Welcome, my friends, to a new thread in our political conversation:
The hiatus in posting anything other than housekeeping details over the past year has been motivated by wanting to take ‘the backward step’, as the Zen schools would say, in order to gain a broader perspective of our central political dilemmas, both here in the US and in the wider theater of international events. As occurrences cascade and new developments amplify already critical crises, we are faced with imperatives for changes in thinking and behavior equal to the magnitude of the challenges. “Go big or go home” is heard frequently, and for increasing numbers of people, home no longer exists since the number of refugees increases considerably every day.
What is the new thing needed to transform our future by setting a fresh standard for how we act right now, today ?
The first thing is probably to say goodbye to Donald John Trump, the man, his message and his minions. They have proven themselves to be dangerous, well-beyond useless, and display a clear and present threat to American society and governance. That relic of the 18th century, the Electoral College, allowed a cheat and a liar, who lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes in 2016 and over 7 million votes in 2020 to claim twice to be the popularly elected presiding officer in what was once a proud republic. The oft-repeated Ben Franklin quote from the Constitutional Convention adjournment, that we “have a Republic, if we can keep it” has shown to be wanting; and we now have an oligarchy, bought with uncontrolled monies and hamstrung by Supreme Court rulings claiming that the Congress does not have the power to regulate the rules for national elections, (Citizens United; McCutcheon; Shelby v. Holder). The Congress of the United States has not responded to this claim by failing to legislate on voting rights and campaign finance reforms. Politics is a money game and government has been sold to the highest bidder. As for the former President, he promised in his Inaugural Address ‘carnage’, and then he delivered on that promise in the waning days of his administration with his attack on the Capitol; he, Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy are unfit for office in Washington, DC.
We then have to deal with the bigger issue of Congress not being able to vote on a host of long-overdue measures because of the fact that key members and rules of the game have been captured by special interests and do not allow votes on topics of absolute necessity; matters from regulations to protect the public, funding needed to support the social contract, and revenues just to operate daily governmental functions do not get to a vote in the House or Senate. How can you the voters know if your representatives are doing their job if they are not forced in detail to go on the record ?
The international context in which these two primary factors play out in is one of outright war, as in the Ukraine and Yemen, and increasing conflict and turmoil in many other regions and arenas of dispute, such as ethnic strife and competition over resources. The United States no longer provides a model for successful governance and stable civic society.
As we used to say in the classroom, the teachers need to model appropriate behavior if there is to be an expectation that the students will measure up to the desired standards.