In the aftermath of 9/11, the American people were as united as they have ever been as a nation. The crisis the nation faced was a collective one that did not have a party affiliation. And for a brief moment in time, the nation was as one.
In the fervor of patriotism, the American people were given the Patriot Act, a bit of legislation that stripped more civil liberties from them than almost anything likened to it in the nation’s history. The people were told that it was in their best interest and that in order to protect them, they were going to have to give up some of their liberties.
A collective nation should have rejected this in its totality and demanded its government find another way.
In the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election, regardless of the outcome, it is becoming increasingly apparent that our nation is in very grave danger of faltering to a point from which there is no return. And it is being done in the supposed name of making the country great again.
The culprit largely wears the face of the Republican Party in its current hijacked state whereby the modus operandi is their mandate at all costs. What Republicans want us to do is accept at face value that they are going to save the union somehow from all that has gone awry, and the way they are going to do it is by nuking our democracy. They are convinced that it is so bad that any measure of obstruction of democracy is needed. If the analogy is that of a nuclear option, one would think that Republicans understand that in essence what they are doing is destroying everything in the name of saving it.
The party has blocked the legitimate appointing of a supreme court justice. Furthermore, there appears to be a movement within the Senate to block any appointees whatsoever for the duration of a Democratic presidency. This is not only unprecedented, it is unconstitutional.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation appears to be infusing itself in a manner that shapes the outcome of the election. Reminiscent of J. Edgar Hoover days and possibly in defiance of the Hatch Act, it appears that the beginnings of a military coup are festering within the halls of our leadership. If they cannot win by legitimate means, they will take it by force.
These are two of the most poignant examples of what has been a successive litany of obstructionist behaviors by Republicans that grow increasingly audacious by the day. The second can be debated for sure as can the latter portion of the first (it’s only speculation as of yet), but the one thing that is irrefutable is the blocking of a supreme court justice.
According to a recent NPR article, “For the first time, some Senate Republicans are saying that if Hillary Clinton is elected, the GOP should prevent anyone she nominates from being confirmed to fill the current court vacancy or any future vacancy.”
Republicans who assert that appointing a justice during an election is not appropriate fail to acknowledge that the seat left by Anthony Scalia was appointed by Ronald Reagan during an election. Furthermore, the notion that a dominant party should be a deciding factor in the appointing of a justice to our highest court is evidence of something gone terribly wrong in our understanding of the role of the supreme court.
And there is the real rub, right? Republicans are decrying the very things their own candidates do. Granted, this is politics as usual but with one very clear distinction.
What Republicans appear to be willing to do is tantamount to mutiny. They have become a threat to the sanctity of our democracy, and in their attempt to be the only party, they have likely rendered themselves inept, leaving something equally as threatening as the only one: the Democratic party.
It is right and necessary that Donald Trump is defeated and that his party, in essence, is sent to its room for a timeout. The problem may be that in lieu of a defeat they cannot accept, they are vowing to undermine the very things that make our representative republic work.
The need for checks and balances instituted by a two-party system cannot be overemphasized. Compromise is the grease that keeps those wheels turning, and we now have a party that simply and quite destructively refuses to do so.
This is an issue that will need to be explored in the post-election days.
See you out there.
Next you’ll be saying ‘What a great idea, a one world government’ That surly would be in our best interest’.
And here Dallas, ‘ These are the subject maters your not authorized to talk about’. Politically correct subjects only. —Freedom vs. Control. Take your pick Dallas. Your choice.—
Unless Trump wins, which as of right now stands at about a 33% chance due to recent events, we will see the eventual decline and slow fall of the Republican party. If you don’t control the Presidency these days you don’t have sh#$t. The demographics of this country will take presidense and be manipulated to put the deathnail into the Republican party as we know it. Rest assured Dallas, you have nothing to worry about. You are an endangered species as a Republican.
As of tonight, with the FBI exoneration of the Weiner emails, odds back down to 25%. On the bright side stock market futures have gone from negative all weekend to thru the roof. So everybody’s 401k funds will be up tomorrow. S&P after breaking record since 80s of consecutive days of losses may finally go positive on Monday. Crazy world.