BALTIMORE, Maryland February 29, 2016 (Leap Day) - On a day that comes only once every four years, you might hear bubbling at the core of the GOP, but only if you listen closely. Now understand, when I say "core," it has nothing to do with conservatism. A huge conceptual problem is now embroiling the Republican party. Some say the 'core' of the GOP is not conservative and is, in fact, nothing but a front for the Chamber of Commerce. A 'core' conservative and a 'core' Republican are not the same thing these days, if, in fact, they ever were similar. Unless you are really paying attention, you might wonder what the catalyst is for the high heat of the parties to the imbroglio. Let us identify the interest groups which are at war with each other, and their views on the core issues.
Group A: Known as the Washington Insiders, in truth, many of the movers and shakers sit far from the Nation's Capital. Group A consists of Elected Republicans who, once ensconced in office, make preservation of power and prestige their major pursuit. Their publicly stated interests - things like freedom, liberty, military readiness, racial equality, due process, and real fidelity to the Constitution - are, in fact, not that important and often act as impediments to the major goals stated above. Other essential and active members of Group A are well-heeled donors. The so-called people with the dough, this group stays in constant contact with the elected Republicans described above because it is those elected reps who work towards the legislative goals of the big dough participants in Group A. If one is seeking a point of reference for those in Group A, think of 'Chamber of Commerce" types. They favor open borders and amnesty because they want cheap labor; i.e., a glut of cheap labor that depresses wages. A glut of cheap labor, if you think it through, also is essential to other Group A goals such as watered down freedom of speech standards, watered down due process standards, greatly enhanced executive salaries (now don't get me wrong, I have nothing against anyone making whatever salary or wage they can. I abhor President Obama's appeal to curtailed salaries because in reality in a free society the chief executive of the government has absolutely no business medling in this area. When Obama goes here, he is, in fact, seeking a marxist goal of salary equality or 'everybody makes the same, whether you are a brain surgeon or floor sweeper.) Group A people support standard old-time Republican policy objectives, but only in public. Privately and actually, they oppose many of these executives. They may say they want the border closed, but in private they oppose it with all of their might. Another example of Group A in action was the recent Washington meeting of GOP big wheels interested in short-circuiting Donald Trump. I'm still not sure whether the participants in that meeting wanted it to be under the radar or, in fact, meant to get caught so that people like, well, Donald Trump, might worry about what his prospects really are if he didn't drop out or radically change directions. Poster children for Group A include the well-heeled donors at the meeting, Kentucky Senator Mitch McConnell, House Speaker Paul Ryan and Karl Rove. Fox Executive Roger Ailes is also a member. Ailes is the mover and shaker at Fox but does not have editorial control over some of the on-screen folk. Included in the independent Fox people are Sean Hannity, Greta van Susteran and Bill O'Reilly. Slightly less 'free' to say what's on their minds are Megyn Kelly and Brett Baier, although the constraints are few, and for different reasons. Baier is such a good person and good journalist that he'd have to really go off the deep end to get reigned in. Kelly was quickly heading for the same status as Hannity and O'Reilly when she tripped over the Donald Trump question at the first GOP debate. She is said to be far too liberal for Fox's overall comfort zone, but she is a ratings motherlode and the inside plan is to keep her as long as they can. In and of itself, money is no object. But they can't pay her so much that what they pay the other ratings monsters gets called into question. Group A folk are coalesced behind Marco Rubio. This is a powder keg in a lot of ways. I like Rubio, but I see a bit of Napoleon in him. This may well be good. Or it might blow up. People who support Rubio for a given reason might get more than they bargained for if he wins. Be careful what you wish for. Finally, the thing that defines Group A and helps observers determine who falls into that Group is how desperate they are to keep Trump and Crews from becoming president.
Group B: Donald Trump and his campaign staff. People who have announced they support Trump for President. Latest member: Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions. Trump supports an absolute lock-down of the southern border and a temporary abolition of the right of Islamic folk to immigrate here.
Group C: Senator Ted Crews, Presidential Candidate, Arch Conservative, Mark Levin, Radio and soon-to-be television host. These two men redefine what it is to be conservative. There was a time when a conservative really was thought of as someone who was rich, unimaginative when it came to social issues, slow to get on board on freedom of speech issues, opposed to all things government, especially government-issued regulations that apply to business, and opposed to any cuts to the military budget. Conservatives were also thought of as slow-to-support core civil rights for minorities. Crews and Levin show that some of these old descriptions either were never true or haven't been true for a long time. A Crews Conservative (or Mark Levin Conservative) is actually the most forward thinking group functioning on the American Scene. These conservatives defend the vigorous liberty and freedoms provided in the noble and ageless American Constitution at all cost, oppose virtually any curtailment of the ability of the American Military to defend liberty and freedom anywhere in the world, and also oppose any policy initiative that curtails the freedom and liberty that American Citizens are guaranteed in the Constitution and Bill of Rights. These conservatives virulently oppose the concept of the American Constitution and Bill of Rights as a 'living and breathing document.' To them, the Constituion and Bill of Rights are a set of bedrock freedoms and principles that, in and of themselves, define what it is to be American. These rights and freedoms do not change or evolve. Thus, when the Constitution and Bill of Rights say that there is freedom of speech, freedom to keep and bear arms, and that American Citizens are guaranteed life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, they mean exactly that and they mean it forever. Crews supports these things. Levin takes to the air waves five nights a week to support these things. They support these things even when it isn't popular to support them.
There are a lot of issues that people in Group A pay lip service to but privately oppose. Many of these issues are also publicly supported by those in Group B and Group C. But the people in Group B and Group C also support these policy initiatives in private and with their entire heart and soul. The people in Group B support these policy issues because the failure of the political classes - Republican and Democrat - to deal with them in a way that a huge majority of the American people want them to is their reason for being. Donald Trump, as a political phenomenom, exists because no one on the left and many on the right did not want the southern border closed and did not want to repeal Obamacare. Trump has promised to slam the southern border door closed and to repeal Obamacare. The people in Group C believe in the same things because they believe they are the right and correct things to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment