Symbolism holds a lot of value in politics. It gives meaning to the traditions that create feelings of continuity and permanence in a world that sees orators, wonks, hucksters, heroes, wheelers, dealers, statesmen, conmen, bosses, leaders, ranks, files, and everything in between come and go as the bridge from one generation to the next across decades of public service in the halls of power or flame out and get run out of town by their peers even faster than George Santos was.
Sometimes the gap between symbolism like, say, a party mascot, and lived material reality, such as the presence of a live circus animal portraying that party mascot for the obscene whims of a particularly extreme and fatuous state chapter of that national party, becomes basically nonexistent.
And yeah the headline already said what happened at the Texas GOP’s convention on Friday, a live elephant wearing a banner bearing Gov Greg Abbot’s reelection campaign logo non-symbolically pissed on the floor as it was paraded into the convention hall, much to the laughter of the attendees whose party symbolically pisses on Texans every minute it holds its deeply entrenched power.