There was a fascinating article in the NY Times (1/31/10) that suggested “America’s New Hope” could be “The Afghan Tribes.” In addition to the distinctions within the Afghan tribal system outlined in the article was a general description of how the system works. “Tribal authority is exercised by elders at all levels - - from families to villages to district councils to councils that lead tribes…Their biggest political asset is their reputation; if they attract financial support for a village project like a road or a well, their standing…soars. If they fail to get the aid, they lose face…They can also lose face by breaking an agreement or failing to deliver on a promise to those they represent.”
An intriguing element of the quote is how closely it mirrors our own political system minus of course our centralized national-government construct and a Constitution that codifies the responsibility of legislators to serve all the people. The spectacle of Alabama’s shameless Shelby holding up Obama nominees in a blatant attempt to have his earmarks honored should give us pause in portraying Afghanistan as a savage enclave of primitive clans; our leaders may be less physically violent, but they savage our political process and productive governance nonetheless. In this country pork projects have been de rigueur for years, and they aren’t always bad things. It is the hypocrisy and attempts to justify pet projects as vital to our national security that set partisans like Shelby apart.
Conservatives, Republicans, Tea Partiers, however they define themselves, call for lower taxes and smaller government, without being overly specific about how to achieve such goals. Mark Skoda, chairman of the Memphis Tea Party, refused to condemn former congressman Tom Tancredo’s remarks on the convention’s opening night, when he referred to President Obama as a “committed Socialist ideologue” and disparaged people he said “could not spell the word vote or say it in English.” Neither did Skoda acknowledge the prevalence of signs depicting President Obama as a Socialist or Hitler at Tea Bag rallies. He said freedom of speech trumped all other concerns and that both sides engaged in ugly rants occasionally, carrying signs not shooting bullets. But, contrary to popular wisdom, words can be as damaging as sticks and stones. Tea Party propaganda in tandem with right-wing pundits degrades us as a people and renders logic irrelevant.
What, for example, do tea partiers envision in terms of smaller government and lower taxes? How do they imagine government can continue underwriting the precious Medicare so many of them cherish? And what of succeeding generations, our children and grandchildren Republicans are so fond of brandishing in their attempt to shout down health-care reform or pay-go stipulations for legislation or financial-markets reform? How much are these fiscal fanatics prepared to cede to our elders instead of investing in the future of our young people and creating new home-grown industries?
Skoda expressed the typical arguments favoring Capitalism and profit-making, especially when questioned about the cost of tickets for the Tea Party Convention and the fee Sarah Palin is rumored to have received as its keynote speaker. He spoke instead of the great strides Palin has made from her humble beginnings. Un-remarked was the obvious fact that if she hadn’t been chosen as John McCain’s running mate she’d still be swimming in her small parochial Alaskan pond catching glimpses of Russia from her state. And in justifying the profit motive, Skoda cited the huge salaries football players and other celebrities earn. The difference is that people in the entertainment world, outside of Fox News that is, don’t claim to be part of a “grass-roots” movement.
The sad truth for Tea Baggers and the general public alike is that leaders like Dick Armey will try to fool us all again into believing that unbridled Capitalism is our last best hope. Unregulated markets, clearly contributory to the global collapse, are held up as a model for economic success, even though former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, has admitted to being in error when he assumed markets would self-regulate.
Unfortunately today, name-calling and meaningless labels have replaced rational discourse. People who have no idea what the terms they use mean speak loudly about ‘taking their country back’ as if it were theirs alone. A lot of us may be fed up with the way Washington works, but the most useful thing Tea Baggers and others could do would be to call out players like Richard Shelby whose behavior illustrates how engaged many elected officials are in pursuing tribal affairs, often for personal political gain.
