Was it a bad bit of beef, a day-old slice of pizza? It had to be something like that; the ghost of Senators-past don’t usually frequent my household, much less the ghost of Jacob Javits, somewhat lately a U.S. Senator representing New York.
Yet there he was. Being a ghost whose earthly prime was in the decades following World War II, he came equipped not with chains but with a portfolio of press clippings. He sifted through the clippings and pulled out one in particular, insistently placing it in my hands.
It was from the October 27, 1963 edition of the New York Times Magazine. Written by Javits, the title and subtitle were intriguing:
“To Preserve the Two-Party System: The rise of the radical right, says a Republican Senator, threatens changes in the character of his party which could alter American politics as a whole.”
Javits was writing on the cusp of the 1964 election cycle, barely a month before the assassination of John F. Kennedy. To his dismay, the “radical right’ – most notoriously represented by the John Birch Society – had intruded into the Republican party, inducing some Republicans to espouse positions that were antithetical to Republican orthodoxy and tradition.
“As it turned out,” I said after reading the essay, “not only did the Republican Party come to embrace many of these positions and make the ‘Southern Strategy’ a foundation of its electoral strategy, it has prospered.”
“Yes, I was wrong that those changes would marginalize, if not destroy, the party,” sighed the ghost. “But since I would not recognize them as either conservatives or Republicans, perhaps it is fair to say that the party I knew has been destroyed and replaced by something else.”
He stared at me for a moment. “What I don’t understand is why you Progressives seem unable to defend the ideas and values you hold dear.”
“That’s not fair,” I protested. “We defend our values daily. Some of us are advocates for the social safety net. Others concentrate on the environment, worker’s rights, affirmative action or women’s rights. We’re right out there doing what we have to do!”
“Yes, yes. I know. Nevertheless, you have been losing ground among the electorate for decades. Who among you focuses on the big picture, hmm?”
“I don’t understand,” I said.
The ghost howled and ominously shook his portfolio of press clippings at me.
“In my day, Republicans and Democrats had their disagreements, but one thing we clearly agreed on (with the exception of that fool Joe McCarthy and his ilk) is that we are all Americans. You have allowed them to define American values on their own terms, and to virtually define you out of the mainstream.”
“You have to remind the people who and what real conservatives are,” he continued. “You have to define today’s Republicans for what they are: toadies to any crackpot extremists willing to join the Party in the unwavering pursuit of power and money. This Tea Party thing is only the latest in a long line of abominations that have blackened the Republican heart. You have to convince people that it only gets worse from here if they don’t ‘wake up and smell the coffee,’ as that lovely Landers woman was so fond of saying.”
I turned my attention back to Javits’ essay, pondering what I had just heard. I wasn’t entirely sure that I agreed – he was a Republican, after all – yet there seemed to be some wisdom in his words. I guess I needed to start somewhere.
“Would you mind if I take a crack at this by adapting a bit of your rhetoric to our current circumstances?” I asked.
He smiled broadly. “Now you’re getting it. But let’s do it in a way that shows that you and I are saying essentially the same thing.”
“Why is that important?”
“Because it demonstrates the nature and extent of the changes that have occurred up to now. You can only know where you are going by understanding where you came from. With that understanding you can persuade the American people to chart a new course, away from the abyss that confronts you. Your own politicians have to understand that there comes a point where they fail to hold the line against extremism at the peril of all.”
The ghost and I set to work. I chose four paragraphs from the middle of the essay that defines and juxtaposes authentic conservatism from radical extremism. What follows is my transcription of the passage with our subsequent edits revealed.
An authentic conservative would wish to bring to the nation a sense of calm confidence in itself, and to ease its social tensions. He would insist on the decencies in human relationships, and would spring to the defense of the Constitution and each part of the hallowed Bill of Rights. He would make himself the guardian of orderly growth, and check those who would abruptly overturn all policies in being. He would resist the howling extremist extremism in all its manifestations, set the example of respect for all lawful authority, and would be the first to honor men and women who had spent their lives in distinguished service to the Republic their country. Above all, he would lead in explaining why the complexities of existence stand in the way of utopian Ayn Rand Objectivist solutions to all problems, and why in so many hard cases the best we can hope for is to learn how to live with fair compromises and reasonable timing.
But the radical right Tea Party is against all of this. It has no confidence in the inner strength of America, since it has no courage of its own. It divides one American from his neighbor, insists that it represents mainstream America yet clearly since itself it stands outside mainstream American society. It preaches a doctrine of hate, since it is shot through by its own fears. It insists that others must sacrifice for the common good, but refuses to demand sacrifices from its own, especially if sacrifice involves money. Since it does not understand that freedom means freedom under the law, it seeks to jettison constitutional principles and processes that it deems inconvenient or incompatible with its views, and to suppress liberties to assuage its own fears, and to use methods identified with the Communists terrorists to fight Communism terrorism. And to buttress this tactic, it insists that the greatest threat to America does not come externally from the military and political might of the Soviet Union - or Communist China suicidal mania of Islamist extremists - but comes internally from the “liberals” and "left-wing" elements.
Meanwhile, the radical right Tea Party makes common cause with anarchy anarchists in our society by hurling wild charges of Communism or Socialism at our most distinguished Americans, like Dwight D. Eisenhower and Chief Justice Earl Warren any American who dares oppose their point of view. It would abruptly dismantle the whole apparatus of the modern American state and society, - Medicare, Medicaid, Social Security and any other program that seeks to aid the poor and disadvantaged among us - and force us back to the conditions of life of the mid-19th century. Above all, since it views everything in absolute terms - and can't believe that "direct action" won't solve every government action can solve any problem - it accounts for every imperfection by tracing it to a "left-wing" conspiracy in government. Thus, through its nihilism, masquerading as conservatism, it works to destroy the faith Americans have in constitutional government and in responsible leaders of both political parties.
Yet some well-intentioned Republican conservatives not only fail to see the deadly enemy in the radical right Tea Party but, through their faulty perception, would have the Republican party open its gates to the Trojan horse the radical right Tea Party represents for the party nation.
“Nice work,” said the ghost. “That was even easier than I thought. I can’t do much more for you so I guess my job is done. No more ghosts tonight, I promise.”
“Thanks,” I said. “I had not understood how fundamentally the Republican Party has changed. I’m unhappy, though, that I have to talk about them and not about the real issues that concern me. But I guess you're right – at this moment they are the real issue.”
“Understanding is the beginning of wisdom,” he said. Then, with a smile and a wave, he vanished into the night.