald Reagan Center on Friday and Saturday nights, but news about them got out fast. Their numbers grew such that there were several troups out there performing at political party conventions, union meetings, business gatherings, just about anywhere in which people would know, at least relatively accurately, who the people were that were being lampooned. When I served the NEA in DC and when I lived there, I would get an occasional ticket. They never failed to delight.
The absurdity of our politics didn't change. But at least someone was out there taking the nasty edge off of some of them.
The caricatures were light-hearted. They made fun without humiliating someone. And the evening ended with someone doing a hilarious juxtaposition of the first letters of words and phrases that people could unsnarl on the go, a routine called "Lirty Dies." Placed well, the twisted words sounded as if they were real. The effects were hilarious.
But all that's gone now. It's probably a direct result of the pandemic. There's no way The Capitol Steps were going to thrive in an atmosphere of forced seclusion. People couldn't fill up meeting rooms and halls, and most states are still allowing only 25% capacity. You can't eat on that income.
Neither can they wait it out. Because of the unpredictability of the spread of the vaccine (see something I wrote very recently), there's no way to know for sure when such gatherings can gain full, or nearly full, capacity. You can only tighten belts so much and for so long.
What an inopportune time for that to happen. If there were a time when we needed a relatively unbiased group of people to point out the absurdities of some of our positions in humorous ways, this would be it.
But maybe the time is ripe, too, to close that door. A genuine attempt to overthrow a legal election is still being dwelt upon by some of the perpetrators and their supporters. This, for the first time ever, is a real and palpable threat to the meaning of democracy. It's nothing to laugh at.
I suppose you can chuckle at the get-ups created by some of the rioters, and you wouldn't be alone in doing that. But they, for certain, were deadly serious about what they were there for--and if they weren't, they soon became so.
They were there to disrupt and in effect cancel a constitutional process that, while modern technology would normally make it largely and awkwardly unnecessary, is required to actually propel the machinery of governance forward. With that in mind, the previous president committed a clear and obvious act of insurrection by inspiring those listening to enter the Capitol building and do whatever they needed to do so the Electoral College vote wouldn't actually take place.
Not only that, but calling on the National Guard was delayed nearly into irrelevance that day by military leaders clearly supportive of the effort to cancel what 155 million Americans had done two months previously--determine that the sitting president shouldn't be eligible to serve another term.
The plot was indeed carefully made and possessed excellent timing, though it had the trappings of seat-of-the-pants, something that the previous president is good at hiding, as long as he has the loyalty of enough people with enough levers to pull. And on January 6, he had exactly that.
Not only that, but most on his side still refuse to consider the undeniable facts and would still back the same event, should the occasion again take place. Should that happen, a true revolution might ensue.
I doubt that The Capitol Steps could make enough fun, poke enough holes, and create a sufficiently humorous scenario to highlight a presentation and deflect the actual meaning of an attempted coup d'etat. Perhaps it's better that they don't try, anyhow.
We are only now coming to grips with that. We are only now chilled enough to understand the undermining of democracy and what it truly means. The issue has not passed. That is distressing but cannot be diminished.
The Capitol Steps were a terrific entertainment group and well-needed at another time. Their CDs still represent an off-beat contribution to the history of the nation, starting with the Reagan Administration. That time has passed, unfortunately. It's time to get serious and stay that way.
Be well. Be careful. Wear a mask. With some luck, I'll see you down the road.
Mister Mark
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