Tone-Deaf Republicans – The Paralysis of Fear (Part 2)

My previous article addressed the ways Republicans have an uncanny knack for shooting themselves in the foot, over and over again. Let’s now look at why the Republicans don’t seem to know what to do with political power once they have it.

Any fair-minded person would conclude that the U.S. cannot continue down the road of multi-trillion-dollar deficits and debt. In fact, the INTEREST on the national debt alone will soon be the LARGEST item in the federal budget. Think about that for a moment and what it means in terms of other priorities that cannot be funded (that is, we can’t keep printing our way out of this, although the Fed certainly tries). So where are the Republicans sounding a much-needed alarm on this and demanding action?

I believe that most Republicans are paralyzed with fear that if they even hint of a change in entitlement programs or other belt-tightening to address the debt/annual deficits, the Dems will pounce with one of their “Paul Ryan pushing granny off the cliff” ads that will scare people away from voting Republican. We can go way back to 1964 and the infamous daisy chain ad with the little girl implying that if you elect Barry Goldwater, we are likely to have a nuclear war. As untrue as the ad was, it was clearly effective in helping the utterly corrupt Lyndon Johnson to a landslide victory. Dems liked that approach so much that they now demagogue similarly on every key political issue.

What role do the voters have in this? Well, by continuing to vote for those of either party who loudly proclaim that they won’t touch entitlement programs, we act like the entitled generation that we are. We want to have our cake and eat it too and, believe me, I’m not excluding myself from this. Say what you want about Social Security being an earned benefit, and I won’t argue with that. However, when George W. Bush tried to make the tiniest incremental change to allow for some private investment, he was shouted down loudly and immediately from most corners, and was woefully unprepared to deal with the blowback. That may have something to do with the Republicans’ attitude now – once burned, twice shy.

Of all the bogeymen the Republicans fear irrationally though, perhaps the biggest and scariest is the racism one. When Donald Trump was elected in 2016 with a majority in both houses of Congress, it seemed like the wall would be funded and built in short order, and then some meaningful immigration reform would follow. However, the Dems and their media friends managed to demagogue the issue to such an extent that Trump could not get a Congress of his own party to go along with him on funding and building the wall. As a result, what minimal amount was built came out of a Trump end-around using defense budget monies. And the demagoguing continues regarding the alleged separation of illegal immigrant families during the Trump years, as if this was a new thing brought on by Trump’s policies when it was not. To this day, after years of drug running, assaults, and even murders, not to mention thousands of fentanyl deaths caused by illegal alien drug-runners, the Dems still insist that a top priority of theirs is keeping immigrant families together. Why? Because they’ve convinced voters that the Republicans “have no compassion” for these families and Republicans by and large let them get away with it.

Arguably just as bad from the racism standpoint is the George Floyd incident and explosive aftermath. Although it was ultimately proven that Floyd was not murdered by the cop kneeling on his neck (albeit that was needlessly cruel, especially for the length of time applied), the initial narrative stuck and the majority of Republicans went along with it. Even when the exculpatory evidence was disclosed, most Republicans did not push back on the narrative for fear of the racism charge. Worse, the resulting Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs instituted at most major institutions across the country served to exacerbate the racial divide, increase corporate costs and red tape, and again the Republicans were largely MIA on this front as well. The poisoned fruit sprouting from their inaction spread like kudzu – progressive district attorneys in most large blue cities across the country that largely dismiss violent crime perpetrated by minorities and aliens and go after other things, such as perceived violations of LGBTQ “rights.”

With all of this paralysis going on, is it any wonder that Republicans are so easily described as the do-nothing party? That most Republicans either can’t or won’t articulate what policies they are for, rather than carping about how bad the Democrats are? A classic case is Obamacare. For those political junkies like me who watched this legislative disaster unfold, it was like viewing a massive train wreck in slow motion. Republicans had so many chances to show their constituents – a large chunk of the American voting public – what a sham this bill was and how Congress was being bullied into supporting it. Not only could they not stop Obamacare from becoming law, but then we’ve had to watch over the last 14 years the repeated promises of “repeal” or even “repeal and replace” although the replacement was ill-defined if defined at all. Again, when Trump had the presidency and a Republican Congress with a golden opportunity to repeal this terrible law, they somehow failed to do it. Why? With all of the conservative think tanks and health care advisors that politicians have available for consultation, why couldn’t a much more reasonable alternative be proposed that could still make health care available to (almost) everyone? Meanwhile, the sluggish and costly train of Obamacare chugs on, spewing its polluted smoke over the nation’s economy.

The flip side of this is that the Democrats have perched themselves on the hilltop of self-righteousness ever since the Watergate scandal led to Richard Nixon’s resignation. With their media accomplices in tow, the Dems never have to say they’re sorry about much of anything, instead always taking what they believe to be the moral high ground regarding the issues of the day. As my podcast friend Jesse Kelly often remarks, the Dems are masters at using conservatives’ values against them. For instance, abortion is portrayed by the left as a “women’s rights” issue and, since conservatives value individual liberty, we can feel painted into a corner here. Let’s face it, we’ll never win arguing about the validity of women’s rights in deciding whether abortion is to be legal and to what extent.

So, what to do?  As I pointed out in the previous article, it takes a combination of courage and wisdom to overcome the left’s strongholds. False premises and narratives need to be exploded, over and over again, and the true nature of the issues exposed for the millions to see – not years from now but post haste. In the end, outside of those large blue cities most Americans are more conservative and discerning than the mainstream media are willing to admit. And that may give us some hope for the upcoming elections. However, if Republicans do regain the White House, keep the House, and regain the Senate, they are going to have to do a much better job of acting in charge than they have in the recent past.

Next up – why Republicans have such a hard time playing hardball when it’s so badly needed these days.