#502 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Monday November 7)
Good morning,
CONSERVATIVES, REPUBLICANS AND TRUMPISTS
I had breakfast with a fellow alienated middle of the roader, left behind by the political forces of our time. We were discussing whether there is such a thing as “conservative values,” and whether current Republicans even stand for such values. My analysis of this phenomenon is not intended to give a “free pass” to the Democratic party or liberals (who have their own issues), but to focus on the Republican party and its divergence not only from democracy and truth, but its own traditional core values.
Think of a series of circles that include certain values, all overlapping to one degree or another, forming a larger Venn Diagram. In the circle of “conservative values” are some pretty obvious ones:
1. Value of higher education, science, and data
2. Valuing the free press and creating/expanding the press and the discussion and analysis of issues
3. Conservative fiscal policy and spending
4. Strong international alliances
5. Free trade
6. Valuing the rule of law and respecting those attempting to enforce it
7. Robust military and defensive foreign policy
8. Reduce government red tape and waste (make government work better)
9. Government NOT restricting what you can do, nor proscribing what you cannot do
10. Strong belief in community and community solutions to provide for those in need
WINNING OVER IDEOLOGY
Parties are different animals than ideological groupings. They existed initially to draw people together of like philosophy but, importantly, to win elections. Not all Republicans in prior generations embraced all of the conservative values and included Northeastern “big spenders” and coastal liberals, who signed on to most, but not all of these principles. They stuck together because they shared enough interests. The bulk of the party faithful would adhere to at least most of the historically “conservative” ideals and they would march off together to win elections.
Today, the “circle” that defines Republicans overlaps with these conservative values, but not nearly as much as it used to. In fact, it almost is as if the overlap of these circles has all but disappeared, with few traditional ideals that defined the party is its primary in years past.
THE WHACKY SUBSET
Then along came the third circle of belief and interest, which overlaps with the first two. Trump, insurrectionists, Proud Boys, QAnon, authoritarian-leaning folks, conspiracy theorists, and xenophobes, who bring with them not only the natural party-oriented objective of “retaining power,” but expanded to include retaining control of government at any expense, including through restriction of voting rights, overturning elections, and perpetuating governance by the minority. They might add “standing up for the under-skilled, working folks from aggrieved industries and geographies” (which heretofore might have been seen more as the rallying cry of liberals) and “taking back America” (which still sounds like trying to slow the demographic and political ascendancy of non-white Americans.
WHERE THEY STAND NOW
What has happened is that the Republican circle has retained the desire to retain power, while many within the party have gravitated toward either accepting the myths that animate the Trumpist circle (including the sense of agrievement and the desire to hold power at any cost) or give lip-service and quarter to these absurd claims (thereby strengthening and legitimizing them). At the same time, Republicans have veered away from their core conservative principles, embracing some of the more radical and anti-conservative views of the Trumpian/America-first/isolationist/authoritarian wing of the party. They also embrace a move away from data-driven policy-making, scientific fact and the value of experts. How is this? Let’s review the values:
1. Republicans used to support our colleges and universities, valuing education, data, and classically liberal ideals. Republicans now want to cut funding to these institutions and quasi-governmental agencies like Voice of America and the National Endowment of the Arts. The past administration did all it could to minimize reporting data on the pandemic or taking it seriously, in order to reduce political fallout from telling the truth. Data continues to be abandoned in place of “feeling” things aren’t right (e.g., “I can’t prove election fraud—that’s hard to do—but I know it happened).
2. The conservative movement used to be a vibrant place of competing ideas being debated in an ever-expanding universe of publications, like The National Review, Commentary, the Public Interest and other instrumentalities of the free press. Now, many Republicans claim the free press is the “enemy of the people” and limit their consumption of news and exchange of ideas to partisan “journalists” who do not even attempt to see another point of view. In days gone by, it was conservative journalists and commentators, like William F. Buckley, who stood against the the racist fringe, the John Birch Society. Today’s conservative media stokes the flames.
3. If you believe in restricting spending and not running huge deficits for the federal government, you would have to have been opposed to reducing marginal tax rates and the capital gains tax to levels below those during the Reagan administration. Government deficits fuel inflation. Those deficits are enhanced by the artificial creation of budget shortfalls. So how does any Republican look in the mirror and say they’re in favor of fiscal responsibility and equitable taxation, while giving hedge fund managers and venture capitalists the “carried interest” exception, that taxes their wages at less than half of the rates of the rest of us?
4. The Republican party was the party of international alliances. They supported NATO and other international organizations that furthered our moral and political interests. Mr. Trump pooh-pooh’ed NATO. NATO grows stronger under Biden. In the meantime, there is the steady drumbeat among the Republicans (including putative soon-to-be Speaker of the House McCarthy) that we have to stop supporting Ukrainian resistance to Russian invasion and atrocities.
5. Free Trade. Under Trump, we pulled out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership and engaged in a trade war with China. How’s that working out? That said, a little “de-globalization” won’t hurt us.
6. In the category of “the rule of law,” one can lament the cries of a minority of Democrats to “defund the police.” But how does one square the circle of support for law enforcement when the Republicans are blistering and relentless in their attacks on the Justice Department and the FBI? They have done irreparable damage to their supporters’ support of federal law enforcement. Their leaders (including Trump) defy subpoenas and waste time and money (see, e.g., the big “nothing-burger” on the Russian “collusion hoax” investigation) and otherwise undermine law enforcement as being for the other team. This is the same law enforcement that practically handed the election to Mr. Trump with the series of press conferences regarding Hillary’s emails. In the meantime, Trump retains (i.e., steals) government documents and lies as to their delivery, whereabouts and classification. The judiciary is under attack as well. Despite 61 cases that the “big lie” of widespread election fraud was unproven, they have informed their base that this doesn’t have any weight.
7. Robust military. I think some Republicans may still hold to this value. But the noises about backing away from Ukrainian support and the fawning over Putin don’t comport with the conservatives’ historical position on military power.
8. Both parties waste money and fill bills with pork. They both say they’re in favor of reducing government waste and want to make government operate better. Why, then, did the Republican party vote against (and argue against) providing more IRS agents and support to go after tax evaders?
9. Finally, the Republican party no longer values the libertarian notion that the government is there to serve the people and not restrict the people, unless a behavior endangers others. How does gay marriage do anything other than promote family values? Why do we care what happens in someone else’s home? Who is any political party to say whom we should love? And absent any religious determination that a fetus has “personhood,” how can we restrict a woman’s right to control over her own body? Legalize most drugs. Legalize most everything. Only in carrying a gun, where there are legitimate arguments of public safety to reduce this right a bit, are Republicans in favor of individual rights. Strange.
My conclusion? If you believe in traditional conservative values, you probably belong somewhere in the Joe Manchin – Mitt Romney – Ben Sasse continuum. Otherwise, the party is in pursuit of power at any cost, regardless of their once highly debated and well-established principles.
INFLATION AND BIDEN
I’m sure you’ve received your share of memes blaming the high price of milk or eggs, or the rate of inflation, on President Biden. I hope we all understand that the president doesn’t sit at a “master control panel,” dialing up inflation as he or she wishes. But I have no understanding of how U.S. inflation is Biden’s fault, in a world where inflation is rampant generally, in large measure due to supply chain issues, government spending, and prolonged cheap credit globally. Is he also responsible for the 10% inflation in the U.K.?
Have a great day,
Glenn
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