The Dramatic Decline Of American Political Life
By
Allan C. Brownfeld
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American
political life is in serious decline. Trust in the federal government
is at all-time low. When it comes to Congress, 7 in 10
Americans—-72%—-have an unfavorable view. Members of Congress have
given ample reasons for the decline in public esteem. In November, Rep.
Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.) came up behind Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.)
and began yelling in his ear, accusing him of elbowing him in the back
as they passed each other in a crowded hallway. The same week, the
Senate saw fireworks of its own as Sen. Mackwayne Mullin (R-Okla.)
brought a hearing about corporate greed to a standstill as he confronted
one witness, stood up and challenged him to a fistfight.
Rep.
Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), who led the effort to oust Kevin McCarthy as
Speaker,says that, “This Congress has seen a substantial increase in
breaches of decorum unlike anything we have seen since the pre-Civil War
era.” Joanne B. Freeman, a professor of American history at Yale and
author of the book “Field of Blood,” about violence in Congress in the
years preceding the Civil War, said, “Please stop providing fodder for
‘Field of Blood,’ volume two.”
Confrontations
among lawmakers have become more commonplace in the House as more
extreme members from each party place partisan wins over bipartisan
compromise. Months after her election to Congress, Rep. Marjorie Tayler
Greene (R-Ga.) chased Rep.Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) off the
House floor with taunts. That same year, Greene got into a public
shouting match with Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-Mich.) over abortion rights.
Earlier
this year, Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) was physically restrained after
lunging after Rep. Gaetz for continuing to block Kevin McCarthy from
becoming speaker. The House had not censured any sitting member for 11
years until 2021, when then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi /D-Calif.) led the
effort to censure Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) for circulating an anime
video showing him killing Rep.Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President
Biden. “We’re living in what I would say are fairly polarized times,”
said Sen, John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican. “emotions
are running high and…it’s up to all of us to try to set a good example.”
In the case of Rep.
George Santos (R-N.Y.), House investigators found “substantial evidence”
that he knowingly violated ethics guidelines, House rules and criminal
laws, according to a House Ethics Committee report. The report detailed
an array of misconduct that included Santos stealing money from his
campaign, deceiving donors about how contributions would be used and
engaging in fraudulent business dealings. “Rep. Santos’ conduct
warrants public condemnation, is beneath the dignity of the office, and
has brought severe discredit upon the House,” declared Reps. Michael
Guest (R-Miss.) and Susan Wild (D-Pa.) the committee’s chairman and
senior Democrat.
Recently,
former President Donald Trump characterized his political adversaries
in these terms: he said if he were elected, he would “root out the
communists, Marxists, fascist and the radical-left thugs that live like
vermin within the confines of our country.”
In
the years I worked in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives for,
among others, Gerald Ford and George H.W. Bush, who went on to become
president, I never heard members of one party characterize those of the
other party in these terms. Their goal was to form coalitions.
Together, Republicans and Democrats won the Cold War and advanced civil
rights.