State of the Union
4/7/18
"Never Let a Crisis Go To Waste"

Now that one of our major political parties has proven itself irresponsible—stuck, it seems, at the maturity level of a love-struck teen-ager—and incapable of participating as adults in the serious business of governing, it’s time to take stock. Obviously, our system, as it has evolved in recent years, isn’t working.
 
After an air-wave sucking, clamorous campaign, we elected a presidential candidate so self-absorbed and rash that he threatens the global economy, destabilizes international politics, and deals with world leaders with all the grace of a gaseous donkey. His destructive impact on domestic issues—social justice, income inequality, the environment, industry, civility (I could go on)—is nothing short of astounding. Dervish-like, he twirls from one position to its polar opposite, apparently oblivious to his own contradictions.
 
How did we get here?
 
The easy answer is … the Republicans brought us. But while they drove this careening bandwagon on the last leg of the journey, they’re not the only culprits. Here are some other conributors:
 

• Lack of campaign spending limits

 

• The Supreme Court Citizens United decision which effectively equated corporations with individuals and (even more remarkably) money with speech. This ruling opened the floodgates to unlimited campaign donations from corporations and other organizations via a simple ruse: contributions to “Political Action Committees (PACs),” officially not connected to a specific campaign, but nevertheless free to flood the efforts of any candidate(s) they chose with unlimited amounts of money.

   

• The media, which apparently lost its head in the wake of the sideshow that was the Trump campaign. (The novelty of a presidential candidate with the petulance of a two-year-old, the vocabulary of a slow fifth-grader, and the standards of behavior of a drunken frat brother was apparently too much to resist.) Coverage of the spectacle was almost non-stop and headlined many a news show for want of something more exciting.

 

• The (unfortunately, perfectly constitutional) lack of term limits for senators and representatives​

Nationalism is an infantile disease. It is the measles of mankind.
                                                                                   --Albert Einstein

Liberty is the right to discipline ourselves in order not to be disciplined by others.
                                                                                         --Clemenceau

• The failure of education which should leave voters with a mastery of at least the basics of American history, government and politics and—just as importantly—equip them with the tools of analytical thought. (I've often wondered whether the persistent cuts in education are not only about budget, but also about politicos' preference for voters who are easily bamboozled.) The crowds Trump attracted came in search of entertainment, and they got it. That's not what they're getting now, however, and unfortunately they're not getting rational leadership either.​

 
All that having been said, let’s look at the most immediate and telling culprits: politicians in the GOP. I recognize the hazards of painting a multi-member group with the same dark brush, but in general what we have is this: A political party represented by legislators, many of whom …
 

• have no moral compass nor core values which guide their decisions, but slavishly follow the lead of a boastful, duplicitous leader;

 

• are attempting to drag us back to the days when discrimination against blacks, gays, and women was the norm;

 

• can lay no claim to conservatism, once held to be the hallmark of their party, and consistently put their own narrow self-interest above the good of the country—choosing, for instance, to balloon the national debt in order to give unneeded tax breaks to wealthy donors while threatening to roll back food stamps, Medicaid, and other safety nets for the neediest among us;

 

• lack the courage to speak their conscience or—oh, horrors—simply have no conscience to begin with.

 
They fear Trump and the specter of those voters who will support him, no matter what looney-tune path he takes. In their cowardice, these hapless Republicans seem only dimly aware that they’re probably damned if they support him and damned if they don’t. Under the circumstances, we can only wonder why they don’t confront their unhinged leader. “Frailty, thy name is GOP.”  (Apologies to Shakespeare.)
 
Rahm Emmanuel, President Obama’s first chief of staff, once famously said, “Never let a crisis go to waste,” or words to that effect. With a stymied Congress, an unhinged president, an executive branch devoid of personnel in dozens of key positions (what? no ambassadors to South Korea? Egypt? Jordan? South Africa?), and a Supreme Court inclined to tilt backwards, we have a crisis on our hands. 

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​Speak your piece: How can this crisis yield some positive outcomes?Use the contact form on Your Turn under Readers Write to  submit your thoughts. 
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