From My Archives
Prescient thoughts from my past
Note: While we are in Porto, Portugal visiting friends and enjoying this wonderful city, my writing will be limited. I will be posting pieces from my previous blog that I think are pertinent and worthy of thought and discussion.
C-Flak
March 7, 2013
In the aftermath of last fall’s elections, we have witnessed- in varying degrees, to be sure- a copious amount of both self-examination and external critiques of the Republican Party. Inside and outside the Party, topics such as messaging, appealing to an increasingly diverse population, and finding more appealing candidates have engrossed the political class and the media alike. Lately, the public discussion has focused on the conservative elements of the party, with the lightning rod being CPAC’s (“Conservative Political Action Conference”) decision not to invite two Republican governors, Chris Christie and Bob McDonnell, to speak at next week’s right-wing soiree. The non-invite of Christie- a Republican who is very popular in traditionally Democratic New Jersey- in particular, galled many political realists on the right who openly questioned the commitment of this tranche of the GOP to winning elections.
Modern conservatism is a fascinating phenomenon. The conservative label has been adopted by a wildly diverse collection of interest groups, some ideological, others single-issue. Crowded together under this umbrella are members of the conservative intelligentsia such as Jonah Goldberg, David Frum, Russ Douthat and Reihan Salam, anti-tax warrior Grover Norquist, cartoon characters Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh, the anti-government regulation Koch Brothers, plus libertarians, evangelicals, and the various outrage-fueled tribes of Tea Party Nation. It is no surprise, then, that this is an intrinsically tenuous admixture and it is only amazing that it has endured this long.
These fissures on the right side of the Republican Party are one of several sources of the widening cracks in the Party writ large. As a simplified example, consider the tension between “small government” conservatives of a libertarian bent and “social” conservatives who are disposed to a government used as a tool to intrude into women’s health issues. It is difficult to find unifying philosophies among the different strains of conservatism, or even a common body of knowledge. It does not stretch credulity to imagine there are Christian conservatives with no knowledge of Edmund Burke, or Tea Partiers who could not differentiate the ideas of Milton Friedman from those of Milton Berle. In searching for a common characteristic, one might say that all these “conservatives” share a vague sense of dissatisfaction, ranging from unhappiness to outright anger. The optimism that colored the traditional American conservatism of Robert Taft, and was propelled forward in the last half of the 20th Century by William F. Buckley, has given way to naked fear-mongering and dire warnings about the perditions of liberals.
Here is the problem: The dysfunction and discord among Republicans renders them too impotent for governance. The exigencies of electoral politics compel Republican candidates to pander to the coarsest fringes of the party and, once in office, to eschew compromise with Democrats. For our governing institutions to work, they must literally- to borrow from conservative doctrine- function as a free market of competing ideas. In our two-party tradition, Republicans and Democrats must counterbalance each other. When one party is ascendant, the other must present realistic alternatives.Together, they must govern.
Indulge my nostalgia, but there was once integrity to American conservatism that has vanished. William Buckley rejected the lunacy of the John Birch Society; CPAC invites Donald Trump as a featured speaker.
Once again, we are approaching the time at which the govenment’s debt ceiling- the limit on how much the government may borrow to pay its bills- will be reached and Congress must vote to increase it. And once again, the Republicans are holding this artificial limit hostage, threatening to allow the government to default on its debt unless certain cuts in spending are enacted. I characterized this in 2013:
The Fiscal Bungee Jump
January 2, 2013
Somehow, I cannot place the concept of "statesmen" and "Congressmen" into one conflation. The pitiful antics of our elected Federal legislators exceed even the immature behavior of children. The culmination, of course, was John Boehner telling Harry Reid to "go fuck yourself". When the inhabitants of the Bozarks start braying about America being "the greatest country in the world", they should be made to watch the Boehner blow-off moment on an endless loop for an hour. My suspicion is rather than be appalled at the lack of decorum, they would applaud continuously the spectacle of one self-seeking pol sticking it to another… Verbally, at least.
The media, as I have posted before, has indulged itself in the faux direness of the so-called "fiscal cliff". Of course, in reality, once you go over the cliff, there are no second chances. But the thrill of leaping off into space must so excite our Representatives that they contrive to do it over and over again. What we are now experiencing is "fiscal bungee jumping". For titillation, we will be doing this again when the danger threshold of the debt ceiling is approached next month.
In my lifetime, I have observed only one person who was able to jump repeatedly off cliffs- Wile E. Coyote. Of course, he was only a cartoon. I think that must be significant.
I'm not sure there's much GOP self-criticism or introspection these days. Not while Trump sits atop the roost and boosts candidates who are the dregs of humanity. We've seen this before Trump but he seems to wallow in it taking no input from anyone outside his nuclear family whom he rules absolutely. It's good for Democratic candidates as 2018, 2020 and 2022 elections have shown the electorate rejects the worst. But there are exceptions as in George Santos (R-NY). Talking heads and commentators seem to give the GOP more credit and air time than they are worth nevertheless. The crazies make news by their wackiness, those who slipped into office by some means. MTG is an electoral bully; Santos is a superb liar; Ted Cruz (R-TX) minimizes his vote totals in primaries so the die-hards win. Talk about immigrants; he's the worst. Apologies to other immigrant incumbents like Omar (D-MN). There's a big difference in eccentricities on the far left and far right--liberals and reactionaries, community-philes and (non-)Patriots, blue and red. To their credit liberals, in Congress have sublimated their enthusiasms (Bernie take note) and legislative drives so that much Democratic policy in the middle--which is still progress/improvement for Americans--has passed till this year with the accident of the House getting a GOP majority. Actually I don't much use the GOP label today as it's a wholly owned subsidiary of Trump enterprises. Can abortion and gun regulation motivate more Democratic turnout nowadays to continue the rout of extremists from office at all levels? Are enough people waking up--not to be confused with WOKE concepts?
If only the public at large could maintain their interest in what's happening around them that encourages descent into dictatorship and vote accordingly. Makes me think of South Florida where so many immigrants of failed South/Central American dictatorships seem to end up. It's turned Florida into a strong Republican state. Why? Maybe America under democracy OR dictatorship is far better than the crime and mayhem of their home countries so anybody, even far right pols, seem benign to them and get elected. The far right attacks education today so such newcomers will never learn the lessons of our history that it takes constant vigil to avoid the grifters, liars, crooks, know nothings and malcontents so abundant on the right today. Everybody must get involved, not just withdraw from political news and nonsense. Can ongoing inflation, crime and regressive policymaking overcome freedom, civil rights and financial responsibility? We'll see in 2024.