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The following excerpt from the book was written not after this debate, but a year ago, to highlight the issues rotting away at the core of American democracy...created by the two major parties themselves. It seems to have lost none of its relevancy, and the debate serves to shine a spotlight on the issues it raises. This edition will focus on the Republicans, followed next time by the Democrats. Politics: The Cold Civil War Debate. Negotiation. Compromise. These are the key tenets of a well- functioning democracy, ensuring the most beneficial outcomes for the citizenry and the nation by sharing ideas, modifying positions through discussion, and then implementing consensus-based outcomes. This is not politics in the American Empire of 2024. Bipartisanship is dead, ideology has replaced pragmatism and to compromise is to be “weak” or traitorous to your “side”. While differences of opinion between opposing parties have always been a feature of American democracy, politics is now a zero-sum game: there can be only winners or losers. Positions are entrenched and differences are magnified by a partisan media chasing ratings, clicks and outrage. The two-party system foists on voters a binary choice between equally compromised parties. This political theatre, heavily funded by outside interests and perpetuated by a complicit media, creates an illusion of choice while ensuring that the system continues to function as designed, enriching the oligarchy who maintain the status quo. Let us begin our analysis of the dire health of the US political system by examining the current state of the two major parties of the American oligarchy. The Republicans The Grand Old Party. The party of Abe Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The party of low taxes, small government and minimal state encroachment on personal freedoms. This is not the Republican Party today. Fringe right-wing views and conspiracy theories are presented as fact by its representatives while Fox News, providing 24/7 propaganda in its capacity as the unofficial media arm of the party, forces such views into the mainstream consciousness. Within the Republican Party and the conservative movement more broadly, there exists a fanatical adherence to the idea of individual freedom, which supersedes any notion of collective responsibility – a key component of any well-functioning society. This outlook is applied selectively and cynically. A powerful and influential undercurrent of fundamentalist Christianity also shapes Republican policy, even as fewer and fewer Americans attend church services. The very notion of “conservatism” within the Republican Party is oxymoronic, as these religious influences lead to policies that do not aim for coherence and continuity but impose radical measures that are often contrary to the views of the majority of the country. Meanwhile, Republican donations to the National Rifle Association (NRA) and a cultish adherence to the Second Amendment right to bear arms ensure that any efforts to curb the epidemic of gun violence are defeated. This means that assault rifles designed for military combat are all too readily available and used to devastating effect in mass shootings that occur with predictable and depressing frequency. When James Madison proposed the Second Amendment in 1789, he was guarding against the potential transgressions of a tyrannical federal government, not ensuring that citizens with questionable mental stability could access weapons of war and wander around their schools killing indiscriminately. Elsewhere, rivers of black dollars ensure that attempts to transition away from fossil fuels are stymied and delayed, as industry-sponsored reports spread lies and pseudoscience. Following the same path as Big Tobacco in the twentieth century, Big Oil and its Republican allies will continue using these methods to enrich themselves until the very last second, happy to sacrifice the future health of the nation and the planet. The Republican Party’s extreme interpretation of reproductive rights, propelled by evangelical Christians, masquerades under the misplaced moniker of “pro-life”. “Pro-life” for unborn fetuses, but not for the victims of gun violence, nor the future generations who will have to live with the reality of climate change. “Pro-life” until the moment a child is born, but after this point they are on their own. Any state assistance that would improve the lives of these fetuses when they become children and then adults, be it parental leave or social security, is opposed, such is the party’s ideological reflex. “Pro-life”, then, in only very selective circumstances. The party of small government and personal freedom sees no contradiction in stealing bodily autonomy from women and forcing unwanted pregnancies to term – even after rape, in certain states. This litany of contradiction and destruction was only the state of the Republican Party before it was hijacked by Donald Trump and remade in his image. After four years of enabling the worst impulses of Trump as he unravelled norms and conventions in his attempt to “Make America Great Again”, the party of Lincoln has abandoned the ideals of accountability and democracy. The 2021 Capitol insurrection that led to the deaths of four Trump supporters, incited and cheered on by their leader, has been downplayed and characterized by Republicans as a “normal tourist visit”, with efforts to investigate it labelled as harassment. It should be no surprise that the Republican Party is still happy to enable Donald Trump, even as he spreads dangerous lies about election fraud and undermines the entire democratic process; they have been doing the same for years using other, more covert methods. Facing the reality of demographic changes that could lead to a non-white majority in the next decade, the GOP has decided not to adapt and evolve to appeal to a more diverse voter base, but is instead concentrating on efforts to subvert the democratic process itself. “Project Redmap”, a brazen gerrymandering campaign conceived in 2010 behind locked doors and away from prying eyes, allowed Republicans to redraw voting districts and rig the democratic process to their advantage. With a conservative majority, by 2019 the Supreme Court had made it clear that there was nothing federal courts could do to stop even the most blatant and aggressive gerrymandering, ensuring that these nefarious tactics will not only continue, but increase in both scope and audacity. In the year that followed Trump’s attempted coup, Republicans introduced at least 262 bills in 41 states which aimed to subvert the democratic process and tip the scales unfairly in their favour. One of the most widespread methods deployed has been the attempt to rewrite state election laws in order to give legislatures control over vote counts. Independent non-partisan election officials, subject to threats of violence after the 2020 election, are also being replaced by hyper- partisan adherents to the unfounded “stop the steal” conspiracy theory. At every level, active Republican attempts are ongoing to undermine the integrity of the entire democratic process. Lincoln would surely be turning in his grave at what his party has become. Make sure to tune in next time for the focus to shift to the other main political party in the US, the Democrats.
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