Oh, to be Young

(And Republican)

Young Republicans watching their party lurch from ineptitude to irrelevance with occasional side trips to WhoopeeLand might be tempted by Depression.

Not the kind their party caused (again), but the psychological kind that comes when you can’t win for losing.

After all, there’s a charismatic and intelligent Democrat in the White House, the Congress is controlled by the Democrats, and “accuse,” “indict” and “prosecute” seem to be the words that pop up most in discussions of the last Republican administration.

All of which is solid proof that it is a very wonderful time indeed to be Young and Republican.

Consider:

Most political parties, especially the Republicans, operate on principles that would be instantly recognized by any 15^th-century courtier. All power in the party (or society) flows from the top down. There are three ways to acquire power – favor, inheritance or force.

Favor works best when a retiring leader bestows a warm smile on a selected successor and the opposition nominates a garden gnome. That worked just fine for George H.W. Bush when President Ronald Reagan (on whose name be praise) smiled upon George and the Democrats nominated Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts.

Inheritance works when you’ve put in your time for a very long time and it’s just your turn, which is how Robert Dole got to be the Republican nominee against Bill Clinton and won the opportunity to star in Viagra promotions. It also worked for John McCain, the poster boy for continued mainstreaming of Americans with cognitive issues. Hey, he even ran for president!

Force works when members of society can think as they wish but understand clearly that they’d damned well better vote your way or else. Richard Nixon was a master. So, on the other side, was Richard J. Daley of Chicago, the first one, not his kid. Dick Cheney spoke for himself and for George W, Bush, his lips as immobile as their minds.

If you are a young and ambitious Republican and see leaders with any of those three characteristics at the top of your party, then you might as well marry a Democrat and have some fun because there’s an airtight lid on your advancement.

But no – Oh, Good Golly! or whatever young Republicans in ecstasy exclaim – the top is empty today and the open road for advancing Republican principles and at last getting a share of the loot beckons ahead.

Just look at the current contenders.

Mitt Romney was shrink-wrapped at birth, just as soon as his mother checked that there were no wrinkles in his dark suit and that nary a hair was out of place. He is the current favorite of the AE (Almost Embalmed) wing of the Republican party and fills in his time giving shock speeches to the likes of the Heritage Foundation and National Rifle Association in which he slyly mentions that it is the 21^st Century so his audience may gasp in shocked dismay.

Mike Huckabee is a preacher who lost a lot of weight, plays a mean bass guitar and served as governor of Arkansas with no other serious offenses – or accomplishments. He speaks on the Fox News Channel, but Jesus forgave even Mary Magdalene for having to earn a living.

Sarah Palin, former vice presidential nominee and soon-to-be former governor of Alaska by resigning mid-term, followed her resignation announcement by going fishing. Informed sources said she yearned for the intellectual company of equals and spawning salmon filled the need. She appeals to the base of the Republican party that focuses on one issue at a time on account of they don’t hold with all that high-falutin’ countin’ stuff nohow, you betcha.

There you have it, Young Republicans -- the road to opportunity is wide open. Can you walk? Talk? Chew Gum? And all at the same time? You could become a Rising Republican Star. Your destiny awaits – heed its call!

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Labor Awakes to Immigration Reform At Last

 

 

 

You remember Illegal Immigrants, don’t you?

 

Before the 2008 election, the 12 million or so mostly Mexican souls who live and work in the United States illegally were a hot-button issue. The Bush Administration addressed the issue on multiple fronts:

 

·        They tried to pass Comprehensive Immigration Reform with all the political grace and skill of a dog trying to pass a swallowed peachpit – and got about the same result.

·        They built walls on the border, ignoring the irony that the laborers building the walls were often illegal immigrants. The net effect of the walls was to boost ladder sales in Mexico.

·        They raided homes and factories in the dead of night or in mid-shift, spreading the kind of terror in the name of the law that Hitler and Stalin would have approved.  The net effect of that was to produce a groundswell of folks reminding the Bush Administration that this was America, where that kind of crap wasn’t supposed to happen.

·        They encouraged the far-right fringe to howl “Deport ‘Em All!” to the entertainment of the Republican party faithful, whose idea of informed discussion is hearing whatever idea they’ve managed to hold repeated.

 

And then the economy went to Hell and the administration had to console itself with torturing the occasional captive at Gitmo while The Decider made excuses for not noticing that an oath to “preserve, protect and defend” meant the Constitution, not his rich cronies. No time for immigration reform.

 

Now the Obama Administration has found time to raise the issue again, and this time there’s a chance that something sensible might result. And no, that’s not because President Obama thought of it on his daily jog on the waters of the Potomac. It’s because Organized Labor, which went into a coma during the Reagan administration, has come awake at last.

 

This month, the Service Employees International Union and the Laborers International Union of North America called for a plan to bring the illegals out of the shadows, help them organize and fight for the rights of working men and women – in short, common sense immigration reform.

 

So did folks from the AFL-CIO, the United Farm Workers, the United Food and Commercial Workers International.

 

But wait a minute – aren’t these the very folks whose jobs the illegal immigrants are supposed to be taking? Shouldn’t they be joining the moon-howl of the “Deport ‘Em All!” righties?

 

No, they say.

 

Hell no!

 

Labor has correctly figured out that allowing a permanent underclass to be exploited without protection of the law or hope for the future is a tool that hurts all workers and benefits only the rich employers. And the only way to fight that kind of oppression is for all workers to stick together. You remember – they used to call it solidarity.

 

I wrote a book along these lines, “Opening the Borders” (Level 4 Press, 2007), and there are others, but it’s not going to be books that finally bring about immigration reform. It’s going to be the working men and women of America and their unions realizing that anything that oppresses any part of labor is oppressing all of labor.

 

Yes we can! Si Se Puede!

 

And it’s damned well about time.

 

 

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