TH ERE IS a CIVIL WAR GOING ON RIGHT NOW in our country and apparently, a majority of people are simply unaware that such can exist without visible armies, battlefields, and the shedding of blood, without the sound of gunfire and artillery shells. Are we somehow deluding ourselves into a state of denial where too often what we see is not necessarily discerned as what is really happening; that is -- as reality? Are we so full of misinformation, societal myths and unquestioned biases, beliefs, and prejudices that we have lost reason, common sense, and critical analysis?
Are we asking
the right questions of ourselves, and our representatives, or are we simply
depending on some media group to provide answers to our questions? Are we too
accepting of what we are told by others and
it sometimes becomes our own without
research or critique? Are we so
distracted by the scourge of COVID 19 that we are unable to place any real
attention elsewhere?
To some
degree, the answer is YES to all these questions. For some – perhaps too many – the questions
have not yet appeared on their radar screens.
For some, they have appeared but been dismissed or ignored.
I would say
that we are in one of those periods when we find ourselves and others, being:
· Distracted and frustrated by the
COVID pandemic
· Vulnerable to misinformation and
propaganda because we are looking for quick answers to our concerns and
problems;
· Distracted and challenged on so many
fronts of life, it appears, that we are also very vulnerable to
o
Answers
we might normally dismiss
o
Actions
that distract from the real world of pain are more likely to gain acceptance
and support without any critical judgment
o
Receptive
to offers of comfort and distraction that we probably ignored in healthier
times
o Plagued
by fatigue and malaise that cause misconceptions and miscalculations at many
levels of life
One of the
most important questions for any society may well center around the use and abuse
of POWER. It would be less than startling to proclaim that the question of
“WHO’s IN CONTROL?” is at the core of our form of government, and not
surprisingly, there is much confusion that abounds when that question gets
asked of the Trump Party.
The answer
was perhaps much clearer and unequivocal when the Founding Fathers put together
the Declaration of Independence and our ground-breaking Constitution. After all, they used both documents to denounce
the focus of the power of that day – King George III and the English Parliament. The locus of power before then had been
perceived as residing mainly with powerful men (very few women) – kings,
potentates, dictators, and emperors.
There had also been a prominent answer circulating in earlier days that
power resided in monarchs by something often called “Divine Right” (which left others with no rights or resources
to question that POWER).
But the
colonists rebelled against that authority declaring themselves to be in charge
of their own destiny as an independent nation.
Turns out
that enough delegates to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 were still
suspicious of allowing too much central government power so they came up with
the notion of checks and balances between three independent branches of the
central federal government: Legislative, Executive and Judiciary, building-in
checks like two Houses of Congress, approval by the Senate for all Treaties and
Executive department and judicial appointments.
There was also the presidential veto and the ability to override that
veto by a large majority of both houses of Congress. The United States of America abandoned a
Confederation and came forth with a government with national/federalist flavor
that allowed strong centralized power making sure substantial checks on that power
were in place.
The answers
of the Constitutional Convention and the Federalists and anti-Federalists to
the question of POWER or WHO’S IN CONTROL?
have given us a consistently strong national government but have also
saddled us with assumptions about the wielders of power some of which we have
never completely resolved. For instance:
· What is meant by “States’ Rights”? we
are still trying to resolve issues over state power especially in relation to
voting rights and elections;
· We engaged in a Civil War over the
doctrine of nullification of federal laws by the states related to slavery and property
ownership. The conflict persists
especially as regards voter rights and abortion rights.
· Can a President declare a War without
congressional approval? Apparently so by
proclaiming war to be other than it is - a ‘”police action” or “humanitarian
crisis.” Have “exceptions” allowed the presidential branch to increase its
power beyond a reasonable and responsible level?
· Do states have the right to set
guidelines for vetoing and overturning national elections? Apparently so, if election rules are completely
in their hands as they seem to be. Does power
over national elections need to be
revisited and revised? The House has
answered in the Affirmative; the Senate is considering.
So, there
are still issues of power to be decided, and we aren’t doing a particularly
good job so far of getting that done
We are still
struggling with the question of POWER and CONTROL perhaps because during Trump’s
presidency, we dealt with an occupant who believed himself to be infallible, all-powerful,
and omniscient; who abused the powers of the presidency, was twice impeached,
and who claimed to have absolute power or authority to:
· limit and stop immigration that he falsely
claimed to be not in the national interest;
· determine the winners and losers of
elections;
· hire and fire people on a whim
· denigrate or dismiss critics and
those who needed to be neutral in their thinking like scientists
· keep his financial dealings a secret and pay no taxes;
· use the government to abusively separate
children from their parents at the southern border as a warning to other
would-be immigrants; and he chose not to
have to reunite those families;
· solicit personal favors and gifts
from foreign leaders or from domestic citizens and groups for his private use;
· refuse to let anyone testify before the
Congress and thereby refuse to honor congressional subpoenas and the oversight
responsibility of Congress;
· pass along misinformation to the
detriment and even the deaths of millions of people;
· not have a national plan for
combatting a deadly pandemic
· abandon the responsibility of a
president to act as a guiding force in resolving a health crisis (in stark contrast
to our current President);
· serve as the instigator of an
insurrection against Congress
In other words, Trump claimed the absolute
right to be the locus and focus of the POWER of government and if someone did not
obey his wishes or support his actions, he reserved the absolute right to
destroy their careers; to make life miserable for disloyalty or for outright opposition
to his wishes.
Many still do not recognize the despotic nature of those
assertions and actions, and so they continue to abet his criminality.
The question
of WHO’s IN CONTROL has been answered by TRUMP.
He desires to be re-elected in 2024 to enable him to cement those
assumptions of absolute POWER into despotic reality.
If we don’t
start treating him like the narcissistic Fascist power-grabber that he is, we
shall have succumbed to the absolute
power that he craves, and that opens a Pandora’s box of abuses that we cannot
allow or endure. Interestingly, his
supporters will also reap the harvest of the power of neglect and denigration,
and their fate will be sealed with that of the rest of us.
President
Joe Biden and his team, including his Vice President, Kamala Harris, and the
congressional Democrat majority, are our best hope for responses that are large
enough for the course changes that are required. Already they have teamed-up to take strong
actions – and to promise strong actions – on the many fronts of this global war
to save humanity.
Front and
center is their major effort to defeat the COVID virus. Stepped up national plans for treatment,
vaccination, and full utilization of government and private sector resources have
now resulted in new CDC guidelines for not wearing masks if one is fully
vaccinated. Meanwhile, the unscientific
GOP congressional questioners used committee hearings to turn the question of
mask-wearing into a political issue about rights. Dr. Fauci made plain that this is not about
freedom or rights; it is about fighting a virus with proven scientific methods
so that we can all be made safe from its killing power.
And therein
lies a key to the future of humankind: partisan
politics is grossly limited in its approach to human problems and is
ill-equipped to resolve global issues of vast significance. As long as we continue to listen to and
accept the disinformation and propaganda distributed by the anti-science,
anti-government, anti-critical-thinking political loud-mouths, we shall ourselves
contribute to the destruction caused by its wake.
There is
absolutely no efficacy in misinformation or dis-information. It benefits no one. It rescues no one. It is completely devoid of reality and does
not contribute one iota to saving our lives and our planet. The lies, deceit, ignorance, and conspiracy
theories displayed by Trump and his puppets have no value because they lack the
power and the substance that is necessary to defeat the chaotic forces of
nature. Misinformation offers nothing but
illusion and delusion; it has no ability to solve anything, but can feed the malevolent
need of someone to manipulate others by holding them hostage to cult-like
thinking. It is a dead-end -- literally.
Biden and
Harris and the Democrats in Congress have moved to save us from our own
illusions and delusions. They have
realized that bold use of resources can produce the results necessary to
resolve global and national problems.
They have on their plate, a goodly number of sea changes that are
absolutely imperative in our governing system:
1. We must reform our voting and
election systems so that the peoples’ voices will be heard and heeded. HR #1 (also known as S#1) is vital to that
effort.
2. We must undo the efforts of the Trump
administration to put America First by destroying and denigrating the alliances
and cooperative pacts with other nations.
In this respect, the Biden administration is tak ing important steps to:
a. Repair relations with our allies
b. Speak strong words and take clear
actions to those countries like Russia that are out to destroy our democracy
c. Repair our immigration system to
maintain our ability to welcome others to join and enhance our democratic experiment and to strengthen
our nation with the fervor of multi-cultural vibrancy
d. Reach out to countries like Iran to
talk once again of peaceful co-existence and cooperation;
e. End wars in areas where the
objectives have changed, and the strategies no longer apply
f. Enjoin the private sector to back new
initiatives to save our planet
3. Seek to diminish and to eliminate
flaws in our ideals that produce unequal justice, unequal opportunity, and
unequal punishment for wrongdoing, including:
a. Black Lives Matter support
b. Police brutality eliminated; justice
defined; incarceration revised
c. Judicial system examined; SCOTUS
reformed
d. Federal laws written and enforced
that send clear messages to states and localities that questionable practices
of the justice system are to be tolerated no longer
e. Elimination of profit-making prisons
and schools
f. Greater emphasis on community
involvement in policing and in oversight of police action
g. Federal laws tightened to set
national standards for the justice system
4. National and global involvement in
saving the environment and the planet
5. Rebuilding the infrastructure and the
economy
6. Return to a system of checks and
balances that works.
7. Supportive structures deserve revitalization
as much as physical structures because such things as the filibuster, the
committee and sub-committee structure and leadership functions are the
infrastructure of the Congress, just as child care and equal pay are essential
to ensuring the involvement of women in
the job market. Peripheral programs supporting participation of people inside the physical structures, re are what make it tick and they deserve reform
and rehabilitation as much as buildings and bridges and highways. We must re-think how government functions and
provide the ‘highways’ that allow it to do so.
a. Change to a problem-solving model
with bipartisan (preferably) task forces with clear objectives, aims, and outcomes;
b. Other models might include
exploratory teams with researchers and consultants (such as commissions)
c. Provide support for hardware and
software that enable intercommunication and problem-solving in all branches
d. Build-in ethics guidelines that penalize
immoral behavior
e. Give accountability some bite with
strong penalties
f. Involve citizen volunteers in
government structures and functions
g. Put citizen committees in charge of
annual evaluation of structures like committees, task forces and departments
h. Get rid of filibuster and cloture
votes; instead, provide rules that allow for and guide extended presentations
that are timed
i. Remove all blocks to the legislating
process, such as ‘member privilege’
j. Hearings must include ordinary
citizens who will be affected by a bill
k. Every bill should have a timeline of
steps to passage and a list of witnesses and consultants attached;
8. Our democratic form of government
cannot be sustained without a thorough examination of the appropriate role of
political parties. There can be no place
for either Party to place its interests above the nation’s welfare. We should explore limiting Party involvement
to advisory status and adjust or eliminate the following:
a. Nominations for offices;
b. fund-raising and distribution must be
under strict guidelines
c. Parties should not automatically dictate
officers and leaders of the House and Senate;
d. The filibuster must go; there is no good reason for placing obstacles in the way of legislating; it has been turned into a method for blocking legislation by requiring a vote of “cloture” to be a super majority
Fighting
back is not an easy task, but Democrats must muster the full extent of their
own tactics to undo and overcome the tactics of the far-Right radicals.
1) Pursue court cases including against states
for voter suppression and violation of rights.
For instance, in Arizona, every original ballot turned over to
non-official sub-contractors for audit purposes after votes have already been
certified by that state, involves the disclosure of supposedly secret ballots,
a violation of voters’ rights to privacy and secrecy. The state of Arizona, and all of those
working on this so-called ’audit’ should be sanctioned by the courts for this
violation.
2) Follow-up on all cases pending
against Donald Trump and his administration.
Any further delay brings us closer to 2024 without justice served by making
Trump ineligible for public office.
3) Continue the roll-back of Trump
orders and legislation. Leave nothing
unexamined and in force, especially
anti-democratic actions that were meant to ‘de-construct’ government, such as actions
taken against the right to protest and free speech in the context of government
criticism e.g. steps of retaliation against congressional witnesses.
4) Rebuild the mission and purposes of
Executive branch agencies and departments that were damaged or destroyed during
the Trump administration, such as the EPA, Department of Education, and the
DOJ.
5) Where are the congressional
investigations of Trump malfeasance and mismanagement? They must be undertaken to remind the voters
of the devastation brought upon us by this despotic president, and to institute
future corrections:
a. Tax returns must be released
b. Business and private funds put in
Trust
c. Prohibition of nepotism restored
d. Presidential pardons reformed and restrictions
placed on their use
e. FURTHER RESTRICTIONS should be applied
to COLLUSION with foreign countries
i. Keep pressure on Russia for its cyber
war against the USA
f. “Emoluments” need to be more
carefully defined
g. Richest 1% must pay their fair share
of taxes;
h. corporations must support communities
in which they are physically present; all charters of incorporation should have
to contain specifics of such support
i. Rejuvenate freedoms – of speech,
press, religion, protest, etc.
j. Continue fight for justice especially
for people of color
k. Continue fight for sensible
immigration policy; restore DACA; de-emphasize the WALL
l. Enhance national service as the norm
for all citizens; build a new Youth Corps (ages 15-20) dedicated to envisioning
and building the Future (some are already doing so; let us provide a vessel
that supports and builds upon their efforts and let the youth have the
responsibility for managing this Corps with adults as backup consultants (not
the other way around!).
m. Call out; weed out; turn out all
radical Right-wingers and their groups
that attempt to infiltrate public offices, public forums, and our institutions like
schools, the military, universities, and others. It must not involve the abrogation of their
rights but can be done in relation to hate speech and behaviors, threatening
overthrow of government and threats or actual use of violence, among others.
We are not
in the middle of “politics as usual.”
Donald Trump and his minions have moved us far away from that
venue. We are now in the midst of an ideological CIVIL WAR that has been a long
time in the making.
As the
forces of Fascism in the Congress prepare for their next attack – that of
downplaying the insurrection of January 6, 2021 – let us recall one major
lesson of history regarding the rise of the German Nazi Party in the 1930s and
40s. Their rise to power was not based
solely on their propaganda and brutish behaviors. There was another major factor that we are
apt to overlook as we have done over the last 4-5 years. At the end of an in-depth study and story of
a typical German town entitled “The Nazi
Seizure of Power,” the author, William Sheridan Allen, points out the main
reason he found for the rise of, and final takeover by, the Fascists. Hear his words and apply them to our current
internal War for we are being led down the same primrose path.
“…popular
passivity made possible the crimes that the Nazis were able to commit. In some ways, the greatest Nazi crime was
that they were able to encourage moral numbness even in those that did not
agree with them. That moral numbness was
the prerequisite for all the other shameful crimes of Nazism.”
Even with
the splendid job being done by the Biden administration to lift us out of this
pandemic and job-loss economy and to make government work for people, the moral
complacency seen among anti-Trumpists
who want only a return to normalcy, is discomfiting. In our current circumstances, with democracy
on the firing line, it may not be enough to return to normalcy or to just build
back what we had before the pandemic. We
must overcome the moral malaise that allows words and actions that are
anti-democratic, that could destroy our
form of governing. We need strong
methods of accountability built into our laws with enough sharp penalties in
them to help bring about in-depth, bold progressive changes in our system! Anything less and the Know-Nothing,
Do-Nothing Trump Party will take over and claim absolutist power and control
that will not be in the People’s interest or well-being.
STOP PRETENDING
FACE
REALITY
DEMOCRACY is UNDER
ATTACK!
