COMMENTARY--A GREAT AMERICAN TRAGEDY

15-YEAR WEAK GOVERNMENT LEADERSHIP MARATHON:  A GREAT AMERICAN TRAGEDY

                                     Bill Hessell, Ph.D.

Our nation has been suffering from markedly weak governmental leadership since 1998, affecting all three branches of our federal government. The results are painfully obvious to all but the most privileged and wealthy among us.  Both our domestic political well-being and our international strength and stature have declined significantly, along with a greatly weakened economy, reduced respect for government, intrusions on basic civil and constitutional rights, and the fracturing of middle class strength and resilience. 

 What must be counted as contributory impacts to the state of affairs described above, are misdirected and unnecessary wars, confused Middle Eastern policies, loss of stature and respect among our Western allies, and alienation of an increasing number of underdeveloped and developing nations.   Both parties must share almost equal responsibility for the marked decrease in our national well-being, as leaders of both parties have been closely involved in all that has transpired since 1998 to bring our nation to its currently weakened state.

The sharp downward trend was highlighted in 1998 by the national preoccupation for virtually a year with Clinton’s unwise presidential dalliance with a White House intern, his attempt to lie and sidestep his way through it, and the Republicans equally unwise choice of initiating impeachment proceedings, diverting the attention of the nation from the much more serious issues that were arising in the Middle East and also in the economy. 

With a greatly weakened President in office, Republicans pushed through a bill repealing the Glass-Steagall Act, a bill which had served well to regulate the activities of banks and other financial institutions since the 1930’s.  PresidentClinton unfortunately signed the bill into law andthat set the stage for major manipulation of financial markets, the mortgage collapse of  2008,  and the greatest decline in our economy since the Great Depression. 

The election of 2000 was the next trauma to effect our national well-being, with a politicized Supreme Court determining the winner of a very closely contested election, with the man chosen to lead in no way having the resources or qualities of a qualified, effective leader.  His leadership team was uniformly weak, missed a number of clear signs that a terrorist attack was imminent, and was quick to shift their response from the real enemy, al Qaeda, to begin the war they desired against Iraq.  A lengthy and unnecessary war there ended much as those who had vigorously opposed beginning the war predicted it would, with sectarian fighting continuing after we left, a weak central government in place not really loyal to us but dependent on our continuing aid for its existence. 

The financial collapse of 2008 helped insure the election of a new, enthusiastic but inexperienced leader, but the vibrant hopes he created were very short-lived, as the severity of the economic downturn, the solid opposition his policies received from Republicans in Congress, and his relative timidity and inexperience as a leader in difficult times.  The later produced a near-perfect storm in which very little happened to move the country forward.  Health care reform included some positive features, but was not well sold to the public.  It also included some real deficiencies. 

Attempts to re-regulate financial institutions were very inadequate and even  most of these were stone-walled by Republicans in Congress.   Greatly needed efforts to stimulate the economy through infrastructure spending, employment programs, aid to education, etc., were all either insufficient or totally blocked.  In this context, the only clearly measurable improvement in the economy by 2013 was in the financial well-being of corporations and those with the highest incomes.  The middle class and those in the ever-increasing underclass were not yet receiving the gains of any economic improvement.

As if our international decline, economic difficulties, legislative blockage, and growing income inequality and disparity were not enough, revelations of 2013 present another challenge, as there were strong indications  that some of the basic tenets of our democracy were perhaps being threatened.  Well hidden surveillance organizations and mechanisms, that were established as a part of the war on terror, have apparently grown immensely in recent years,  and may be infringing on some of the basic rights of privacy and freedom that we as citizens hold most dear. While the government has been uniform in defending the  covert secrecy and surveillance, basic questions of its nature and oversight remain unanswered.  This is another example where strong leadership is absent, and existing leadership is dropping the ball.

When one looks at the governmental leadership we have had since 1998, whether in the administrative, legislative, or judicial branches of government, a case can be made for why our national well-being has plummeted during this period:   This is a profound lack of strong, effective leadership.  In the Administrative branch we saw a distracted Bill Clinton, an ill-prepared George W. Bush, and a relative novice in  the well-intentioned  Barack Obama as our presidents.  In the Legislative branch were Newt Gingrich, Dennis Hastert, Nancy Pelosi, and John Boehner as Speakers in the House of Representatives, Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell as Majority leaders in the Senate.  In the Judicial branch were William Rehnquist and John Roberts as Chief Justices of the Supreme Court.  Is there a strong, notable leader among the aforementioned?   It is at times claimed that demanding times create strong leaders, that strong leaders tend to emerge when they are most needed.  It does not seem that this has been the case during the past 15 years, and our nation unfortunately is experiencing the negative effects of their absence.

 A still strong and great nation is urgently in need of leaders who are willing to challenge the power brokers who have been controlling the destiny of our country in recent years.  The trends towards ever greater accumulation of power and wealth in the hands of the few; politicians of opposing parties seeking cheap political victories. rather than being able to work together for the common good;  upcoming generations of youth struggling to find meaning and purpose in present realities and loosing hope in the future;  and greatly increased frustration, superficiality, greed, and violence permeating the daily lives of many citizens. These and many other trends desperately need to be reversed.  It will take strong leadership, people with vision and integrity who can capture the confidence of the public, and resist the ever-present attraction of selling out to the highest bidder and submitting to current pressures and realities.  The need is ripe, our nations greatness is being tested, whether from the halls of Washington DC or the streets of hometown USA.  

Will the leadership emerge in the U.S. to at least begin to solve our problems?