Thursday, October 16, 2008

Where we Find Ourselves

We are at the end of one of the great runs of political dominance in American history. In the last 28 years, one party has been dominant in American political life for 26 of them. Only for the first two years of Bill Clinton’s presidency, while Hillary was still pushing health care to the mostly democratic congress, have the Republicans not been in the driver’s seat.

Deregulation, and Laissez-Faire capitalism, has been the accepted doctrine of America. Abroad, they do not regard this as a Republican movement; they instead call it simply American, or, if they are feeling inclusive, Anglo-American. It has been a religion, the one true way. Liberal became a dirty word. Buoyed by the victory of democracy over communism, we believed that capitalism had vanquished socialism in 1989 as well. Yet now, laissez-faire capitalism is in disrepute and with it the Republican party.

This coming election, it is conceded by even most Republican loyalists, will see the Democrats increase their gains of two years ago in both the house and the senate. Barack Obama’s victory in the presidential race looks increasingly likely as well. The Democrats are in the driver’s seat, and the only question left is not whether they will be in power but how firm their grip on that power will be.

If Obama wins, they could actually undo some of the damage that the Republicans have done.

Republicans have brought us a war fought on false pretenses, and torture. The former is not a vice unique to Republicans, by any means, but it cannot be rewarded with another go around. The past 28 years have broadened the gap between rich and poor so greatly that no wealth trickles down to most people at all, and they have no personal stake in the country’s economic health – and we have done so without making the country economically healthy either. Republican presidents have swelled the federal deficit to huge proportions – perhaps fatal proportions.

We need to toss the bums out – not to obliterate the Republican party, but so that it comes back a new animal, and one capable of again playing a reasonable role the great debates about the issues not only of today, but of tomorrow. It will be a long road for them. It has been a long road for America, but now, at last, there is some light ahead, and we can pray that it is not too late.

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