Juvenile delinquents at America's debt talks
The GOP: Children acting badly for all the world to see...
Anyone who has ever had the misfortune of living with a disruptive sibling can relate to what the Republican Party caucus is doing to the United States —
and beyond.
A family meeting to discuss something important or even celebrate holidays can be upended at any time by the selfish brother or sister, demanding their needs be met before anything else.
Eventually, if left unattended, the disruptive family member can begin to shred the family’s bonds — the family unit becoming estranged from each other — torn asunder. That’s if no one does anything to make the disruptive force conform to family values and rules.
Neighbors, once friends, may also choose to disassociate themselves from otherwise life-long acquaintances — the family just too dysfunctional to socialize with in comfort. The idea is, if they can’t – or won’t – fix their problems, we’ll move on.
America’s juvenile delinquents
This is analogous to what the Republican Party is doing to this country – the delinquent children causing ongoing fear and trauma causing everyone to wonder, “What will come next?” Ruining everything for everyone else.
Congressional Republicans’ refusal to come to terms over the debt limit isn’t just traumatizing millions of Americans. It’s affecting our global neighbors,
as well.
GOP: “India, Shmindia…”
Take President Biden’s planned visit to Australia and a Pacific Island nation, Papua New Guinea, following the G-7 summit in Japan.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was to host a meeting between Biden and the “Quad leadership council” – a fairly new group including the leaders of Japan, Australia, India, and the United States.
With India’s playing a neutral role between the Western alliance and Russia over Ukraine and at various times teetering between democratic and authoritarian policies itself, you might see the wisdom of breaking bread with its prime minister under positive, comfortable circumstances.
But Biden had to bypass that conference and head back to Washington because Republicans were doing the equivalent of holding their breath and stomping their feet back in D.C.
GOP rains on our parade
There was also a lovely celebration planned for the U.S. President in Papua New Guinea, an island nation in the southwest Pacific Ocean in the all-important “Pacific Rim.”
It was to be the first visit by any American President to any Pacific Island country. A work and school holiday was planned with children slated to line the streets waving American flags.
GOP: The “Bleak House” of debt ceiling talks
But no. McCarthy’s inner circle including Marjorie Taylor Greene and Matt Gaetz were not comfortable with where discussions were some two weeks before the debt ceiling doomsday clock struck twelve.
So in spite of ongoing Republican complaints America is “soft on China,” GOP intransigence is dragging this country down, allowing China to gain in prominence at America’s expense.
Biden pledged to return to Australia and Papua New Guinea, but the magic moment had passed. As the New York Times described the cancellation and its effect on the area on May 17 in an article titled, “Biden Abruptly Cuts Short an Asia-Pacific Visit, to China’s Benefit”:
“It was meant to be a moment for the history books — the first time a U.S. president visited a Pacific Island country. Papua New Guinea, the host nation, scrambled to mobilize 1,000 security officers; the leaders of 17 other countries agreed to make the trip for just a few hours with President Biden, who was scheduled to go on to a meeting in Australia with allies known as the Quad. Now all those plans have been scrapped.
“What the cancellation means, in the broadest of terms, is that America’s
domestic politics is undermining American foreign policy at a crucial
time, in a critical region.”
Richard Haass weighs in
President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass elaborated, saying Republican indifference to or disrespect of America’s role as a world leader tears down American influence.
An out-of-control Republican House Caucus essentially has essentially become an albatross around the neck of the country's foreign policy:
“People are worried about the implications of a U.S. default. But it looms over it in a larger sense regardless of what happens.
“It underscores just how divided and dysfunctional American politics have become. All these countries have essentially made the strategic choice to depend on us, and it’s a stark reminder that we are less predictable and reliable and dependable than we were,” Haass said.
They just don’t get it
Similar to an adolescent who cares only for him- or herself and not about important issues such as personal maturity and responsibility, Republicans either “don’t get” their behavior has negative consequences and/or do not care. And their negativism hurts promoting freedom in a world hungry for strong leadership from the U.S.
Peter Beinart, professor of journalism at the City University of New York, said:
“What Republicans don’t understand is that this is a competition between political and economic systems. And if you make America’s system look bankrupt and dysfunctional, you’re making America look weak vis a vis China.”
And yet the crisis drags on at the insistence of a handful of extreme, immature Republicans, now seven days from the country’s default deadline of June 1.
–trg