In 1951 David B. Truman, president of Mount Holyoke College, published The Governmental Process: Political Interests and Public Opinion, a monumental, scholarly work on the political science of special interest groups and the federal government. Truman illustrates his chief points with history, and he offers insightful anecdotes about many of the chief twentieth century interest groups such as the American Federation of Labor, the National Association of Manufacturers, the Grange, and the American Medical Association. Truman integrates his discussion of interest groups with a discussion of the structure of the federal government; he shows how the structure of Congress, the presidency, and the Supreme Court determine how interest groups behave.
In Truman's chapter on the executive branch, which is near the end of the book, he dissects the characteristics of successful and effective American presidents. He writes this (p. 403):
The president's leadership of the legislature depends heavily upon his symbolic supraparty position. Although he cannot completely ignore the pleas of partisanship, he must play upon the multiple memberships of both fellow party-members and nominal opponents in order to effect winning support for the cause he is championing.
Truman also writes this (p. 402):
The president's partisanship and partiality among groups must be kept within limits...despite the need to maintain cohesion among the elements that helped him to power. The process by which he is nominated and elected inevitably gives some groups better access to him than others can command, but as the dominant symbol of the nation, he cannot be completely identified with a segment of it...The measure of detachment imposed on a president by his position as a chief of state is not necessarily a handicap. The obligation to remain minimally accessible to all legitimate interests in the society can supply him with a measure of independence and a persuasive power that effectively supplements his formal authority.
By these measures, President Barack Obama's presidency has been a failure. He has failed to represent all of America. This failure is due to the American media, which no longer offers diversity of viewpoints that reflect the range of legitimate views in America--a problem that Truman discusses at length but which has become more serious since Truman's day, when it was already a matter of concern. Rather, like the media in a totalitarian state, the American media attempts to delegitimize legitimate opinion that deviates from Obama's narrow party line.
Obama represents the interests of one segment of America: the pro-Wall Street left wing of the Democratic Party. He has made no effort to compromise, whether it be in his ideologically motivated health reform, his failed cap-and-trade proposal, his use of the IRS to target conservatives and other dissidents, and his attacks on the states in areas like his No Child Left Behind Act, er, I mean Common Core.
Obama has so divided America that, for the first time since the 1960s, we see pockets of armed resistance to the federal government. The contretemps at the Cliven Bundy ranch is a symptom of failed president who has divided rather than united a nation. The media's ideologues, ever eager to support the federal government's authority, paint the militia who support Bundy as extremists. Their extremism is the fruit of Obama's extremism and the extremism of the American media, which does not tolerate dissent.
Showing posts with label partisanship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label partisanship. Show all posts
Friday, April 25, 2014
Monday, March 8, 2010
Partisanship and the Politics of Failure
Partisanship has replaced patriotism. On the one hand, we have Democrats who are loyal to the collectivist dream, to the vision of Swedish and German national socialism. As well, the Democrats consider it necessary to put the economic needs of Paul Pelosi, George Soros and the Service Employees International Union before American freedom. On the other hand, the Republicans thought up the bailout and have been scrupulously loyal to the needs of the pharmaceutical industry.
Neither party has pursued policies that would maximize America's well being. These are cutting by two thirds the book of regulation, the tax burden and the size of government.
The media, which is on Wall Street's payroll, have painted American politics as a partisan contest instead of a partisan collaboration. On the one side, MSNBC claims that Obama is America's savior. On the other side, Rush Limbaugh claims that the GOP is. The Democrats advocate national socialism while the Republicans advocate national socialism without welfare programs. There is much overlap, especially because the GOP has never seen a Democratic welfare program that they wanted to repeal. That is, the difference in advocacy is not matched by different action. Both parties advocate big government.
The media's emphasis on partisanship is one more in a long line of distraction tactics, a three card Monty trick. It is one more way that Wall Street's lackeys help divert Americans from the current system's failure.
To the extent that Americans have allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the scam, they have suffered. The real hourly wage now is the same as it was in 1971. Forty years of stagnation thanks to the Socialists of Both Parties.
Somehow, neither Limbaugh nor MSNBC managed to "just say 'No!'" to Federal Reserve monetary policies that transfer large amounts of wealth to Wall Street and the recent trillion dollar bailout of the same Street. Put together, the monetary subsidies to the money center banking system serve no productive economic purpose unless you wish to claim that the money center financial institutions have been adept at choosing innovative investments to spur the American economy. But if you claim that you need to explain why they need multi-trillion dollar bailouts.
No industry has failed more dramatically, has demonstrated less competence, has proven itself less capable of serving any socially redeeming function than the money center banking institutions that have received trillions of dollars in subsidies. This is not an emotional assessment. No industry in history has ever depended on life support to that degree, has more egregiously sucked assets out of the productive sector of any economy than has the money center banking system.
Yet, Mr. Limbaugh, MSNBC, the New York Times, and Fox are all scrupulously loyal to it.
Americans need to reconsider their love affair with the mass media. On the one side, the Republicans love to hate it. On the other, the Democrats have replaced their natural thought processes with the parroting of entire sentences from the mass media's dim wits. Both sides have lost the habit of thinking for themselves.
As well, Americans need to consider whether the two party system continues to work in their interests. Jefferson said that there needs to be a revolution every twenty years. The current two party system has been in place for 150 years. Over time, corrupt relationships have developed. The solution proposed about a century ago was to expand federal power. But that solution has failed. Partisanship has become much of the problem, not the solution. Unless, that is, you believe in "Socialism in One Country."
Neither party has pursued policies that would maximize America's well being. These are cutting by two thirds the book of regulation, the tax burden and the size of government.
The media, which is on Wall Street's payroll, have painted American politics as a partisan contest instead of a partisan collaboration. On the one side, MSNBC claims that Obama is America's savior. On the other side, Rush Limbaugh claims that the GOP is. The Democrats advocate national socialism while the Republicans advocate national socialism without welfare programs. There is much overlap, especially because the GOP has never seen a Democratic welfare program that they wanted to repeal. That is, the difference in advocacy is not matched by different action. Both parties advocate big government.
The media's emphasis on partisanship is one more in a long line of distraction tactics, a three card Monty trick. It is one more way that Wall Street's lackeys help divert Americans from the current system's failure.
To the extent that Americans have allowed themselves to be bamboozled by the scam, they have suffered. The real hourly wage now is the same as it was in 1971. Forty years of stagnation thanks to the Socialists of Both Parties.
Somehow, neither Limbaugh nor MSNBC managed to "just say 'No!'" to Federal Reserve monetary policies that transfer large amounts of wealth to Wall Street and the recent trillion dollar bailout of the same Street. Put together, the monetary subsidies to the money center banking system serve no productive economic purpose unless you wish to claim that the money center financial institutions have been adept at choosing innovative investments to spur the American economy. But if you claim that you need to explain why they need multi-trillion dollar bailouts.
No industry has failed more dramatically, has demonstrated less competence, has proven itself less capable of serving any socially redeeming function than the money center banking institutions that have received trillions of dollars in subsidies. This is not an emotional assessment. No industry in history has ever depended on life support to that degree, has more egregiously sucked assets out of the productive sector of any economy than has the money center banking system.
Yet, Mr. Limbaugh, MSNBC, the New York Times, and Fox are all scrupulously loyal to it.
Americans need to reconsider their love affair with the mass media. On the one side, the Republicans love to hate it. On the other, the Democrats have replaced their natural thought processes with the parroting of entire sentences from the mass media's dim wits. Both sides have lost the habit of thinking for themselves.
As well, Americans need to consider whether the two party system continues to work in their interests. Jefferson said that there needs to be a revolution every twenty years. The current two party system has been in place for 150 years. Over time, corrupt relationships have developed. The solution proposed about a century ago was to expand federal power. But that solution has failed. Partisanship has become much of the problem, not the solution. Unless, that is, you believe in "Socialism in One Country."
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