Republicans And Bush-Cheney Totalitarianism

After eight years Americans rejected "compassionate conservatism," "American internationalism," "ownership society," and "war on terror." Most Americans don’t want the Palin-Cheney-Romney agenda

[On National Politics]

This past weekend the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) held their annual conference in Washington, D.C. and many of the party stalwarts and presidential hopefuls such as Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, Glenn Beck, and former Vice President Dick Cheney were in attendance.

After watching the videos and reading the speeches one can clearly see a party that is at war with itself in terms of ideology and imagery. Are they the party of the “tea-baggers” with Dick Armey and Sarah Palin or the party of Mitt Romney who has now moved to the right on abortion and gay rights when he once support them. So is Romney now against health-care reform which he championed as governor of Massachusetts? What do the Republican’s stand for and which face will they turn to as they articulate their message?

On the one hand, the head of the Young Americans for Freedom’s California chapter, Ryan Sorba was booed off of the stage for condemning CPAC for accepting sponsorship from GOProud, a group that represents gay Republicans: “I’d like to condemn CPAC for bringing GOPride to this event–Guess what. Civil rights are grounded in natural rights. Natural rights are grounded in human nature.”

Keynote speaker Glenn Beck repudiated RNC Chairman Michael Steele’s attempt to open the party to more Americans with the “Big Tent” approach. Beck said, “All they’re taking about is: ‘We need a big tent. We need a big tent. Can we get a bigger tent’ What is this, a circus?”

A straw poll was conducted during the CPAC conference. One of the questions asked attendees, when looking ahead towards 2012 was, who would they vote for as the next Republican nominee for President? Texas Rep. Ron Paul received 31 % of the votes cast; Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney received 22 %; and Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was a distant third with a paltry 7 %.

What is more telling than the question regarding the potential nominee are the next two questions. When asked if they were satisfied with the field of potential candidates, 53% of the respondents answered “no.” When asked about the image presented by political figures, ideologues like Beck and Rush Limbaugh, both received 70% favorable ratings.

The problem with ideologies is that by themselves they are not rational. They tend to focus on and confuse the imagery of the “should be” and “ought to be” with the practical “is.”

Without people who are able to inject pragmatism and tie logic and reason to an ideology, it can take an institution, group or country down some very perilous roads. This is why ideologues like Beck and Limbaugh would make terrible politicians. The ideologies they have articulated have made for very bad public policy. Ideologues are so focused on the “should be” that they fail to take into account the practical applications of the “how.”

During President George W. Bush’s administration neo-conservative ideologues hijacked American politics and policy. The so-called Reagan Republicans co-opted American domestic and foreign policy. At the same time, Christian social conservatives controlled the party’s social agenda in an attempt to redefine American values.

The fact that oil and energy companies had unchecked influence over American energy policy, while pharmaceutical and insurance companies were writing health care policy is an example of corporatism. President Bush and Vice-President Cheney’s attempt to consolidate power within the Executive Branch through the implementation of the Unitary Executive Theory is a clear example of autocracy. The invasion of sovereign non-threatening nations and the use of unilateral foreign policy is a good example of militarism. The Bush 41’administration ignored the protections guaranteed by the Constitution through their attacks on civil rights and civil liberties, the suspension of habeas corpus, warrantless wiretapping, ignored the FISA court, extraordinary renditions, and torture. These are examples of totalitarianism.

After eight years of ideological babble such as “compassionate conservatism,” “American internationalism,” “ownership society,” and “war on terror,” Americans rejected this failed direction. They began to focus on real issues such as home foreclosures, affordable healthcare, outsourcing American jobs, global warming, and sky rocketing energy costs.

The majority of Americans do not want the country to go backwards as the Palin’s, Cheney’s and Romney’s want to take it. The majority of Americans are not listening to the rhetoric and diatribes of Limbaugh, Hannity, and Beck. Americans want to move forward and are looking for workable long-term solutions not slogans.

As America moves towards the 2010 mid-term elections and 2012, what will the Republicans stand for and which face will they turn to as they articulate their message?

 

Black Star News columnist Dr. Wilmer Leon is the Producer and Host of the Sirius/XM call-in talk radio program “On With Leon,” and a Teaching Associate in the Department of Political Science at Howard University in Washington, D.C.  Go to www.wilmerleon.com or email: [email protected].

© 2010 InfoWave Communications, LLC.

Feel free to post your comments directly or submit them to [email protected]

“Speaking Truth To Empower.” 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *