Bipartisanship or surrender?
By Pete Riehm
Mobile Free Press
It is a new day in America and the inauguration of President Barack H. Obama is certainly historic. There are undeniably positive ramifications with our first black President and all should fervently strive to solidify a post-racial world of Dr. King’s dream of a “nation where [we] will not be judged by the color of [our] skin, but by the content of [our] character.”
Amidst unbridled euphoria promoted by our national media, President Obama and Democrat leaders are calling for a new spirit of bipartisanship. Flooded with declarations of doom absent swift government action to meet the deepening economic crisis, we are told unity is mandatory. These troubled times demand allegiance to a benevolent government that ostensibly holds our only hope for salvation. Anyone challenging this irresistible tide of progressive change is summarily dismissed as a petty partisan if not a downright racist. These are brutal tactics, but perfectly acceptable when maligning Republicans.
President Obama admonished Republicans they must quit listening to radio host Rush Limbaugh if they want to get things done with the new administration. Unfortunately, there are far too many Republicans that will succumb to this siren call and crash on the jagged rocks of an ever expanding federal leviathan.
The overriding assumption by too much of the electorate is that partisan politics is trivial and really no more than rooting for your favorite team against your neighbor’s favorite. Both want good sports, but after one wins – both shake and relish the good plays. Another assumption is that politicians have no deep convictions, so there is little to compromise. Sadly, this is true for many.
The press is disgusted with Republican protestations and the President smugly points out that regardless, he won. Indeed he did and we should expect him and his party to capitalize on their victory and further their agenda and ideology. However, Republicans should not be expected to abandon their ideology.
There is no doubt Republicans have failed miserably upholding their values which many of us hope and pray are conservative. Nevertheless, there is a vast ocean between liberal and conservative visions for this great nation. These are not petty differences.
Since Adams and Jefferson, there has been constant and vigorous debate on how government should be formed and what powers are appropriate. Our publicly educated populace does not realize this debate has never abated, more commonly known as the great American experiment in democracy.
If the public could wade through the propaganda and adulation, they should see this new day with great trepidation for our republic. In his sometimes contradictory inaugural address, President Obama essentially and arrogantly declared the American experiment over.
Those that disagree with him are “cynics” and they offer only “stale political arguments” that “no longer apply.” He stated, “The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.” In just a few lines, President Obama glibly ended any argument about limited government.
In almost complete contravention to our founding fathers, he said the size and scope of government matters not. All efforts the founders made to restrain the power of government and place safeguards against any concentration of power are unnecessary. Government is now the answer whatever the question.
President Obama effectively gutted the primary platform of the Republican Party by invalidating any notion of “limited government” and oh, by the way, forget about lower taxes, we need unlimited funds for the common good.
This is not about goodwill in politics and can’t we all get along to help our citizens. This is about raw expanding federal power fed by an uninhibited appetite for money whether taxed or printed. This struggle is about whether this nation will survive as the last best hope on earth where man’s God given rights to individual liberty are cherished and preserved through personal responsibility.
The real question is will Republicans surrender to bipartisanship accepting the tenants of big government and forfeit their conservative values or will they reaffirm their character and assume the absolutely vital duties of the loyal and principled opposition. If they surrender, the American experiment in democracy will end as we slide into socialism and soft tyranny.
(Riehm is a retired U.S. Navy commander and chairman of Mobile GOP.)
