America is at war. Not with a particular
country, in spite of our endless entanglements in the Middle East. Instead the
war is against a more nebulous enemy. One that goes by many names. The status
quo. The deep state. The establishment. The elites.
The enemy is everywhere. Media, entertainment, sports, academia,
and among the ruling class in Washington, DC. A ruthless enemy, barbarians,
willing to keep fighting despite setbacks and defeat. Singleminded in focus,
the enemy wants to “fundamentally transform America”, creating a “new world
order,” to borrow phrases from both sides of the political aisle.
Who are the opponents? Who is pushing back? One might think the
Republican Party is the resistance to the progressive enemy. A slide toward
socialism, communism, fascism, or any other “ism” leaving the anointed ones in
power deciding for the masses what is best, how they should live, what they
should think, how they should behave.
Yet the GOP is not pushing back, instead its members acquiescing
or cowering in fear of being called mean names by the prominent newspapers and
television networks. Acting like wimps. Not willing to fight, to teach, to
explain -- the only way to win this war.
The pushback is instead coming from one man, his assembled team,
and 65 million citizen supporters. It's such a shame that so much of this man’s
political party has not joined him in the fight, content to sit on the
sidelines at best, or at worst actively working to thwart his efforts.
As Thomas
Sowell said, “If the battle for civilization comes down to the wimps versus
the barbarians, the barbarians are going to win.”
Which elected members of Congress are leading the fight, acting as
President Trump’s wingmen? Republicans should be delighted to have a
like-minded occupant in the White House. Trump favors most of the issues that
Republicans traditionally campaign on. Lower taxes, less government spending,
repealing ObamaCare, strengthening our borders, conservative judges.
Then why aren’t these things happening? Now nine months into the
Trump presidency, ObamaCare is still in place, so are high taxes. The border
wall isn’t funded. There is little Congressional support for Trump blowing up
the Iran nuke deal and the Paris climate accords. For cutting regulations.
Cleaning out the swamp creatures of the deep state. Expeditiously confirming conservative
judges, Neil Gorsuch aside.
This is a recipe for disaster. A big league electoral loss. The
GOP, it would seem, prefers to lose rather than fight. A recent
Fox News poll, a generic congressional ballot for the 2018 midterm
elections, illustrates this quite clearly. Democrat candidates lead Republicans
by 15 points. Granted, this is over a year ahead of the midterms, but still a
bad omen for Republican members of Congress. Wimps or fighters?
Are Americans favoring congressional
Democrats because Republican voters are tired of the Trump agenda and
accomplishments thus far? Or are voters weary of GOP ineptitude, lack of an
agenda, squandering a once-in-a-lifetime electoral majority? Fighting Trump
rather than joining him in advancing an agenda they all, at one time or
another, campaigned on.
Who are the heirs to Trump’s likely eight years in the White
House? Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, to name a few. Those
who participated, albeit unsuccessfully, in the 2015-16 GOP primaries. Where
are the fighters? Why are Cruz and Rubio not leading the charge for advancing
Trump’s agenda through Congress?
That’s what winners do. Losers remain quiet or else fuss and pout
like spurned schoolgirls. Cruz, to his credit, finally broke his silence on a
talk radio show a few days ago, telling
his GOP colleagues to “shut up and do your job.” What a concept. Do
your job.
"The job" being what Republicans were elected to do,
what they promised voters they would do if elected and given Congressional
majorities and the White House. But where is the fight?
Democrats are sure fighting. Turn on the news and there’s Bernie
Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Adam Schiff, and other Democrats fighting for their
agenda.
The only fighters on the Republican side are the #NeverTrumpers.
McCain, Flake, and Corker. Jeff Flake giving an impassioned
speech against the “indecency of our discourse, regret because of the
coarseness of our leadership.” If only he fought as hard against the corrupt
FBI, IRS, DOJ and other Obama agencies, Benghazi, the Iran nuke deal, or the
incessant Trump-Russia collusion hoax which has been nothing but a huge
distraction to the new Trump administration.
Flake is fighting, but for the wrong team. Giving the impression
that he would rather lose his Senate seat than fight. His approval
rating in his home state of Arizona reflects this, hovering below 20
percent. He has no chance of being reelected, so he is quitting. He lost.
Bob Corker reached the same conclusion, preferring to lose, or
retire, rather than fight. If McCain didn’t have health issues and was up for
reelection next year he would likely be in a similar spot.
Where is the fight? ObamaCare repeal has been kicked down the
road til
next year. Tax cuts are questionable. Same for funding the wall, one of the
President’s signature campaign issues.
If Republicans joined Trump in the fight, they would win, remaking
the political and electoral landscape for a generation, maintaining electoral
majorities for decades. Instead they choose not to be barbarians, but wimps.
And in the battle for civilization, and reelection, they will lose.
Brian C Joondeph, MD, MPS, a Denver based
physician and writer. Follow him on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
