George Packer has an interesting look at the Republican party in his New Yorker article The Fall of Conservatism - "Have Republicans Run Out of Ideas?"
He traces the ascendency of the Republican party from the days of Richard Nixon and Pat Buchanan scheming to divide the country in the turbulent days of the 1960's, into "two Americas: the quiet, ordinary, patriotic, religious, law-abiding Many, and the noisy, élitist, amoral, disorderly, condescending Few."
I don't think the Republican party ran out of ideas so much as they rode the conservative philosophy that less government is good, to it's end - without ever stopping to think where that end was.
Now we know.
Deconstructing government and polarizing the electorate along false divisions, can be a winning political formula, but it plays hell with the citizens who expect government to do things like ensure health care is available for all people, create a sensible forward looking energy policy, foster education, protect individual rights, build and maintain infrastructure, provide national security - all the things that government is for that can't be delegated to individuals, private groups or corporations.
The growing divide between what citizens wanted from government and what it provided was less visible as long as the economy was growing, energy was cheap, the haves were getting more and the have-nots were getting by or at least out of sight. It helped to have a made up story that there are two America's and somehow the government was for (but not doing anything to help) the hard working, patriotic, working class Americans and against the elitist liberal media supported group.
The elitist group, according to the story - wanted to take away God and guns, did not believe in the sanctity of life, or feel it was appropriate that the government make laws that marriage is only for those of the opposite sex. These made up, or at least incomplete, stories make for good fake arguments on cable news and on the internet that allow people to quit thinking about the real issues and get into an "us" vs. "them" frame of mind.
Now we are where we are - not exactly asking, "Why are we in this handbasket and how did we get here?".....but pretty close. We have the worst of both worlds; high taxes for middle income wage earners, an expanding national debt, no plans for energy, education or health care - spending tax money that as far as we can tell are not giving us much of anything for our hard earned money.
It's time to require that government provide the things we pay taxes for and the accountability we expect in a free society.
I'm not all that keen on what the Democrats have been doing either, and have to say, "Don't treat us like idiots" - we don't buy the staged show in Congress where the oil executives are brought in for a public talking to about why gasoline prices are so high - we know why oil prices are so high for God's sake - it's because our government didn't take the steps it (and only it) could have taken 30 years ago.
On the Republican side don't think we are going to get all riled up about the three G's - Gays, Guns and God. Not this time. We don't care what gay people do and we believe in freedom for all, we know that there is no scenario where the government is going to take our guns and we will choose to worship as we desire in a free society. We don't need your help on the three G's - we need you to provide a viable plan for health care, energy, education, real national security, and protection of individual rights.
Forget about the divisions and polarization that worked for political gain - there is no "them" it's all about "us" and what can "we" do together and what can government do to help.
I'm going to be optimistic that in this election we will have an informed electorate that thinks about what government should be for, what it has failed to provide in the last several decades, and vote accordingly.
I support Barack Obama because he knows things have to change and I believe with a leader like him in the White House there is a possibility that our government can get back on track and we will once again live up to the potential of this nation - providing for those who can't provide for themselves, protecting freedom for all, providing all people a chance at the American Dream, and making this as it always has been - the greatest nation in the World.
Wishing you a happy Memorial Day with trust for better days to come.
