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Amongst ourselves. Amongst others. Sometimes heated. Sometimes
polite. Always with a tinge of sadness. And with the question. Always with
the question.
How do they do it?
They inherited the most productive economy in peacetime history. They left
us a stagnant swamp of recessionary job loss.
They inherited the biggest budget surpluses ever entered into the national
checkbook. They left us a massive, turbulent sea of red ink and
uncontrollable deficit spending.
They inherited a country with the greatest reputation for personal freedom
in the world. They left us a place where you wonder if the government is
checking your library card records to see what you're reading.
They inherited a nation prosperous, free and at peace. They left us a
sharply divided country strangling in a miasma of paranoia and fear and
fighting an endless war beholden to indefinite goals and vague aims
justified by the ever-shifting reasoning of dissemblers and ideologues.
They inherited an America that was trusted and believed, whose word was
a gold standard for honesty and a synonym for integrity. They left us a
pariah nation whose promises are scoffed at and whose credibility is
destroyed.
They inherited a fighting force second-to-none, whose effectiveness wrote
new chapters in the annals of military history. They left us with an army
spread dangerously thin, struggling to meet its recruiting goals and so
ill-equipped it had to dig through trash dumps to up-armor its vehicles.
They inherited a country that was at least no more beset by corruption than
any great nation-state. They left us a open festering wound oozing a trail of
sleazy graft and indicted lawmakers, a place where lobbyists openly run
the agencies that are supposed to regulate the industries they represent.
They inherited a tax system that valued fairness and equity. They left us
one that was weighted as a giveaway to society's most fortunate
members.
They inherited a beacon of freedom to light a darkened world. They left us
a nation that spends most of its time denying that it harbors secret
prisons and tortures those interned there.
They inherited a strong program of environmental protection. They left us a
legacy of regressive policies and despoiled natural resources for sale to
the highest bidder.
And that was just the first term.
The full legacy of our present Republican leadership has yet to be written
but its opening chapters tell a story of one of the greatest governing
disasters to befall this proud nation in living memory. None of these facts
are secret. All have been widely publicized and are well-known to our
citizenry. And so still the question remains: How do they do it? Not how do
they implement a regime of corruption and incompetence. History has
never found these qualities in short supply. The question is how do they
get away with it? How does one amass a record of such abject failure and
incomprehensible idiocy and still win? Nearly twelve million more people
voted for George W. Bush in 2004 than in 2000. Meanwhile the
Republican Party has gained five seats in the Senate and 11 in the
House. The GOP has not been punished for its sins. It's been rewarded.
How do they do it? This website is meant to convey one simple,
undeniable answer.
Because we let them.
The Democratic Party has consistently failed to put up a coherent
counter-message to Republican deceptions. It has failed to articulate a
positive vision for the future. It has failed to convince most Americans that
it represents their ideals and beliefs. And most of all, it has failed to win.
In politics, there is no greater sin.
So if the secret to the GOP resurgence is our abdication of a winning
message, what is the secret to our resurgence? How do we look forward
to a better, bluer America? The answer is not a secret at all.