Trust is fragile. For many many years our government functioned smoothly, because when the opposing parties reached an agreement, they kept their word about honoring it. Now, that is only half true. When the Republican Party became the Reich on the Right, the Republican Reich, they the destroyed that trust. How? Listen to the Reich on the Left, Robert Reich!
Donald Trump’s warning that he might not accept the results of the presidential election exemplifies his approach to everything: Do whatever it takes to win, even if that means undermining the integrity of the entire system.
Trump isn’t alone. The same approach underlies Senator John McCain’s recent warning that Senate Republicans will unite against any Supreme Court nominee Hillary Clinton might put up, if she becomes president.
The Republican Party as a whole has embraced this philosophy for more than two decades. After Newt Gingrich took over as Speaker of the House in 1995, compromise was replaced by brinksmanship, and normal legislative maneuvering was supplanted by threats to close down the government – which occurred at the end of that year.
Like Trump, Gingrich did whatever it took to win, regardless of the consequences. In 1996, during the debates over welfare reform, he racially stereotyped African-Americans. In 2010 he fueled the birther movement by saying President Obama exhibited “Kenyan, anticolonial behavior.” Two years later, in his unsuccessful bid for the Republican presidential nomination, he called President Obama the “food stamp president.“
As political observers Norman Ornstein of the American Enterprise Institute and Thomas Mann of Brookings have noted, “the forces Mr. Gingrich unleashed destroyed whatever comity existed across party lines.” Gingrich’s Republican Party became “ideologically extreme; scornful of compromise; unmoved by conventional understanding of facts, evidence and science; and dismissive of the legitimacy of its political opposition.”… [emphasis added]
From <Robert Reich>
Click through for the rest of this excellent article. Throughout the years the Democratic party has homered the agreements they have made, but they have become far less inclined to reach agreements with Republicans, because there is no basis for trust that the Republican Party will honor them. Finally, even some Democrats are adapting Republican tactics. When that happens, such DINOs. like Schultz, must be removed from power. The Reich on the left is right.
The Republican Party is a cancer that must be excised!
6 Responses to “The Reichs and Trust Destroyed”
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Gingrich also removed the requirement for Congree to maintain some kind of residence in the DC area. This exacerbated the divisions. Congressfolk were no longer socializing, and maybe even more important, their families were no longer socializing, with counterparts in the opposite party. This made it much easier to view the other party as non-human.
I enjoyed reading Mr. Reich's article.
It's one worth taking heed from.
Thanks, Tom.
This article illuminates exactly why our country is in the mess we have now. Gingrich and his ilk have much to pay for, but will never suffer the consequences the average American has suffered as a result of their actions.
A phrase comes to mind — the end justifies the means.
For Republicans, their goal is power, and the trappings of power. It is right in the minds of Republicans that any means, legal or illegal, can be used to achieve that goal.
Sic semper evello mortem Tyrannis (Republicanus)
"Thus always I eradicate tyrants' lives", or "death to tyrants" or "down with the tyrant." (Republicans)
In this excellent article Reich again points oit that Drumpf isn't a stand-alone disaster, but a political monster created by two decades of Republicanism, i.e. doing everything it takes to win. This has become the new ethos of the western world as politicians, bankers and corporate CEOs alike stretched the boundaries of what is acceptable to maximize their scores to win whatever game they play.
As Reich points out: "Our economic and political systems appear to be rigged, because, to an increasing extent, they are." and Republicans in all shapes or forms, be it politicians, bankers or corporate CEOs, have rigged it. With reason Reich points out that this new "Republican ethos" isn't down to GOP politicians like Gingrich or newcomer Drumpf only, it has become the mores of a large – and growing – group of people. He's right of course, we can see all around us how people feel the game is rigged and how they've lost the little trust they had in the establishment. The danger lies in the fact that many now have chosen to play the game according to these rules too. Some out of opportunism, some because they've forgotten how it should be played and others out of their perceived need to survive.
Drumpf is the culmination of a Republican process that has been developing for several decades; America now needs a clear electoral loss for Drumpf and the GOP to mark the end of the road for "the Republican game".
Thanks, hugs, and amen to all!