The American Mind

Will we survive the Republican & Democrat Parties?

William Hillman

(5/2019) "I have often expressed my fears of disunion amongst the states from collision of interests, but especially from the baneful effects of factions." – John Patrick Henry

The Mueller report has been released and after millions of dollars and two years, nothing, no collusion, no Trump - Russian conspiracy.

With that unpleasantry behind us, it should be time to get back to the people’s work of running the country. We have an out of control opioid problem, soldiers dying in wars that half of Americans have forgotten about, still no replacement or repair of the Affordable Care Act, crumbling infrastructure, mass illegal immigration, etc.

But no. The Democrat party is stuck on partisan gamesmanship. Their stated mission is to destroy the President and the Republicans. Their leaders are very clear on the point that their priority is to take down President Trump. Is this what we elect our leaders to do?

After Trump was cleared, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) continued her crusade against President Donald Trump. "I received some criticism because I said Republicans supporting Trump -after his crimes & work with Russians – are unpatriotic. Yes, I said it!", the 80-year-old Congresswoman tweeted. "How can you know the enemy Russia is undermining our democracy and say &and do nothing? If you don’t care, I do. We must impeach Putin’s President Trump!"

Senator Elizabeth Warren uses every opportunity to repeat her call for partisan war against our President and his voters. Her message is repeated by South Bend, Indiana Mayor Pete Buttigieg, Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ), and a news media willing to do anything to keep the narrative alive.

Nancy Pelosi is one of the few Democrats sobering up to the fact that impeachment and continuation of manufactured anti-Trump narratives could have massive blowback for her party. The Democrats would do much better if they just showed the American people their ability to lead and address issues of improving quality of life. But that is unlikely to happen. We may be too far down the rabbit hole.

We have reached a time when the political parties exist not to solve problems of state. Compromise and conciliation are seen as weakness. Defeat of the opposite party, with no regard to the effect on the union, is all that matters.

After Nancy Pelosi became Speaker of the House, I remember her giving a speech where she said her goal was to elect more Democrats.

In 2010, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell said, "The single most important thing we want to achieve is for President Obama to be a one-term President.

Cheering for the President to fail simply because he is not a member of your own party is sickening. It is like hoping the navigator of your ship screws up and sinks the ship just so you can say, "I told you so."

I did not vote for Obama and was very critical of his presidency. But at no time did I want him to fail. I remembered being puzzled by colleagues who would take great delight in every misstep or policy failure. To me, that is just downright un-American.

President Trump not only has an opposition party who is willing to do anything to see him fail, but there are entire cable channels posing as news outlets whose sole existence seems to be the creation of fake narratives and demonization of anyone who supports President Trump.

Don’t think that the Republicans will not do the same the next time a Democrat sits in the White House.

On the legislative side. All political is now party politics. Congressmen and Senators seldom represent their districts and states when voting. They Represent their party. Like the character Joseph, in the play H.M.S. Pinafore, stated, "Always voted at my party’s call, and never thought of thinking for myself at all".

The Constitution clearly intends that lawmakers should represent the constituents of their elected state and district. This is why you have to be a resident of the state.

A number of years ago, the Washington Post published a review of Senate votes. Over two years, Congress had voted on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, spent billions of taxpayer money, and conducted the business of the American people on delicate and important issues. All totaled 650 votes. Forty-four of the 100 hundred Senators voted party line 90% of the time. Ben Cardin of Maryland was loyal 97.4 percent of the time. Chuck Schumer, 97%, Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, 96.8%, and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey 96.6%. Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Hillary Clinton were still members of the Senate at the time and they voted their party line all above 96%, with Hillary coming in at 97.3%.

The Republicans were only slightly better. Mitch McConnell, Saxby Chambliss, and John Cornym top out the list, all around 90%. A large number of Republicans broke with the party and came in under 80%.

Increasing partisanship is very evident in the history of Supreme Court nominees. With all the problems President Franklin Roosevelt had with SCUSA and his New Deal proposals, his nominations sailed through the Senate in as little as 12 days. Nixon, Reagan, and Bush (with the exception of Bork) had little problems. Sandra Day O’Connor and Antonin Scalia were all confirmed unanimously. Bork’s nomination failed but two Democrats voted for him while 6 Republicans voted against.

Today’s nominations are a strict party fight. Senator Bob Casey and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that they opposed Trump's pick without knowing whom the President had selected. Brett Kavanaugh’s fight for confirmation has set the tone for all future Supreme Court nominations. All will be partisan.

Is this the leadership our country needs? The Republic has survived wars on every continent, and a civil war. We have weathered great depressions and civil unrest. But can we survive the Democrats and Republicans?

"However [political parties] may now and then answer popular ends, they are likely in the course of time and things, to become potent engines, by which cunning, ambitious, and unprincipled men will be enabled to subvert the power of the people and to usurp for themselves the reins of government, destroying afterwards the very engines which have lifted them to unjust dominion." - George Washington, farewell address, 1796