Dr. Forbush Thinks

Once again I was listening to Fresh Air with Terry Gross, and I was struck with a bit of nausea while listening to Tom Hamburger and Peter Wallsten talk about their new book, “One Party Country: The Republican Plan for Dominance in the 21st Century.” The nausea had nothing to do with what I ate or any illness that I was suffering from. Instead the nausea was the result of witnessing our proud American democracy going down the toilet and the feeling of not being able to save it.

Last week my daughter was given a special ring as a gift from her Aunt. She was thrilled to get it and anxious to wear it. The ring was a bit too large for her finger, but she wasn’t worried about wearing it. But, a few hours later we heard screams coming from the bathroom as she announced that her ring had fallen into the toilet. Unfortunately it wasn’t a clean toilet, it had just been used. Even if you know that you can retrieve the treasure from the shit and clean yourself and the ring it doesn’t take away that feeling of nausea just before you plunge your hand into the toilet. After listening to Fresh Air yesterday I feel the same way.

Peter and Tom go into great detail about how the minority of extremely conservative Republicans have stolen the voice of the people in a very carefully planned strategy. This group has organized themselves with the purpose of taking complete control of the government, which goes deeper than any other administration in American history. As the Republicans have gained power they have demanded loyalty tests for even minor bureaucratic positions which insures a historic legacy even if the Republicans loose power. In order to go back to a non-political bureaucracy would require large numbers of inexperienced government workers (not to say that the current crew is very experienced).

At every level the Republicans have fortified their power structure, resulting in an extreme departure from traditional moderate American politics. This basically nullifies the idea that it doesn’t really matter whether the Republicans or the Democrats are in charge. This perception was based on the idea that both parties ruled from the center and allowed quite a lot of discussion between the two parties to arrive at moderate consensus. But, the current Republican Party has taken control of the government and they have also reinforced the extreme conservative agenda by their careful selection of which candidates they support in the primaries. Since the Democrats have not enacted such a litmus test on their candidates the people see the choice between the parties as being between an organized group and a disorganized group with no plan. Unfortunately the plan that the Republicans have may be organized, but it is dangerous as well. The Democrats find themselves arguing about the extreme danger of the plan without creating an alternative. It doesn’t seem to matter to the voters that any plan is better than a dangerous and destructive plan, because they would rather see an organized alternative.

The problem seems to be that the Democrats have not realized yet that compromise is no longer an option. The Republicans have created a new paradigm where compromise is not an option. They have determined where they want to go, and they control the government so they can do as they please. There may only be a few technicalities in Senate procedure and a few sympathetic judges that are standing in the way of Republican conservatives changing America into their vision.

Unfortunately the conservative Republicans have not been honest with the people who have voted them into office. Peter and Tom tell us how they market pieces of their plan to niche groups who agree with these pieces, even though most Americans would never agree with the whole picture. In fact, so few people would agree with the whole picture that the Republican machine goes out of its way to keep as much as possible as secret as possible in order to prevent as much controversy as possible. And, they go out of there way to discredit anyone who points out the dangers of the conservative Republican plan.

One only has to go back to the spectacle of Hillary Clinton announcing the “vast right wing conspiracy” while her husband was still in office. The organized effort of conservatives to equate this statement with a “tin foil hat wearing conspiracy theorist” tended to squash any serious debate about the organized Republican efforts. The truth is that there were people who were spreading lies in an effort to change public opinion. The word conspiracy, however, has taken on the idea of a tin-foil-hat wearing lunatic. The American people fell for the distraction and Republicans were able to conceal their organized efforts just a bit longer.
At this point in time most people know about the Republican efforts organized and they can’t really do much about them. Individual proclamations of the problems with the massive funding machine are answered with rebuttals of lack of Democratic support. Democrats are certainly free to organize themselves, they just haven’t. Even the illegal activities of Jack Abramoff that contributed to the massing of conservative Republican power are denounced as the errant ways one individual. These soldiers for the a one party America have sacrificed everything for the effort, and privately the Republicans honor them like “War Dead.” But, publicly these people are just not discussed in hopes that these stories will fade from the headlines. The goal is power for the minority of wealthy American families, everything else is window dressing to maintain just enough support to keep that power.

The efforts that these people make to maintain this power just makes me sick. It makes me sad that so many people have been mislead by these people. They have been given false hope for an ideal America that has little chance of existing in reality.

An example of this is the idea that a powerful economy will bring these poor people in the Southern states the wealth and riches they desire. These people see their taxes going to the government and the Republicans tell them that they want to cut their taxes for them. When they have the opportunity the Republicans may have made a gesture to these people, but they actually cut the taxes on stock dividends and capital gains much more. And, sadly the Republicans borrowed money to make these cuts. So, over time these poor people who supported the Republicans will eventually need to pay the borrowed money back to pay for this enormous tax cut. When the deficit eventually starts to tear apart the economy the government will be forced to raise taxes to relieve the pressure. Or, government subsidies to farmers will be cut. Or, aid to the unemployed may be cut. Or, funding for the maintenance of highways and other infrastructure will be cut. The point is that these people who supported the Republicans will be forced to deal with it themselves and if Republicans maintain power they will be worse off in the long run. The bright side to having a large population struggling to make it is cheap labor. If lots of people are suffering they lower their expectations and they are willing to work for lower wages in order to keep food on the table. The Republicans like the idea of cheap labor, because that means that industries get more workers for the same price and they can produce more products and make more money. So, these poor people who supported the Republicans will end up working for lower wages if Republicans continue to enact their plan. But, the good thing is that the Republicans actually chose to exploit the religious people of America, because they know that these people will complain they least when the economy works out of their favor. These religious people will be happy to proclaim that it is God’s will that they are suffering, and if God wills it, then who am I to complain.

As I look back on the above example I feel nauseous once again. I feel like I am looking into the toilet trying to rescue Democracy. I don’t know exactly how to do it. Should I fashion a hook or should I just reach in a grab a hold of it? I am sure that in reality I can’t do it by myself. So, this missive is my feeble attempt to reach out and ask for help.








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Don't forget what Stephen Colbert said, "Reality has a well-known liberal bias."


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