Are We On the Wrong Track? Guest MINDSETTER™ Steve Artigas
Monday, December 10, 2018
The passing of former president George H. W. Bush is an appropriate time for reflection, a comparison of then versus now. Mr. Bush, born into privilege, spent his entire life in service to his country, enlisting in the U. S. Navy at age 18. He became a pilot, seeing significant action in World War II and nearly losing his life in the Pacific theater. He went on to serve in multiple roles, culminating in the vice presidency followed by four years as president until his loss in the 1992 election, often attributed to the third-party candidacy of Ross Perot, denied him a second term.
On the national stage, although Mr. Bush sometimes seemed uncomfortable in the political arena, he endeavored to do right by his country and these efforts included working with politicians of both parties for the common good. Occasional public awkwardness notwithstanding, he came across above all as an inherently decent man, and counted allies among Democrats as well as within his own Republican Party.
In contrast, the administration of Bill Clinton, with various hints of scandal, had about it the general odor of questionable ethics, earning Mr. Clinton the sobriquet "Slick Willie." At the same time a pernicious brand of partisanship began to take hold in government, fostered by Bill and Hillary Clinton as well as then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich, among others.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBy the time George W. Bush assumed the presidency after the famously disputed 2000 election, partisan rancor was at full cry, with Republicans feeling pushed aside by the previous Clinton administration and Democrats believing the election had been stolen by the Supreme Court. Of course, we can never know how many voted for Mr. Bush on the strength of his father's tenure in the White House, while the extent of the Clintons' misbehavior, dating back to his days as Arkansas governor, was not widely known until after the election. As president, Bush 43, while not tarnished by the mendacity of the Clintons, nevertheless occasionally seemed distracted and perhaps not up to the job as the leader of the free world.
In 2008, Barack Obama came to the presidency with a decidedly thin resume, having worked as a community organizer before serving two years of a term in the Senate. Although well-spoken and scholarly, he lacked the background in governance to be an effective president, and showed a marked disinterest in international affairs, leading to a relative vacuum of leadership on the world stage. As with George W, Mr. Obama was not truly up to the presidency. Meanwhile, during his eight years in office, the divide between left and right grew ever wider and further entrenched.
Today, after yet another contentious election in 2016, we have a president in the person of Donald Trump who has shown himself to be woefully unprepared in temperament, experience, or understanding to handle the job. He has deliberately exacerbated the political wars until these days it is not enough merely to disagree with those not sharing one's views, the "other side" must be stigmatized as evil enemies. The tendentious bickering we see on a daily basis borders on fanaticism and displaces any attempts at civility or reasonable debate on the many issues we face, both at home and abroad. For better or for worse, the comportment of any sitting president sets the tone for the national discourse. If a latter-day George H. W. Bush were to attempt to pursue a political career in this corrosive environment, he or she would be steamrolled by the haters.
Pundits try to parse the current state of affairs in the public square, if anyone is still listening. One contributing factor is the array of online "talking head" commentators, who have learned that being outrageous and angry is the surest route to increased clicks, and thus, higher ad revenue. Office-seekers too find it more productive to arouse indignation from potential voters than to present cogent proposals describing what they would do if elected. For many people it is easier and more comfortable to surround themselves with like-minded thinkers and not be faced with any questions about their own views. The end result is that the political spectrum has been hollowed out between the left and right extremes. Moderate candidates have almost no chance of winning elections, or even primaries, for that matter. Someone opined that anyone smart and experienced enough to be president is also smart enough not to run.
A country full of belligerents screaming at each other, with no one listening, does not bode well for our democracy. Although the U.S. still holds world military superiority, there are bad actors on the international stage who realize they can undermine our country by fomenting discord from within, notably via the Internet. Among these is Vladimir Putin, who has visions of a revanchist USSR, even while he is in no position to make that happen through strength of arms. Since our political class is so dysfunctional, our only hope may be the emergence of some sort of grass-roots sense of community to counter the nastiness. We can only hope it happens sooner rather than later.
Steven Artigas: I am some years' retired from 40 years as a self-employed building contractor in RI. I have lived my entire life here and despair to see the results of decades of short-sighted leadership in our state. It is time that voices are heard on behalf of the million or so of us who lack connections in the state hierarchy.
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