IT’S THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT

By R. A. Pearson

At this point in time in the 2008 election cycle it appears to this editor that the two major political parties in the United States are on the verge of implosion. The issues, campaigns, and candidates in the 2008 election, along with the political events of the last seven years of the Bush administration, have been so divisive and harmful to the coalitions making up the parties it appears these coalitions will fall apart, realign, or drift to a newly, soon to be formed third party by the end of this decade. To be short, it’s the end of the political world as we know it.

The Republican coalition, put together by Ronald Reagan, the great communicator, moved a party of financial conservatives into a large confederation, religious conservatives, the pro-gun lobby, people concerned about U.S. international security and many other individuals who literally become one issue voters, many of whom unwillingly and unknowingly voted against their economic best interest. The Regan tax cut for the working class was a basic hoax. He spent millions on defense, and cut social programs to the bone, while convincing working class Americans more of the same was in their best interest, these were the Reagan Democrats. Keep in mind that in 1981 cable TV was in its infancy, satellite TV was nowhere really to be seen, and CNN and the 24/ 7 news networks were still in the future.

Several groups are beginning to defect from the Republican Party. After years of hollow promises, some conservative Christians are realizing they have been played by the party leadership and their own. The Bush administration’s lackadaisical efforts to put forth any true constitutional amendments on the behalf of the Christian right and even back-room rumors it its disdain for them have hurt the Republicans among some Christians. Pat Robertson's endorsement of Rudy Giuliani is an example of Christian leadership simply selling out its trumpeted values and issues solely to be on the winning side only to realize they backed the wrong horse. Meanwhile, many groups of Christians are now looking at what Jesus taught, Jesus- not the Old Testament Jewish law. What they do see is that Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, abortion, or flag burning; however, Jesus spoke a lot about the poor and social injustice. They are beginning to realize that a child needs more than the right to be born; the child needs to be given the right to a reasonable chance at life after birth. Other Christians, especially younger Christians and ‘soccer moms, have become upset over the lack of Republican acceptance of global warming and other environmental issues. Many of these are leaving the Republican camp or looking for an alternative party to support.

While the slide in the GOP ranks, be it in the middle of the road Reagan Democrats, the disenchanted Christian voter, or the unhappy single-issue voter, there are new issues coming of age in this election which will be laid at the feet of the Republican Party as the party in power form 2001 to 2007. These issues are the failing economy beginning in 2007, the prolonged wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the housing crisis, the decline in American wages, the unsolved immigration issue, rising fuel costs, and the outsourcing American jobs overseas. In the Gulf states especially, the Katrina debacle and Republican failure to successfully rebuild the entire area three years after the storm may play a role in party defections.

The Democratic Primary has now demonstrated the tremendous cracks in their coalition also. The Democratic coalition is a vast confederation of labor unions, non-union working class people, minorities, liberal intellectuals, women’s activists, gay rights activists, and many other groups looking for government help, assistance, and protection against the interest of big industry, other employers, and government intervention in many areas such as the environment. The party has worked for higher wages, health care insurance, other work benefits, civil rights, advocated for the elderly, and a basic end of poverty in America. The ongoing battle between Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton for the hearts and minds of the Democratic Party shows the Democratic Party the real undercurrents tearing at the fabric of this frail coalition.

Obama represents the ideals of the ‘wine and cheese’ better educated, liberal intellectual, and the African-American wing of the party, while Clinton gets the votes of the more hourly working class and Hispanic voters in the party. The campaign has been bitter and divisive. The frail coalition that was the Democratic Party has broken to a point where I don’t believe 790 super delegates armed with 790 tubes of super glue can put Humpty Dumpty together again. No matter who wins in Denver in August, a large swath of the party will feel cheated and walk away never to return, be it the African-American bloc, the wine and cheese intellectual bloc, the labor unions, the non-union working class voters, the working poor, the poor in general, or the Hollywood elites.

However, the American voter is upset with both parties. While the war in Iraq has become unpopular both for the causalities and cost of the war, the blame was placed at the feet of the Republican President and Congress. The Democratic Congress, elected in 2006 failed to change the policy. Instead President Bush instituted a ‘surge’ scheduled to end this summer. According to General David Petraeus, commander of the American forces in Iraq, U.S. forces will stay in Iraq at pre-surge numbers, and the Iraqi government has not met many of the goals the surge was set up to promote. Furthermore, many Americans were totally taken aback when General Petraeus and Ryan Crocker, U.S. ambassador to Iraq, indicated the Iraqi government had over 30 billion dollars in U.S. banks from the sale of oil while the American taxpayer was still footing the bill for rebuilding Iraq. The American public realizes this war and the war in Afghanistan has now been prolonged and mismanaged by both Democratic and Republican politicians.

Meanwhile, look for more young people to vote and to get involved in the political process. College tuition is up and the credit for loans is getting tighter. Students are leaving college with more debt and with fewer and fewer prospects for good job opportunities. Also look for these young people not to have a political party affiliation.

Many of the Congressional and Senatorial races to decide the balance of Congress will see new faces this year. 29 Republican congressmen are not running for reelection, many due to a lack of cash. Last month House Minority Leader John Boehner told Republican congressmen to, “Get off your asses and raise money.” At least five Georgia Republican congressmen will be challenged by Iraq War vets including First District Congressman Jack Kingston, who will face a challenge from Bill Gillespie, 44, of Tybee Island, a retired Army lieutenant colonel who was a senior logistician during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Several important GOP Senators will not seek reelection including Chuck Hegel of Nebraska and Trent Lott of Mississippi.

There is no doubt politics, both inside and outside the parties, is getting ugly and divisive in America, and it is in the interest of the parties as they exist to keep it so. The ill treatment of John McCain by the Bush forces in South Carolina in 2000, the ‘Swift Boating’ of John Kerry in 2004, and various negative ads put out by moveon.org to name a few. One of the major players in the divide and conquer game is Talk Radio and the 24/ 7 news stations with a definite agenda.

Talk radio, along with vehemently opinionated TV talk show/ commentators, have polarized the country and continue to do so with self-aggrandizing agendas, guests, and phony trumped up laurels. A good example is Rev. Jeremiah Wright, the former pastor of Barack Obama’s church in Chicago. Commentators such as Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, and Sean Hannity played a few snippets from a few sermons and labeled the man unpatriotic, among other things. One measure of an individual’s patriotism is wearing the uniform of the United States of America. These great patriotic Americans failed to tell their audiences that in 1961 Wright gave up his student deferment, left college, and joined the Marine Corps. He became part of the 2nd Marine Division with the rank of private first class. In 1963, after two years of service, Wright transferred to the Navy and entered the Corpsman School. He excelled in corpsman school and was trained as a cardiopulmonary technician at Bethesda, Maryland. Wright was assigned as part of the medical team charged with care of President Lyndon B. Johnson after his 1966 surgery. Before leaving the position in 1967, the White House awarded Wright three letters of commendation. “Unpatriotic” Rev. Jeremiah Wright served his country in uniform, something patriotic “I’m going to send the FOX police after you” Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity, and “Brother can you spare some oxycodone” Rush Limbaugh never did. These commentators never mentioned this. The role of the African-American church in America is still to speak out against the social injustice and oppression the African-American community realizes around it. It is the promoter of the unfulfilled dream and the ministers speak regularly in the manner Rev. Wright used in the recordings.

Many Barack Obama backing Democratic debate viewers were vehemently upset when ABC’s debate moderators spent 45 minuets grilling Obama on his former pastor and his recent Pennsylvania gaffe during the recent debate before addressing a single issue facing the American public in this election although the Obama campaign has used the media on many occasions. About the same time Republican candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, released his and his alone tax returns, failing to include his wife’s tax returns in the package. His wife, Cindy McCain, is a wealthy beer heiress, and they have always filed separate tax returns. However, this is a point the Republicans screamed about four years ago when John Kerry’s wife refused to release her returns for public scrutiny. McCain has also pulled a fast one the use of public funding in his campaign putting up the pledge of some of the funds against a loan to his campaign. Now he will not use the public funds figuring he can raise and spend more than he would get from the public funding. Once again the candidates and parties allow for a double standard when and where it suits their best interest.

With all of this in mind, we can look for both parties to physically shrink creating a lot of independents across America. I believe in the next few years the country will see the rise of a viable third party on the national scene built from the states up. National leaders such as New York City’s Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Senator Chuck Hagel have been discussed as leaders for such a movement. Neither party has provided true leadership in fiscal responsibility, provided international security, or developed true long-term growth and economic security of the working people of America.

As long as the political parties as we know them today are working to hold their coalitions together it will always be business as usual in Washington and it is in the interest of these parties to keep America divided. They try to keep other parties off the ballot and dissenting voices silent; however, the U.S. Constitution does not mention political parties; neither does it give them any role in elections or government. The political parties as they exist today divide America and Americans, they use a host of subtle propaganda techniques to convince people their issues are important while avoiding real issues and solutions, they create divisive issues, and allow their allied politicians and their campaign surrogates, such as 501(c)(3) groups, to spread rumor and propaganda on a scale guaranteed to make Joseph Goebbels proud.

As more Americans look for something else, real change may be in the air!

The editor of the Clarion Issue took the title of this article from the REM song “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It." The Athens’ based rock band released a new CD entitled Accelerate on April 1, 2008.