Bigger Tent: Recent Episodes
steve lankenau
How did Republicans and conservatives get to such a state of dysfunction?How bad is it?What is the path to a renewed movement/party with creative and ingenious ideas that match our values and give us the energy and vision to return to principled effective governance?
After almost a year of discussion about domestic politics and domestic policy in the United States why is the Bigger Tent Podcast turning now to foreign policy and foreign affairs? The biggest reason can be summed up in a word: Afghanistan. Not since we left Vietnam in a similar way has our end to involvement in a foreign country drawn so much attention or scorn. Believe me, we see how no win it was when we didn't take a negotiated surrender offered by the Taliban 3 MONTHS after we started going after them. A monumental mistake we are paying dearly for today. The second reason is hinted at in our title today. It used to be said the politics ends at the water's edge meaning we will close ranks as Americans when it comes to foreign affairs and remain unified in our words and actions. The truth is THAT truth has not been real for a very long time - certainly not since the Vietnam War. It IS a truism that politics is not something we should shrink from or run from because its what those untrustworthy politicians do. Politics is just human interaction to both get along and get what you want or need. Simple as that. Politics is in our family life, in our work, in our sports and in our religion. Wherever there are people, you will find politics. So instead of obsessing over the current question: How did this happen? I'd much prefer: Where do we go from here? We need to have a discussion about our place in the family of nations. Are we going to participate or are we going to be the rich, aloof uncle that never comes to any family functions. The world has been shrinking for a hundred years and it hasn't stopped yet. We realized what goes on in Afghanistan and Iraq and other far flung parts of the globe can directly affect our lives here. It's not changing accept that its becoming more and more true every day. So if we're "in it to win it" what does that mean. How should we act to have the greatest security and freedom and prosperity possible? I have come up with 10 or so principles that if executed well would serve us well as our framework to guide us now and in the near future. Some of these guiding principles come from experience and have been tested. But of course some will say they are outdated and unworkable. THAT is a debate we need to have. Others are about new subjects that are in our field of vision now due to technology. For example, there are weapons now more than ever that require no human lives (for the attacker) being risked. Drones are here and we need to decide if we should use more or less of them. Most new technology gets incorporated into the military if it can hurt the other side. But not always. In WWI biological weapons were tried and the general consensus was this was a bad idea for so many reasons. Then there is cyber warefare. I happen to think this should be high on our radar as a means to force solutions when diplomacy fails and we'd rather not kill in order to make our point. The United States is number one in cyber capabilities, but will we remain there. Then there are tremendous doctrines such as Reagan's Peace Thru Strength and The Powell Doctrine that has gone in and out of favor since the 1980s. Join us as we tackle these topics and more over this episode and the next Bigger Tent Podcast.
It is a study unto itself the way in which politics has informed people's views and words and actions regarding the Covid-19 Pandemic. Literally dozens if not hundreds of academics have and are studying various aspects of the intense politics of the Pandemic. The media has opinions. Politicians have opinions. Voters have opinions. Heck The Bigger Tent Podcast always has opinions! So after researching the mountain of newly minted literature on the subject, distilled here are a few thoughts on the subject. For a long time Republicans have been skeptical of science and government and being told what to do. All of these suspicious forces converged with the Pandemic causing a vomiting of consternation and distrust and rejection of what most of the rest considered good advice from well-meaning people in positions of authority and expertise to make a difficult situation better. Vaccines are not new. George Washington had his men take the small pox vaccine in 1777. Vaccine mandates are not new. We have had them since the civil war. But neither are anti-vaxxers new. What is new is the size of the resistance to what the health and science community are advising and most importantly, the placement of a true believer in conspiracies and disruption and a wholesale lack of norms. Donald Trump has been the X Factor giving cover and leadership to views that in every earlier iteration in our history have been a tiny minority and generally dismissed or ridiculed by the majority. They used to say you can have your own opinion, but you can't have your own facts. The anti-science/anti-fax/anti-mask/anti-vax crowd are proving otherwise. They used to say facts are stubborn things, but this new sizable crowd is perhaps even more stubborn in the face of harsh realities and some very cold, hard facts. The more people get sick, the more they resist. The more people die, the more they minimize the risk and the threat. But the new Covid politics is more than facts. There's plenty of anger. For more than a year we heard the anger of folks refusing to believe the virus was that dangerous. We've all heard and seen that anger on the news and on social media and live and in person. But now there's a new anger - from the rule followers and believers in science. They have worn their mask and taken the vaccine. Now they are being denied their reward of no more masking and no more to fear by those who refuse to gain immunity by getting a vaccine. They are seeing with the Delta variant and the 4,000 other variations going around that as long as the pandemic continues and is not snuffed out, it will only take one variant to mutate that is resistant to the vaccines we have, and we will be starting all over again. In fact, it is on rich nations like the United States to take the lead to see that the world is inoculated and made safe and free of further mutations and variations of the virus. This is the humanitarian approach and it is also in our interest to wipe it out. As Mona Charen has written it is in our DNA to do this; to do well and do good at the same time. An nod to those before us who did similarly (i.e. the Marshall Plan, etc.) and those who will come after us who need to see and feel the generous American Spirit modeled for them that they may do the same someday for someone in need.
Inflation has become a historical term. We pretty much know what it is, but its been a long time since we've seen the real thing. Somewhat like those who lived through the Great Depression and were forever changed by it, many remember the days, weeks, months and years that inflation raged. Its seeds were sown by mostly Democrats in the 1960s with the promise of great government giving us a Great Society. And then there was the Vietnam War. Not speaking of the human tragedy of Vietnam, but about the immense cost to the Treasury piggybacking the expansion of government seeking a Great Society. But the new Nixon Administration could have killed the inflation baby in its crib, but chose to nurse it and feed it until it was a monster without regard for who it attacked and injured. Things maybe just got away from Nixon. Had he not been consumed by his own and his minions many screwups on the ethical and moral parts of life, he may with all his government smarts have been able to address the growing inflationary spiral. But saving himself was the priority and he and his own took their eye of the ball and whiffed terribly. They struck out and the Ford and Carter folks who followed were faced with inflation gone wild. Inflation eroded the wages and savings of every individual and the profits of nearly every business. The medicine to knock out the disease of inflation had side affects that were almost as bad as the sickness. Fed Chairman Paul Volcker pushed interest rates up to nearly 20% and sure enough was able to crush the scourge of inflation. But the two back to back severe recessions that followed were crushing as well to Americans of all persuasions. The Fed from those days on recommitted to keeping inflation low and subdued for more than a generation. For almost 40 years inflation has been a non issue. The trade off economists say is economic growth that is not as robust as most would like it. Quietly and without fanfare the Federal Reserve has this year embarked on a new path attempting to continue to contain inflation, but to take some risk and simultaneously push a stronger economy that people (read politicians) want. With this deliberate change in policy and the unleashing of pent up demand from the Pandemic has arrived the by-gone inflation of so many decade ago. 2021 has seen quarters of growth not seen in decades, but along with it inflation not seen in 13 years. Biden and Powell and Liberal believers in Modern Monetary Theory believe we can borrow and spend without the same concern and all will be fine -- so long as interest rates remain at historical low levels for historically low periods of time. We talked in a previous episode about the Hot Hand Fallacy which says no one and nothing is ALWAYS a winner. Sooner or later the hot hand cools. Unfortunately we have become addicted to cheap money. This is not a throw away line. The Fed really cannot use the interest rate tool as it did for 100 years to tame inflation. If it did the cost to service our $27 trillion debt with higher rates would be literally impossible. All of this is partly the result of not having even one political party that truly and consistently believes in fiscal constraint and living within our means anymore. Folks, we are in a very tight spot -- and its getting tighter by the day.
In an earlier Bigger Tent Podcast we heard the perspective of a MAGA team member who attended the January 6 Insurrection. JR Mejewski gave a unique perspective having attended the Trump Rally on the Elipse and then having marched to the Capital as directed by the then president of the United States. To hear it all check out that earlier episode. Today we got to hear from one of those who were attacked - newly sworn in Congressman Peter Meijer of Michigan - who of course was in session with other House and Senate members attempting to certify the lawful election of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States. Meijer recounts what it was like to hear the crowd storm the building. To fumble as others did to put on a gas mask in case tear gas was used to disburse the crowd. Hear how he and others were hustled to a safe location in the Capital basement and hid from the rioters above them. Phone calls to family were made and arguments among members ensued as they waited for their most unique lockdown to end. As one of only ten Republican House members to vote to impeach President Trump, we hear unique perspectives on that issue and several others. Cong Meijer gives us his take on Speaker Pelosi's plan to create a special committee to investigate the causes and issues surrounding the January 6 Insurrection. She is now talking seriously about naming a Republican as one of her own appointment to add a Republican to those appointments Minority Leader McCarthy will make. Might her appointment be Cong Meijer, our guest today? Cong Meijer tells us what he thinks of earlier podcast topics like national service. We even touch on debt and deficits -- which the the Congressman is intellectually honest about admitting that Republicans the last 20 years have talked a good game about, but have really been little improvement on the Democrats across the aisle. Meijer also weighs in on electoral reforms we have discussed such as making election day a national holiday and automatically registering people to vote as a means to increase the use of the franchise to vote. We talked as well to Rep Meijer about Trump's recent commencement of rallys designed to unseat Republicans who did not stand with the president to his level of satisfaction as he fabricated his "stop the steal" fable about a stolen election that might ease the pain to some in losing or be intriguing to some in an age of distrust of nearly everything and everyone, but most surely is not based on any foundation of facts or evidence. Evidence or not, early indications are the the new congressman on our show this episode will in fact get a primary challenger courtesy of the former president. To which, Cong Meijer says, "Donald Trump is gonna do what Donald Trump is gonna do." Its a refreshing interview with a public official not yet jaded by the process or broken down by a broken system, but clear eyed and conservative in a thoughtful and principled way.
After podcast for over 7 months with the world changing ever faster, today's episode is a chance to catch up on many of the topics we have been tackling. We talked about the way Republicans have made an art form of ways to obstruct primarily in the Obama years, but even when they were in the majority. We kept our fingers crossed that maybe they would turn over a new leaf and try something new in the Biden era. So much for that. They say that McConnell and Biden are personally good friends. But yesterday Biden's good friend made pretty clear that if Biden has a Supreme Court nomination in 2023 or 2024 and Republicans hold the majority in the Senate, there was little chance that nomination would ever get a vote. Not a single member of the Republican Party voted for the Biden Covid Stimulus bill even though they voted in the majority for similar bills just last year under a Republican president. In one stroke that showed their obstructionism AND their duplicity on spending, debt and deficits. Conservatives and Republicans have given up on governing and in limited government. They only care about spending when Democrats are proposing the spending. when it was Bush - spend away. When it was Trump - spend away. The plain fact is in the United States there is no longer a party that cares to hold the line on spending or to make the case for balanced budgets and living within our means. What Republicans care about are the culture wars. Abortion, Transgender rights, Dr. Suess and new laws to secure the integrity of elections that at least according to the evidence are pretty secure already. We go into depth in this episode about the nature of culture wars and why they have simply altered the face of politics in the 2020s. Another topic we covered in our interview with David Jolly, the former congressman from the Tampa area is how realistic it is for us frustrated traditional conservatives to think about the formation of a new party. History shows its not a cheap or easy road. But quiet frankly there has been more talk about doing something like this than at any point in my lifetime. Jolly is now the head of SAM, the Serve American Movement and they are worth a look if you feel like listeners of The Bigger Tent Podcast. Just google SAM and see what you think. Another one is the Call for American Renewal. Miles Taylor, Evan McMullin, Tom Ridge, Christie Todd Whitman and others who have had enough of Trump, MAGA, violence, ethical lapses and all the rest that describes Republicanism the last 5 years. We wrap up with a discussion of the real and truthfully the only reason Donald Trump may seek the presidency again in 2024. Hint it's not the pay. It's not the crib. It's not the attention though that is appreciated. It's not to build a wall or make amazing trade deals or even to bring a return of 1950s America where everything was peachy -- if you were a Protestant white male. Much as I'd like to tell you why he wants the office here, please listen and see if your guess was right -- and if we agree!
The Pandemic has isolated us from the people we know and from people we don't know. Our circles of influence have gotten smaller. We physically shy away from others, especially those who are unfamiliar to us. Are they sick? Have they been vaccinated? But you know what? Our loss of connection to fellow Americans started long before Covid. Before we began nesting, we were living more and more in our personal silo, slowly losing touch with people different from ourselves. We need to reconnect. We need to reintroduce ourselves to people we don't know and many of us don't have a strong desire to know. From Susan Rice to Stanley McCrystal to Pete Buttigieg to Tammy Duckworth to Steve Lankenau (haha) proposals and calls for enhanced or even universal service to the nation and to the less fortunate are being made -- again and again because we are teetering on the edge of a powder keg. We saw a felt a version of it last summer with the Black Lives Matter protests. We saw it again with the January 6 Insurrection. Some of the first organized service came through things like the Civilian Conservation Corp of the New Deal. Three million unemployed Americans were put to work in parks planting trees and building fire roads. This service was meant to put people back to work. JFK initiated the Peace Corp that a different set of goals: to serve the world where it needed it most and give people who didn't really know us a chance to see and feel and benefit from some of our best intentions. Other presidents have added to the opportunity to serve through structured programs. Bush 41's Thousand Points of Light. Clinton's Americorp. But all of these programs are only built and funded to take 75,000 or so paid volunteers. Each year there are over 4 million Americans turn 18 years of age. We need to have either a mandatory national service requirement because as Rabbi Chiam said "my neighbors material needs are my spiritual needs." A national service program that if not mandatory, at least creates the expectation of service for everyone will begin to enable everyone to get to know the layers of our society from race to geography to economic status to political outlook. Another program to build bonds among us would be a renewed and updated and respectful assimilation and integration program for new citizens and immigrants to the United States. There is or at least used to be an implicit contract between native born citizens and naturalized citizens that if the newbies learned the language pledged their belief in hard work and self reliance and belief in the principles of democracy, then we would welcome them with open arms showing our pride in being a nation of immigrents where nearly all of our families came here from somewhere else. It is in these ways that we get to know each other and trust each other - even if we look different and even if we have different religious or political beliefs. We ignore the powder keg upon which we sit at our own risk.
Labor Unions have been around along time. Since the Industrial Revolution when there were no rules, regulations or laws to govern the new workplace of the 19th century factory. Labor unions formed to fight for worker rights when government was not willing or ready to do so. It was a chaotic and often violent time. Not until the Great Depression did unions become legally accepted and common in the workplace in the United States. As for the two major parties it has usually been the Democrats who have supported the cause of Organized Labor. But here and there as we'll hear in this episode Coolidge, Eisenhower, Nixon and Ford were friends of labor occasionally in their words and actions. But Organized Labor and Union membership peaked in 1954 and has been fading consistently for the last 65 years. Part of the reason may be the rules and laws governing labor have become woefully out of date and ineffective to support the cause of workers. There are other reasons as well. The union cause has been plagued by corruption on a wide scale. Sure there are the hard to believe stories of Jimmy Hoffa and union ties to organized crime and perhaps even the assassination of John Kennedy. We may never know for sure. But what is certain is that unions across the country have experienced embezzlement, extortion, destruction of documents and crimes of violence. Evidence shows it was not isolated and it was not just a long time ago. Since 2000 the statistics are appalling. Unions have fallen from one third of all workers to barely one in 20 in the private sector belonging to a union today. Unions have had more success with jobs in the public sector. But not so much with employers recently like Volkswagen in Chattanooga or Amazon in Alabama. With some appeal occurring during Trump's presidency, Republicans have an opening with unions going forward with Democrats getting cozier with Big Business and straddling a tight rope on certain issues. For one, Democrats may be forced to choose between supporting police unions and fighting for racial justice when minorities and law enforcement intersect. An interesting and possibly exciting possibility concerns the idea of a conservative union movement such as has never existed in the United States. People like Oren Cass of the American Compass think tank believe that done right, unions and conservatives could be a marriage that makes a lot of sense -- for unions and for those of the center-right. We'll explain how proven ideas such as sectoral bargaining and voluntary worker councils (if they would be permitted) could create a conservative labor force that worked collaboratively and even harmoniously with management. Reading that last sentence has to make one wonder if this is to happen before or after pigs can fly. But it can happen, if the National Labor Relations Act is updated and workers and management are given the power and flexibility to work together for a change. Going hand in glove with these concepts is another known as Common Good Capitalism, an idea who's time has come. It is based on reestablishing the bond and contract between workers and employers where each is given rights as well as responsibilities. When unions are freed to work WITH management and Common Good Capitalism is ubiquitous then we will have advanced to a place even Adam Smith would marvel at in its ingenuity and effectiveness.
Remember Fred Sanford (Redd Fox)? Whenever it suited him or he wanted some sympathy with his son he pretended to be having a heart attack and cried out for his dearly departed wife and said yes, this was the big one! Again and again, we were told to beware of a financial crisis if we didn't bring down debt and deficits and get our fiscal house in order. But like Chicken Little, the sky hasn't fallen - yet. And it probably won't. At least the best minds are thinking the danger with unsustainable debt is not like a meteor falling on our house. It is more like an infestation of termites that does as much damage over a very long period of time. Our greatest leaders from Madison to Jefferson to Lincoln have warned of falling into the debt trap. They knew 200 years ago it was nothing short of Generational Theft letting our posterity pay for we consumed. But the adverse affects don't stop there. Paying interest on the debt hogs out resources that could go to education or fixing roads and bridges. The ideas of John Maynard Keynes had their day, but then thankfully fell out of fashion. Only to be replaced by a form of Keynesian Economics on steroids called Modern Monetary Theory which postulates that as a nation we can print, borrow and spend as much money as we want -- with the tiny fine print: so long as interest rates don't EVER rise AND the dollar remains the Reserve Currency of the world. It is only believers in the Hot Hand Theory who would imagine that just because we have kept interest rates down for a generation that we will ALWAYS be able to do so. We hadn't had a worldwide pandemic for 99 years, but then guess what. Modern Monetary Theory is goofy economics to allow the spenders in Washington (spoiler alert: you only need to worry about the Democrats and Republicans) to binge on our kids and grandkids money so they can realize the interests of their politics regardless of the financial health of the country. The truth about it all is that the Business Cycle has NOT been repealed as so many think and act. This subject is not sexy and popular and is all about being the adult in the room, not the life of the party. But we have to remain steadfast and vocal and support the few who are willing to make the hard choices for the betterment of the country. If you take out the phony politicians who only feign their fear of big spending when the OTHER party is doing the spending it is a small group -- a very small group that remain. I call these the churchills after Winston Churchill who was alone for years warning the world of the dangers of a re-armed Germany. We know how that ended up don't we. He was also the first and the most vocal to warn of the anti-freedom ideology of communism and the Cold War we were facing. The debt and our annual deficits are an insidious problem that wil create so much rot inside if we ignore it, there may not be an apple to save if don't begin to improve and reduce the debt when times are good. Every gets that in times of war and crisis you do what you have to do and spend what you have to spend. But if we fail to have the discipline when times are good, we will pay a high price and become nostalgic for the good ole days of now.
We worked hard and carefully to find a Make America Great Again member who was and is excited to support Donald Trump and the Movement. JR Mejewski plans to run for Congress to defeat maybe the longest serving women in the House, Marcy Kaptur of Toledo, Ohio. JR is a favorite son of President Trump and received one or more shout-out tweets directly from the Prez for his avid support in the 2020 election. JR's lawn is over an acre in size and he caught The Donald's attention when he spray painted his entire yard as if it were the Trump Flag seen so widely in the Midwest. JR added a viewing stand for the debates in the era of COVID for Trump supporters. JR has been so enthusiastic he was in Washington DC on January 6 for what he definitely does NOT refer to as the Trump Insurrection. But that does not mean this MAGA member is all about what scares the bajeebers out of the rest of us Republicans and former Republicans. We girded for a debate on a host of issues that we thought would elicit a great defense of all things MAGA and Trump. While definitely a believer, when asked if people broke the law on January 6 at the Capital JR says "of course" he saw it for himself and admitted to crying over the events that day. When asked if veterans who died in combat were "losers" and "suckers", JR emphatically disagreed with his President. When asked if compromise and the ability to negotiate were skills to be valued in our elected representatives JR agreed that so long as the Constitution remains our guiding light, of course they were. This in particular is a statement almost impossible to elicit from Washington any insiders without a laundry list of qualifiers. When asked if QAnon was to be welcomed into the new Republican Party this MAGA adherent was emphatic that many of these folks are on the fringe and to be viewed with a healthy dose of skepticism. What is unfortunately not apparent to JR is that his and the Republican Party's association with these ideas and people who do NOT disavow these beliefs are marking him and the Republican Party as untenable and unserious at best in a democratic form of government. At worst, active or even passive acceptance and inclusion of these elements, not to mention the racist, misogynistic and bullying style of their leader creates a race to the bottom that many do not recognize they are in or the direction their drum major is taking them. The upside of this surprising discussion is the old adage that we ought not ever paint with a broad brush and we ought not think we understand people until we walk in their shoes - or at least spend an hour talking with them as equals in the debate about what America is and where she needs to go. Listen to this interview with an open mind as a non-MAGA and non-Trumper and you may not abandon all your concerns, but you may wonder just how many of those 74,000,000 who voted for 45 are like him and how many are a lot more like JR Mejewski. This interview was not a set up. I was prepared to and did in fact ask the tough questions I thought would elicit a real debate and test of wills. I know, I know this is just one person in a movement that has baffled and frightened many. There are no question some authentically scary ones. the question now is now many? It's at least one less than we thought.
Federalism was an idea the founding fathers came up with in order to deal with the fear of a monarchy, tyranny and the weaknesses of human nature. The 10th Amendment to the Constitution didn't create that right as it was already a part of the plan. It merely announced it and reaffirmed that power and sovereignty in the new nation would be like no other - not even the ancient Greek and Roman models which the founders studied. The genius and challange - the enigma - was that all the details and particulars were not spelled out for first practitioners of the world's oldest democracy. They had to find their way, create precedents and to some extent, make it up as they went along. So much of the Federalist debate in the first Four Score and Seven Years of the Nation revolved around one issue: slavery. In fact, pro-slavery Americans tainted the belief in States Rights for generations by using it as a club to pound home their right to govern without interference in a way to preserve an economy and way of life built upon the backs of slaves. The outcome of the Civil War dealt a heavy blow not only to slavery but also, unfairly I believe in the long run, to States Rights. But there was more, so much more in our history that wore away at the power and sovereignty of the States. There was the brute force of a presidency when Theodore Roosevelt sat in the Oval Office. There was the intellectual arguments made into policy of Woodrow Wilson. There was nothing greater in the 20th Century than FDR's New Deal that sped up the flow of power away from the states and to Washington DC. Civil Rights law in Brown v Board of Education and the successes of LBJ on the same subject and failures of LBJ with much of the Great Society that further enshrined the notion and de facto practice of intended solutions and policy coming from the national government; that is, from the top down. The efforts to stem the tide and return a smidge of power back to the states by Nixon and Ford was not sustained, though the rhetoric of Ronald Reagan on the subject was stirring. Bit by bit the imbalance has grown with few pauses to the point where the very imbalance owns a share of the blame for the dysfunction we get in our government today. What we need as we announce near the Ides is a March Madness for Federalism -- a competition whereby states compete to propose and implement and prove out great policy solutions. Solutions that can be shared with other states with the brains and humility to know a good thing when they see it. We are a nation built on the competitive spirit and innovation -- why do we waste away our greatest strengths. Louis Brandeis made famous the idea that states ought to be the Laboratories of Democracy. We had Robert La Follette who governed this way in Wisconsin. Perhaps a few others. But for the most part this promise of a shared balance of power and sovereignty has been mostly aspirational. It's time to makes moves to live out that aspiration and to balance the scales; to make our republic function as it was intended. We ought to immediately use Federalism in pressing issues like the minimum wage and infrastructure. We ought to use it as well to lower the risk of new policy ideas trying them out one state at a time and shining the light of attention where it belongs: on the states of this union.
After the most encouraging conversation about the Serve America Movement in our last episode we are forced to return to difficult subjects. It is shocking how distinctly we have been moving towards a decline in our freedoms and liberties and the quality of our democracy. We were the first, but being lumped in these days with Romania and Panama its hard to say we've had our act together lately. The unwritten rules of the game have steadily been discarded over that last 30 years in the United States. These unwritten rules are about tolerance and forbearance being employed by our elected representatives. They call them the soft guardrails that keep us from running into a ditch so to speak. The good news is we have been here before and found a way to re-write the rules that keep us from tearing each other apart. The first was at the founding of the United States. The Federalists and Anti-Federalist had no use for each other and did everything they could to kill or outlaw the other. Nothing worked. In time democratic norms evolved as politicians came to understand that the opponent I have on an issue today might be my best supporter on a different issue tomorrow. Today I am in the majority, but tomorrow I may be in the minority, so I better take care how I treat the opposition in the time I have the upper hand. The second great challenge came when all norms broke down and we decided a civil war was a the only way to settle our differences. We got back to democratic norms after the war, but it took at least 15 years and not before it was agreed that Federal troops would leave the south and Reconstruction would be effectively over. From FDR to Truman to Eisenhower and even Nixon we have had leaders (actually almost all American presidents for almost 150 years till Donald Trump) who have in most instances adhered to the democratic norms that are critical making our system work. Their greatest teacher was George Washington who knew that everything he did and didn't do would be looked to by future presidents as a guide. But # 45 Donald Trump was in a class by himself. He broke more china than anyone before and hopefully he'll not be outdone by anyone in the future or the chance of our democracy surviving is slim. In Trump's defense he promised to shake things up - and he delivered. Also in his defense, Trump didn't start the trend of norm breaking. It really got going with its legs when Newt Gingrich employed tactic not seen since the Civil War to wrench power in the House of Representatives after 40 years of unbroken Democratic rule. So many others have aided in this death spiral from Talk Radio to the Freedom Caucus to the Tea Party to Harry Reid to Barak Obama to Mitch McConnell. Both sides can share in the blame, but not evenly. Probably 75% of the norm breaking has come from the Republican side - and that probably makes sense - Democrats are more comfortable with government to begin with. Their norm breaking has been much more reactionary.
Finally to conclude this episode a little discussion about this new phenomena known as Biden Republicans. I think the term is ill-advised and probably misused, but you can be the judge.
An finally, a political hero we can all take lessons from -- especially the members of the United States Senate who couldn't find a way to honestly weigh the evidence at the impeachment trial of Donald Trump. Alexei Nalvany has been a powerful spokesman showing vision and bravery in the face of personal danger to speak up for democracy and against the corruption he has exposed in Russia. Real heroes are exceedingly rare, but this guy is the real deal.
Ronald Reagan believed that for representation to crystalize into the very best that our system has to offer, the man (or woman) and the moment had to meet each other. In other words, timing may not be everything, but it means more than most people may realize. America once and for a long time had two proud political parties that made plenty of mistakes, but together they were able to usually give us worthy or extraordinary representation and leaders -- even at times politicians we would one day think of as statesmen. Not so much any more. There are a few good ones, but would many call any of them today a statesman without reservation? Maybe. Well, the Serve America Movement (SAM) is a new political party that may be an idea who's time has come. We have one party (the Democratic) that functions, but with all the change that has occurred in the party structure since the Watergate Era, it no longer is able to regularly offer up stellar candidates that don't just manage, but lead us through the challenges of our modern times. The other party (the Republican) is an outright disaster. Without recounting all its flaws, suffice to say, the fact that both factions of the Republican Party today agree on this, is testimony to how bad things have gotten. They have some strays, but their mainstay voters are older white men without a lot of education. They have made a conscious decision to try to hold power by suppressing votes and in other ways, gaming the system. They have largely given up on being a governing party (see the last Big Tent Podcast episode). They live and breath just to keep other side from achieving its means to respond to America's issues. Enter the Serve America Movement! It's a way to be a part of governing that no longer looks at us versus them. No longer a zero sum game where if they win, we lose. No longer joining because of your view on one or a few issues with the requirement that you accept the rest to be a member. The left - right prism we have been stuck with is not the only way. Listen and recommend THIS episode to everyone you know who feels they have no political home - or no longer care for either of the two options we've had - till now. Congressman David Jolly is now the Executive Director of SAM. David Jolly is skilled and articulate in explaining the problem and in presenting a very viable and unique and exciting alternative. Can you tell I am convinced that the man and the movement are meeting the moment? Cong Jolly is not only someone who can explain and lead this effort, he is someone who has a future in elective office. David Jolly is a resident of the State of Florida and may soon continue his elective career in that state where he was a congressman from the Tampa/St Petersburg area for two terms. We have heard them all over the last 50 plus years. Only a handful have been able to make the connection and articulate a vision in the way that David Jolly is doing. Citizens are governed by men and woman with the consent of the governed in a democracy. No one is without faults including my interview this episode. But listen with an open mind - and consider the possibilities.
With the Trump Impeachment Trial getting underway it is necessary in this episode to recap on our discussion of justice and accountability. Is it enough to want to hold Trump and his minions accountable personally? Justice without a higher reason seems more like vengeance and last we checked that is the purview of a higher being. Fortunately, there are some much better reasons to give the American people their day in court with the alleged crimes of Donald J. Trump. First is to live out the creed that all men are created equal in the eyes of the law. Second, to send a timeless message to all would-be tyrants who are coming to strike at our liberties and freedoms and way of governing ourselves that if you mess with those rights we hold dear, a very high price is in your future. A message that is necessary because there are always people who dream of the kind of power we do not give to individual officeholders in our form of government.
Our main focus today is on legislative obstruction. What is it? What are examples of it the last 10 years? Well, Republicans have been morphing into a group that is simply the anti party and left with little to do but obstruct. They are against nearly all change and they are against government and most certainly against any policy no matter how beneficial it might be for the American people if it will ever give ammunition and help to a cause other than their own. It has happened on a host of issues including immigration, gun control, foreign policy, climate change and more. Democrats believe in government, so they are inclined to want to work out solutions with Republicans. They also are smart enough to know that issues that are solved in a bipartisan way get more support from the American people that all of them answer to. Republicans should be able to acknowledge at least the necessity of government and work within that framework and their conservative mvalues to accomplish things for the American people. They use to. Not any more. Today their actions show they hold an absolutist belief that unless they are in power whatever happens is inherently bad - and that is inherently absurd and unhealthy for the country. A new chapter began with a new president in January 2021. One question is will Republicans go back to their old playbook and give up on governing as they did for the 8 years of the Obama Administration and be obstructionist with every action and every word of every waking moment they do not hold the White House. Will the Democrats and Biden allow them the ability to do so. I'm not so sure. Stay tuned...
Program Note: Our next episode will feature an interview with former Florida Congressman David Jolly. David has left the Republican Party and is part of a new political party: The Serve America Movement or SAM. Mr. Jolly is considering a run for Governor of Florida in the next election.
There are several good reasons to want to move past the Trump Era and try to begin healing and seek unity. That's what some are telling us to do. What did Lincoln say when the nation was torn apart? What did Gerald Ford do when faced with a damaged nation? How about Franklin Roosevelt, considered a traitor to his class? Unity is a worthy goal. But does it come best regardless of accountability or only after it? Democracy is like making sausage. The outcome can be good, but you don't want to watch it being made. Historically we've had our share of political division, but the era we are in now ranks as one of the most difficult. Earlier times were mostly tempered by civility and democratic norms and forbearance. Those guardrails have been destroyed and lie by the roadside leaving us without those norms to guide people's actions. Seek justice and we risk making a crime of political viewpoints that are out of fashion like some very sketchy democracies around the world thru history. If these events become show trials and not based on strict Rule of Law and due process then yes, we have defeated the purpose of holding people accountable. But there are two reasons to seriously consider not missing this opportunity before the window closes and we move on. First, the message to all Americans needs to be: no man is above the law. People rightly decry when they feel there is a double standard: one set of rules for the rich and powerful - and another for the rest of us. We must allow our system of justice to run its course and in order for ALL people to have a chance of accepting the outcomes. Doing it dispassionately without "fear or favor" as they like to say is the real key. The second message is for all of the tyrants, demagogues and dictators in-waiting that are watching very closely what we do. Americans have not had to think seriously about such things, but we absolutely do now. Not just for the next few years, but for 25, 50, 75 years from now. Those power seeking people will rise - and we better have given them our answer for what we do when people mess with our democracy: they will receive the full affect of the law. Our actions now have to speak for us for a long time to come. Whatever we say down the road will mean little. The next guy will be stronger, smarter and better planned than the last one. We've only got one chance to get this right - and that time is now. If we collectively blow it, we or our children or grandchildren will pay a tremendous price. It is a case of doing the harder good.
We are also looking in this episode at who exactly were the rioters who stormed the Capital January 6. As individuals they could be the person next door. As a group...or groups...they are unusual and interesting and scary and worth understanding all at the same time. Their dress and their symbols and their slogans are all a means for us to understand people who became pawns in a half-assed but deadly serious attempt to undermine American Democracy.
This episode is dropping less than a week after the Trump Insurrection of January 6, 2021. Joining us for a discussion of all the news and the state of the Republican Party is Richard (Rick) Hodges. Rick has a career of public service. He has been the Fulton County (Ohio) Treasurer. He served three terms as a State Representative for a conservative district in NW Ohio. He has been the Executive Director of the Arizona Truckers Association. He returned to Ohio to join the administration of Governor John Kasich as his Director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission. A second position he held was as Kasich's Director of Health.
Rick was raised in a liberal/progressive home but found his own way to being an active conservative from the 1980s to the present. Rick and Steve have a lively discussion on why we all witnessed an insurrection in the first place. Spoiler Alert: the mob is culpable for its violence, but has true grievances that Trump exploited. Violence is never acceptable, but we need to discern whether the grievances manifesting themselves or real, imagined or a bit of both. One thing Rick and Steve agree on: the label of conservatism has been used and abused to the point where it means something different to everyone. One thing is for sure, they agree that the Make America Great Again tribe does not fit any realistic definition of "conservative". They have less confidence knowing what is to come for the Republican Party. Rick thinks the two party system is here to stay, but that the Republican Party may be a significant minority, if not a regional party for some time. Steve thinks - or maybe hopes - there's a way for traditional conservatives and the Trump crowd to get a divorce. Both parties seem to want it, so why not make it amicable -- haha.
Listening to Hodges, its interesting to hear his take as a public servant/officeholder what its like in many of the situations we are watching in real time. Its apparent that even though he has been out of the intense spotlight for some five years, he is adept at understanding why people feel as they do -- and to validate (nearly) all opinions in the kaleidoscope that are Americans political views. Such tolerance isn't as raucous as the political mud-wrestling you find on talk radio, but it is an example of the tolerance and forbearance we all need to practice with our fellow Americans if we're gonna hold the world's oldest democracy together. The dirty little secret is acceptance of the absolute right of everyone to their own views is not a sign of weakness as portrayed in the current intolerant stew that is our political climate today. In fact, just the opposite. If you think its not hard to consistently be tolerant of others -- give it a try. It is the stronger one by far who appreciates his polar political opposite -- and maybe even thinks well of them personally.
Our title today is a quote by a keen observer of the situation, former Republican Congressman Joe Walsh. Whether he is right or not remains to be seen but people who have run as Republicans and run for president like Bill Weld and Evan McMullin think there is a growing chance that Walsh is right. The Republican Party has been around for over 160 years. The Democratic Party even longer. Why would people be saying such things after the United States has existed for so long with these two major parties ordering our political lives for so long. What is going on? The "go to" answer for everything these days is: Trump. But it is much more than Trump. The decline began before Trump. True, he put it on steroids, but there is a base of voters and a host, a clear majority, of elected Republicans who have aided and abetted the words and actions that are leading the Bigger Tent Podcast and many others to call out what is plainly "before our very eyes." Still nobody knows when. Nobody knows if it will implode or explode or go quietly in the night. There are a great many groups and powerful players who have vested interests in the outcome of all of this. To be noted in all the chaos are the chances that the Republican Party averts complete destruction and survives in some form. In fact, that is both my hope and prediction. Many more shoes will need to fall before we have much "visibility" as to what is happening and what is to come. Donald Trump and his circle of support will have some say in the matter. Today the majority of them have their hair on fire with rage at other Republicans who will not declare absolute loyalty to Donald Trump. Likewise, there are a great number of Republicans who gave Trump their vote and some degree of support who have no interest whatsoever in seeing Trump as some savior or super hero. If the slow motion train wreck we're seeing does in fact happen within the Party, practical questions start to arise. Like a divorce, who gets to keep the remnants of the Party? There is money and infrastructure and institutional knowledge that is at the same time valuable and tainted. Where do the others go? Do they become Democrats? Do they become Independents? Are they fed up and just lapse in their interest and involvement in politics. Past experience tells us very few will pick any of those options. But a new political party? Maybe. Next question then: what does it take to start a new party? Can't be that hard, right? Ross Perot did it. Oh, wait that effort failed. The Reform Party is not a player anymore. Since we're cleaning house we might as well take a look at all the electoral reforms the two main parties have stifled and kept from being enacted. We can have better representation. There are improvements that are being practiced that will make a difference. But we're gonna have to fight to get them...
President Donald Trump has pursued every legal means he or his lawyers or his advisors can think of to stay in office - to no avail. Trump will be leaving office on January 20, 2021 but we still don't know what's in store until then and if he'll attend the inauguration of Joe Biden or have his own rally to kick off his "race to return" to the Oval Office in 2024 on Inauguration Day. Trump will have alot of choices what he does with his time but there's no question he will be raising money to pay the debts that have become public knowledge in 2020. He'll also have to allocate some time and money to fend off civil and possible criminal charges for things done the last four years or before. They all build a library, but with the unconventional Trump style who knows - maybe a theme park instead. Then there's the obligatory presidential memoir. No doubt there's gonna be some real estate deals, most probably of an international destination some have speculated. He professes to want to continue to control the Republican Party with his money, his political machinery and his 40 million or so MAGA fan base. With all that and a few more choices we'll mention in this episode who knows if he'll be in the mood to rerun in 2024. But that doesn't mean there won't be the beginnings of a Trump Family Political Dynasty very soon. They say once it gets in your blood...Don Junior is the one talked about the most, but there has been talk of Eric or Ivanka or Lara running for various position. Baron will have to wait a little while as young as he is. We've had Roosevelts, Kennedys and Bushes. Why not a few generations of Trumps? History is uneven though. Some families have been able to keep public service in the family for generations, while others try and come up short. Few remember Charles Adams run for President in 1872 or Theodore Roosevelt Junior's attempts to follow in TR's footsteps. But in what party will all these Trumps run? In today's episode are some of the history making actions of the Republican Party to kill itself. If it doesn't survive it looks to be a combination of self-mutilation and a push or two by Trump over the cliff. A fracturing of MAGA Nation from the traditional Republican Party may be what Trump wants 1) to control his base without interference, and 2) to seek retribution on Republicans who were not sufficiently loyal to him at his end.
Thomas Patterson has been studying the Democratic and Republican Parties his entire career. He is the author of college textbooks as well as political books like this one that are made for all of us to read and learn from. The subtitle is "And why it needs to reclaim its conservative ideals." Patterson has identified how the Republican Party is facing traps on all sides that threaten its very existence more than ever before after 160 years. Those traps are the Demographic, the Ideological, the Moral, the Media and the Money Trap. Patterson sees ways for the Party to avoid them and survive, but the evidence they will avoid them is open for debate -- for listeners of the Bigger Tent Podcast and anyone watching what some would call a a political train wreck of possibly epic proportions. In this podcast we'll hear why Patterson feels this book was so important at this point in time. We ask the author who he thinks is the conservative party today -- the answer may surprise you. Hear what Professor Patterson thinks about a day of reckoning for the Party of Lincoln. Previously on the Bigger Tent Podcast we mentioned the Federalist Party and more deeply examined the Whig Party. Does the author feel today's Republican Party will mirror one or both of them? Well listen, of course. Ronald Reagan successfully built and invited likeminded people into his bigger tent of a party using a three legged stool of social issues, military strength and fiscal restraint. Does Dr. Patterson think the GOP can again build such a big tent? Republicans today have cast aside civic norms installed and required by the Founding Fathers and used to the benefit of the nation throughout our history, such as compromise, negotiation and forbearance. Patterson has some opinions about this for sure. No discussion of the landscape of the current Republican Party would be complete without addressing how Donald Trump's intentions following his loss may "freeze" the Party and prevent it from learning, growing and finding its way to a Bigger Tent Party of like-minded conservatives and others reinventing itself by standing on a solid foundation of core values, but poised to address our challenges with new and creative conservative solutions.
Does Talk Radio and Fox News report what the Republican Party is doing...promote what conservatives and the party are doing...or tell the Party what to do? Are they doing it with a passion for the politics or is it a business proposition? And what do Polish hams have to do with all this anyway? Its an interesting story how a man from the Outback came to be a king maker along with Rush Limbaugh. More importantly let's discuss how Talk Radio and Fox have changed the Republican Party. Decide for yourself if it's for the better. A new chapter is about to begin with Republicans back in the minority. Will anything change for the power players of Talk Radio and Fox or will Trump TV hit the airwaves and scramble everything?
We are starting to explore the troubles that are plaguing the modern Republican Party. This is not an exercise in piling on because we are like Washington's spies - secretly on the other side. For too long being on the ''team" meant you had to ignore the warts on her nose and convince yourself she was still the fairest of all. Our intentions are not without a positive motive. We are not haters, but we want to look honestly at 1) who we are and how we got here, 2) determine whether it is that bad, and 3) talk about our options.
We finished up talking about all of the efforts that are going on to suppress the vote. Voter suppression is as old as the Republic, but the size and scope make this a dark period on the subject. Say what you want but it is the Republicans who are suppressing and the Democrats who are working to get everything with a pulse to the polls. If you want to cry foul for some of their tactics fine, but they are not in the business, the nasty, sad, shameful business of trying to win by taking away the right that begets all other rights: the vote.
Most of our episode though is a deeper dive into the world of conspiracies old and new. The newest being that which they call QAnon. With roots that are over a hundred years old the QAnon movement is barely 3 years young itself, but it more than makes up for its youth with its outrageous claims and intentions. One of many amazing things is the warm embrace many members of the Republican Party are giving it. We will expose to you exactly what the true beliefs are of the QAnon movement. Prepare to be amazed - at them and the Republican Party for serving as their enabler and giving them a political home.
Included are some shining examples of people calling out truth to power. They stand out because they have been few and far between and because they may be instructive for someone today who's taking notes and may soon be taking names. Joseph Welch who stared down Joseph McCarthy and made a madman blink. John McCain criticized so often for his gut reactions, showing us there are things at least as important as winning. William F. Buckley - a quirky manner, a razor sharp wit and the intelligence and backbone to call out a fellow conservative who was running their budding movement into a ditch.
The Whig Party's end has some interesting parallels to the Republican Party today. Daniel Webster and Henry Clay were the establishment types. They were the Jeb Bush and John Kasich of their day. The Whigs passed them up to nominate a crude and unprofessional candidate that would not tow the party line and had never held elective office. Zachery Taylor, a hero of the Mexican Wars was their nominee. They won but it was always said that the party chose power over principles. Hmmm. The Whig Party's whole history included that growing difficulty of both parties and the country to resolve the issue of slavery. It could be said that we have no single issue today compares. All we have today is a raging pandemic, a mountain of mail-in ballots to count, a postal service compromised from the top, voter suppression such as we have not seen since the height of Jim Crow, foreign interference in our elections, civil unrest in cities across the country and the first ever president who says he may not go peacefully if he loses. Add them all up and perhaps our situation is as dire as that of the Whigs. Those who do no learn from history are condemned to repeat it. So tune in and learn more about the current state of conservatism and Republican Party.
Today - Election Day - the discussion begins: Is the Republican Party the best home for conservatives anymore? Is the Republican brand so soiled conservatives must seek other options. For that matter what are conservatives in the 2020s? Post Trump the players and coalitions must take a hard look at who they want to share their shrinking tent with and who is best to lead them out of the wilderness they enter today.
Conservatives and current and former Republicans can embrace these difficult times to forge new alliances, bring new energy and advance creative and ingenious policies that are steeped in conservative values at the same time they meet Americans where they live and solve real problems. They can also choose to accept the status quo and become a minority party and movement for the near-term or permanently. To get our heads around it all we must build a foundation of understanding about how we got here, assess how bad the situation is and explore the options we have to rise again.
Our history - distant and recent - matters, as does our successes and our failures, which we must own. But our focus must not be lost on the future. What is our path to bring about an effective and entirely practical conservatism that will enable this nation to realize its aspirational ideals?
These are the exciting questions we will explore and roll up or sleeves to resolve together.