Have We Really Fallen This Far? Since the 2012 election, it seems a week cannot go by without some Republican leader coming forth with a new plan to “reinvent” the party.  Much in the same tone, we just as regularly see a Democrat decrying the downfall of the Republican Party.  I think what I see is this: Faced with a brutal self-examination following their loss to Obama and their failure to take control of the Senate (both instances where they had, at worst, decent prospects of success), the Republican party was faced with two choices.  One was to reshape itself in order to better appeal to the voters that many see as essential to any electoral victory; Hispanic, black, and female voters.  The other choice was to reopen the question on exactly what the party stands for; an honest and wide-ranging debate on the real principles that underpin the party.  Unfortunately, the Republican Party has apparently chosen the former; now desperately seeking ways to make it more attractive to the right demographic and trying to outbid the Democrats in the giveaway bonanza game called legislating. 

To its credit, the Democratic Party has always been rather shameless about its approach to elections.  Its simple rule is to win at all costs and it has always responded with a wink and a nod to anyone who comes in proximity of inquiring about this method.  If ever this practice was put to the test, it was in November of 2012.  The Republicans incessantly debated through the primaries the lunacy of Obamanomics.  Mitt Romney held forth that any reasonable, pragmatic person should recognize that his approach to executive administration was far more professional than that of Obama.  Alas, the results simply bore out the suspicions of many that the Republicans were bringing a knife to a gunfight.  Now, after decades of labeling the Democrats as shameless, the Republicans have thrown shame to the wind and themselves enthusiastically into the bidding war.

Oh, for the lack of a statesman.  Are there no individuals of either party who are willing to decide the merit of pending legislation based on merit and not on the size and source of campaign donations?  Can’t we have candidates who speak the speech to every crowd they address, without changing their speech patterns and without shameless pandering?  Why can’t we somehow find a media outlet that seeks to evaluate and present these candidates on their positions and principles rather than their ability to read teleprompters and wear tailored suits?

It is hard to see how any third party candidate could win a major election in our political system; the deck is simply too stacked against it.  However, with the Democrats and Republicans falling over each other to please each and every voter (on an individual and differing basis…let’s not be bothered with hypocrisy), the time would certainly seem ripe for that right person who can stand up for what they believe, relay that conviction to the voter, and manage to somehow strike the right tone for the moderates of each party to find some success in our political arena.  Is it time for a statesman (stateswoman) to come sweeping in out of left (or right) field?

A Perilous Journey, Indeed.  Fasten your seat belts, secure your belongings, check all the hatches…we are about to embark on a remarkable journey.  A journey that will answer the question: Can this nation ship survive a voyage with a fool at the helm?  Barely three months into the trip, the prospects are not promising.  Our navigator is merrily sticking his nose into the wind, boldly going where….well, actually, where no one with good sense would go.

This is a captain who compares the Israel-Palestine issue to USA-Canada.  This is a man who states repeatedly that our nation does not have a spending problem.  This is a man who sees executive branch leadership as annihilating the opposing party so that no negotiation is required.  This is man who will say anything, to anyone, at anytime, in any place, with absolutely no respect for what he has said before or for the passage of time since he said it.  This is man who lives like a king; he and his entourage taking royal trips and vacations while crying out to the masses for the wealthy to pay more lest the poor be trodden underneath it all.  Not bound by what he has said before, nor by the hard lessons of history, he charts a new path of promised prosperity based on the premise that a diminished few individuals, with the courage to risk all they have to build wealth and opportunity for others, will continue to do what they do while keeping much less and giving much more to others who choose not to try at all.  This is a man who faced with a momentous victory, chooses to continue the battle rather than make the peace.  This is a man who rewards his cronies and lackeys with positions of power or financial gain in order to keep them in the palace.  This is a man who thinks all people can have the best of medical care while only a handful pays the doctor bills.  This is a man who despite obvious gaffes, miscalculations, and blatant statements of falsehoods, has cast a magical spell over much of the media and helped them to diminish themselves to a point of near-irrelevance.  This is a man who was given an opportunity to accomplish great things and instead, chose to pursue petty conquests for personal gain. 

How this nation weathers this trip is yet to be determined.  How history will reflect this captain is certainly an open question.  How long can the weight of this nation’s responsibilities to those who finance it be supported by empty promises and foolish rhetoric?    Time will tell, my friends; time will tell.