In the perspective of each major political party, neither lives in the universe of the other. Democrats point to a stabilizing economy, lower unemployment, good prospects for business, and many other positive indicators. The other party sees only mayhem, invasion, subversion, and economic disaster. We may call this the vision of a chameleon, a creature famous for being able to look in two opposite directions at the same time. This divergence is most evident in the House where chaos is the order of the day.
The republican perspective emphasizes this chaos, which they see everywhere. Yet the truth is that republicans are creating most of it. They need chaos to discredit the Federal Government and make a dictatorship look relatively appealing.
A. Hitler’s first attempt at a governmental takeover resulted in a few dead supporters and a jail sentence for him. There was not enough chaos to back his play. Ten years later the stock market crash and the great depression gave him the momentum he needed to carry out his plans. The global economy started to improve about then, which Hitler took unjustified credit for as he consolidated his control over the various branches of government. The chaos was self evident. He just had to paddle into that wave and ride it. “Only I can fix it,” he said. Hammered into submission by circumstance, the German public sighed and nodded. He fixed it good for them.
But the republicans lack Hitler’s advantages. An honest assessment shows that the national economy is recovering nicely from Covid, and at least part of the government is functioning as it should. Real wages are going up and more money in people’s hands flows through the economy, boosting it further. Although many people have been hypnotized into believing that “the economy” is in sad shape, most of them admit that their own lives are “better than four years ago.”
Since they can’t find it already existent, the republicans have to fabricate chaos as a backdrop, and they are surprisingly good at creating and maintaining it. The constant call for “apocalypse” is a standard with them and is part of how they keep the deplorables stirred up. They use words like “tragedy,” “disaster.” and “collapse” to outline a fabricated alternative future which they alone can save us from.
Lately one of their favorite battle cries is “the border crisis.” Their skills at hypocricy were on full display when they shot down a border bill which they had negotiated. This bill would have given them most of what they have been calling for, but at the last minute a single phone call killed it dead. Something about maintaining a hot issue for the upcoming election, perhaps. Something about merely partisan interest trumping national interest.
Spewing chaos wherever they go may have the desired effect, and the MAGA crowd may just slide their man into the big chair with it. However, their strategy can have serious drawbacks. First, oozing chaos compulsively will draw attention to themselves, and they can easily be portrayed merely as incompetent, rather than clever. And second, the chaos can infect their own organization, leading to conflict and contradiction within their own ranks.
The republicans seek to establish an alternate reality, one where they are always right, never lose, and are the only ones deserving the title “real Americans.” Their animosity and conflicts with the federal government are coming to a head, and they show signs of an almost desperate effort to make all their old gripes into election issues. Spreading chaos is part of this effort. The very quality they seek to paste on the Federal Government is their own. Overdosing on their own lame propaganda, they have made themselves incompetent to manage a nation such as ours. The cure:
Send Them Home.