America’s democracy has always been rowdy, its politics can get ugly, and both parties have fringe elements.
Our system has survived that, and often thrived despite it, so it’s not the outliers, per se, that threaten the system.
It’s when an entire party goes bonkers. That’s the situation we face today.
Ironically, a major part of the problem is democratization of communication. Party leaders and news editors used to act as information gatekeepers who could keep the flow of propaganda, disinformation, and lies subdued and push it to the sidelines. That kept things under control.
Then the internet and social media opened the floodgates. Now, anybody can say anything to a wide audience, and the general public’s collective critical thinking skills aren’t up to the vastly more demanding task of separating fact from fiction. Even worse, demagogues stoking hatred and political violence have much bigger soapboxes — and audiences — now.
The least our political parties can do is not give them a base from which to operate. Parties have always exercised internal discipline. Members who broke ranks were punished, and those who crossed red lines were repudiated and ostracized.
But what we have now is a Republican Party that punishes members for not being wild-eyed extremists. And that’s a problem, not just for the party, but our entire system.
Might there be a glimmer of hope for a GOP that instead of encouraging extremists, reacts to them with dismay and disapproval? It’s still too early to tell.
If there’s any hope for a more responsible and less extreme Republican Party in the future, its patron saint is Zelensky. Besieged Ukraine’s at-times Churchillian leader got a standing ovation on Capitol Hill from both sides of the aisle this week. As a CNN op-ed writer pointed out here, he’s the only person on the planet who can unite America’s political factions. Even the repulsive Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) weakly applauded him.
Apparently seeking to outdo Greene’s repulsiveness, Rep. Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) called Zelensky a “thug” and Ukraine’s government “evil.” There are signs that was too much even for Trump defenders like Rep. Tom Rice (R-SC) who said, “I don’t think he has very much respect for the Republican conference or anywhere else.” This hints of possibly the beginnings of party discipline against an extremist Rice himself called “a bomb-thrower.” (Read story here.)
Cawthorn is badly out of sync with the vast majority of the American public on the Russia-Ukraine issue (see poll results here). But that doesn’t mean Congress should punish him; that’s a prerogative and responsibility of his district’s voters. But the GOP can impose party discipline for a position diametrically opposed to the party’s position on the issue. (They’ve done so with respect to members who supported impeaching Trump.)
Americans are united in supporting Ukraine against Russia’s unprovoked and brutal invasion. What, if anything, will the GOP do about its handful of rogue members embracing Russia’s murderous dictator and echoing its propaganda? Does the GOP still have any values that are worth something? And is it willing to enforce them?
Maybe. House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) on Friday disagreed with Cawthorn calling Zelensky a “thug.” It was a very mild rebuke, but it came from a party leader who almost never repudiates Republican extremists.
Stay tuned.
Photo: Putin is recruiting mercenaries, and if Cawthorn wants to join Moscow’s crusade against Ukraine and Zelensky, I say we buy him a one-way ticket to Minsk.