Who begat this?
Gaetz’s antecedents
It’s amazing what a good six hours of uninterrupted sleep does for the spirit. It’s even more amazing when a cat you personally rescued, despite the views of three others at the time, finally deigns to sleep on your side of the bed following his adoption nearly 8 years ago. I know some of you don’t ‘do’ cats but they are part of our family. Harry finally seems to agree as he slept on my side of the bed. Life is good.
Part of the prowess of the United States over its nearly 250 year history has been a consistency in meeting its obligations—at home and abroad. We have also had a relatively open, transparent political system. We have other attributes but recently, these have deteriorated. Yes, our history of slavery is a notable and unyielding stain on that history which I do not dismiss; it remains an embarrassment of incalculable pain for a nation filled with people who claim faith and humanity central to their lives.
But we relied on the political parties,acting on our behave, in concert where shared interests coincided. The idea that partnership to achieve something bigger than individuals was the common mission for the good of the nation. Somewhere over the past thirty-five years, we abandoned that.
Yesterday’s actions by eight Republican hardliners ought to put fear into everyone around the world. These individuals reject the idea of a shared vision across ideological nuances, much less partisan lines. We are not modeling what we harp about to others, to put it mildly.
One of the many voices criticising this charade, however, is the father of their actions. His moves a third of a century ago begat the movement we are trying to survive today.
This began thirty-five years ago? A single event which may be less important in your eyes but seemingly permanently altered any civility in our nation was Newt Gingrich’s successful slash and burn campaign to unseat Speaker of the House James Wright, a Texas Democrat, in 1988. From there it spread to contempt, hatred, and undying public repudiation of the opposition in a reprehensible manner which has increasingly made reconciliation between parties fatal politically for those even considering reconciling.
Gingrich now calls for the ‘primarying’ of the eight Gaetzites. How rich.
Newt Gingrich was a history professor when elected as a Republican Georgia Representative in 1978, rising to the House Minority Whip position between 1989 and 1995. In 1995 he became the Speaker after orchestrating a masterful thrashing of Democrats in the prior autumn. Gingrich’s methodology was to appear on the fledgling C-Span network in the too frequently empty House Chamber, raising his visibility to the largely older demographic watching the Congress. Gingrich’s unanswered screes about the horrors of Washington (and by extension Democrats) were relentless and frequently ignored by those targeted. A far more militant figure than grandfatherly Ronald Reagan, Gingrich belittled the cooperative political environment of the President compromising with then House Speaker Tip O’Neill.
As O’Neill retired in 1987, Gingrich understood the political tides were shifting in the United States as disillusioned, frequently-unemployed Democrats bought into the Reagan vision of an anti-Soviet, less regulated, and culturally traditional United States in the face of immigration pressures, national abortion discord, Japanese trade competition, among several trends. Gingrich pounced.
In particular, Gingrich used his position as House Minority Whip to charge James Wright with ethics violations as the Texan settled into his Speakership in 1988. Using the new 24/7 news cycle facilitated by both C-Span and the relatively new all-news stations proliferating on the exploding phenomenon of cable news, Gingrich harangued Wright’s behaviour and those of his friends as ethics problems which diminished the House of Representatives.
The Hill was one where things functioned, however, regardless of the Republican frustration that Democrats had not lost their majority since the Eisenhower administration. Democrats did lose the Senate in the 1980s but only temporarily. The legislative branch was, as Gingrich saw it, controlled by Democrats with little future for Republicans. Gingrich saw fights within the chamber rather than fights within the national electoral process as the road to increasing his power and that of the minority.
I personally have no idea what Jim Wright’s ethical lapses were beyond what I recall in the press. Having spent some time on Capitol Hill in the late 1970s, there were many things that struck me as odd about how staff and elected officials operated. Co-mingling of lobby money and staff activities, for example, were common but accepted practices. But, it was activity done by all parties, not merely Dems.
Gingrich in the 1980s was a firebrand, much as Matt Gaetz is today. Serving under the Illinois gentleman Robert Michel, a force for civility, Gingrich appeared ready to use any and all levers of power to achieve his personal vision for the House as well as the nation. Sound familiar?
Speaker Wright unwent an investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee, following a Gingrich complaint, which determined he acted with poor judgment but did not validate impropriety. Unsatisfied with this verdict, Gingrich unceasingly demanded Wright’s ouster from the Speaker’s chair, a step to which Wright acquiesced in mid-1988. The constant exposure propelled Gingrich-led Republicans into taking the House in 1994, with him as Speaker the following January. Gingrich ultimately resigned over his own ethical behaviour and poor Republican electoral successes a mere four and a half years later.
Newt Gingrich doggedly pursued those he opposed, back then largely the other political party. His use of the media, innuendo, and hammering messages set the stage for the rise of the Tea Party faction within his own party a mere eleven years later.
Matt Gaetz’s use of those same instruments—applied to his own party leadership—was only the next logical step in the breakdown of a functioning system. Of course Gaetz had allies and Kevin McCarthy made a number of inexplicable statements and decisions over his few months as Speaker.
The public demand for a ‘traitor’ within his own party, particularly one so closely allied with Gingrich’s own political ally Donald Trump, would be humourous if it weren’t so serious. The message those outside this nation will see is the continuing dissolution of a predictable partner and country capable of determining its interests in a rational manner. Instead, politix increasingly devolves to personalities and personal animosities often evidencing sheer ignorance, who care only about their personal aspirations.
It’s not a good look. The strength so many Republicans claim to seek wanes every time this sort of action occurs rather than proving the building blocks to a country with whom others can confidently see the future.
Who will replace McCarthy is not the only pressing question. Do note that the Speaker of the House is the fourth in line to lead this nation should a catastrophe occur; it is far from a mere partisan office in which to raise one’s party’s banners.
Democrats have their own divisions but they are currently nothing like their counterparts. Such an irony for a party thought by so many to be merely an amalgam of interest groups.
How long can the next Speaker survive? Will the insanity over the budget process diminish? What do we need do to fix this? We have had enough of the partisanship, a basis to much public distrust, on both sides. We are losing ground in so many metrics—longevity and economic advancement raised this week alone—as we struggle with each other rather than with the problems.
Thank you for taking time to read Actions Create Consequences. Have you taking a paid subscription? I welcome your reactions to this column or any other.
The autumnal warmth is still with us as are the beautiful mornings. Get out there to enjoy while you can.
Be well and be safe. FIN
Khaleda Rahman, ‘Newt Gingrich Demands GOP ‘Traitors’ Be Primaried for Ousting McCarthy’, Newsweek.com, 4 October 2023, retrieved at https://www.newsweek.com/newt-gingrich-gop-traitors-kevin-mccarthy-1831940