Donald Rumsfeld has been axed. Tom DeLay cut and ran. “Scooter” Libby stands convicted. Michael “you’re doing a heck of a job” Brown was tossed. Newt Gingrich disgraced himself. And now the clueless Attorney General, Alberto Gonzales, is surely the next to go. Why this confederacy of dunces? The conservative National Review cover asks plaintively, “Can’t Anyone Here Play this Game?” Time Magazine puts conservative icon Ronald Reagan on its cover, a tear rolling down his face, reporting on “How the Right Went Wrong.” But it’s not incompetence or corruption — although both abound — that fostered the misrule of this conservative administration. And Reagan would feel not dismayed, but right at home with the follies and crimes. Remember: Reagan’s attorney general, Edwin Meese, was disgraced. His national security advisor copped a plea. Oliver North stood convicted. His defense secretary, Caspar Weinberger, would have been indicted for perjury and obstruction of justice if George Bush the first hadn’t issued a preemptive pardon.
Frankly, I’ve rather enjoyed watching Republican zealots rail against the fates now that they’re no long controlling Congress. That Republicans are so angered to have their own tactics turned against them has provided me with virtually endless entertainment options. I’m not normally one to revel in the downfall and misfortune of others, but Congressional Republicans tend to be such a miserable, joyless lot that I feel no particular guilt in my revelry. But, I digress….
The question at hand is why Republicans can’t govern. Why can’t the GOP run this country without corruption, ineptitude, and the enrichment of their well-heeled friends and supporters. Why is a Republican majority so often characterized by the selective enrichment of the already wealthy and powerful?
The reality is that it’s not greed, incompetence, or self-interest, though those items certainly play a role. No, the reality is that it’s about ideology. Republican philosophy is very much rooted in the “I-got-mine-you-get-your-own” mindset- an attitude that assumes that anyone, with enough luck and hard work, can achieve the American Dream. Of course, hard work and luck are important, but so are things like access to venture capital, the ability to write a business plan, and access to means of production. That there are people locked out of access to these important first steps due to birth or class seems to be lost on Republican ideologues.
Republican political power is very closely tied to money, influence, and those who already possess and cultivate power. To put it mildly, “populist” is not an adjective you’ll ever see married to the word “Republican”.
What is it about conservative administrations that lead them into disgrace and indictment? Incompetence isn’t at the core of these scandals — ideology is.
Conservative presidents — from Nixon to Reagan to Bush — believe in the imperial presidency. They assume that in the area of the national security, the president operates above the law, or as Nixon put it, “When the president does it, that means that it is not illegal.” They operate routinely behind the shield of secrecy and executive privilege, with utter disdain for the law. So Reagan spurned the Congress when it cut off funds for his loony covert war on tiny Nicaragua. And Bush trampled the laws to set up the torture camps in Abu Ghraib, Guant‚àö¬∞namo and elsewhere. Each would seek to keep their lawlessness secret; and that would foster lies, obstruction of justice and ultimately disgrace.
For most Republican Presidents, the ends justify the means. Our Glorious and Benevolent Leader © has Iraq. Ronald Reagan had Iran-Contra. Richard Nixon had Vietnam and Watergate. In a Republican adminstration, power is a cudgel, used to bludegeon opponents, enemies, and anyone else who stands in the way of the Almighty Agenda. Presidential power is a Machiavellian equation, a zero-sum game where no quarter is given and none is asked for or expected.
Second, conservatives are acutely aware that they represent a minority, not a majority, position in America. From Nixon to Lee Atwater to Karl Rove, they play politics and exploit America’s divides with back-alley brass knuckles — from Reagan’s welfare queen to Bush’s impugning the patriotism of Georgia Senator Max Cleland, a Vietnam War hero who literally sacrificed his limbs in the service of his country. They excel in the politics of personal destruction, as Democratic presidential candidates Michael Dukakis and John Kerry discovered. And in the grand tradition of the establishment in American politics, they are relentless in seeking to suppress the vote, particularly of the poor and minorities who would vote against them in large numbers.
If you can’t win on the numbers, if you can’t get the votes on the merits of your arguments or your programs, what’s left but propaganda? The power of words, images, and outright lies and prevarications is something not lost on Republican Presidents, who’ve been employing Josef Goebbels’ “Big Lie” since they first grasped just how easy it is to manipulate the American sheeple.
In the end, Republicans can’t govern because of their dishonest, manipulative ideology. Relying on smoke, mirrors, and propaganda will only get you so far. Bush 41 enjoyed an 88% approval rating after the first Gulf War, and he still managed to lose his bid for re-election. His son’s numbers in the aftermath of 9.11 were similar, and he’s still managed to convince most of America that he’s the Worst President EVER.
Republicans can’t govern because their lust for power is for all the wrong reasons. It’s not that Democrats are any sort of knights in shining armor, but at least most Democratic Presidents and Presidential candidates are running for the right reasons.
