Since mid-February, it has become clearer that what has been brought upon Texans in addition to the awful horrors of no power, no water, no food, freezing temps, and nowhere to get help, is the politicizing of the entire event by inept leaders. That, of course, doesn’t diminish the fears and the illnesses, injuries and deaths precipitated by the storm and its effects. Because there is enough blame to go around, the blame game has been a large part of this event.
1. Politicians who need to shift blame whenever possible to maintain enough support from voters, did some blaming which makes little sense except perhaps to un-informed voters willing to buy any product without critical thinking.
a.
that
this was a result of the “Green New Deal” proposed by that liberal socialist
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) from the Bronx; because that movement proposes
regulation of businesses and industries and promotes alternative fuels as the
future.
b.
The
Claim that a large part of the crisis could have been avoided had the renewable
fuels worked as they should have; but they didn’t.
It has since
come to light that both claims are nothing but politicians finding excuses for
their own failures. The Green New Deal
had little or no effect on the debacle in Texas because it is nothing more than
a proposal. The Green New Deal is NOT a
set of laws nor is it backed up by any regulations. It does not have enough clout as a proposal
to have changed anything.
2)2) Many
conservatives blamed the environmental movement -- insisting that frozen wind
turbines show the limits of alternative energy sources. The numbers and reports from the Texas grid
failed to support the blaming of renewable fuels for the power crisis. What is
clear is that fossil fuels and atomic energy are responsible for most of the power
(73%) generated in Texas and renewables like air fans and solar panels provide
only 27% of the power on the Texas grid – not enough to make the power grid
fail. More likely, the grid failed
because people with political and economic power and those with expertise
failed to use their attributes and skills to change what was needed.
3)3)
the
primary fall guy might be the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), an
independent organization that operates Texas' power grid, with some legislative
oversight. "This was a total
failure by ERCOT," said Governor Abbott early on. "These are the
experts. These are engineers in the power industry. These aren't bureaucrats or
whatever the case may be. These are specialists, and government has to rely on
these specialists to be able to deliver in these types of situations."
4)4) The
story, as you might guess, is more complicated than that. It is rooted in
Texans' views of their state as a quasi-independent country -- and a desire to
have as little federal interference in their lives as possible. CNN's
Chris Cillizza cut through the political spin and told us what is worth knowing.
He claims one must go back to 1935 when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt
signed the Federal Power Act, which governed electricity sharing and sales
between the states. Basically, it allowed the federal government to regulate
states who brought power in from outside their state lines.
“Texas, never a fan of federal intrusion, set up its own
power grid system -- split between northern and southern Texas -- to avoid any
federal involvement. That led eventually to the formation of ERCOT in 1970 and
this strange fact: there are three power grids in the United States -- the
eastern power grid, the western power grid and, well, Texas.” Yes, Texas has its own power grid.
“And while being independent from the yoke of federal
regulation has always been a point of pride for Texas, the limits of that
strategy are being realized. Because
Texas -- or at least 90% of the state -- is controlled by ERCOT, they can't
simply borrow power from either the eastern or western power grids. That's
never been a problem before because Texas has always been able to generate more
power than its citizens need. But the reality is that Texas is an electricity
island, which isn't a problem until the lights go out, and you don't have
enough power in the state to turn them back on.
“Now, there's no question that ERCOT bears blame here. When
your only job is to manage a power grid and that power grid fails miserably,
that's a big problem.”
The
aftermath brought outrageous bills for power distribution, and equally
outrageous losses -- like agriculture being affected and supply lines being
broken – plus the realization that many agencies were simply unprepared for
such a catastrophic event.
In response,
Texas Governor Abbott decided to do something to distract everyone to some
degree from the realities of the aftermath of the storm. He called for opening all of Texas and removal
of COVID restrictions on businesses and other endeavors.
In addition,
we now know that weather crises in 1990 and again in 2011 brought forth criticism
of the current grid with suggestions for improvements that were never fully
implemented. And, in fact, the Commission
gave permission to individual power producers to attend to structure repairs
and improvements as they saw fit, so some never attempted to fix what was even
then considered to be inadequate. So
much for de-regulation and the mistaken belief that companies will regulate, evaluate,
and correct themselves.
Government regulation
is absolutely necessary if we are to check private business raising prices in a
crisis; failing to prepare for winterizing equipment; and leaving it all up to businesses to decide
what is best for consumers. The Texas
debacle is one more clear demonstration that lack of rules and regulations,
along with lack of innovation, leads inevitably down a path to destruction.
All of which
begs at least two questions: WHO IS IN
CHARGE? and HOW DID THEY REACH THAT
POSITION? ( or, WHO PUT THEM THERE?) The
answers to those two questions involve the voters and perhaps, a different kind
of blame.
Who we elect
is crucial; what they say is crucial; what they do, or don’t do, is critical. A thorough analysis of candidates, and
informed voting is essential but so is the need to put some ‘sting’ in federal
election laws to make it unprofitable for the private or public sector to serve
their own interests rather than the general interest or welfare. We must have laws that seriously penalize anti-voting or voting
limitations
There is
still something more fundamental than the fact that a considerable part of the
blame for this situation must fall finally on the Texas voters and citizens. A
share of blame for government failures must be borne by all who elect
incompetent, unprepared and unqualified public officials. This blame goes far beyond Texas to the fact
that voters and citizens throughout this nation are ultimately responsible for:
1. Who and what they believe,
2. For whom and for what they vote;
3.
Whether
they vote at all;
4.
Whether
they hold public officials accountable for their political actions (and personal
behaviors) after voting for them;
5.
Whether
the officeholders deserve to be re-elected
based on their record
And HERE’S
THE KICKER:
6.
Whether
the voters, as the ultimate defenders and protectors of our Constitution and
its provisions, are making sure that government at every level is protected
from takeover by private groups, businesses, organizations, corporations,
forces, that threaten its essence and its functions.
It must also
be said that the Insurrection of January 6, 2021, and the unpreparedness of
Texas officials and administrators for the February winter storm are of a
piece, and they connect with each other through the gateway of unregulated
commerce and fiscal/economic ideologies that fail to uphold, and too often
conflict with, our fundamental democratic ideals.
Shamefully,
we have an unexamined history of giving ourselves over to forces that appear to
enhance or to affirm our fundamental values and ideals, but when examined
deeply often reveal themselves for what they are: undemocratic, divisive forces
that have gained control of our systems and our policies, attacking and
corrupting our democratic values with propaganda and misinformation and
becoming the controllers and directors of destruction (or “de-construction”) of
our system of governing.
This opens a
topic so broad that it would take at least one book probably more, to study the
subject in depth. Luckily, others have
already taken on that task, like Malcolm Nance in : “The Plot to Destroy
Democracy”, or “The System” by Robert Reich, or “Donald Trump vs. the United
States” by Michael Schmidt, to name a few.
My simpler
purpose today is to briefly examine the fault lines we have opened both with
the attack upon the Capitol and the debacle that has occurred as the result of
the Texas winter storm.
JAN UARY
6, 2021 -- here are some of my thoughts as to underlying
causes and voter responsibility. Fault
lines include:
· White supremacy, male domination,
racial superiority tied up together in the enduring fantasy that, not only
should an elite white group rule this country, but that they are best suited to
rule the world via a culture that they claim has proven its superiority
· Strong angry white men (with
subservient supportive women) are their key to progress. “Inferior beings” such as non-whites, and those with ‘defects’
such as disability, age, poor health – are in danger of segregation or
permanent removal from their kind of ‘ordered’ society
· A strong leader who epitomizes the
racial characteristics of the national movement, and who uses the powers of his
office to fulfill his destiny leads with absolute authority; the mission of the
people is to install him as their Supreme Leader (Fuhrer) and to worship his
greatness;
· Violence and militaristic enforcement
are acceptable means of controlling and ordering their society so they can then
fulfill its destiny as a superior nation;
These fault
lines have been around since our nation’s founding and long before. They mark much more of a
ruling/governing ideology – including
‘divine right’ of kings and despots – that have guided governments in all parts
of the world.
As
historian Jon Meacham reminds us, the European, mostly English, settlers who came
to our shores in the early days of Jamestown (1603), (then to Plymouth and
Massachusetts Bay) came based on dreams of “God and Gold (not necessarily in
that order) and started conquering native peoples almost immediately calling
them ‘heathens’ and ‘savages’ and ‘lesser beings’ and disguising their
‘capture’ as ‘missionary’ or ‘saving work.’ The 1606 document that authorized the
founding of Jamestown talked about carrying religion to “such people as yet live
in darkness and miserable ignorance of the true…God.” But most of the words of the charter
concerned the taking of “all the lands,
woods, soil, grounds, havens ports, rivers, mines, minerals, marshes, waters,
fishings, commodities” as well as orders to search for all manner of mines of
gold, silver and copper.” Dissenters
came seeking freedom of worship; some of them came with dreams of riches, and
those fundamental contradictions have always been with us, and always
will. Both have similar origins in
sacred religious writings, and both are touted as justifications for abuses
that arose from both economics and religiosity.
In 1619, a
Dutch ‘man of war’ brought about twenty captive Africans to Virginia and so
began the American tragedy of human slavery.
Earlier European settlers had already set about removing Native American
populations “setting in motion a tragic chain of events that culminated in the
in famous Trail of Tears.”
From our
earliest beginnings, European Americans built and dreamed and worshipped with
pride in their expansion of liberties while subjugating and exploiting people
of color. So it was then; so it is now.
As Meacham
rightly points out, the American struggle is not just between political parties
or left and right on some ideological chart, but a constant struggle between
the ’better angels’ and the darker impulses of our soul, both individual and
societal; between good and evil; the light and darkness. “Belief in the existence of an imminent
collection of convictions, dispositions, and sensitivities that shape character
and inform conduct is ancient and perennial.”
Further:
“there is a significant difference between professing adherence to a set of
beliefs and acting upon them. The war
between what’s right and what’s convenient, between the larger good and
personal interest is the contest that unfolds in the soul of every American.”
When the slavery of Africans entered the picture,
white supremacy led this nation on a path from which it has never fully
recovered.
The attack on the
Capitol was more than Republican Rightists vs. Democratic Leftists – a not fully
accurate description in any case. No,
this was an organized mob bent on controlling and separating “others;” an
attitude and force that has been hanging around from our beginnings.
A negative view of government
is not new. The division of peoples into
class structures is not new; the emergence of some degree of rebellion amongst
the merchant and working classes is not a one-time occurrence. The subjugation of native peoples and the
slavery of one race to another was also not unknown in human history but was
incongruous in a colony/nation professing democratic ideals even in its early
days. The fact that slavery brought riches to a land-owning class, and
subjugation of native Americans brought the necessary commodity of more land
along with agricultural development, use of fossil fuels and mining of precious
minerals, and mercantile development provided plenty of reason to politicize,
economize and capitalize on those elements.
When capitalism began
its inevitable journey toward legitimizing and ideologizing its “principles” as
the bedrock of what makes us all tick, something was lost that has never been
reclaimed: the truth about the flaws inherent in our system of governance and
our development of anti-democratic approaches to human rights and welfare
despite our principled Constitution.
We are victims of our past --of our history—as
well as perpetrators of the worst fears of many of our Founders: that we are so
captured by the flaws and exigencies of human nature (and by more recent manufactured
myths of superiority, exceptionalism, and uniqueness) that our very future
hangs in the balance.
Here are some of those contrasting
values that I first mentioned in my blog post of 4/15/2017:
CAPITALISM
ESPOUSES:
PROFIT as the
overriding concern;
MONETARY SUCCESS
as its major goal
Uses &
manipulates all aspects of operations for profit;
Abhors
regulations and rules that may thwart that aim
Treats Labor as an
expendable commodity; as part of a profit-making formula that is adjustable to
produce most efficient outcomes
Its Mission: to
acquire money, property, and status
Sees consumers as
targets of manipulation, having few rights; always blamed as causes of product
failures;
Often places
material success and acquisitions above Law
Believes people
are endowed with privileges based on status
Equal opportunity
to pursue Life, Liberty, and Happiness
Utilizes legislative
process to make laws and provide solutions that protect and defend the People
and the nation;
Uses system of
checks and balances to prevent manipulation and corruption of that system;
Provides
opportunities, incentives, and benefits for the well-being of all, including
public safety, education, and healthcare among others;
Treats people as
sovereign, possessing equal rights under law;
Its Mission: to
seek liberty and justice for all people, not to enhance government authority
Its Motive:
enhancement of the people’s rights, dignity, equality, opportunities, and
welfare
Empathizes a
balance between liberty and responsibility; Regulates
society to enhance life not to control it;
Encourages love
of country; shown by taking mutual responsibility for maintaining ideals and
freedoms for the well-being (welfare) of all;
Believes in the
primacy of just Laws over and above the desires and status of any one
individual or group;
Believes people
are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them life, liberty,
and pursuit of happiness.
It is my firm belief
that the Republican Trumpian Party embodies the seeds of destruction for our
constitutional democracy. My fear is also
that the “build back better” operating slogan of the Biden-Harris
administration may look like basic change but may simply restore a flawed
’normalcy’ that misses the main point. We must have principles we adhere to
that constantly support the fundamental efficacy and reformative values of
equal opportunity, equal justice under law, and protected freedoms and rights
due every citizen and person living under our aegis.
We have precious little time left to
practice a principled democracy that puts the people’s will and well-being as
first priority. Let us start right now
by halting practices like continuing wars that have already lasted for 23
years, police brutality, gun violence, child abuse, homelessness, and the
systemic caste-like treatment of people of color, voter limitation and
intimidation, to mention just a few fundamentals that must not be ground to
bits in the political meat-grinder of partisan legislative bickering, avoidance,
and ideological window-dressing. Let us
prepare for 2022 and vote as if our lives depended on that vote.
Just as planetary
destruction is staring us in the face, the future is not going to accommodate
our fault lines or our flaws or our commitment to ideological blather.
We must act responsibly,
and we should start with the involvement and emerging leadership of newer
generations. It is time to bring
younger people into leadership roles wherever and whenever we can – in
churches, on school boards, in non-profit organizations, on city councils, in
coalitions for community development, on boards of directors, in any way they
can begin to be heard, become leaders, change the look and functioning of every
flawed system that serves principles and interests that benefit the few over
the many. Experience of older folks
is useful and informative, but the future is now, and we must not ignore or
hide that reality with white hair and unsteady gait. As one who, until
mid-2020, was active in a progressive organization, involved in all aspects of
protest, public education, and support for progressive solutions to societal
issues and problems, I am not opposed to those of greater age being integrally
involved in social and political questions.
What I am prepared to criticize is the lack of support and encouragement
of younger persons in their efforts to enter the arena with new ideas for
reform and progress.
Why? Well, here are some statistics that speak to the
current population of this nation, Published
by Statista Research Department, Jan 20,
2021:
The
estimated population of the U.S. was approximately 328.2 million in 2019, and
the largest age group was adults aged 25 to 29. There were twelve
million males in this age category and around 11.5 million females. The United
States Constitution requires Senators to be at least 30 years of age.
As of March 1, 2021, 5 senators are in their 80s, 18 are in their 70s, 32 are
in their 60s, 30 are in their 50s, 14 are in their 40s, and 1 is in his 30s.
In the House, 1/3
of Representatives over 60 represent districts with a median age of 35 or less.
There are 44 congressional districts in which the age of the
Representative is more than double the median age of their constituents. Of
these 44 Representatives, 38 won their last election by more
than 60% of the vote.
Candidates for
Congress must be 25 years old to run for a seat in the House
of Representatives but the median age currently among House members ticked up
slightly to 58.9. The average age of the entire 117th Congress is 59
years old, and the median is 60 years old. This is much higher than
the median age of 38 years in the United States in 2019, according to the U.S.
Census Bureau.
Why not make it
part of our mission to suggest, encourage and support youth participation in
our continuing constitutional experiment?
Likewise, we need a broader representation from people of color and from
women.
In other words,
we need to be preparing a pipeline/supply line of a different sort than for
water or electric power. We need to get
younger people into offices all the way along a local to national
continuum. We cannot do that without a
concentrated effort by activist groups and individuals to ‘vet’ candidates for
all public offices. In that process, it would be important to ask some
questions about age, background, and policy
proposals of candidates before offering any support.
Finally, I think
what must be said is that voters have the final say and to treat that
responsibility with any form of disregard or disrespect is to align oneself
with the anti-democratic forces attacking our form of government from
within. How do people like Ted Cruz,
Governor Abbott, Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Jim Jordan, and Josh Hawley
and hundreds more get into office in the first place, and then get re-elected
forever? There are two answers that
complement each other: private money and
uninformed or propagandized voters.
Combine them and we are saddled with people who should never ever be
elected to public office. Still, voters elect them no matter how corrupt,
ignorant, negatively ideological, or downright anti-democratic they may
be.
There is no one
left to blame but those who keep returning persons to office no matter how
unethical, unqualified, unlearned, or uncaring they may have demonstrated
themselves to be. Elections have
consequences and the Texas debacle, and the Insurrection at the Capitol are salvos
in the war that is now raging for the soul of this nation. This is not “politics as usual.” This is the end game for our form of
government.
Voters who fail
to act responsibly in this context will reap the consequences of anarchy. Elections do have consequences when officials
can’t lead, don’t care as much for the people’s welfare as their own, and who
take advantage of their office to enhance their worth and their personal power
and status.
Democrats and
Progressives have got to get toughened up and ready to do battle over real
changes with real “sting” in the laws they create for those who attempt to
overthrow our democracy or to denigrate our ideals.
We should have
neither time nor space for those who demonstrate their disregard for our
Constitution our laws, and our ideals. So,
let us stop electing:
liars and conspiracy theorists who have led us to the brink of nihilism where knowing nothing of truth is touted as a “normal” state of being
Ø those who regard
government as the enemy of the people and therefore fail to use the powers of
government to help people and their community’s flourish
Ø men and women who
cast their lot with special interests that override duty to constituents
Ø anyone who has no
record of service to people; and inadequate or no plans for what they can do
for others once in office
Ø those who offer
nothing but negative criticisms about our ‘culture’ and our institutions
Ø those who want to
inflict upon society their religious beliefs, doctrines, practices, or rituals
Ø those who stand
to gain monetarily from their elected position; and those who have not complied
with rules governing income revelations, nepotism, illegal insider trading or
paying taxes
Ø anyone who abuses
children by budgetary or governmental policy
Ø anyone who acts
to punish or to destroy a rival, opponent, or challenger
Ø anyone who
intends to limit our cherished freedoms, and those who always put individual
conscience, belief, or misinformation before society’s equal need for justice, fairness,
and creative solutions to vexing problems
Ø those who claim
to have all the answers but who have no experience with making government work
for the people
Ø those who want
absolute authority in any area; or who ignore the importance of checks and
balances to our form of governance
Ø people who
brainwash, threaten, or intimidate others to produce gains for themselves
Ø someone who does
not meet all the qualifications or requirements for the position they seek
Time is running
out. Our governing system cries out for
real reformation to do the people’s work but elected officials of one Party
corrupted by Trump answer with strange concoctions ranging from Mrs. Potato
Head to Dr. Seuss; with ways to stop or delay votes needed to rescue a society
from a pandemic and its concomitant effects – a mortally injured economy and
job market. And that Party persists in its destruction of democracy, mainly by
means of the ‘dumbing-down’ of the voting base.
The spreading of misinformation and big lies is their ticket to winning
more elections by the gathering of the dumbed-down voting in elections that are
flawed by the persistent limitations, restrictions, made-up rules, and
districts drawn to favor them and disenfranchise the ‘others.’
And what do
Democrats do to blunt those tactics? They pass a voting rights bill with excellent
provisions backed up by milquetoast sanctions for law-breaking. Without the
sting of sanctions, states under Republican control will continue to do
everything possible to bypass its provisions.
This is not the
time for bi-partisan efforts that minimize boldness nor for compromises that
denude or void reforms. It is time to
crush the anti-democratic forces with bold proposals before they can attack
again with Far-Right extremism as their vanguard of destruction, mayhem, and
anarchy. This is not politics as usual –
this is a battle for the soul of this nation. Let’s get on with it.
