ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY (OR: WHEN A GOOD PARTY GOES BAD.)
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political Activist
Remember a time when the GOP actually stood for something? Fiscal responsibility, smaller government, civil liberty and rights for all? Remember when we were all Republicans when Reagan got shot?
Nowadays, this version of the GOP stands for fear, corruption, and excuses. Not to mention the classic blame game. (“Hey! If we screw up, we can always have someone else take the fall!”)
These last 12 years have proven that to a T. Not only have they ballooned the deficit, enlarged the government, and stripped away every basic right enjoyed by all Americans (not just a select few), but they also become the worst thing to happen to American politics since the Nixon scandal:
The enemy.
In reality, what has happened to the GOP this time around is quite simple: You gain full control of the government, both Houses of Congress, and the Supreme Court, and the rot begins to take root inside that little circle of power. You begin to believe that since you have this full control, the power, and the majority, you can start to let small things like Foley’s inexcusable behavior be covered up. (Or spend millions impeaching a President over a blowjob.)
But it doesn’t end there.
Then you start to look at the little things inside our own society, and believe that things can be changed, if you change people’s perceptions on how things should be run. The first thing which goes is oversight. Then carefully wrought checks and balances. And before you know it, you have people in positions of real authority and power that shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
But it’s all good, because you are the majority and you can do whatever you want.
Which leads to the next level of abuse.
You have everything in place, and everything is going your way. So you start believing that since you are the majority you can now start breaking the law. After all, no one would question you because you have full party support, and after all...it’s only a small law.
No harm there, right? Exactly.
But the old axiom: “A small thing can usually turn into a big something” is true to form in the GOP’s case.
At this point, you are so entrenched in your power base, that you can allow a lot of things to slide, and began to take on a position of outright arrogance and insensitivity.
The Contract with America pledge all but forgotten.
Then 9-11 happens, and right then and there, you begin crafting laws and acts which strips out the people’s rights to privacy, freedom of expression, freedom of speech, habeas corpus, and every other checks and balances which had been set in stone by previous administrations in the last forty years.
(Who needs them! Right? Freedom's waaay overrated these days anyway. 'sides, I've always wanted to live in a police state. No harm in that, eh?)
Because now, you are fighting terrorists, and you now have to treat everyone that you come across as an enemy combatant.
Thus begins the lengthy and secret process of tapping Jim Bob’s phones without a warrant, begin spying on him illegally, and then bug his land lines so that you can sift through his e-mails.
But this is good, because you are fighting terrorists within the borders of your own country–because ol’ Jim Bob here might just be a threat to national security. You have to do it, even though he is a loyal Republican. But then again, party affiliation and/or loyalty no longer matters, does it?
You cannot take that chance. Allies today could very well be the enemy of tomorrow.
Does the Japanese internment camps from the second world war ring a bell? Back then, FDR had every Japanese-American put in such camps because of Pearl Harbor. And if you ever watch Midway, you’ll see why such Japanese-Americans were treated the way they were. It’s a painful lesson in American history–one that we should’ve learned decades later.
Oddly enough, this Republican-led government hasn’t started up internment camps for Muslims since 9-11. But there are persistent rumors that indicate that Bush has begun such initiatives to put anyone (including Muslims) –who isn’t with the government–into such establishments; coined as “Fifth Columnists”.
Maybe they don’t need to–if breaking every law passed down since this country began is enough. (On top of passing acts and laws introduced by both the GOP and Bush have trampled over our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Warrantless spying on the populace, bills which takes away people’s rights to challenge their own government under a judicial setting, and the list (sadly) goes on.)
And odder still, no one in this administration thinks this type of behavior is bad.
In the long run, it all boils down to fear. And the GOP has done everything it can to make us live in fear of one another, just like another generation of Americans had to in another war. And they will do anything to make sure that we do so. Including demonizing us so badly that we will follow them willingly and without dissent. (Nowadays, you can’t question the government without being called a traitor, an unpatriotic American, a “liberal”, a terrorist sympathizer, and whatever other catch-phrase which comes out of the propaganda mill.)
But whatever checks and balances we had have been systematically destroyed by this party's corruption.
And as such, we can no longer call ourselves a democracy if we allow laws and acts passed by this administration and majority Congress to stand.
However, whether or not this country can recover from such a gregarious abuse of power, only future historians can freely speculate.
Assuming they have any freedoms left.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1@yahoo.com
posted by Schuyler Thorpe @ 3:59 PM
0 comments
