The Republican Platform of 1856
This site is a reaction to the current events occuring in DC:
They did so in the dimly-lit chamber of the House of Representatives, without the aid of working television cameras or a public address system.
The Republicans became miffed last Friday when Democrats abruptly adjourned the House until September 8 without giving them a chance to speak on the floor about their energy plan, which includes exploring for oil in ANWR and more off-shore drilling.
Even though the House had officially gone out of session, some Republicans stayed on the floor and made speeches anyway.
After taking the weekend off, the guerrilla oratory continued Monday, with organizers of the talk-in estimating that 24 of the 199 House Republicans participated.
At a news conference Tuesday before marching into the House chamber to begin their third day of protest, the GOP dissidents took some credit for the recent drop in the price of oil.
“Markets respond. The market is responding to the fact that we’re here talking,” said Rep. John Shadegg, R-Ariz.
Nine Republicans were present at the news conference. Two of them held a sign asking: “NANCY PELOSI – WE’RE HERE, WHERE ARE YOU?”
With the House not in session, the chambers’ televisions cameras have been turned off for the three days of speeches. The lights in the chamber have been dimmed, which is normally the case when the House is not session. Also the public address system is off, forcing the Republicans to speak up so they can be heard in the large chamber.
Lucky tourists, many of whom just happened to be touring the Capitol, have been given the rare opportunity of sitting on the House floor. Wearing t-shirt and shorts, they became an impromptu audience for the speechmakers.
Pelosi, D-Calif., issued a statement on Monday saying, “This Republican hoax is unworthy of the serious debate we must have to reduce the price at the pump and promote energy independence.”
House Democratic Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., referred to GOP tactics as “stunts” by a “smattering of House Republicans”.
But Republicans claim their unofficial floor sessions are gaining traction with voters who are wondering why Congress is taking a five week vacation while gasoline prices remain so high.
They vow to continue speaking out on the House floor rest of this week and during the weeks ahead.
Now, in my opinion, right now is the opportunity the Republicans have to get back on track. This “stunt” is exactly the attitude the party as a whole needs to adopt in order to get it’s mojo back. The logic is very simple, but has been lost in the nothingness of the RNC response. The RNC in my opinion, is the problem of the Party right now. Why do I say that? Well, let me digress just a bit before going further.
Those words were adopted by the Republican Party in 1856 in reaction to a national crisis occurring in Kansas. The federal government had basically enforced certain rules based strictly on a random line drawn across the US. Kansas, was allowed to be an exception in that the government allowed them to choose their own course. Going against the grain of the Mason-Dixon line, Kansas chose to abolish slavery which set off a war between sides of the issue that was fought in Kansas. The government at that time basically chose a hands-off attitude which allowed further intimidation by force within Kansas. The Republicans felt that this intimidation, or war, went against the wishes of Kansas and felt their sovereign immunity was being encroached upon because of the government’s unwillingness to stop the violence. In other words, in order to protect the civil liberties of all Kansans, the federal government needed to intervene. The Democrats had made the decision to more or less force Kansas into being non-slave, and then basically walked away from the fray once Kansas did indeed choose to be non-slave.
Relating that to modern times, the Democrats chose to impose social norms on a body, and then refused to assist them with the consequences of those expectations. Using a current event, the Democrats have imposed a social norm, opposition to drilling for oil in lieu of environmental concerns, and are refusing to deal with the consequences of that expectation, higher gas prices.
This illustrates deep down the philosophical differences between the two parties. Democrats rely on a social model, Republicans a minimalist model.
Now, where things get confusing is even in 1856, both parties used current events to define their positions. Neither party has ever used a firm set of criteria to define themselves over a long period of time. But, underneath all the events each party has relied on to define themselves, the bottom line is Democrats use the government to infer social values and the Republicans have usually opposed this.
That is, until 1980. In 1976 the Republicans were still reeling from the scandals of the Nixon era. Completely unnecessary self-inflicted mortal wounds by Nixon had driven the Republicans almost completely out of power. In 1979, Ronald Reagan, a somewhat gifted actor and great orator put together a unified group of evangelicals to oust the incumbent Democrat President, Jimmy Cater. Intially Reagan hammered the Republican philosophy of lesser government interference by the means of lowering taxes.
However, over a period of time, the evangelical forces within the Republican Party took over completely and the message changed from lesser government enforcing the basic tenets of the US Constitution to a system of moral and ethical standards based on such issues as abortion and gay rights.
This folks, is where things went bad wrong.
It is not the role of the federal government to dictate moral standards.
Never was.
It was opposition to that very philosophy that gave birth to the Republican Party in the first place.
These moral standards alienated a lot of people, and, split the party very quickly. George Bush succeeded Reagan based solely on the popularity left over from Reagan. After four years of Bush pandering to the religious right with such vague messages as his “Thousand Points of Light”, he was voted out of office and a man with a checkered history with women, some legal issues, and even a hint of a murder charges pending, won.
Eight years later, another Bush was elected. Although deeply religious himself, his core message was an ultra-conservative view of the Declaration of Independence. His opponent was flag-bearer of the wildly popular previous president. Bush won. Not by much, and was actually outvoted, but won. Four years later, although the media painted him as the worst president ever, he won again.
Now, four years after that, we have a defining moment in the party again. We actually have a “revolt” occuring in the House. The Republican members, upset that the Democrat majority will not allow a debate on oil drilling, have revolted and are speaking incessantly, in the dark, with no television, and no audience. Only a smattering of media have even told us it’s happening. And, it’s all about the federal government inflicting hardship on it’s people. Nothing has changed since 1856.
The debate should be well-defined. And it is to some degree. But, this is not just about the price of gas. This is pure and simple the definition of each party’s prinicpals. Lesser government means allowing the states to determine if they want to drill or not. Social model government says the people are not the ones to decide.
This folks, is what it is all about.
Rather than silently doing nothing, the RNC needs to be defining what it is to be a Republican, RIGHT NOW.
Sure, they’ll argue they have been helping this year’s presidential and congressional candidates individually. But, that really doesn’t help them in the long run. Reacting to various current events puts the candidates in the position of having to define themselves as the better or lesser evil in regards to literally hundreds of issues. The RNC, along with assisting local and national candidates individually, needs to send out a unified message of what it is to be a Republican. IF they need guidance, just look to the platform of 1856. It should be pretty clear at that point what the true differences between McCain and Obama are and why Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid are so adamantly opposed to allowing the debate the rebel Republicans are revolting against now. Quite frankly, at this point, I am impressed with the performance, but not at all impressed with the content. All that has to happen to shut them up is for Congress to return to session, which it will anyway. Then, they’ll debate oil again. The “Don’t go” movement will be over.
They need to be educated in why it is they are protesting and go for the core difference, not the one single issue. Right now they have the stage, sorta. Rather than just whining about Nancy refusing to debate oil, they need to be speaking about WHY it is Nancy can’t debate this issue and never will.
It is, quite simply, because she’s a Democrat.
Posted on August 7th, 2008 by anthony
Filed under: philosophy
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