A pitch battle has broken out between the "Whacko" birds and the Republican establishment. The most recent scrimmage between John McCain and Ted Cruz, seems to illustrate what is at stake for the Republican party. John Stewart takes a humorous look at Ted Cruz and some of the highlights of his freshman term.
How did the Republican party end up here? Before I try to offer some perspective on the rise of the "Whacko" bird, I want to identify some of its distinguishing characteristics. In Ted Cruz we find a version represented by its political leadership. This unique type is capable of an astonishing amount of cynicism. There is nothing decent or noble about appropriating the sort of unsubstantiated insinuation McCarthy used during the red scare. It's hard to describe his attack on Chuck Hagel, during Hagel's confirmation to Secretary of Defense, in any other way. Armed with little more than rumor he suggested that Hagel, a decorated veteran, was a Manchurian candidate for North Korea. As he would say, "We just don't know." I would hope that we would give a veteran who had served our country in a foreign war the benefit of the doubt, but here we even see doubt manufactured out of fringe conspiracy theories. As disturbing as this development is, I'm comforted by the fact that it is more of an amusing absurdity than a sinister development. As Stewart's "best of" compilation reveals, Ted Cruz is no stranger to the kind of cynical politics that invokes unsubstantiated insinuations, or references a slippery slope towards totalitarianism that pair well with the trajectory of conspiracy theories. Yet this isn't what makes him dangerous. What makes him dangerous is where the cynicism ends and the ideology begins. Ted Cruz isn't using the debt ceiling debate as a cynical ploy - he really would prefer the federal government default on its debt rather than find any middle ground between spending cuts and tax increases. I admit there is virtue in taking a stand against raising the debt ceiling if deficit spending isn't addressed. The merit in such a stand evaporates the moment you contribute to the problem by refusing to allow any compromise that would incorporate tax increases as part of a comprehensive package requiring shared sacrifice. Newt Gingrich is not a beloved figure, or even one that is terribly honest, but he came to the table and negotiated a deal. Newt Gingrich and Bill Clinton were able to eliminate deficit spending because of that deal. While Ted Cruz and some of his fellow "Whacko" birds take extreme positions that threaten to force our nation to default on our debt, other Republicans are starting to take notice of the effect it is having on the party. This brings us to the recent battle between them. Although the start of the recent speech given on the Senate floor by Ted Cruz references Lilliputians, some of the best parts come later. I personally love the part of his speech, around 6 minutes and 30 seconds in, where he responds to the charge from John McCain that he is a "Whacko Bird". Yet my intention here is to direct you to the section beginning around 4 minutes and 30 seconds in to the clip. He is trying to define what the central issue at stake between him and John McCain is over the debt ceiling.
John McCain is an honorable man in many ways. Yet he, like many in the establishment of both parties, has used cynical nods to more extreme elements within his party to curry favor. Ted Cruz is correct to point out here what the differences they have are. Ted Cruz and his flock of "Whacko" birds really are willing to allow the Federal government to implode by defaulting on its debt, John McCain and the Republican establishment are only willing to feign such measures. One end of this conflict represents the sort of cynicism that has been willing to allow this problem to grow, while the other end believes that it isn't unreasonable to sacrifice our nation's economic stability to address it. While Republicans try to contain the "Whacko" bird, Democrats are being given a free pass. I'd like to believe that if they had a negotiating partner within the Republican party that they would come to the table - but I know better. The sleeping giant is that the extreme positions taken by the "Whacko" birds have cost the Republican party an opportunity to exploit ideological positions held by Democrats. I know full well that if push came to shove, it would be no easy task to get Democratic House and Senate members to agree to the sort of spending cuts or reforms necessary to make our entitlement programs solvent over the long term. These cuts and reforms are not only necessary to get Republicans on board with tax increases, but are necessary to any comprehensive solution to the deficit. We need the kind of compromises and shared sacrifice put forward by serious people trying to address this problem, like those put forward by the Simpson-Bowles commission. The ideological resistance to compromise exhibited by Democrats rarely makes news, at least not when you have Ted Cruz featured in the media every week threatening our economic stability and offering other varieties of extremism. It is difficult to not join the cynics and root with the establishment of both parties. It is difficult to not just hope we can at simply raise the debt ceiling, and postpone this problem.
Where did the "Whacko" bird come from? Is it an invasive species? No, its been a long time coming. The "Whacko" bird seems to have flourished under the hothouse of an economic crisis, and the opposition some have to a black president hasn't hurt it. A president whose birth certificate became a serious issue for over half of the primary voters within the Republican party leading up to the last election. These factors play a role among others, but the most significant factor here could have been avoided. It's easy for the base of a party to connect with the ideological positions taken by its cynical politicians. It is not as easy to maintain that connection by a politician who is feigning that ideological purity. Eventually the base wants the real thing, and therein lies the birth of the "Whacko" bird. This is especially true when the issue isn't whether a veteran like Chuck Hagel is a Manchurian candidate, but is more ideological. Whether our nation will implode if we don't take extreme measures in order to stop avoiding the debt problem is just this kind of issue. It strikes to the core of those who are ideologically pure on the right. It isn't an invasive species - it's the logical trajectory of hard ideological positions that the merely cynical have fed a regional constituency for years. The problem is one of containment. Ted Cruz may be from Texas, but now Republicans see moderates in swing states falling under the onslaught of successful primary challenges. The problem is that "Whacko" Birds have failed to get elected as often as those ousted Republicans who were willing to compromise and get legislation passed, or at least postpone the problem with small-ball short-term tactics embraced by the establishment in both parties. The "Whacko" bird threatens to reduce Republicans to a regional party. An establishment candidate is caught between a shrinking party and the threat of losing his or her seat in a primary challenge from this new species.
This new development may seem to represent an advantage to the Democrats, but it could lead to a pyrrhic victory. Dysfunction won't simply help the Republican party implode. It won't simply lead to them becoming a more regional party, allowing Democrats to pick off seats. It will also mean that no one is minding the store, and keeping Democrats honest. It means that no one is there to offer a credible threat - that no one is there to offer a viable alternative necessary to the kind of competitive politics of democracy, that allows the other party to evolve out its own orthodoxy. Worst of all, it means that there also may not be a negotiating partner to make sure that a nation is able to meet its obligation to pay its debts, with either taxes or spending cuts. While it is easy to see how raising the debt ceiling is an act of failure, considering that compromise isn't in fashion, there may not be an economy left to fix if we default on our debt. Eventually the rise of the "Whacko" bird could mean there isn't even anyone there across the aisle to be able to raise the debt ceiling. As Ted Cruz mentioned on the floor, "There may be more Whacko birds in the Senate than is suspected".
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