Its that time of year when I look forward to A Christmas Story.
As an adolescent, I listened to Jean Shepard on my 8 transistor Japanese pocket radio. He was on WOR radio in New York from 10:15 to 11pm. It was during those radio shows that I was introduced to Flick and Scut Farkus. Shep was so eloquent. His use of the English language was educational for me. Sometimes he would do serious stuff, sometimes he would recount stories of his childhood like ACS. Sometimes he would spend the entire show reading Hi-Ku. And other times, he'd shout out "Excelsior, you fathead". I have great fondness for Jean Shepard. He, unbeknownst to him, molded my sense of humor and properly warped it.
So with the goings on regarding the "Nuclear Option" this week, I was reminded me of Schwartz and his challenge to Flick. POTUS nominated 1, then 2, then 3 candidates to the DC court. Basically, daring the Repubs to filibuster them. They took the dare and we know how it turned out for Flick on that frozen pole. Segue the orange peel.
With the events that occurred in the Senate this week, it became abundantly clear what the fundamental strategy of the Republicans truly is. They can read the same tea leaves everyone else can. They certainly have enough of their own Nate Silvers' to explain how the country and its population is changing. Krauthammer is wrong. Its not Liberalism that is dying, but that good ole Reagan conservatism. Pretty typical projecting your weakness onto the other side. More and more, we are beginning to peel away the veneer of Reagan to see the true harm to this country that his "folksy" administration initiated. Its damage that has continued throughout subsequent administrations with Democrats buying into some of the bumpersticker "common sense" ideas like "trickle down economics", "free market", and "less government is better government". Understanding that time and demographics are not on their side, the Republicans embarked on a strategy of capturing and controlling the "choke points" in our democracy. They long ago scoped out where they could wield control even when in the minority. The filibuster is an obvious "choke point". Another is maintaining control over the House (purse strings) through gerrymandering, which in turn has been made possible by controlling legislatures at the state level. Republicans have been successful at winning positions at the local and state levels. Positions on school and election boards, town and city councils. Of course, they continued to fight for national positions such as the presidency, but all of this was done with one overarching strategy in mind. They needed these other positions to gain power over the courts. At all levels. The presidency, governorships, Senate majority leader, are not an end to themselves but rather a platform to gain control over the most important strategic high ground in our democracy, the courts. The courts alone provide the one area of control that outlives any of the legislative or executive positions. Control of the courts, through appointment of the likes of Roberts, Scalia and Alito, assures a projection of conservative ideology long after the Cruzs', and Pauls' of the world are gone. The rulings by courts, up and down the line, are the ones that affect generations to come. The installation of Roberts and Alito was a watershed moment for this. Two fairly young men, almost assuredly to be on the SCOTUS for 25-35 years, with more than enough time to imprint a legacy of conservative ideology for many years to come. Turning back this legacy is very difficult. If anyone doubted how important the courts are to the perpetuation of the conservative ideology, we certainly saw evidence of it this week. The reaction has been similar to that of a mother bear seeing her baby cub being attacked. Its likely to continue being as ferocious. Because essentially that IS the future of conservative ideology. This is where the conservative DNA makes its stand. Its role in legislative and executive positions is on the wane as more of the Fox News crowd continue to die off.
With 82 filibusters, essentially tooth and nail, the Republicans have attempted to not only maintain control of the courts but to extend that control in the future. To make sure that possibility exists whenever the opportunity presents itself. Republican legislatures have demonstrated an almost giddy level of arrogance in enacting laws affecting reproductive rights, voting rights, gun ownership, labor and gender rights. Effectively turning back progress that was made in the 20th Century and bringing us to the dawn of the 18th. The frenetic pace of this legislative upheaval either indicates a real swagger or suggests a panic to enact these laws before the opportunity is lost forever. Once law and with the courts in control of ideologues, the conservatives can "triple dog dare" liberals and progressives to take it to court. Why? They WANT it to go to the courts. They believe the deck is stacked.
It codifies the conservative ideology. And since they almost universally believe in an afterlife, they win. Just look at Citizens United, look at the Voting Rights Act. Both pivotal decisions in helping tilt the rules to the favor of the minority and both difficult to overcome legislatively. Eventually change must and will come. Just maybe not in Mitch McConnell's lifetime.