Point | Time for a new direction in American politics, government
Guest column by Dale Froehlich
With the latest election results, all federal power bases — the Presidency, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court — as well as many states (governors, legislatures and courts) are majority controlled by conservative Republicans. But I view the election of Donald Trump as the worst decision that American voters have ever made, certainly in my lifetime – and likely in the history of our great nation.
Trump is surrounded by autocrats and anarchists. With this election, many of the normal Constitutional checks and balances could well be vaporized. This action is a convincing turn toward the Dark Ages and the possible death of the American democratic experiment.
As Ben Franklin famously said more than 240 years ago, we have created a “Republic” (representative) form of democracy, so long as we can keep it.
Too many voters have now risked it all. After thinking about it for well over a month, I have decided to write this essay setting forth my thoughts. I see myself as a part of the resistance for several reasons:
It’s the right thing to do.
All democratic citizens should always oppose anarchic, autocratic behavior.
I want to be of assistance to other like-minded citizens.
Since the days of Newt Gingrich and his infamous “Contract with America,” these Republicans have consistently refused to compromise or be any part of the normal democratic, legislative process. Republican conservatives typically come on board only at the last moment to save the entire government from going down the drain. They have aligned themselves with Christian Evangelicals — often hypocrites, given the teachings of Jesus Christ. In the meantime, they have weakened our great nation by exempting the wealthy – corporations and privileged – from their fair share of our federal tax burden.
I believe the government should be sized and should grow at the same rate as changes in our population or in our economy. If you look at the last 30 to 40 years, federal spending has grown about 2.8 times — Democrats favoring domestic programs, and Republicans favoring military and national security. Both parties spend despite the downturn in tax revenues. The U.S. population has grown about 1.5 percent and real GDP. GDP averages growth of 2.5 percent annually, nowhere near the 4.0 percent annual of the 1990s. Historically public debt leads to revolution and/or decay.
That’s part of the reason why the federal government is largely paralyzed, unable to make important decisions. And in my mind, neither party deserves to be saved. But I would favor the creation of a brand new party: some combination of the philosophies of Teddy and Franklin Roosevelt. Perhaps it could be called the “Fair Play Party,” dedicated to justice and fairness, truth, decency, integrity and being trustworthy.
We, the people, should re-align ourselves with the Jeffersonian ideals of “equality for all” and the “pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness.” I would like to see our nation return to the enlightened virtues of inclusion, freedom and meritocracy. Every citizen should have the opportunity to prosper, to grow, to create and to be fully human. Certainly many people will display differing skills, talents and energies, but privileges and honor should go to those who work to achieve them, not to those who are already wealthy, have status, and are simply awaiting or enjoying their inheritance. These kinds of ideals can be equally embraced by both liberals and conservatives, by those with a strong work ethic and by those with a deep spiritual core.
When I look at the current Republican Party, I mostly see a cult of loyalty favoring Trump, his family and friends, and those driven to self-preservation based on “fear-based” issues. Republicans say they want to “go back,” to “Make America Great Again” compared to some ill-defined idyllic past. Democrats say they want to “go forward” to be more progressive. As I see it, Republicans most often say that they want to help themselves; while Democrats say they still strive to help others.
Regardless, I believe we need to assure that all citizens – particularly our youth – are well educated and better informed about their civic duties and responsibilities. I believe we can all agree that our borders need to be secure, and that we should honor our obligations (treaties or otherwise) in support of our allies around the world. I think we would do well to engage open markets and trade around the world. History clearly indicates that a policy of protectionism and isolation more typically leads to conflict and warfare. I do not believe in war – except as a last resort in the protection of our freedom, our liberty. I am devoted less to nationalism – even under the guise of patriotism – and more to collective collaboration and cooperation whenever and wherever possible.
Many Republicans approach their vote as a matter of faith, as a matter of religion. If the Republican Party has endorsed it, then just as their church, they will blindly support it. I have not witnessed much deep thought as the traditional Republican Party has morphed into a Trump cult.
I believe that most Republican voters have good solid core values as human beings, but seem to be easily manipulated by various “talking heads,” by social media, by influencers, by fear-based concerns against those they deride as “elites.” They do not trust the mainstream media, which seems to be disappearing, or the experts, scientists, intellects, academics or anyone more than 50 miles away from home. They do not really trust institutions, non-profits or otherwise that they have not had direct contact with.
I believe the real challenge facing America is to secure the mental engagement of all voters. How should we best keep all citizens more broadly informed so that their core human values can come to the forefront. Our nation desperately needs good leadership. I don’t think future leaders should come from among the elite, from among our Boomer generation, or from traditional institutions. I feel that we need a younger person, of common ancestry, who is at once well informed and at the same time devoted to the broad range of core American values. That leader must have charisma (compare when Ukraine was attacked, then a young personality, named Zelensky, stepped forward). We need someone who is thoughtful, both a good writer and a good speaker, with excellent people skills...a person effective in delivery of complex programs (Compare JFK and Lincoln).
It would be most important to me that our future leader have personal integrity and conviction. It would be important that such a person focus on representing our entire nation, moving forward. My conviction is that we should honor our capitalist society, we should respect everyone’s ability to engage and compete fairly. But we should ask our markets and our governments to work hand in hand for the good of the people. We have had enough finger-pointing, enough blame, enough status quo. I think America could have a bright, glorious future if we could all align and stand together, shoulder to shoulder.
Dale Froehlich is a longtime resident of Sioux Falls, retired attorney and a 50-year member of the South Dakota State Bar.
Thanks for sharing Dale--I appreciate the call for something other than extreme partisanship. It's easy to complain about what the current administration has done, but several bipartisan efforts were accomplished--the CHIPS and Science Act, the infrastructure act, but once Republicans took the House, efforts at bipartisanship, the border bill for example that key Republicans helped craft, screeched to a halt. This is an over-simplification but post election, it's become a sort of giant "your body, my choice" kind of response--"we won" has devolved into calls for retribution, going after any media that criticized the nominee or published a poll that didn't flatter him, all accompanied by a whole bunch of name calling.
Perhaps I've missed it, but I haven't heard one Republican talk about working across the aisle to address issues facing the country. I used to hope that a new party would emerge, but I think that's naive. It's not a left and right issue or a cultural issue that would prevent it as much as it is an issue of money and the power that comes with it. Consider the influence of billionaires who control the media--not just the obvious right wing e.g., the FOX and Newsmax variety, but the WSJ and the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post; the social media from X to FB all billionaire owned, the 15 billionaires currently proposed to serve in the incoming administration, where will compromise emerge in that group? Hearing Musk threaten to fund primary opponents for any Republican who doesn't bend the knee to his demands--is that how a democracy should function? Will we become a country where anyone of a different mind or holding a dissenting opinion is threatened and sued or imprisoned? I thought we were supposed to be free to disagree? This seems more like something that would happen in a dictatorship--if you disagree with me I'll crush you. Put another way, I'm rich and I can do what I want--but sure, it's the poor and immigrants that are the problem? Do we suddenly believe that being rich is synonymous with intelligence? That self-interest should take precedence over the general welfare, over liberty and justice, over the pursuit of happiness?
We desperately need campaign finance reform--and I don't know when character and integrity became unimportant in our leaders, but it would be nice to see character matter at least a little bit.
That said, the anger and disdain of the responses to your proposal don't give me much hope.
This is a lot of writing to say, in essence, I don't like President Trump or any of his followers.
There may be some valid points herein, but they are quite overshadowed by the palpable dislike the author has for the aforementioned. Hence the root cause of the division started well back into the Clinton Administration and further employed during each subsequent administration of "if they don't think, believe or act like we do, then they are unacceptable and dangerous to America." I need point no further than to Hillary Clinton referring to millions of Americans as a "basket of deplorable."
Not one to lose an opportunity, President Biden referred to President Trump's followers as "garbage." This op-ed smacks of the same.
The disdain clearly evident in this op-ed and throughout the current Democratic Party for those with opposing viewpoints is a dangerous contagion. One simply cannot refer to someone with an opposing viewpoint, in one sentence, as "garbage" then expect the same person to amicably work with them to resolve differences.
All other points made herein are made moot by the hateful rhetoric. One would think someone with such an esteemed career and position within the greater South Dakota legal and political spectrum would be possessed of the decorum necessary to address the differences and help foster an environment where all endeavor to resolve issues. Evidently this is not the case.