The serious obstacles that national political leadership had to overcome in order to find a solution to allow America to maintain its good credit, is the latest illustration of a story about governance in our democracy. On January 19, 2023, the United States hit its debt ceiling and that created a political crisis that was not resolved until six months later.
This was followed by an appropriation debacle that threatened to shut down the government this past October 30th. The crisis was temporarily averted by a coalition of Democrats and Republicans in the House of Representatives that extends mostly current levels of funding for 45 days.
It is the bickering and developing deep divisions within the Republican Party that have led to the current predicament and threatens the fundamental functions of government at the highest levels. This is particularly dangerous given that the Republican Party holds the majority in the House of Representative and is expected to lead.
It happens that there is a relatively small group of MAGA Conservatives bent on creating chaos. At this point, they have been successful doing it because the Republican Party is in the majority only by a handful of votes. The MAGA group does not seem to be there to govern and serve the American people. Rather, they seem to be on a mission to create dysfunction and prove that democratic order and the rule of law are no longer relevant.
MAGA in Congress and in the country is striving for political power outside the Constitution. Their leader, Donald Trump, is not about democracy or democratic institu- tions, but holds to the notion that personal authority is the only way to reverse what his followers believe is the gradual loss of pertinence in the power structure of the country.
When he was in office, Trump began to assert the idea that he could do anything he wanted because he was the President. However, as the embodiment of the Article 2 of the Constitution, his role was mostly to be Commander in Chief of the Arm Forces and to execute and enforce laws made by Congress.
I grew up with a Republican Party that worked under a philosophy that included ideas like family values, small government, strong defense, law and order, limited spending and a strict interpretation of the Constitution.
In a Trump led Republican Party, that is no longer the case. I believe that the demonstrated MAGA desire to go away from the Constitution and find an authoritarian to lead them is tied to the profound changes that are now occurring and will be occurring in the next decades. It reminds me of a Roman history lesson about the election of a dictator with unquestioned supremacy when the state found itself in mortal danger. The danger in our case, is that there is a ruling elite that is losing power and relevance to a new generation that offers different ways of navigating life in America. The new generation has a large number of people of color that were long thought of as second class.
The reason MAGA is going rogue on democracy is the fear of losing their traditional identity as the power brokers in the country. They also have found a would-be dictator to follow and make them great again.
So, the question is if there are enough MAGA types in Congress to create chaos in an effort that could destroy democracy, how is the institution going to govern? The answer to that question is on all of us.
The views expressed by David Conde are not necessarily the views of LaVozColorado. Comments and responses may be directed to News@lavozcolorado.com.
