In reading the recent New York Times column by syndicated columnist David Brooks, The Rot Creeping Into Our Minds; I was struck by the seemingly nostalgic context. As with many commentators, the yearning for a bygone era, as it pertains to politics, may be understandable but is often bereft of reality.
Mr. Brooks reminds us how politicians after an electoral victory would do what all political parties do.; “they passed legislation in accord with their priorities.” He goes on to say that “If Democrats were a normal party that believed in Democratic principles they would have gone to the voters in the next elections and said these Republican policies are terrible you should vote for us” Instead they shut down the government. This is despite the fact that the majority of Americans blame the administration and the Republican party.
While Mr. Brooks reminds his readers that government shutdowns “became a thing” under President Jimmy Carter, it should be remembered that the shutdown under Carter lasted one day at a cost to the nation of seven hundred thousand dollars.
This memory of a glorious past does not reflect the time we presently live in. At a time when the nation is experiencing masked ICE agents breaking down doors and arresting citizens, presence of National Guard in cities, blowing up alleged Venezuelan drug boats, withholding funds from states or withholding SNAP benefits or tearing down a part of the White House, Mr. Brooks seems to want the nation to act as if everything is normal.
We are not living in normal times.
Unfortunately, the nation is dealing with a president who quite possibly within the next three years, may create a scenario to delay voting as aids had advised President Abraham Lincoln to do. Thankfully Mr. Lincoln refused but the same cannot be said about the present administration.
Our democracy has always been messy and at times violent.
When one thinks about politics in the past — whether it was the Jefferson-Adams presidential campaign, the Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr duel or the violent confrontations between congresspersons including the caning of Senator Charles Sumner by Representative Preston Brooks, perhaps the past is not everything we think we remember.
In his book 1929, Andrew Ross Sorkin tells the story about Senator Carter Glass, who in 1913 helped form the Federal Reserve Board as we know it today. Glass a known segregationist was also known for the following statement. “Discrimination. Why that is exactly what we propose. To remove every negro voter who can be gotten rid of, legally, without materially impairing the numerical strength of the white electorate.” Not exactly a shining example of a functioning democracy.
Mr. Brooks uses Daniel Patrick Moynihan’s 1993 iconic essay, Defining Deviancy Down, to make his point. The problem is that Moynihan was making a point about how in his words “we’ve become accustomed to alarming levels of crime and destructive behavior.” Despite the erroneous aspects of Mr. Moynihan’s theory, the public did not become accustomed to crime as seen with the acceptance of unconstitutional tactics to combat in places like New York.
Mr. Brooks mistakenly claims that nobody notices or cares about the degradation of public morality in the realm of politics. Apparently, he missed both No Kings Day marches, which drew five million and seven million participants, respectively. The election results of New Jersey, Virginia, while they should not be over-read, are also signs of how the public, at least a large segment of it, is well aware of the public degradation of political norms and has chosen to challenge it. He seems to have forgotten that in California the people voted for Prop 50, unlike in Texas where it was rammed down people’s throats.
If Mr. Brooks wants to find out who is most responsible for the downward deviancy of politics he should look no further than his own party.
It is good that Mr. Brooks has a yearning for a more decent form of politics, but perhaps the past isn’t the place to look for it. America is on a continuous journey, albeit with setbacks, to make its politics reflect John Winthrop’s City on a Hill.
Taken in its abstract, Moynihan might have been correct about how a segment of Americans have become accustomed to the downward spiral of American politics. Nonetheless Mr. Brooks is wrong when he applies it to the whole country. There is a vibrant segment of voters who are refusing to let go of democracy without a fight.