unity is possible

or is it too late?

The autumn sky is Carolina blue and the weather deliciously cooler. Harry Truman, yesterday’s featured helper, was awol this morning but the hint of sea smoke still drew me outside.

Prime Minister Netanyahu sought out his opposition for a ‘national unity’ government this morning. As Israel pursues the retaliation it promised, this move assures that the already scarred PM will act in conjunction with other voices across Israeli society rather than in a unilateral manner (at which he already succeeds by personality and the structure of a Parliamentary system). The road ahead will be deliberate, putting the overall objective of returning the nation’s security above partisan interests until something else supersedes the security concerns.

Tragically, we would find such an action virtually impossible right now. The Republican Conference, the 218 party Members in the House of Representatives, are not finding it straightforward to select a single leader. One might have expected a probable leader to be in the wings when the same Conference toppled Speaker McCarthy last week but the goal wasn’t to replace him. The recall action sought to destroy predictability and process rather than to replace a failing leader with someone better able to carry out his position. i am not sure who coined it but the most radical wing of the House is indeed the Chaos Caucus as that is their aim rather than governing.

Bibi Netanyahu has been controversial for at least thirty years, arguably more polarising in each of his three spells as Prime Minister. Brash, secular yet increasingly wed to the religious right, egotistical, long-connected to the Trump family as well as other notable authoritarian world leaders, ethically challenged, and thrice-married, the Israeli has proven committed to his vision of a security state in conjunction with holding power. This Hamas debacle challenges his record but the Prime Minister is putting one foot in front of the other to recover security by approaching governance in a more inclusive manner. Undoubtedly he will seek to reclaim his individual power and rebuff his image after addressing the crisis at hand but Netanyahu admirably is prioritising for the nation today.

Compare that with the Republican party right now. It has yet to identify an outcome it wants beyond destroying President Biden. If evidence of corruption exists, then the president merits examination and accountability like anyone else in the country; equal justice under the law. Despite proclamations for two years now, the Republican-controlled House has not provided evidence for its suppositions. Scenarios without evidence don’t stand up in anyone’s court.

Arguably that is odd but not crucial if this dysfunction only affected domestic politics. The effects of fracture after compound fracture are devastating in our relations with the global problems confronting us. Not only do we not have more than 300 military officers confirmed for their positions but ambassadorships in a number of current ‘hot spots’, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman and Israel remain open because Senators Cruz, Hawley and Paul refuse to allow the nominations to proceed. Aid for Ukraine is on hold as is everything else until the House Speaker race ends with a choice.

if our choice is to abandon all of those things, then we need consciously do that rather than drift into the status. Yet virtually each of the 535 members of the 117th Congress has a pet issue she or he wants to protect. But those intersect, often with unexplored consequences.

The House is paralysed right now, fully non-functioning. The view for many American conservatives is that no House action is a good day but that is ridiculous. We stand merely five weeks from yet precipice over a federal budget. The CR in place only extends through mid-November. Government

We are not governing this country but spending all of our time attacking one another. And by all indications, both parties are tearing themselves apart. Democrats are struggling to unify over the Israeli-Palestinian disaster, despite what the former Israeli ambassador to Washington called a ‘historic speech’ yesterday by President Biden in support of the Jewish state. This rift over Palestinians runs the risk of undermining an already wobbly Democratic side in the 2024 elections. I have already mentioned a few of the Republican fractures. And these issues are largely within the parties, much less the chasms across our nation.

Looming over all of this is former president Trump’s role in the future. The astonishing list of indictments against him, along with civil trials, are personal problems even if they manifest in every network news flash. Even right wing media cover these in echoing his claims of innocence.

Yet the dangers of another four years of government ‘reality television’, which is what we experienced, pale in contrast to the suggested actions which would turn the United States in a pariah as a result of said policy actions. These include proposed interventions in one of our two neighbours and withdrawing from NATO, just for starters. Talk about overturning the Liberal International Order! China won’t have to work to destroy the order as we will have so rattled those supporting it that they will likely abandon it to become garrison states. i only speak with slight hyperbole.

As I have noted several times over this past year in Actions Create Consequences columns, public servants at every level of the federal system swears an oath to the Constitution, including protecting against all enemies-foreign and domestic. All—repeat ALL—of us need reexamine what we are doing here. if we have to demonised those who differ with us, we cannot collectively act upon that oath. We are spending too much time focused on identifying the enemies versus discussing policy solutions and priorities to pursue for the nation’s sake.

We talk about our kids and the future but are leaving them quite an inheritance.

Merely six months ago Israel was rife with massive dissent at steps Bibi sought unilaterally sought to impose in the name of ‘judicial reform’. That probably doesn’t register much in the current week. That doesn’t mean it’s not important to Israelis but it’s not nearly as important as security.

What would we do if confronted by another Pearl Harbour? it’s facile to say we would put our differences aside but i wonder if we have passed beyond a point of no return in our national fracturing. So who can fix that?

WE can fix it by voting for politicians of all stripes who campaign not to humiliate or play ‘gotcha’ on every issue but provide serious policy considerations which recognise the complexity of our contemporary environment. it sounds daunting but obviously those we are paying to do so are incapable. We then have to hold accountable those we elect. Rather than return them to office because we like their Chesapeake Bay Retriever or a single position on housing, we need as responsible citizens look at the whole of their records and their actions. Are we each doing that now?

And we have to make choices, too. What have we each been whining about that disappoints us but is not life or death? Discard the trivial so we can get back to working together as a nation. Otherwise, we truly are doomed.

We have the power of the ballot to accomplish this. if we continue surrendering that, however, we will lose it by virtue of those threats, foreign and domestic.

Yes, we are much larger and diverse than Israeli society. But we also thus have more power, not less. Actions Create Consequences after all.

Thank you for reading Actions Create Consequences. I want to hear your thoughts on this or any other topics. Feel free to circulate this to others. Thank each and every one of you who has a paid subscription supporting this column.

Be well and be safe. FIN