The state of our politics is not good and getting worse with each presidential term. Our country is steadily declining. It's time to stop the far-right trend of undermining government when out of power and mismanaging it when in power. A simple solution is available, but it depends on an informed public.
The Republican Party has been dominated by radicals ... who, at a fundamental level, do not accept anyone else’s right to govern. Hastening ... a return to power is all that matters.
Paul Krugman, NY Times, Oct. 5, 2009
Traditionally, after intense campaigning and political infighting, our system of democracy pulls together and supports a newly-elected president. This democratic process has worked well and we have become a world leader and global super power. For the past two decades, however, this tradition has been broken. Republicans, hijacked by the far right, no longer accept the results of our national elections. Focused only on returning to power, they use destructive politics to undermine the credibility of any new Democratic administration. They decide what they want to do without regard to ethics, rules or long-term consequences, and then pursue a win-at-any-cost strategy to achieve their goals. They destabilize a young administration and then consistently oppose its policies, regardless of whether the policies are good for America or not. They took power twice at the turn of the century and mismanaged our government both times. Our country has been steadily declining. The far right trend of undermining government when out of power and mismanaging it when in power must be stopped or else we will become a second-rate power. With an informed public, the solution will be simple.
UNDERMINING THE CLINTON ADMINISTRATION
The far-right Republican quest for power started in a big way during the 90’s when they took control of the House. Newt Gingrich became House Speaker with Tom DeLay as his House Whip. Previously, Republicans had owned the White House for 12 years and were outraged at the loss of the presidency. Clinton was seen as a usurper, his election illegitimate, and he had to be driven from the White House. These were the views of the far right who had contributed to Gingrich’s political campaigns and causes.
Gingrich called the Clinton administration "the enemy of normal Americans" and said in a private meeting he would use subpoena power to wage war against the White House. He envisioned as many as 20 congressional investigations being conducted simultaneously. Subsequently, multiple investigations were launched to destabilize Clinton’s presidency. They included ones like the 15 year-old Whitewater land deal and the "murder" of the President’s close friend and White House aide, Vince Foster (actually a suicide). The various investigations cost well over 100 million dollars and turned up nothing on the Clinton administration. Republicans refused to clear the President, however, until his two terms had nearly ended.
Meanwhile, Gingrich used a government shut-down to force an unacceptable budget on the President. This congressional blackmail violated the U.S. Constitution and Gingrich had to reverse course. The far right killed Clinton’s middle class health care plan for fear its popularity would cause them to lose power and perhaps their jobs in Congress. Then, in a last-ditch effort to wreck the Clinton administration, they:
• Manipulated our judicial system to set a perjury trap for Clinton’s personal indiscretion.
• Submitted false information to get control of the investigation.
• Made impeachment the only option by blocking all efforts to censure the president.
• Railroaded the President’s impeachment in a lame-duck House session, using political blackmail to get the necessary votes.
The far right knew the Senate would not convict; their real purpose was to (1) force the President to resign and (2) regain the White House in year 2000. Forcing resignation didn’t work, but regaining the White House did. Years later, Prosecutor Ken Starr and Judiciary Committee Chairman Hyde expressed regret over their role in this entire affair. (Documentation can be found in chapter two of the book, Misuse of Power and six other named books.)
The far-right obsession with impeachment diverted Congress and the nation from Bin Laden’s 1998 declaration of war, his attacks on U.S. Embassies and the menace, in general, of global terrorism. President Clinton did take aggressive steps to confront the threat and managed to disrupt several attacks at the turn of the century. However, the new far-right administration that followed did not continue his efforts, and that led to disastrous consequences.
REGAINING POWER, FAR RIGHT MISMANAGES U.S. SECURITY
AND DOMESTIC NEEDS
The far right won a very close and controversial electoral vote in 2000, aided by the Supreme Court. At the very outset of the new administration, the Bush White House received severe warnings of the grave threat posed by Bin Laden and al-Qaeda. The warnings came directly from President Clinton, a U.S. National Security Commission, the CIA Director and the White House Chief of Counterterrorism. Ignoring their advice, the Bush White House proceeded to downgrade terrorism and disregard urgent warnings of the upcoming attacks.
Bin Laden’s plans had seeped out to foreign countries who passed them on to us. The sources were three Heads of State (Blair, Putin and King of Jordan) and a number of other close foreign allies. The warnings included the actual means of attack. We were warned also that al-Qaeda members were here in the U.S. planning the attacks and learning to fly. By July, the warnings, in the CIA Director’s view, could not "get any worse." In a desperate and unscheduled visit to the White House, he urged in the strongest possible terms (1) the immediate use of our military to remove al-Qaeda’s sanctuary in Afghanistan and (2) CIA covert authority to take down Bin Laden. The President did not act and made no attempt to protect commercial aviation or inform the public of the impending danger.
During the months leading up to 9/11, Vice-President Cheney had the White House lead role for terrorism and intelligence. In a deal cut with Congress, hearings on terrorism and creation of a Homeland Security Agency were dropped in return for which Cheney would lead a project to defend us against domestic attacks. His project never got off the ground. The President said he would chair a meeting to review the results of the Vice-President’s work. He did not. To this day, we do not know why our leaders left us so unprepared.
The 9/11 Commission did not assess White House preparedness for the attacks, as required by statute. Its report omitted the specific warnings from Heads of State and other foreign allies, as well as the CIA Director’s desperate visit to the White House in July. The Commission’s decision not to assess White House preparedness was never disclosed to the public or to Congress. To date, four directly involved people have acknowledged the truth about 9/11 on film or in books and articles. They are George Tenet, Richard Clarke and Commissioners Bob Kerrey and Richard Ben-Veniste.
The full story and documentation have recently been turned over to Senate and House Investigating Committees, suggesting that they reopen the 9/11 investigation. (See http://www.dailykos.com/...
After neglecting expert advice and frantic 9/11 warnings, the administration covered up its failure and lashed out against terrorism in an irresponsible way. They went to war against Iraq – a country that had nothing to do with 9/11. Wars do not address terrorism because their networks are international in nature and can move from country to country on a moment’s notice. Other ways the far-right administration made us less secure are:
• They spread our military too thin over two mismanaged wars, while allowing Bin Laden to escape, remain free and plot further attacks.
• They adopted foreign policies that diminished our relationships with other countries.
• They maintained our dependence on oil from unstable regions of the world which, in turn, finance terrorists and explosives used to kill U.S. troops.
• They ignored billions of tons of heat trapping pollution being dumped into our atmosphere.
• They failed to address world-wide nuclear disarmament. Now, two countries, North Korea and Iran, are bent on joining the nuclear club.
For their remaining years in office, far-right Republicans imposed an agenda that moved America in the wrong direction on nearly every major issue. They ignored pressing domestic needs, turned surpluses into deficits, doubled our national debt and left us with the worst economy since the great depression.
Some say Republicans are deliberately driving us into debt with tax cuts. Their ultimate goal is to reduce government services and the size of government. If that is true, there could be serious consequences: (1) Far East countries now hold so much U.S. debt that they have leverage over our foreign policy and domestic economy and (2) the strategy could be suicidal should the monumental debt and huge annual interest it incurs lead to a fiscal catastrophe. Inheriting a record-high debt and reduced revenues, the new Obama administration now has the painful job of making deep and unpopular spending cuts and possibly raising taxes.
UNDERMINING THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION
Far-right Republicans are still reeling from their defeat at the hands of the Obama presidential campaign and their answer is to work toward defeating him instead of correcting past failures and replacing their congressional leaders.
Far-right leadership in Congress decided early that a unified opposition to the President's agenda was their best way to return to power regardless of its merits. One House member didn’t follow orders (on health care) and quickly lost a fund raiser for his reelection campaign. (He followed orders on the final vote.) The far right has set a new record for filibustering legislation and has created a Senate logjam on much of the legislation passed by the House. As one columnist put it, "If Republicans think something might be good for the president, they’re against it – whether or not it’s good for America."
For example, the far right cheered when, despite efforts of the President, America lost the 2016 Olympics. They united to defeat legislation creating a deficit commission, although a number of Republicans had co-sponsored the bill. President Obama announced his support for the bill and Republicans withdrew theirs. This was a lost opportunity for Congress to confront the huge unfunded liability for Medicare and Social Security and to begin getting our debt under control. Besides obstructing lawmaking, Republicans in Congress are still holding up President Obama’s nominees for diplomatic, judgeships and executive posts. According to our Secretary of State, this kind of politics is hurting us abroad.
As to the economic crisis inherited by the Obama administration, the President undertook (almost overnight) far-reaching government intervention to prevent a panic. Otherwise, we could very well be in the throes of a worst recession or great depression. The Republican alternatives were further reducing taxes for the wealthy, relying on the market place (as President Hoover did) and allowing businesses, vital to our economy, to fail.
Only far-right Republicans would leave a new President with a huge rising debt and a disastrous economy and then complain bitterly about his attempts to fix their problems. If they had the right answers, they should have used them when they were in power. They complain repeatedly about bailouts, but the loans are being repaid with interest. Only far-right Republicans would want a new president to fail and seriously damage our country in the process.
Several hundred million people are affected one way or another by our health care system, a system which is very costly and unaffordable to many. More than half of all Americans have no insurance, or have inferior coverage, or are faced with exorbitant premium rates. The far right jumped ship early when the President’s health care reforms were still a work in progress. They realized that a major legislative victory for him on health care would mean an almost certain second term. Since they jumped ship much of their efforts have been devoted to killing the legislation. For example, they have scared seniors about death panels and decreased Medicare benefits. At health care town hall meetings, attendees were told to:
• Spread out, be up front and artificially inflate your resistance.
• Disrupt early and often. Yell out and challenge early.
• Try to rattle the congressional representative and get him off his agenda.
• Stand up and shout.
• Do not allow intelligent debate.
The attendees followed orders well. They were ill mannered, displayed despicable signs, shouted down others who wanted to speak, claimed the President is not an American citizen, alleged he is a Muslim in league with terrorists, compared him to Hitler and carried loaded guns near the President’s public meetings. While many of those present consider themselves members of a new Tea Party, that Party is closely aligned with the ultra right, funded and directed by the GOP and its lobbyists and influenced by Fox News’ extremists and hate groups. The weakened Republican Party identifies closely with the Tea Party, but the reverse is not necessarily true.
The far right has a well-oiled and disciplined propaganda machine and, if that machine were the deciding factor, they would be the dominant political force in America. Goebbels, who handled Hitler’s propaganda machine, would be in awe of the Republican machine as well as their widespread use of "talking points" to keep everyone on message. None of the talking points bear much resemblance to what is in the health care legislation. Two favorite bits of propaganda are (1) the President’s reforms are a massive government takeover of our health care system and (2)the American people are against the legislation. They figure that, if they repeat these expressions often enough, the American people will begin to believe them. Apparently, some have.
However, the doctor and patient remain fully in charge and there is no bureaucrat between them except those of insurance companies. The insurance bureaucrats will be more constrained under the new reforms and unable to reject the sick. There will be opportunities to improve medical practices and reduce costs. But, these changes will be guided by medical professionals, not dictated by the government. A New York Times editorial of March 8, 2010 ("If Reform Fails") corrects other misrepresentations.
Despite all the far-right distortions, individual elements of the legislation remain popular with the American people (70 % and higher). A Gallup poll of March 5, 2010 reveals that the American people have 49% confidence in reform recommendations of the President as compared to 32% for Republicans – a 17 point difference.
The far right had no option but to turn up the heat and try to stop this legislation. They repeatedly say the legislation will be a disaster for Democrats in November, a political suicide. If that were true, why did the Republican leadership go ballistic, when they could simply take control of Congress in November and repeal the legislation? And, why are they so concerned about the political future of the Democrats? Could it be that they actually fear the reforms might work and endanger their recapturing Congress and the White House?
Based on the history of the way the far right operates, we can assume that fear also explains their insistence on starting the reforms all over again in incremental steps. However, individual pieces of our health care system are interdependent and a comprehensive systems approach is the only practical way to fix it. A decade’s delay, to fix the system piecemeal, is unacceptable. Too many people are hurting from insufficient care or dying prematurely because of deficiencies in the present system.
THE SIMPLE SOLUTION
The far-right Republican obsession with power and control of government leads to constant political warfare and takes precedence over advancing our country. Misrepresentation and distortion to arouse the public are their main tools. They are ruthless, instill hatred and promote anti-government militia groups capable of domestic terrorism. Their leaders twist the facts, spread fear and then assume no responsibility for irresponsible behavior of their supporters. Threats of presidential assassination have increased threefold. Meanwhile, our country is becoming increasingly polarized and paralyzed.
The "Party of No" jumped ship on health care reforms when they couldn’t have their way and feared eventual success. They have never accepted that a much larger party, called the American people, found that they had messed up big time for 8 years and said we really don’t want you to govern for a while, just participate. Instead of participating, however, the far right decided to undermine the new President and fill the minds of people with all sorts of nonsense about his health care legislation. In so doing, they took advantage of many millions of people who didn’t understand the legislation. When the far right finds it necessary to deliberately lie to the American people, there is something very wrong with our politics.
Many Republicans were shocked that the President dared to go ahead and enact historic legislation without them. Let’s face it; the last thing the far right wanted was a successful bipartisan bill. Success would have meant that Obama’s main theme of "one America" and changing the tone in Washington was good for the country. And, his reelection would be assured. The far right made sure that didn’t happen and we still have not heard the last of this matter. Reportedly, Carl Rove and a new swift boat group will use huge sums of money in a massive effort to defeat Democrats who voted for the bill. This means that misrepresentation of the new reforms will only continue.
Current Republican leaders are a far cry from those of the past. Republican moderates of earlier days contributed much to our country and are sorely missed today. They included such Senators as Arthur Vandenberg, Everett Dirksen, Jacob Javits, Edward Brooke, Robert Dole, Howard Baker, Charles Mathias and William Cohen. They advanced our country in many ways. Senator Vandenberg, for example, fought against his Party's isolationism and supported our entry into WWII. After the war he participated in the development of the Marshall Plan, one of the most successful endeavors ever undertaken by this country. One business executive and a former moderate Republican put it this way:
"We are an ‘endangered species’ ... my wing of the party has been swept into oblivion by the ultra right, which now controls the Republican agenda ... This is not a battle between Republicans and Democrats ... it is between the ultra right-wing element, who want to mold us in their image only, and those of us who want to preserve an open free nation."
We must return to the long tradition of supporting our duly-elected presidents. Probably the first step is to convince political leaders to accept the principle that, when one Party is defeated, there is a real price to be paid and it must be done in the public interest. Minority leaders must be team players, especially in times of national crisis. They should realize that they will have future opportunities to resume power, if they stay in touch with the American people. Meanwhile, America must come first over Party. One way to encourage this kind of behavior is for voters to remove obstructionists in Congress and return to power only those minority parties with outstanding leaders and good ideas. This would include replacing congressional leaders using inflamatory language to encourage belligerent protests and violence and leaving obstructionist’s Parties in the minority until they reorder their priorities. There’s nothing novel about this -- it’s the way our political system is supposed to work, but hasn't for two decades.
"For decades the G.O.P. has been the party of fear, ignorance and divisiveness ... it is time for every American of good will to hold the Republican Party accountable for its role in tolerating, shielding and encouraging foul, mean-spirited and bigoted behavior in its ranks and among its strongest supporters."
An Absence of Class
Bob Herbert, NY Times
March 23, 2010