Monday’s story, Citizen Newt, demonstrates influential Republican, Newt Gingrich’s strategic shift on environmental issues. Apparently he’s not the only one who sees impending doom coming to the Republican Party.
Former W. Bush speech writer, Michael Gerson, is not only saying what the Newt is saying, he goes even further, claiming that if Republicans don’t embrace more compassion, environmental as well as humanitarian issues, they will not only lose big in elections, but they will deserve to lose as well.
He professed these ideas on a recent episode of The Daily Show.
While Gerson warns that the lack of progress in these areas is very frustrating, it is a clear indicator that the Post-Bush/Reagan Republican Party will look very different from the way it does now. I imagine that it will have the same solid heartless core that it has always had, a pro-business elite view on economics and the distribution of power to the masses. However, the whole religious rhetorical manipulation, as well as the hatred of all things left of fascism, seems to be dying off.
I have this theory that the Reagan era was only ushered in because of change that came too rapidly in the 60’s. Traditional roles of men and women, upheaval of Jim Crow laws and the loss of confidence due to the Vietnam War tainted a myriad of positive Liberal ideas, such as poverty relief, universal health care and dealing with the environment responsibly. Nixon signed the legislation that created the EPA and proposed a Universal Health care package that made Hillary-Care part I look like a discount dental service. When Reagan came in a few years later and pushed his pro-business agenda, he successfully lumped any kind of government regulation in with the Liberal 60’s, thus clearing the way for many of the corporate problems that exist today, a direct result of too much freedom and power in the hands of the greedy.
Reagan was a brilliant marketing man, and he believed strongly in what he did. He had long been against universal health care. He was even an avid spokesman against it in his acting days, pushing the whole “socialized medicine†scare tactic for the American Medical Association. He disliked the environment, and he was a well-known hippie hater. The only green he cared for was the almighty dollar, and he echoed forth the line that we’ll cross that bridge when we get there on the environment. 30 years later, we’re not only at the river, the waters are rising and we have no bridge or plans for a bridge. He hated welfare. Now this one I don’t really get. Poverty relief has long been a part of religious groups and churches. I can only guess that Reagan hated welfare because he shared the familiar “rugged individualism†façade that calls for all people to look out for number one, thus rationalizing the elite’s place at the top. Perhaps, he was pragmatic about power in this country.
Today Reagan’s legacy is not only failing, it is acknowledged (subtly) as such by some of the very people that promoted Reagan as a prophet and a genius. The shift of Republicans back to the center is a clear indicator of that.
If these trends continue, a second Progressive Revolution may occur. The partisan divide is coming to an end. Neither side has an advantage and they need the vast pool of people in the middle to remain in power. This is ripe ground for a reform era.
The first Progressive Revolution came amidst similar times. While there are no true parallels in history, and the first Progressive era failed to solve many of the countries fundamental issues (such as Jim Crow), it formed the basis for the success of the 20th Century. Health and sanitation laws, the FDA, the Federal Reserve, improved public education, the 8 hour work day, work safety laws, mandatory fire escapes, improved access to government and a women’s right to vote were all secured in this era. That’s not change, that’s a bloodless revolution!
Let’s hope we can do the same this time around. Because if change is not allowed to sit at the table of history in peace, it will likely return, gun in hand, ready to trample all those that get in its way!