Here Comes Europe

EUROPE AND THE REPUBLICANS: BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME

Since the revealing of the Obama agenda, Republicans, Conservatives and now the Tea Partiers, have been complaining that we are becoming Europeans. They use it like an expletive. Republican congressmen, Fox News hosts, and countless members of the right wing chattering classes, too numerous to identify individually, harp on this theme daily.

To them “European” is equated with: a failed economy where everyone is an employee of the government; a nanny state where everyone is assumed to lay about waiting for some entitlement program to kick in; and high taxes on initiative coupled with low respect for personal success. To the fiscally conservative, Europe represents a dead end for capitalism. To the Tea Party it means the end of American liberty (hence the colonial costumes) and an increase in the state’s control of our lives.

So why would this group try to make several deeply held European political traditions part of the American landscape?

Start with the election of Obama in ’08. The Republican Party instantly reacted in the European mode of outright opposition. Their response to the massive victory for the Democrats was exactly like Italy’s Center-Left party to Berlusconi, i.e., they formed a unified block to bring down the government. Such a deep and committed opposition is certainly a post-war first. It is impossible to remember an election that was discounted and ignored by the losing party like this one was. Someone forgot to tell the Republicans that we don’t have “no confidence” votes in America.

This European-like political enmity has resulted in all the worst behaviors from both sides: legislative paralysis; demonization of the opposition; and frightful predictions for the future. Congressional Republicans have created an ideological outlook that allows for no compromise.

Bring on the agitated masses and let’s riot. One of the differences between Europeans and Americans is that traditionally Americans went shopping and Europeans went on strike. The average European is vastly more political than his American counterpart, as evidenced by scores of newspapers, each with a passionate ideological point of view. Europeans actively protest all sorts of things, from the occupation of Palestine to the juggling of the retirement age. Look at Greece’s reaction to their fiscal crisis. Riots, broken shop windows, anti-capitalist political graffiti sprayed on shuttered storefronts. The French, Germans and Italians too can be counted upon to demonstrate at a moment’s notice over any perceived labor grievance.

The Tea Party is mimicking them. Aggrieved citizens, fearful of a government that will give them and cost them more, have stopped going to the mall and watching sports on TV. They have taken to the streets with a European anger. They are pissed off at everyone in power. SDS morphed into Ann Coulter. Seeming to forget that we have elections, they are ready to storm the castle. Their enthusiasm is reminiscent of the final crowd scene in Frankenstein with Fox News and Rush egging them on. Karl Rove as Robespierre anyone?

Who knew that what (according to them) hasn’t worked in Europe, and what they were horrified at here in the 70’s, would be today’s model?

Speaking of Frankenstein, the right should be wary of what they create. When schools, parks, and fire departments are closing nationwide, when a two percent raise for kindergarten teachers seems lavish, it won’t be long before the Tea Party sees Robert Rubin’s $100,000,000 part-time Citibank gig in a socialist light. Any political party that creates and endorses this kind of wealth disparity had better be careful before it engages and enrages its constituents.

Lastly, and this is not just a Republican phenomena, we have on display an elite class that shows itself impervious to sharing the sacrifice with everyone else in the country. Rubin’s Congressional testimony created a European moment. In their DNA, EUers believe they are being screwed by higher ups. The Icelanders voted against bailing out Icesave because they felt rich elite bankers duped them. Greek graffiti, aimed at their elite, says “Thieves” because that’s what they think of their leadership. When Bob Rubin makes $100,000,000 for part time work, and claims no responsibility, how can you ask a $35,000/year schoolteacher to take “a haircut?” The bailed-out elite, like Angelo Mozilo of Countrywide, who walked away with hundreds of millions, is fomenting a European-style resentment of the aristocracy. To the Tea Party’s credit, they understand this and may turn on those Republicans who are up to their necks in economic spoils.

Henry James (The Europeans) and Mark Twain (Innocents Abroad), meet Sarah Palin (Going Rogue).