Just a summer removed from the midterm elections, Republican leaders in the House and Senate are surely scrambling to show us what they have to offer. After a painful era of divisive politics in which nearly nothing substantial was done legislatively, surely the state and national majority party can read the writing on the wall and propose a serious agenda which is not based on pandering to our nation's fears.
If you believe that, where have you been the past seven years? This summer, Republican leaders and other key counterfeit conservatives will push for a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, attempt to outlaw flag burning and continue to clamp down on abortion. If building a stronger America means exploiting cultural rifts that have nothing to do with governance, the GOP has done admirable work.
In reality, the majority leadership has ignored America's real national security needs, such as fixing our nation's infrastructure and protecting our civil liberties from future presidents who will use the Bush administration as precedent for future infractions. Instead they hope to lure the base with shinier political bait like gays being married and liberals burning Old Glory in their spare time. All of this means those of us who prefer to fish with worms can expect the same old tactics this November.
The farce of a "moral" agenda is finally falling apart nationally as tax cuts for the wealthy trump social services for the low income set. The farce succumbs locally as the Taxpayer Protection Amendment promises to protect us from high fees and the moral claims of our fellow man.
Gubernatorial candidate Mark Green's plan is to import stringent abortion laws, including imprisoning women who want to abort a rapist's baby, and letting pharmacists withhold birth control from patients if they find it morally objectionable. With all of these pointless wedge issues exploiting the fervor of faith to advance neoliberalism, Mr. Green's platform is fast food quality politics, in this case a #4, the Rove combo.
Regardless of Mr. Green's record, Gov. Doyle has proven incapable at promoting a more rational agenda. Although argument can be made this would be futile given the GOP majority in the statehouse, it is his responsibility to set the agenda, not react to one. In this sense, his term has been a failure.
If state politics confuse you, think of them as a microcosm of the national political landscape, where the exploitation of meaningless wedge issues such as gay adoption to drive down turnout and win on the strength of a fanatical base is combined with an impotent minority party. It worked great for a while, that is until it became painfully obvious the big government Republicans are running one of the most dysfunctional bureaucracies in our nation's history.
I do not intend to advocate for unlimited government spending, or any other liberal initiatives. But for the love of God, if you claim to love the Lord please read a Bible.
Still not completely convinced government hasn't learned anything from the past seven years? Rather than engage in one-on-one talks with Iran, the administration is already advocating strong-arm tactics such as sanctions which could have a profound impact on the Iranian people. (So much for moral values and the value of democratic elections.) All the while Iran may be years away from acquiring one small nuclear warhead.
There may be no plan to attack Iran. Yet the administration must realize that a hard-line policy only takes us closer to the precipice. Then again, a public debate (i.e. who has the scariest, funniest, best voiced over commercial) on Iran strategy may be just the thing to display the GOP's strong security credentials. It's a debate that needs to be had, but I don't ever want to hear Mr. Bush claim he didn't want to be the war president.
These wars and domestic strife aren't begotten, they are the hard-earned result of flawed policy and shameless political pandering. You can expect more of the same old tactics, and honestly they might work one last time in November. When we are left to sift through the wreckage of out of control deficits, more extreme enemies who control our energy supply and corroded social institutions, let's not deride politicians for more of the same old tactics. We'll know exactly where the blame falls. It is, after all, our government.
Bassey Etim ([email protected]) is a junior majoring in political science and journalism.
