A Year past;
a New Year starting. Life goes on. But it goes on with a mixture of fulfillment
and lost opportunity. This is a time for
this political Blog to look backward to what has been and forward to a .New Year of Opportunity.
It is also a
time to assess whether we are opening opportunities, stressing our positive
common history and heritage, broadening our concept of community, and building
a worthy legacy for our children and grandchildren. Or, on the other hand, are
we denigrating heritage, preventing fulfillment, erecting barriers and
obstacles to a real hope for new opportunities?
Let us take
a look at some of our political negatives from this last year:
n There has certainly been an overdose
of denigration of groups of people:
immigrants, minorities, unions, the poor, LGBT, women, Muslims, the homeless, to
name a few. (To be fair, there has also been some lack of charitableness toward the rich, toward gun rights advocates, pro-lifers
and toward conservatives).
n We have likewise seen some of the worst aspects of our own system of
government. Instead of seeking common
ground as our Founding Fathers expected us to do, we have seen too many
office-holders standing down, failing to speak out against false claims and
personal slanders, all the while protecting their political and ideological
ground and turf. Worse than that, we
have witnessed the failure of every branch of government to do its best work on
behalf of the People. The Legislature
has gone to war with the Chief Executive, and taken every opportunity to block,
chastise, denigrate and destroy any chance we might have had to make any great
progress since 2010.
n The very structures of government
have been used to undermine the purposes
of government.
o
First,
has been the denigration of government itself which is contrary to our
Constitution, and to the oath of office taken by every office-holder (see my
discussion of fiduciary responsibility in my last post).
o
Second,
we have witnessed the use of committee hearings, resolutions, budgets,
regulations and rules of order, not to maintain order, but to produce chaos
into the legislative process. The admitted
use of committee hearings in an attempt to destroy the political standing of both
a President and a presidential candidate has taken us to a place of calumny and
conspiracy that eats at the fabric of our Republic.
But the use of rules to change the manner in
which legislative business is done is nearly as bad. Not only have rules been changed at the whim
of the Speaker of the House, but the use of the filibuster in the Senate (with
the little understood rule of cloture vote by a 3/5s majority) has changed the
way major legislation proceeds through that body. Instead of needing just 51 votes to pass a
measure, the new norm has become the 60 votes required by cloture as every
major piece of legislation has faced the dubious filibuster rules.
n We have witnessed something that has
not ever occurred before in our history, simply because we have never before
had a President of African descent; a person of color in the White House, not
as attendant or servant, but as our President. While many voters were able to celebrate that
history-making prospect, and to re-elect President Obama to a second term,
there remained a minority in Congress and throughout our land who were unable
to bring themselves to an acceptance of that fact. In fact, it was not just non-acceptance that
we witnessed, but outright bigotry and prejudice
in the form of:
o
planned opposition to every piece of major
legislation proposed,
o
attempts
to provoke scandals where none existed (the birther controversy; the IRS
hearings; the Ben Ghazi hearings, the roll-out of the ACA legislation, etc.),
o
the
attempt to paint Barack Obama as a Kenyan Muslim who stood outside the
mainstream of our society,
o
the
unseemly delay of almost every major (and most minor) appointment sent to the
Senate for confirmation,
o
the
destruction of every budget the President presented throughout his two terms,
and the actual shut-down of government as a means of retribution (the authority
for which is not contained or envisioned in our Constitution)
o
the
on-going opposition to health care reform in the form of an extraordinary
number of repeal votes taken.
o
Worse,
we witnessed outright acts of racial bigotry and prejudice shown in TV ads, by
a rodeo clown and other dress-up characters, in depictions of the first family
as monkeys, and in the hatred expressed for this President by voters who had
never been given any cause for such hatred, except the color of this President’s
skin. And we have not seen the last of
the planned destruction of this President’s legacy, as the haters will continue
their bigoted attacks even after he leaves office, because that is the nature
of their prejudice: they cannot stand the idea that this (or any) Black man might achieve a
positive place in the history of this nation, in spite of the
accomplishments of his administration.
Although
there is much more that could be mentioned in terms of negative words and
actions, let us conclude this year-end review with the attack of the GOP ‘elephants’
on some of our cherished constitutional rights, freedoms and standards, led as
much by an ultra-conservative majority on the Supreme Court as by a radical conservative
Republican majority in Congress, state houses and state legislatures. Working in tandem, the conservative majority
on the SCOTUS and in state legislatures have essentially undermined certain
protections and long-cherished and carefully preserved tenets of our Constitution
and laws.
1.
One person, one vote – undermined by decisions giving the
speech and votes of the rich much more weight than allowed to the ordinary
voter by allowing them to use PACs and super-PACs to distribute their wealth without full disclosure) to
a degree never before tolerated. Citizens
United and McCutcheon have essentially destroyed all attempts at fair and
open elections.
2.
Right to Vote – voter restrictions enacted in over
30 state legislatures have reduced the ability of several groups to have free
and fair access to registration and the franchise.
3.
Fair Elections -- Gerrymandering of congressional
districts has resulted in ‘safe’ districts mostly for Republicans throughout
the nation. A failed attempt to alter
the method for counting Electoral College votes will undoubtedly come around
again.
4.
Equal Justice -- Supreme Court decisions have perhaps done
irreparable damage to: the necessity of properly executed warrants, resulting
in unreasonable search & seizure; unreasonable and unjustified targeting of
minorities and the disproportionate length of incarceration (cruel and unusual
punishment); outlandish and unwarranted power for district attorneys to
escalate charges and to control the justice system without proper oversight;
incarceration of children as adults; over-incarceration of persons of color for
non-violent offenses.
5.
Separation of church and state -- Congress and the SCOTUS have
again worked in tandem to threaten our long-held tradition and standard. The Court has assisted by allowing Christian
prayer at public meetings. Congress has
pushed the idea of Obamacare legislation overriding freedom of religion and the
Court has backed them up by Hobby Lobby and other decisions that basically
allow individual religious convictions to override laws passed. In the Hobby Lobby decision is the tacit
approval allowing employers’ religious objections to override the ACA’s
provision for coverage of contraception in medical insurance plans.
6.
Because
we have talked about it at length in other posts on this Blog, we will but
mention the travesty of the lack of a comprehensive
immigration policy, including a path to citizenship for those who
arrived undocumented. Naturalization
policy and procedure is a constitutional requirement that has been ignored by
this Congress. The recent lack of
empathy for Syrian refugees by the Congress has only added to its neglect on
this matter.
7.
Abuse of labor rights (collective bargaining and strikes)
is a travesty, but of equal importance is the attack upon women’s rights and health concerns. Having mentioned them, it is important to
also emphasize the neglect and abuse
of children that has been a hallmark of this Congress. Their failure to protect all our children from
hunger, homelessness, diseases, poverty, inadequate pre-natal and day care;
their failure to provide a world-class education; their inattention to adequate
health care and insurance for children, and their absolute refusal to address
the epidemic of gun violence which is killing or wounding an average of 50 children every day that passes is anywhere else fairly described as neglect and abuse.
This may be an
appropriate time to begin looking carefully at three major questions for
examining our lives, not only as individuals but as citizens of this nation:
Who are we?
Why are we here?
Where are we headed?
1)
WHO ARE WE? It depends….
It depends on how you perceive it, and where you look; the
angle from which you view “US.” In the last year, we have been subjected to a
viewpoint that basically skews our perceptions of who we are.
So, let’s start with who we are not, simply
because our Constitution does not give us either direction or authority to be
any of the following: We are NOT:
·
A pure democracy.
We are a representative democracy, and when our representatives focus
elsewhere (on political war and serving other constituents such as the wealthy)
and do not perform their duties to the benefit of their constituencies, they should
be voted out of office because they violated their sworn duty.
·
The policeman of the world or the arbiter of all
conflicts. We do not have to carry the
weight of the world on our shoulders alone.
We should attempt to lead through cooperative and coalition efforts,
using the resources at hand such as the U.N., NATO, and other associations of
nations, to approach world problems on a strong and united front. This has been an important principle aptly
demonstrated during the Obama administration.
·
A
militaristic super-power that has to
constantly prove our superiority. Being
a super-power should mean being first a humanitarian nation and second a giving
nation. We are a generous nation and our
foreign policy should emphasize and demonstrate that fact. Reacting to every world crisis or problem
with a militaristic stance is not who we are or who we should be. We need to emphasize our compassion, our social
action, our charitable giving, our humanitarian nature. Let’s get back on the air-waves as The Voice
of America and take that message to the Middle East, along with a rejuvenated
and expanded Peace Corps, because the messages we are currently sending are not
in our best interests. Perhaps we could
try to win friends and influence people by a greater emphasis on our real
nature.
·
The White European nation of our
Founding Fathers –
we are now truly a diverse nation, made up of many ethnicities, cultures,
religions, racial groups and backgrounds. In fact, by 2043, it is predicted that we will
reach a milestone where racial minorities added together will equal more than
half of our total population. Right now,
in many areas (and probably as an overall demographic), our total public school
population is already experiencing a majority of children from racial backgrounds
other than white European. Those who see
this trend as a detriment rather than a source of many positive opportunities
will find themselves wrestling with out-moded issues that can only be a source
of frustration, alienation, and negative outcomes for them.
·
A Christian nation, in spite of attempts to so designate.
There is no mention of Christianity in our Constitution, and no
allowance for such a designation. Religion
is mentioned once in the First Amendment (which is the basis for our long-held
norm of the separation of church and state) in the form of restrictions on the
Congress: it may not make laws establishing a national (state-supported)
religion and it may not prohibit the free exercise of religion.
In 2014 a National Landscape Study by the Pew Research Center
questioned more than 35,000 Americans from all 50 states about their religious
affiliations, beliefs and practices, and social and political views. Within a margin of error ranging from less than 1% to a bit less than 10% (for smaller groups), the results are probably close to reality for
the nation. First, of those claiming to
be religious, 70.6% are Christian, with Evangelical Christians the largest
sub-group at 25.4% (Catholics came in second at 20.8%). But remember, these numbers are only related
to the Pew sample of just 35,100 people interviewed. What is most astonishing is the fact that
within that sample, the percentage of non-religious people (those who do not
associate themselves with any religious group) is at 22.8% -- almost as large
as the group of Evangelical Christians and larger than the percentage claimed
for Catholics! (In other studies, it is
claimed that the non-religious group now out-numbers Evangelicals).
Perhaps it is time to realize that no one group is qualified to
claim a Christian status for this nation based on their numbers, and certainly
not on constitutional grounds! Moreover,
according to this report, only about 1/3rd of those who claim
Christian affiliation or membership actually regularly attend church worship services
(and this number is fairly consistent across denominations). My point?
If only a third of those calling themselves Christians are actually
practicing their religion, how can any group claim a majority status for
designating this nation as a “Christian nation” since “being Christian” by its
own terms (biblical and church teachings) claims to be most valid when words
are put into actions. Finally, this
study confirms the percentages of other religions than Christianity in our nation. Granted, together they make up a small
minority of just 6%, but one of the standards of our Constitution and of our
law-making is that minorities not only have all the rights and privileges of
citizenship, but that minority participation is to be encouraged, revered and
protected (such was the original reason for the Senate filibuster rule!).
- An oligarchy, led by a few in charge. And yet, we have let our relatively small group of representatives and a few of their very wealthy supporters and clients, appear to be an oligarchical cadre making major decisions that promote their self-aggrandizement, instead of an elected legislature of citizen representatives making decisions on behalf of the People.
- A perfect form of government. We are rather a work always in progress; always in need of reform and restructure; always a target for correction when failing to carry out government duties and responsibilities in a just and fair process.
- Way before the Supreme Court declared that federal law is sovereign over State law, there was something way back at our beginnings as a nation that demonstrated quite clearly that the early confederacy of colonies was little more than a "friendship" between states but all but unworkable in actual practice. The existing Congress called a special (secretive) meeting in Philadelphia in 1787 to deal with the crisis by amending the Articles of Confederation (ratified in 1781).
- However, many of the Founding Fathers, including George Washington, felt a strong national/central government was a necessity for the preservation of the Republic. Some compromises had to be made to preserve some state privileges (such as equal representation in the Senate), but the concept of confederacy was essentially rejected by the Constitutional Convention, and the delegates emerged with a whole new Constitution that allowed for an Executive with somewhat limited powers as well as a Judiciary, both of which were absent from the Articles of Confederation.
- Unfortunately, we still have to abide periodic assaults upon our central government by states' rights advocates who still speak the venomous language of invalidation, nullification and even secession. At a lesser volume, we still hear the old saw about having government returned to the states so it will be closer to the people. It is all for naught. We simply are not a confederacy.
So, just who
are we? More next time….
