I’ve discussed the war I think we’re fighting with the Russians before, specifically here, although we could simply term it a fierce rivalry, at least for those who like to keep their terminology clean. It started, more or less, with the invasion of Ukraine by Russia; our riposte was the drop in oil prices; and the return Russian thrust is their interference in our elections.
We do need to realize that we’re in a coldly serious competition with Russia. This is not a military conflict, and need not be, but here’s the problem: we’re trying to run our side of the conflict with one foot in concrete. Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages, ranging from various natural resources to societal cultures to political systems, and we could spend days writing about them. But Russia is deadly serious about their ambitions, and we need to not make unforced errors.
And our side is doing that.
I’m not talking about the election of Donald Trump – that was a forced error. We were manipulated into that mistake, and it’s indisputable that we were manipulated into it.
But now we have an Administration which is actively trying to cripple the American Government, one of the most potent weapons in this war. Notwithstanding President Trump’s attempts to blame the Democrats, he is far, far behind in nominating the leaders of the government, as TIME reports:
“Dems are taking forever to approve my people, including Ambassadors,” the President tweeted. “They are nothing but OBSTRUCTIONISTS! Want approvals.”
Setting aside the fact that his fellow Republicans control the Senate, there remains a very large problem here: the White House has not nominated anyone for the job in London. Trump announced during a gala luncheon on Jan. 19 that New York Jets owners Woody Johnson would be his pick, but the White House has not referred the nomination to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. It’s tough for anyone—Republicans or Democrats—to confirm a nominee who hasn’t been nominated. An ambassador-in-theory at the Court of Saint James does the United States no good.
Among these personnel are some of the most important in service, those of the State Department. They handle the diplomatic duties, and this is where wars start – or are successfully aborted. Many news outlets have reported on Secretary of Defense (read: War) Mattis’ comments on the situation, so at random, here’s Business Insider:
“If you don’t fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately,” Mattis said, before members of Congress at a National Security Advisory Council meeting, the US Global Leadership Coalition notes.
“So I think it’s a cost-benefit ratio. The more that we put into the State Department’s diplomacy, hopefully the less we have to put into a military budget as we deal with the outcome of an apparent American withdrawal from the international scene,” Mattis continued.
It’s become increasingly apparent that the GOP has become the party of the amateurs. Honestly, there is no serving GOP member of Congress who stands out as a leading expert on any aspect of foreign relations. In the past, the GOP had a reputation for integrity in this area, with leading names such as Senator Lugar of Indiana rightly well known and respected.
Nowadays? Maybe the best known is Senator McCain, who, based on his rambling contribution to the James Comey hearing yesterday, has entered his dotage and might be best served by retiring. After that?
But I’ll skip busting the chops of various GOP members – no matter how they need to be highlighted – in order to move on to the GOP itself. I and many others have noted before how it disdains experts and expertise in preference to pretending that all is how it prefers it to be – yet you can be sure that when their trucks breakdown, they don’t take them to the kid who’s ten years old but assures you he knows how to fix your pickup.
No, they take them to the trained mechanics. Why they think that doesn’t apply to national policy in a dozen different areas, I don’t know. But this attitude, borne, in many cases, from lust for power allied with a profound ignorance outside of any fields of expertise they may have, does not serve the nation well. We need that to stop.
And I’m using that mysterious pronoun again, We. I’d like to address it and then them. By We I mean the electorate, and to youse guys, it’s time to stop fooling around and electing half-baked amateurs. I don’t care if they tell you all is well (it’s not), that they’ll take you back to the halcyon days of the 50s (they won’t and they weren’t) (OK, some of the cars had great styling), or even if they know how to pray really well. I don’t care if they’re Democrats or GOP, but they must be competent – because I’m confident a competent Republican will understand there’s a difference between government and business, that both are necessary – and an active government is not necessarily a bad thing.
It all doesn’t help when you have an ambitious rival who’s getting ready to eat your lunch because you elected amateurs. In some cases, acknowledged amateurs. Via The Hill:
“Of course, there needs to be a degree of independence between [the Department of Justice], FBI and the White House, and a line of communication’s established,” Ryan told reporters.
“The president’s new at this. He’s new to government. So he probably wasn’t steeped in the long-running protocols that establish the relationships between DOJ, the FBI and White Houses. He’s just new to this.”
Another reporter later pressed Ryan on why inexperience is an “acceptable excuse” for Trump’s behavior.
“I’m not saying it’s an acceptable excuse. It’s just my observation,” Ryan replied. “He’s new at government and so, therefore, I think that he’s learning as he goes.”
Problem is, we don’t have time for this. He selected a slug in Secretary of State Tillerson, and someone uninterested in increasing the performance of the education system in DeVos – two important pillars of a free society.
This is about far more than Trump. It’s about the sickness of the GOP; the ignorance of the electorate – and how that endangers the safety of the United States. We need long term solutions, not just chants about electing progressives or Democrats. We need improvement in the standards of voters, in understanding the important role of government, and how electing the incompetent only inflicts more damage on ourselves.
