I am very concerned about the long term extremism that dominates the USA Republican Party. Far too many people are complacent believing that the USA has done pretty well over the last 100 years so that will continue. It need not continue. There are societal level critical risks today due to the behavior of voters over the last 20 years.
We have allowed our health care system to tax the economic well being of the country enormously. We pay twice as much as other rich countries for worse overall health outcomes. We also have huge waste stress and health care avoidance due to how poorly matched the system is to modern life. That tax can be paid and the economy can survive (as we have seen) but it is a large drag on the country and reduces the leeway to survive other mistakes.
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| The USA Capital (photo by John Hunter) |
The Republic Party has been on a long term effort to destroy the rule of law in the USA. The continued tolerance of those that openly tried to overturn the results of the election they lost is a critical issue that anyone that cares about the rule of law should not tolerate.
The behavior of the Trump administration at the Department of Justice and IRS were unacceptable. Trumps personal behavior while President should have resulted in his removal from office for anyone that cared about the rule of law or national security of the USA. The Republic Party failed to put the rule of the law and the country above their personal fears about what Donald Trump would do to their careers. We need to elect people that care about the country first. We have not done so. Unless we change we are taking a huge risk.
We need to stop tolerating those risking the constitutional republic we have been for over 200 years. That is by far the most urgent and critical issue. I cannot see voting for any Republicans that haven't loudly spoken out against the dominant practices (undermining the rule of law, putting a party and person above the interests of the country, ignoring national security concerns...) of the current party leaders. And beyond that having demonstrated their actions to halt such behavior and withhold all support for Republican Party leaders that have gone along and pursued policies that undermine the rule of law and national security of the USA.
Inside Mike Johnson’s Ties to a Far-Right Movement to Gut the Constitution
For the last 10 years, the “Convention of States” movement has sought to remake the Constitution and force a tea party vision of the framers’ intent upon America. This group wants to wholesale rewrite wide swaths of the U.S. Constitution in one fell swoop. In the process, they hope to do away with regulatory agencies like the FDA and the CDC, virtually eliminate the federal government’s ability to borrow money, and empower state legislatures to override federal law.
As far-fetched as this idea might sound, the movement is gaining traction — and now, it believes, it has a friend in the speaker of the House.
The long term efforts of the Republican Party to disenfranchise voters is another completely unacceptable behavior. I am extremely worried about the risk of voters electing even more officials that will overthrow the rule of law in the USA. But it is unacceptable to d disenfranchise such voters. If the voters in the USA decide to vote for those that will take future steps to toss out the constitutional protections we have had in our political discourse the last 200 years then we must deal with the consequences of such a catastrophic result. The Democratic Party in some states does engage in extremely damaging gerrymandering but the level of the the Republican Party's actions in this area have been enormously more damaging to the country. And the Republican Party's continued efforts to suppress voting by those they feel won't vote for them is completely unacceptable and unique to them (in any significant form).
It is easier to ignore the huge risks to our society and hope everything works out ok. That is a huge risk. Once it is obvious that you should have acted strongly 5 or 10 years ago it may well be too late to make a difference.
Don't be complacent. Speak out against those that are placing the USA's future at risk. Take actions to make a difference in avoiding the USA further degrading the protections of the rule of law and a government that is most interested in the interests of the country rather than institutionalized corruption favoring those with political power.
There is always going to be some corruption (Lobbyists Keep Tax Off Billion Dollar Private Equities Deals and On For Our Grandchildren, 2007) but the trends we are seeing and risks under another Trump administration are potentially catastrophic. Waiting until the risks are even more obvious that they are today may well mean you waited past the chance you had to save the future of the USA.
Related: Critical Thinking is Needed to Counter Propaganda (2018) - Preaching False Ideas to Men Known to be Idiots (2010) - The USA Should be Ashamed of Who We have Elected (2017) - Selling Out the Country - We are Electing the Wrong People to Control Our Government (2015) - The Continued Fall of the USA's Political Leaders that We Give Power To (2017) - Living Through Your Society Becoming a Police State (2013) - Society is being shaped for us while we are busy making other plans (2011) - Bikinis For Liberty (2010)
