Our republic is a democracy
Afloat on a sea of hypocrisy
With holes through the beam
That cause us to scream
While the listing to starboard
worsens
A hostile crew debates our fate
We passengers vocally curse them
As we feel the lies and the hate
Swirling around to drown us
No matter how much we fuss
These rebels care not for our
health
And surely not for our wealth
So join and set our nation free
From the tyranny of their tea
We have again witnessed the
smallness of humanity in the name of protecting freedom. The Tea Party RINOs (Republicans In Name Only)
who are anarchists at best and possibly deliberate destroyers of democracy have
modernized sedition. Yes, the GOP must
shed this cancer or die, but we will all be hurt by the continuing tactics of
people organized to overthrow our form of government. Republicans seem to be at a loss to deal with
usurpers who have cowed their leadership.
You may see this as a good thing as a Democrat and are simply tired of
trickle down economics and stigmatizing the disenfranchised among us, but think
more deeply on this travail. This, by
any other name, is an overt attempt to overthrow our democracy and our
capitalistic economic system. The sick
irony of all this is that the Tea Party is claiming to fight for your freedom
not to be covered by healthcare or job protection or the safety net that keeps
you and your children from starvation or homelessness. They want to cut the nation’s deficit. The
same deficit that VP Cheney famously was quoted saying “Deficits don’t
matter.” Senator Cruz: Please tell me how starving enhances our freedom.
Could you show me instead? Please
Senator Cruz.
Modest estimates are that the
recent shutdown of our government by the House of Representatives cost us $24
Billion that will never be recovered.
Others say that the cost is far higher because we are no longer a
trusted nation and that our industry, commerce and international good will is
permanently damaged. Few peer into the
damage done to the small entrepreneurs and the poor among us who live from
paycheck to paycheck or depend upon meager handouts from government or churches
or myriad charities. This points to some
nettlesome symptoms of the disease, but the fundamental problems go much deeper. Democracies, and especially this democratic
republic, depend upon two fundamental elements to survive. Representative
democracies require compromise as an integral part of our political process to
work, otherwise a small minority can bring the business of state to a grinding
halt. If the democracy were absolute
with all citizens voting on all issues, then we could be calmed by knowing that
the majority would prevail. Unfortunately,
but obviously, the logistics of having about 250 million votes counted on
national issues is unworkable. We are
facing well financed sedition by a minority of citizens who understand the
mechanics of politics but whose motives are suspect. Sedition is essentially defined as inciting
resistance to authority without overt acts of violence. This definition and the recent threats by the
Tea Party call us to question how we can endure as a nation. We cannot become like them and yet we need to
protect our political process. The
second essential item is that we depend upon a modified capitalistic economic
system that works based upon the good name and faith the entire world places in
our ability to make good on our debts.
Our monetary system is the primary monetary system of the world and
without full faith in our promises, the system collapses into a wild crap shoot
of speculation that will drive up interest rates for everybody and reduce the
consumption that drives our American economy as well as dry up labor that
secures a portion of the largess for each of us.
Let us glance at the tactics of
the Tea Party. As an organized force,
they have been well financed by conservatives such as the Koch brothers and the
Heritage Foundation (that originally designed Romneycare that they liked until
they disliked it and called it Obamacare).
Their stated goal is to promote conservative issues with an $80 million
budget straight out of Washington. That
sounds innocuous enough until you learn that they have challenged and defeated
conservative Republicans whom they felt were simply not radical enough. They defeat Republicans in primaries that
might compromise on
legislation. This has increasingly
radicalized Congress to where willingness to compromise is now equated with
defeat at the polls, especially the primaries where Republicans have
traditionally held seats. Given that our
political process demands compromise in order to function, there is no wonder
why gridlock has increased and that there appears that personal hatred has
replaced professional political poise.
Ironically, if you do not review Tea Party practices in any depth, you
may accept their mantra that they cannot compromise their principles and that
any compromise attacks their principles.
Why would any group that truly supports the good of the nation as a
whole take the Confederate flag as their standard? Why would any group eschew compromise and
punish GOP elected officials who may use it to advance legislation? Why would any group that supports our nation
actively destroy the good faith of our economic system by demanding default on
our debts and shutting down government to obtain its political goals? Success means destruction of our government.
I have discussed two essentials of
our fabric of democracy: 1) Compromise
as a political practice and 2) consistent support of our economic system. Neither can be diminished without harm to our
republic. Grievous breaches cause
grievous harm. There is a corollary
issue equally important to our success as a nation and that lies in the concept
of commonwealth; that whatever we do should be done for the good of the people
as a whole and not merely a few of the rich and powerful. While that has sometimes been diminished, it
is unconscionable that any lawmaker deliberately hurt the majority of the
people for selfish goals of a person or group as we recently witnessed in the Tea
Party shutdown of our government.
Using rigid no-compromise tactics
combined with threats to harm our economic system amount to sedition when
combined with hyperbolic rhetoric, use of hate symbols such as the Confederate
flag and falsely blaming the Executive Branch for closing the government and
physically going to sites such as national monuments to stir up hate against
our government such as Senator Cruz did after he led the effort to close the
government and its offices including its parks.
We have even seen calls for extreme measures such as secession to extort
concessions and the hypocrisy simply astounds.
As an example, Greg Collett, a Tea Party two time candidate for state office
in Idaho is quoted: “I don’t think the government should be involved in my
healthcare or health insurance.” He has
ten children on Medicaid and defends his position as consistent. Rhetoric aside; What are these crazies
thinking? Governor Perry of Texas has
mentioned secession from the union as an option as though that state was being
abused. This is not ordinary talk or
criticism, but clearly seditious when he does it before crowds of rabid
conservatives who are clearly looking to force their will on the rest of the
nation.
I have waited for the government
to reopen and for cooler heads to prevail to write on this topic, but we will
face this condition again in a matter of only a few months. Has America given up on majority rule? Does gerrymandering bring a new legitimacy to
elimination to the concept of 1 man/woman = 1 vote? Does force and the threat to use it bring
legitimacy to internal tyrants? We
cannot continue to say that we need to compromise when rules for compromise
have been destroyed by one small minority.
There are parallels in history.
Each is ugly and ends badly. Let
us hope that Boehner or his replacement can muster the courage to control the
uprising before it destroys the fabric of our system for the coming
decades. Let us hope that Cruz learns
that hunger hurts and hurts children most.
Speak out and finance Tea Party opponents in coming elections. Remember, money is free speech despite costs.
Peace,
George Giacoppe
20 Oct 2013
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