I've been giving a lot of thought to the Republican schism, and have been skimming a few resources looking for posible lessons to be found in the Republicna party schism of the late 1870's (and early 1880') that led to the party being split into three factions: 1) the liberal reformers, 2) the "Stalwarts", and 2) the "half-breeds". I haven't quite decided, because the circumstances of the post-Civil War era were so different from today's corcumstances.
But one thing did chill me - with the thought of Rush Limbaugh now the de facto head of the "real Republicans" (the sector paralleling the old "Stalwarts") in the back of my mind, I came across the fact that, in 1881, it was a disgruntled Stalwart who assissinated President Garfield in 1881.
Now, like most Americans, I'm hoping and praying that the far-less-than-ideal Stimulus Bill, drafted, it unfortunately seems, without the input of such brilliant thinkkers as Paul Krugman and pragmatic thinkers such as Sheila Behr or Jim Cramer, will indeed get the economy moving and get America back on her feet. Given the increasing rancour, however, of those who like to call themselves the "real Republicans" (not the so-called "RINOs"), as represented by de facto head of the Party, Rush Limbaugh (Mr. Steele evidently being chairman in name only), I am increasinly fearful for the safety of President Obama and perhaps even Vice President Biden.
My fear had begun as a vague gel of uneasiness, but began to solidify when I took note of Sen. Pete Sessions citing the Taliban as a model of "political insurgency" to be emulated by the Republican Party, and admonishing the Party to cease thinking of itself as participants in a legislative process and instead become a Taliban-like insurgency.
Perhaps my understanding of these issues is implistic, however, when I swore that oath to "protect and defend the Constitution against all enemies foreign and domestic", I never for one moment thought that this oath extended to belonging to a group that had the express intent of promoting the deliberate disruption national affairs and due legislative process. Again, I am not a political or Constitutional scholar, but this seems to tread uncomfortably close, if not to treason, than to at least a blatant breach of that oath. My gut reaction is that it illustrates an utter disdain for Constitutional process, and for us Citizens that this process is supposed to both heed, and help, illustrates a descent from party ideology, to cultist fanaticism - the very sort of self-aggrandizing and self-righteous fanaticism that led to the assination of President Garfield.
I know that I am not alone in my fear - I've heard many people express it, albeit in differnt words. We have always known that there are both leftist-fringe, and rightist-finge, elements in our nation, and they do have the right to freely express their rview. But a dangerous amount of encouragement was given, through nods and winks, through silence and chuckles and half-smiles, in response to the words of hatered and violence, encouragement given by those who erroneously believed they could hold the dragon by the tail and use it to propell them into positions of power. But the voters have denied them that power, and by so doing, have left that roused minority, a small but generally well-armed minority, with nowhere to roar; and so, we see an increasing level of hatred and violence in the rhetoric of those who only love representatvie Democracy, and the Constitution, when they can make both serve their own needs and desires and agendas.
Currently, this remains, for the most part, an issue of freedom of speech. But at wat point does free speech becomes a voiced threat? I wonder whther the extremist Stalwart could have been nipped in the proverbial bud back in 1881, and I hope and pray that similar impulses can be diffused now. Given the world situation, I fear taht a repeat of the 1881 action would not only be a tragedy, but would ignite the nation, and perhaps beyond, achieving what the Taliban, and al-Qaida, could not.
God willing, I am merely being paranoid...at least that's easily remedied with medication.
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