Sometimes politics become so emotionally overwhelming that all reason is lost, and all the long-known landmarks by which to navigate are gone. Even in the midst of a too hot summer, politics without respite can drown like a wave sweeping under a swimmer. There are often times that I would just like to go blank – to stop breathing, stop hearing, stop thinking, and float.
Part of this desperation should be caused by the seeming impossibility of progress toward dealing with the numbers of truly difficult problems facing this country. Most of them have no one simple, agreed-upon solution, but rather they could be addressed in any number of different ways.
But that isn’t the predicament causing all the current consternation. The general public and our elected officials should be engaged in consideration of these real-world problems, as well as discussing the weaknesses and strengths of the different ways of dealing with them. This could, and usually does, lead to way too partisan debates over public and political issues. Instead, however, these public discussions have become focused almost entirely on inanities, trivial issues that are only rhetorically connected to real problems. The goals of these intentionally divisive tangents are not solutions – they’re instead concerned with who should be blamed for the problems. It is as if simply the act of indictment solves most problems.
There are serious issues to be addressed, but more often than not they are quickly trivialized into slogans and sound bites. These clichés do not, and are not intended to, focus on the actual topics but instead are loaded with trigger words designed to reinforce and massage longstanding biases and prejudices. Thus the tone and tenor of the media and public discussions are immediately polarized and thereby neutered. Political debates are so much louder and more engaging when about almost nothing of importance. What would be left for fun if current public arguments were denuded of insults, name-calling, angry disgust, and self-righteous championing aimed at demonizing those with differing ideas? Not only the fun would disappear, but the ratings of TV and radio talking-head pundits – regardless of political slant – would plummet.
All too often these discussions are really about anger, deep down – fear-driven anger. Topics become irresolvable, because that anger is in fact the main idea. There is no interest in reasonable resolution, because how does that serve to further intensify the self-righteous alienation that fuels the anger?
In a constitutional republic, the government should regularly take actions that anger one segment of the population or another. Most of the time, many citizens should be mad at their government, even as every citizen should be fully enfranchised, with your rights ensured and protected. You should feel free to express opinions and have them heard, as well as to have a vote. A constitutional, democratic republic, however, is not intended to serve or satisfy only you. The Founding Fathers clearly designed it to legislate and conduct its business as the government of, by, and for all citizens. There is no wording whatsoever that even distantly suggests that the legislation should be representative of your opinions and personal morality.
Then what are people so angry about? A main cause has to be taxation. People are feeling overtaxed, underrepresented, and underserved. Many feel additionally incensed because they are sure that the taxes they pay as hardworking Americans are being used to serve nonworking Americans, illegal immigrants, and an overall socialist agenda.
What would happen if it was assumed that most Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, were well-intentioned and trying to do what is best for the country? I’m betting chaos – as this outraged alienation is a crucial ingredient in the recipe for framing all political arguments as black and white. Obviously, the good people (whichever side you’re on) share your beliefs in the white, while the bad people are championing the black. Without an enemy, what’s the excuse for the sense of not only being righteous but being persecuted for it that so justifies the cleansing benediction of heartfelt anger?
Consider some of the overwhelming issues facing this country. As already mentioned, the primary public concern is the feeling of excessive taxation. Unfortunately, the solutions to almost every other problem require increased spending. The national system of roads and highways, and especially bridges, needs repair. According to some observers, we are coming out of the economic recession, but even those observers admit it is going very slowly, with millions still jobless. There are the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The country has lost manufacturing jobs. As happens periodically, economic shifts have brought devastation to once prosperous areas and prosperity to areas unused to it. There is the current national debate over health care; the auto industry is in trouble. There are energy issues. The list goes on and on. The agenda of any elected official therefore should be obvious and long.
So what has instead become the focus of the opposition party’s concerns? What is being talked about on the street? In small towns and large cities, what are the hot topics of political discussion? What complex problems are media pundits and leading politicians addressing? The really relevant and important ones, of course – regardless of what the Democrats say.
Where is President Obama’s birth certificate?! What is his religion? Is he actually a secret agent of the dark forces?
In the face of many crises and burning issues, how should the public respond? Certainly with fear and indignation that the president, our president, would want to talk to America’s schoolchildren. Anger that a congressman screaming, “You lie!” at the president as he addressed a joint session of Congress would be regarded as rude? What about the economy that Obama either personally crippled, or, if he’s not solely responsible, well then – why hasn’t he yet saved it as he promised?
Then there is the new campaign of concern over the number of “czars” he’s appointed and the exact extent of their powers. Only fools would believe that “czars” is simply a nickname for those who in certain areas are senior advisers to the president. Even dumber are those who don’t know that by representing Russia, they have complete totalitarian authority.
The trivial is always a better topic for debate than the substantial. Instead of a serious discussion on health care, let’s get down to the brass tacks of the issue – what about government death tribunals and free health care for all illegal immigrants?
Why would one want the main focus of political discussion right now to be on the economy or health care, on the wars we are involved in or diplomacy, on addressing serious issues especially by innovative legislation? Those are nearly irrelevant in the face of what should be the focus of all truly patriotic Americans – whether or not the president and his staff are loyal to this country and proud to be Americans? It’s time to return to those good old times of the past, when Sen. Joe McCarthy engaged in an ongoing effort to label liberals and progressives as being radically anti-American. Happily, that would provide grounds for firing them from government jobs, and quite possibly could end up completely destroying their careers. By these reactionary lights, there are and should be deep concerns over whether the president’s friends, personal influences, and political appointments are representative of his personal radical ideology, and thus indicative of a conscious effort to destroy the country.
Is this administration really socialist if not actually fascist? There is such an easy answer. All that is needed is to cite the hideous smoking gun that reveals the true intentions of Obama and his administration, the clear evidence of his goal of destroying this country and its traditional values: his aggressive advocacy for fair and universal health care for all Americans!
Karl Marx, Lenin, Hitler, Attila the Hun, and Stalin would be so proud.
This article appears in September 18 • 2009.