The Duelists

  

On the one hand, there’s an administration recovering from a pandemic, facing severe economic stress and the rise of autocracy (with a war against democracy in Ukraine), recovering from the prior administration that reversed decades of social policies, disassembled financial, environmental and consumer protective agencies, cut taxes for the rich with one of the largest corporate tax cuts in history that produced no tangible benefits for 90% of America and sent the federal deficit into the stratosphere, trying to tilt the scales back to a more balance approach to benefit that 90%. On the other, there is a party hell-bent on undoing legislation to support that 90%, tank environmental spending, cut social programs that have been with us for well over three quarters of a century, cut the teaching of verifiable facts from schools and universities, and cling stubbornly to an economic strategy that has never, ever, worked… that should be labeled “a rising tide floats all yachts.”

At stake is the federal debt ceiling, which if not raised in the very near future, will send already high interest rates soaring, raising consumer prices to a level will make current inflation seem welcome. The damage that can be done – effectively reversing global confidence in supporting our entire economy – may result in a permanent downgrade in both the dollar and our creditworthiness. China and Russia are hoping. It would be a level of damage that they could not inflict on the United States short of a direct nuclear strike. But the unholy alliance that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy made with about 20 ultra-right-wing GOP members of Congress effectively gave them the power to extort the entire nation.

They call it “woke spending,” on social and environmental programs, shoring up Social Security and Medicare by literally slightly raising taxes on those earning $400,000+/year, and adding a serious reduction in the federal deficit. But this right-wing faction controls the GOP, clings to the now thoroughly discredited “stolen election” theory and embraces a policy of “woke” liberalism… a word that had no original definition but is slowly adding up to a White Christian nationalist commitment to keep taxes for the rich from rising a cent, while decimating the legitimate needs of the vast majority of Americans. They wish to repeal what Congress already passed. This GOP hardline, which defines the House GOP majority, makes little sense unless you are a mega-rich taxpayer with an unwillingness to raise your tax bill even very slightly.

Los Angeles Times OpEd writer (March 12th) Doyle McManus: “President Biden unveiled his $6.8-trillion budget proposal last week [early March], and it drew the customary jaded responses: a work of fiction. A party platform with price tags. And, of course, dead on arrival… All true. But from Biden’s standpoint, the budget rollout was a resounding success that served two purposes.

“It put the president where he wants to be as he prepares an expected reelection campaign, with one foot in his party’s center and one in its progressive left… Biden gave centrists a promise to cut future deficits by almost $3 trillion and shore up Medicare’s deteriorating finances… But he also asked for more funding for child care, elder care and fighting climate change, and said he’d pay for the whole package by raising taxes on corporations and the wealthy.

“In a campaign-style speech at a union hall in the swing state of Pennsylvania, he said his budget was designed to ‘give working-class folks a fighting chance.’ Expect to hear more of that as he tries to woo those voters next year… More important, the budget was Biden’s opening offer in a battle over federal spending that is likely to consume the rest of the year.

“The president knows the Republican-led House of Representatives won’t agree to the social programs he’s proposed or the tax increases to pay for them… Beyond campaign positioning, his real goal was to nudge House Republicans toward serious negotiations and a vote to raise the debt ceiling, which limits government borrowing.

“Republicans have said they won’t raise it unless they get deep spending cuts in return — an ultimatum that risks touching off a catastrophic failure by the government to pay its bills. But they haven’t settled on a comprehensive list of the cuts they want; there’s no official GOP budget proposal.” A deal Biden knows he can never make.

But what a lot of Democrats do not fully understand is that this rising MAGA movement is far more than an expression of a political opinion. By joining deeply religious beliefs in the vision of God presented by fundamental evangelicals, the underlying passion behind MAGA is more an expression of religious zeal than a difference of opinion. In a world where trashing your political opponents is much more important than creating a better world – one of the most powerful elements in Trump’s pollical legacy – stopping an opposing vision is far more cherished than building a positive future that can benefit most of us. If “my God” is the only true vision and the driving force, such that the holders of such beliefs do not care if they are a minority voice… they believe all other voices to be false. And they are on a mission for “God.”

What makes this even more interesting is that the greatest symbol for tolerance and kindness in the Western world – the essence of “woke” policies – is probably Jesus Christ himself. But scatter some “right to life” and “He promised no global horrors after the Great Flood” climate change denial in the mix… and you get the mega-rich a willingness to accept these minority beliefs as a necessary part of their getting less regulation and lower taxes. When it gets down to such passionate basics, particularly with an increasingly well-armed dissident cadre of MAGA worshipers… and you can see how this just might spark a truly ignominious unraveling of the entire country. That most Republicans cling to the notion that they cannot get elected unless they embrace such fundamentalism is tragic. Russia and China are hoping, and PRC President Xi Jinping uses our own dissent, footage from Fox News and the MAGA press, to make his case that the United States has a government that cannot govern… and that necessarily must unravel entirely.

I’m Peter Dekom, and as the majority of Americans are less attached to formal religion, a powerful and angry minority of believes is just digging in their heels and asserting control.