Republicans losing American values

    It is, perhaps, the result of a topsy-turvy political environment when a democrat finds himself asking: Where are American values?
    These days, even republicans should be upset at this administration’s shameless reversal of primary tenets of the conservative doctrine. Bush turns his own party’s creed inside-out.
    Consider the traditional republican encouragement of devolution of centralized power to states, communities and families. One can trace the conceptual genealogy of this imperative back to our nation’s founding through anti-imperial revolution.
    The distribution and decentralization of power also acquires deeper emphasis in the context of a republican worldview since it empowers individuals and families. Ideologically, transferring power to individuals is seen as liberating and enlightening: It makes people “responsible” to themselves and for their actions, in opposition to, for example, subjection to a monarch.
    But what, in fact, have the republicans been doing for the past six years, but constructing the largest state apparatus of control in human history? It is difficult not to see the centralization of power which has taken place under the controlled guidance of our so-called republican leaders.
    A prime example of this centralizing movement is evidenced in the finality with which White House decisions have come to be treated. Consider only the hundreds of “signing statements” issued by this president whose purpose is to state his own interpretation, and often novel definition, of what is legal. 
    Essentially, these signing statements single-handedly legislate and “justify” the president’s solo decision-making. By tacitly accepting their authority (and not speaking truth to power) the senate and the congress have self-destructively made themselves accomplices to this not-so-subtle coup d’etat.
    Ironically, he calls attention to this himself — he is after all, in his own sophomoric understanding, the “decider.”
    The pseudo-religious sanctity with which Bush (and many republicans) clad themselves around elections and to justify ethnic-religious violence is not just perverse, but amounts to an even subtler centralization: the constant reference to God as “guide” implies that his decisions are indirectly imbued with religious authority.
    We should be worried about this gradual convergence of religion and politics, just as we should worry about the gradual condensation of power into higher and higher echelons of the political hierarchy — finally into one person, the President, again recreating the imperialism which Republican values are set firmly against.
    The irony is, of course, that it is a Republican, and not a Democrat, who is mostly responsible for this U-turn.
    So, to review, republicans have several important reasons to be upset with this administration.
    First, even though conservatives tend to feel strongly about many religious issues, most realize that the president should not be violating the separation between church and state — a lesson, once again, America learned from breaking with the bloody cycles of religious wars in European history.
Second, republicans also believe in shifting power to states and counties—whereas the power grab by the White House (using 9/11 as justification) had as its goal the creation of the most extensive state mechanism of control since National Socialism, and probably ever, when you consider the technological sophistication of modern methods of surveillance.
    Third, most Republicans believe that fiscal conservatism is the key to a successful, self-sustaining economy: and what is the current fiscal attitude of our dear Republican representatives but prodigality, an irresponsible spending spree in the throes of record-breaking deficits?
    So, don’t believe this administrations lies anymore. They want to trick us: They’re sneaky, unaccountable and can’t be trusted. The President dishonors the grand old party every minute he’s not impeached.
    We spit on American values every time a detainee is tortured, every second the troops aren’t brought home, every time the president says we’re fighting against “evil” when he knows we’re gleefully bringing it, fermenting it and reaping it.
Let us be skeptical when (emotional) “reasons” are given for violent means.
    Let’s wake up and stop falling for the same trick over and over again.
    But what’s the alternative? Of course, you know I think we need democrats in power. A lot of this damage is irreversible, but you’ve got to remove the source of infection before you can start healing the wound.
    But, how can we trust the democrats? They all seem to say something different. And that’s scary, right? I mean, how can a bunch of supposedly “smart” people disagree?
    However, if you think about it, the democrats supposed lack of a “unified vision” is actually a symptom of their faith in that most important of American values which this administration has rejected: the repressed art of thinking for yourself.

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Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 20 2006. Filed under Opinion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry