Nattering Nabob's of Negativism

Those immortal words rolled off the tongue of then Vice President Spiro T. Agnew in the early 1970's.  Richard Nixon picked Agnew to appeal to Conservative voters.  Although later convicted of tax fraud and forced to resign as VP, Mr. Agnew's wonderfully alliterative phrase has stayed in my mind these intervening 40 years or so, and actually bring a smile to my face when I recall them.  My memories of Mr. Agnew were of a smiling, happy man who loved to play golf and didn't spend much time working (so was the perfect VP).  Although he could be very denigrating and condescending in what he actually said, he was always upbeat and positive in how he said it.  His "Nabobs of Negativism" barb was directed at the press that dared to question Republican notions of how to run the country.  

In some respects Spiro seems have have been the archetype of what is now the quintessential Republican.  He was a man so sure his instincts were always right and so sure he had special understanding that he was disdainful of research, facts or other opinions, except to the extent some single fact might be cited to support what his gut told him to do. 

Not to say only Republicans can have those characteristics.  Here in California two democratic members of the legislature are gone as a result of indictments relating to their hubris.  But democrats are wildly individualistic, they are sort of like cats, independent and impervious to what others think.  Republicans are more like dogs, they have to fit into the mores of the pack.  So the most dominant can lead the whole pack astray.  

It tickles my sense of irony that Agnew's words so perfectly describe the modern Republican party.  Certainly blaming the other guy is a basic political gambit, but the Republican party has taken it to ludicrous levels.  They started ripping Obama the day he was sworn in and have spent the last 5 to 6 years trying to villify him,  They were pretty up front about the fact everything they did the first four years was what they deemed would allow them to beat Obama out of a second term.

Examples are legion.  When Obama continued and expanded the bail-outs George Bush started, instead of dealing with the reality we needed to hold our noses and accept the medicine the country needed because of their silly policies during the 10 years they ran Congress, they saw it as an opportunity to rip him up one side and down the other.  They acted like frat boys who had a decade long wild party and ended up setting the house on fire and now were complaining the firemen are using too much water to put the fire out.

Since Obama was reelected their new strategy is to do nothing and hope to get Republican majorities in Congress in 2016.  They have turned Congress into the most expensive and unproductive debating society the world has ever see, blocking even something as obviously non-partisan as allocating money to take care of the Veterans of the wars Republicans so confidently led us into a decade ago.  It would cost too much money they say.  Makes perfect sense if your world view is about your needs, while you are oblivious to your obligations. The wars are winding down so we don't need them anymore, no point in spending money on Veterans. 

I once was was a Republican.  Many of the high minded principles they traditionally have espoused need effective representation so they can be a consistent influence on government policy.  There are Republicans, I am sure, who are serious about doing good things for the country.  But the reality is the discipline the current party enforces, stemming from the basic incompatibility of the coalition they have thrived on, has made them irrelevant, drifting away from the views of the majority of the American people, and left them on the verge of a lifetime achievement award for being the ultimate nabobs of negativism.