Theory And Practice

We know that today is May Day, a day commonly used to celebrate worker's rights all over the world. That topic is one we fully support, and hope to address again soon. [We also know that in some places, May Day is about giving candy and gifts to your neighbors, but that's another story.]

However, after the stack of columns, commentaries, and news items over the last 24 hours that all pointed to the same idea, we've decided to focus on the difference between theory and reality in politics today. That seems to be something modern Republican politicians don't seem to truly understand - even if many others, including many Republican voters, do.

The tip of the metaphorical iceberg surfaced with a column from this weekend's Washington Post by two centrist political scholars (one of whom works for a conservative think tank), entitled, "Let’s just say it: The Republicans are the problem." In short, the two political scienists agree that the slavish devotion to ideological theory that current Republican Party politicians cling to, has - in practice - ground our current political system to a halt.

It's not that most Republican voters want the kind of inaction our system now displays. On the contrary, Republican voters, in general say they want our legislators to make smart, sensible laws in a very efficient way. That's not what our current Republican political leaders seem to want, though.

As we mentioned on Monday, just like Newt Gingrich, modern Republican politicians only seem to care more about proving their political theories correct then they do actually governing effectively. Like the poorly planned attacks on Planned Parenthood in Texas, and the illegitimate "personhood" bill in Oklahoma, Republican politicians seem to bent on imposing their theories on those they serve. Sadly, because those legislators didn't consider the constitutionality or ethical nature of either bill, both the bill in Texas and the one in Oklahoma were struck down or halted in court on Monday - which will now cost the taxpayers in both states significantly more money, with zero benefit.

The mindless pursuit of ideology seems to have also found its way into action by Nebraska's State Board of Education. The Board appears set to attempt to force students in all Nebraska public schools, at all levels, to say the Pledge of Allegiance every school day. That a similar bill in Nebraska's legislature failed to pass earlier this year only seemed to be more of an incentive to the Republican politicians on the Board. It doesn't seem to matter that some voters - conservatives among them - agree that being forced to say words one doesn't believe or support won't be helpful to the kids or the schools.

For modern Republican politicians, these kinds of differences between theory and reality don't seem to matter. It doesn't even seem to matter when their theories have been proven to be wrong. For example, the entire conservative theory of budgetary austerity - which, in short, is the Ryan Budget plan - has proven a massive failure throughout Europe. Yet Republicans continue to insist if the rest of us would just try these failed theories, for the thousand and first time, it would be different than the thousand previous failures of the same plan.

GOP Presidential candidate Mitt Romney followed that same stubborn Republican pattern today, when Romney made an offhand comment about President Obama's decision to go ahead with the raid that lead to the death of terrorist leader Osama Bin Laden. Romney tried to frame the decision President Obama made last year as a theory, one that was no big deal, saying that, "even Jimmy Carter would have given that order."

However, as multiple people pointed out, Carter - like Obama - didn't just have a theory. Carter put into actual practice his decision in April of 1980, to rescue U.S. diplomats in Iran, a decision that was incredibly similar to Obama's decision to go after Bin Laden.

Unlike President Obama's decision however, President Carter's ended in tactical and political failure - and was likely a major reason Carter was not re-elected. As Romney's offhand comment makes clear, though, President Obama's call to go ahead with the Bin Laden raid was not just some pie-in-the sky theory, nor was it an easy decision. Obama's choice was a gutsy move, with calculated risks, that was a Presidential leadership move in practice.

For us, Yogi Berra summed it up best when he said, "In theory there is no difference between theory and practice. In practice there is."

What Newt Leaves Behind...

If you were like many folks this past weekend, you were probably busy doing some Spring cleaning, or finalizing plans for upcoming events. Maybe you were at a car show - or, for some of you, going to the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner, often self-deprecatingly called "Nerd Prom."

In case you missed the news in the midst of all those events, former 2012 GOP candidate for president, Newt Gingrich, has finally announced that he's leaving the race Wednesday, instead of Tuesday - which, for most people, doesn't mean a whole lot.

Perhaps it should, though.

Like it or not, Newt has been a force for dissent and self-destruction within the Republican Party during the GOP presidential primaries this past year. As one Washington pundit noted over the weekend, "To Gingrich, politics is war by other means."

Newt's attitude of politics as war has been obvious from the time he first really came on the national political scene. If any one politician has exemplified the modern Republican way of doing things, it's Newt, who really set the tone for the modern version of the GOP. In his first major political battle that gained any national attention back in 1990, he won in a very Karl Rovian way - 50% plus a handful of votes. When he became the Speaker of the House, he bullied his way to that position, too. Upon gaining power in the House, Newt used that power to browbeat, bludgeon, and bluster his way to claiming huge successes - just as he did in this year's GOP campaign, where he only won a single race.

His claims, though, have almost always been shallow and false. The truth is, Mr. Gingrich has always left a trail of massive failures, not the least of which was his shutdown of the Federal government in 1995. Newt's biggest legacy though, will be the way current Republicans in Congress and in state governments now regularly operate. That method is, frankly, like bullies, not in good faith as Republicans once operated, but as though every disagreement - even within their own party - were a battle to the death.

What has this delusional belligerence gained the Republican party?

To start with, a 2012 nominee for President that even Republican voters can't stand.

As journalist John Nichols pointed out last week, in the five Republican primary races held last week, between 33% and 43% of Republican primary voters picked someone other than Mitt Romney, even when they already knew Romney was going to be their candidate for President. In fact, in Pennsylvania, comparing the results from the uncontested Democratic primary to the number of votes in the contested Republican primary, President Obama got more votes than both Mr. Romney and Rick Santorum, combined. Unsurprisingly, all three men got more votes than Gingrich.

Of course, even when Republicans are getting trounced, modern party hacks never admit it. That too is a legacy of Newt Gingrich.

Current GOP House Speaker John Boehner made an excellent display of that kind of braggadocio and ignorance this past weekend, on one of the Sunday shows. Boehner tried to claim his most recent blasting of President Obama was simply Boehner's attempt to "help" the President make better decisions.

We'll admit - the President's remarks towards some Republicans over the weekend were not all that kind during the White House Correspondents' Dinner. However, they were meant as jokes with barbs, as is the usual custom at that event. The President even made some sharp self-depricating comments, showing that his comments were not meant to be serious. The difference between Mr. Boehner's comments and the President's is that everyone knew the President's comments were a joke. Mr. Boehner meant his comments to be serious.

Such obtuseness - or possibly, self-delusion - is also a legacy of Newt Gingrich.

In short, Newt is an ugly bully of a man, who can't seem to be honest, with himself or with anyone else. He's a monster, frankly, who's left a slime in American politics that will only likely disappear with time. While we're almost certain Mr. Gingrich is headed back into the swamp of lobbyists that pervades Washington, DC, he's left behind a template that far too many leaders in the modern Republican Party continue to follow - even though their current attitude, like his, seems to continue to lead them to failure.

Friday Funday: Blank Slate

While some members of our staff are already headed off for a weekend of fun and/or work, at least part of our staff has a completely open weekend ahead - and a blank slate isn't entirely a bad thing.

Still, there are quite a few important events going on this weekend, not the least of which is the White House Correspondents' Dinner, in Washington, DC. We also know that some of you - especially some of our Nebraska readers - will be trekking out to Beatrice, Nebraska and the Homestead National Monument of America this weekend.

In case you didn't know, the Homestead National Monument of America is a U.S. National Park, and the only one of it's kind, dedicated to celebrating the Homestead Act of 1862.

This weekend, there will be celebrations at the Monument in Beatrice to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Homestead Act, including the display of the original, four-page document that let thousands of Americans - and immigrant, soon-to-become Americans - stake their claim to land in the U.S.

Out of the millions of claims that were handed out to 1.6 million people over the course of the 125 year program, there's one claim, that 150 years later, still hasn't been properly addressed.

The land our government handed out didn't belong to the still young American nation in the first place.

It belonged to many Native American nations - nations that often, over the last 150 years, the U.S. government has lied to, stolen from, and cheated.

You can attempt to justify it anyway you want; the truth will remain the same. The U.S. Government paid the French Government for land the French government never rightfully owned. The U.S. took over land from the Spanish too, that Spain didn't really own either.

If you want to be honest, every time you see someone who is a proud Native American - and you are not - you should thank him or her profusely for not trying to evict you from this country because of the actions of your ancestors.

We're very glad, of course, that Native Americans do not kick us off of their land. In fact, we have to admit that we're pretty glad that so many immigrant Americans - including all of our ancestors - came to this country, settled here, and made the nation we have today.

We do wish our ancestors had asked proper permission from the people who were already living here - and we deeply apologize for the arrogant, ignorant, violent, obtuse, offensive, and stupid way that that our ancestors treated the already existing residents of America.

There is nothing we can do now that will ever fully pay back the many Native nations, for what happened to them. Sure - there are things we can do, like help to stop making things worse in towns like Whiteclay, Nebraska. But getting rid of the embarrassment in Whiteclay is the kind of action we should support because it is the right thing to do, not because we owe a debt to the first Americans.

What we can do this weekend, wherever we are, whatever we're doing, is to take the chance to wipe the slate clean, to start over again, remembering that we are all Americans.

How we act towards one another, and towards this land we are all responsible for, should - from this point forward - reflect who we all, as one nation, want to be.

We can't change the past. Hopefully, we can change the future - and make it better.