109th Congress and Republican Nationalism

With the recent scandals rocketing through Congress, I can’t help but reflect on why we have this Republican Congress in the first place. How could we allow this imbalance when in the past we have been careful in most instances to have the Congress and the Executive in both parties. However as money becomes more of an election determinate, the political will of the people will erode.

It is also possible race and class is a necessary catalyst. What do I mean by that? A simple answer would be that both race and class are needed to support our systems of capitalism and politics. Few folks, both “liberal” or “conservative” will own up to this fact. For example, the Republican Party is overwhelmingly white therefore it is perceived to protect white interest. If they are ideologically in disfavor with a majority of voters, they can do three things. One, enjoy positive media propaganda from republican media outlets, two, use their republican business contacts to influence elections outcomes and three, appeal to their fundamentalist white republican Christian base. If these practices are called into question nothing really happens because they control avenues of capital and information. See white people are reluctant to break from the party that is perceived to protect their interest and side with “minorities“, two, the media “back pages,” ignores or “spins” the incidents and three, the republican party protects god and the power of the church and America is basically a white "Christian nation." This is why they are essentially nationalistic with race as the glue that holds it together.

A working definition of nationalism is, “the doctrine that nations should act independently (rather than collectively) to attain their goals.” The republican party has become a “nation” within a “nation” and it is obvious that they fit the remainder of the definition. The democrats can’t breathe in congress and G.W. does what he wants with impunity.

America, if it cares to look, will have a first hand glimpse of what republican nationalism can and can’t achieve. Corruption and division it can, unity it can’t. “Republican nationalism” isolates forces that offers checks and balances to the one sided goals of corporate interest and religious tyranny. It can stifle progressive movements and foster national nihilism. It can bring greed to a new low and promote cultural arrogance. It is not healthy for the country, and we will see what America is made of in the 110th Congress.