This was supposed to be the year of Republican
dominance. Early on, the talking points from the GOP had to do with how deep
the GOP presidential bench was. So much talent! So many options! By contrast,
the Democrats, decimated by the 2014 midterm elections could barely muster 6
candidates, and 3 of them barely had any name recognition.
But, even if you are done with the past, as the old
adage goes, the past may not be done with you. The simple truth is that the GOP
has become heavily invested in disinformation, anti-intellectualism, and racial
baiting. The simple truth is that in the wake of Citizens United, the way money
is used in politics has become a major factor in who wins elections and how.
First and foremost, the FOX News channel has made common
cause with the GOP and has engaged in not merely sympathetic reporting but
outright advocacy. As the analysis offered in The Tea Party and the Remaking of
Republican Conservatism indicates, FOX has been instrumental in creating the
Tea Party and also in obfuscating important, crucial issues in order to provide
a counterpoint to the Democratic Party. However, that counterpoint is not based
on serious debate, based on information, or facts, but, rather on opinion
(often divorced from facts) peddled by popular FOX News personalities like
Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, or Bill O’Reilly.
It has been a decade and a half since George W Bush
first run for president. So … considering that the hardcore base of GOP
supporters gets its information from FOX News, are we to be surprised that they
believe climate change is a liberal invention, are we to be surprised that most
GOP supporters know nothing of Islam except that it is based on the Quran (a
vile book that needs to be burned!) and that Muslims engage in jihad? Are we to
be surprised that GOP supporters believe that the ACA (also known as Obamacare)
contains “death panels” or that most of them think (contrary to facts) that
their taxes have gone up under President Barack Obama?
In short. It was nice going at first. FOX advocated for
the GOP and FOX carried water on so many issues. But. FOX also created, much to
the GOP’s dismay, a misinformed, bigoted, and angry base. A base that believes
opinion over fact. A base that cannot understand why the GOP’s Congressional
majorities need to engage in some sort of compromise in order to govern the
country. A base, moreover, that believes things are already so much on the
brink that a default on the government’s debt (as in the GOP refusing to raise
the debt ceiling) is nothing to be scared of. Again, I will bring up the
excellent The Tea Party and the Remaking of Republican Conservatism – according
to the conclusions of the authors, members of the Tea Party invested
substantial time and effort in learning about procedure and election rules, but
are, in fact, woefully misinformed about the issues.
So here we are. 2015. Unfortunately, the misinformation
being spouted by FOX for over a decade now has caught up with the party.
Rationality? It can only be based on facts, on correct information. As it is, now
the GOP contenders have to fight for the votes of people who believe Obama and
Clinton intended to kill Americans so they conspired to let Benghazi happen
(did they high-five each other as the reports of American deaths came in? … we
don’t know).
Why do I bring up all this, before even mentioning
Trump’s name once? Because this is the environment in which GOP contenders are
now running. This is the environment that has enabled the best showman to
capture the imagination of the GOP base… after all, much like the FOX News
personalities, he creates his own facts, engages in name calling and can turn
any issue to his advantage because he appeals to fear, to basest instincts, and
to a form of lowest common denominator that rests on the assuredness of the ignoramus
and the pride of the bully.
Have you visited the Free Republic website lately? Trump
supporters revel in what they see as the “downfall” of the establishment. Of
course, their heroes are the most uncompromising members of Congress… anyone
who votes for anything associated even vaguely with Obama or the Democrats is a
RINO (Republican in Name Only) who deserves anything from a primary challenge
to a death by lightning from the sky.
Trump reared his head in 2012 as well… Do you remember?
He created media frenzy by claiming that he had “new information” regarding
Obama’s birth certificate. And then that turned out to be nothing. Romney,
according to the classic account of the 2012 election, Double Down, needed
Trump’s endorsement but tried to make sure he is never photographed with him,
or anywhere near him.
So. Contrary to what many pundits think, I believe
Trump’s run is for real. That is, I do not think he is doing this just to
enhance his trademark and improve his visibility. Because, in many ways, the
GOP base can identify with him. He is not especially well-spoken or especially
brilliant… Which plays into the hands of the anti-intellectual core of the GOP
– he is like them. And, he behaves like the GOP has behaved in the last 15
years or so – a bully, who throws his weight around and prevails by sheer force
of will, facts be damned.
Here is the problem, though. The business wing of the
GOP is, I believe, becoming seriously alarmed by the know-nothing blitheness of
the base, who are willing to go for broke just to score points. Time was,
national interests reigned supreme. But now, it appears that the fact-based,
scientific, reality-grounded business wing of the GOP is freaking out about
what they see at the socially conservative end of the spectrum. Could this
split the GOP? Not if Trump is the nominee. Because here is the danger. The
base loves his unabashed and unapologetic bombast and in-your-face fight. But…
Because he himself is a part of the GOP business wing, he may be the last
person ever who can unify the Tea Party loyalists and the business wing
“adults” … because most of the business wing know him personally, because they
will think that his crazy pronouncements are just meant to energize the base,
because they will assume that once in office he will be a pragmatic – that he
will do what is necessary for the country.
No… America does not deserve such a president. Trump has
no experience with politics… he has no history of advocacy for issues that
matter to most voters. His claims that he is “the best negotiator” or that he
is a “strong leader” contradict facts – he has at least 5 bankruptcies, when he
was bailed out by the federal government. He is one of the beneficiaries of the
“high taxes” he wants to slash. And… merely as an aside … is he even aware that
his biggest Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, is named after the monument
built by an inconsolable young MUSLIM prince for the love of his life? Probably
not.
Will America survive such a presidency? What is to
“survive”? When Reagan defeated Carter, he began a conservative revolution, and
an experiment called “trickle-down economics” whose consequences we are still
battling today. When George W Bush prevailed against Al Gore (by Supreme Court
fiat), he took the country down the disastrous path of the Iraq War… and
further deregulation that resulted in the 2008 financial meltdown. What is to
survive? To merely continue to exist? Reagan and Bush 43 both hijacked the
trajectory of America’s path. Reagan pioneered outsourcing… And look where we
are today!!! George W Bush enacted unreasonable, ruinous tax cuts… and we still
cannot get rid of them… What is to “survive”? Bill Clinton’s presidency was a
period of prosperity and growth… Obama’s presidency finally achieved a more
egalitarian health care system… and marriage equality.
What is to “survive”? Can we begin to countenance even 4
years of a Trump presidency? More tax cuts, more deregulation… a possible
gutting of ACA? The appointment to the Supreme Court of more judges in the mold
of Alito or Scalia? More offshore drilling… no commonsense action on guns… and
more uninformed engagement in the Middle East where Trump has promised more
bombing and more violence? And, … more bigotry and Islamophobia at home.
I write this on December 8. Today is the sad anniversary
of John Lennon’s death. Killed by a guy who bought his gun legally in Hawaii
and brought it to New York for this. Yesterday was the anniversary of the Pearl
Harbor attack. Lives lost in Japan’s attack on Hawaii and, sadly, the end of
America’s innocence. So, I ask again. What is it like, to “survive”? To betray
who we are, as people and individuals? To settle? To miss an opportunity to
counteract climate change? To “survive
No, America does not deserve a Trump presidency. Do you say
a cigarette smoker “deserves” cancer? I, for one, empathize with the GOP base.
They have been lied to from so many quarters. They have been taken for granted
and exploited. And, like many of the rest of us, they are not especially rich,
or more enlightened... they do not have better safety networks. And yet they
are the ones who want the repeal of ACA, who favor the privatization of Social
Security, when their elderly parents will surely suffer, they are the ones
whose children will die in all the wars (against Iran or Daesh) that GOP
contenders are itching to start.
No… America cannot afford a Trump presidency. It may
“survive” … But with each Nixon, or Reagan or G.W. Bush, it is diminished, it
is simply forced to betray its origins and its ideals. I wish this on no one.
So Trump cannot be allowed to become president. For the sake of our country,
and our children, and our future.
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