DES MOINES — Democracy came dangerously close to ending in Iowa this weekend after a gust of wind attempted to knock over Jamie Raskin’s television tent.

Fortunately, the republic held.

Raskin was appearing on MSNBC before the Polk County Steak Fry to discuss what he described as President Trump’s attacks on voting rights when Mother Nature apparently decided she had heard enough congressional commentary for one afternoon.

According to Raskin, a “freak weather event” threatened to bring down the tent during the live interview.

Yes.

Wind. In Iowa.

The Canton Cat has contacted several meteorologists to determine how such a phenomenon could occur in the Midwest.

Our investigation remains ongoing.

Democracy Was Nearly Blown Three Feet to the Left

Raskin thanked his staff, the MSNBC crew and several passing good Samaritans whose “quick reflexes” apparently prevented the tent from collapsing.

This means America narrowly avoided the constitutional crisis historians have long feared:

A congressman getting rained on during cable news.

Forget January 6.

Forget Watergate.

Forget the Civil War.

For several terrifying seconds, a canopy at an Iowa political event became slightly unstable.

And yet the interview continued.

Churchill had the Blitz.

Washington had Valley Forge.

Jamie Raskin had moderate wind underneath a party tent.

“Through Rain, Sleet, Wind and Snow!”

Raskin ended his account by declaring:

“It’s critical that we counter Trump’s attack on voting rights and the integrity of the Post Office through rain, sleet, wind and snow!”

Beautiful.

Apparently Congress has now absorbed the unofficial postal-service motto.

The Canton Cat eagerly awaits Raskin’s next campaign advertisement:

JAMIE RASKIN

HE STOOD BENEATH A TENT.

THE TENT MOVED.

HE KEPT TALKING.

DEMOCRACY SURVIVED.

Somewhere in Iowa, a farmer who has spent 40 years working outside in thunderstorms just looked up from his tractor and whispered:

“Thank you for your service.”

Meteorologists Investigate Possible MAGA Wind

The real unanswered question is what caused this mysterious weather event.

Ordinary atmospheric conditions?

Impossible.

This is politics.

Everything requires a villain.

The Canton Cat therefore anticipates congressional hearings into whether the gust was politically motivated.

BREAKING: HOUSE DEMOCRATS DEMAND ANSWERS ABOUT SUSPICIOUS RIGHT-LEANING WIND

Investigators will presumably subpoena the National Weather Service and ask whether the atmosphere coordinated with the Trump administration.

Raskin could open dramatically:

“Mr. Chairman, this was not merely wind. This was an attack on our democratic canopy.”

MSNBC would immediately cut to a six-person panel.

The Tent Held

And that’s what matters.

The poles bent.

The fabric flapped.

Someone probably grabbed a support beam.

But Jamie Raskin kept talking.

Future generations may never understand how close America came to losing representative government beneath a rented event canopy in Polk County, Iowa.

But some of us were there.

Well, we weren’t.

We were behind a dumpster in Baltimore.

Still counts.

Reporting From Behind the Dumpster. 🐈