Reactions of Republicans in Congress to President Biden’s State of the Union address revealed, I think, something about the way many of them view government. There were shouts, boos, and other interruptions. I guess the standard was set by Marjorie Taylor Greene with her outcries and other attempts to draw attention to herself, but many other Republicans also joined in the fun.

Let’s not consider the impropriety of this kind of behavior at a formal government event. Rather, let’s ask at what kind of event such behavior would be expected. We see fans at sporting events let it all hang out in cheering their favored team and reviling their opponents. In another setting, the old Golden Rod showboat in St. Louis advertised its old melodramas by inviting playgoers to “Cheer the hero, hiss the villain!”

I think many Republicans, especially the MAGA and semi-MAGA types, view political life and government as a highly competitive game in which mindless support of their “side” and unrelenting denunciation of the other are all that matters. We could also say that very many Republicans in Congress view government as a melodrama in which they are the heroes and their opponents the villains. In both cases, government is not about real life, but is a game or drama that is a faint copy of real life.