With all of the things that the Republican Party has done – from causing the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating to continuously manufacturing one self-made crisis after another, since the election of President Obama; the latest two irresponsible dirty tricks go beyond the pale. The first one was when Speaker John Boehner invited Prime Minister Netanyahu to speak to a joint session of Congress without notifying the White House and Congressional Democrats. He did this despite knowing that the Prime Minister would be there to tell Congress and all who would view his speech not to support President Obama in his negotiations with Iran.
The second one was, as if to avoid being outdone, the Senate sent an open letter to the Iranians in an effort to undermine President Obama’s efforts to negotiate a nuclear deal with Iran. This letter was signed by 47 Republican Senators one of which was Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. To make matters worse, after the news media, public and their fellow lawmakers began to lambast them for what they did, rather than take responsibility and admit that they made a mistake, they began to manufacture and promulgate a lot of flimsy excuses.
Even Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif – who, by the way, is US-educated and received a PhD in International law and policy from the University of Denver, criticized them in their effort to educate Iranians on the United States Constitution. According to an article by Max Fisher in Vox.com, Zarif viewed the letter as a “propaganda ploy” and wrote as a part of his response to it; “it seems that the authors not only do not understand international law, but are not fully cognizant of the nuances of their own Constitution when it comes to presidential powers in the conduct of foreign policy.” Ouch; I’ll bet that hurt!
All of the Senators who signed that letter are really taking a beating; and rightfully so. They deserve it! It is hard to imagine, even as I witness it happening, that this once highly respected and revered body has sunk to such a low. One critic, in an effort to illustrate how low they had fallen, even said that – and I paraphrase here – they signed the letter with all of the seriousness of the consideration given to posting a blog.
I am a blogger and I resent that comparison. What these Senators did should not be elevated to that level of comparison. What they did was more like what a baby does in their diaper: the expression on their face shows surprise but pleasure at the initial warmth of what just happened. But when the reality of what happened sets in and the itching and burning starts, they begin to cry. That is their way of demanding to have their diaper changed; their way of demanding a fresh start, so to speak.
We expect babies to conduct themselves in the way that babies do and we accept their facial expressions, true surprise and signs of pleasure followed by crying upon the realization that the ultimate result of what they did brings pain. We don’t expect this sort of thing from members of a lofty body like the Senate. There is no doubt that these Senators will find that their child-like excuses to avoid accountability by pointing the finger at someone else and saying ‘they made me do it’ is unacceptable.
After the 2014 midterm elections and shortly after the Republicans officially took control of both houses of Congress, newly-elected Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a profound statement. According to an article by Alex Griswold in the Daily Caller Senate Majority Leader McConnell said; ‘”I don’t want the American people to think that if they add a Republican president to a Republican Congress, that’s going to be a scary outcome,” McConnell said in the interview, which took place before Christmas, but was released Sunday. “I want the American people to be comfortable with the fact that the Republican House and Senate is a responsible, right-of-center, governing majority.”‘
“‘There would be nothing frightening about adding a Republican president to that governing majority,” McConnell continued.”‘ Newsflash, Majority Leader McConnell, the Republican Party is very frightening! They despise President Obama so much it seems that they are willing to do anything to shame him and damage his legacy: that includes severely damaging the United States and ruining its credibility in the eyes of both our allies and enemies.
This does not mean that the Republican Party cannot be a cerebral and fair governing majority. They have been in the past and they can be again. But right now, based on their past track record and record since they gained control of Congress, they are not ready to do this now and the signs that they will be ready in the future are not encouraging. At this point, it appears that they want to put America into reverse and floor it!
There is no doubt that there are responsible members of the Republican Party who have great conservative ideas that they would like to see debated and, where possible, implemented. The problem is that those politicians are too afraid to speak up because they fear that they will offend their base. They continue to be pulled further and further to the right of center.
Unfortunately – depending on your point of view, the center that used to be, has already been pulled so far to the right that it is no longer in reality ‘the center’ and it, thereby, automatically excludes many conservatives who are laden with worthwhile and workable ideas that would be good for America. It can remind one so much of ‘The Wizard of Oz.’ Oh if they only had the ‘courage’, ‘heart’, ‘brain’ to speak up.
Until this happens, the Republican Party will remain unready to lead and fairly govern all Americans and the unreadiness by its intimidated statesmen will cause the Party to stagnate and force America to languish in reverse. There was a time when Majority Leader Mitch McConnell was one of these true statesmen. He was and remains a hard-nosed conservative but then he was willing to compromise and he was fair. Now; however, he has become so obsessed with bringing down President Obama that he has lost his way.
Things do not have to be and should not be this way; oh, if I only had the ‘courage.’ True conservative elected officials and voters can demand and force change; oh, if I only had the ‘heart.’ In order to bring about the change that is needed to get the Republican Party back on its feet and empower it so that it can once again soar, true conservatives must be willing to challenge their base. This will probably offend some of them but it will be worth it in the long run; oh, if I only had a ‘brain’… that I would not allow to be trumped by ‘politics as usual.’
Eventually, if ever we are to get back to productive politics that involve meaningful dialogue and debate, America’s elected officials will have to refocus. They will have to somehow find the courage and heart to do the job that they were elected to do, which is to govern, and stop allowing their brain to be trumped by politics as usual. Now would be a good time to do that.
Oh, if only…
Eulus Dennis