ON THE EDGE!

By Edwin Cooney

Forty-seven autumns have passed since conservative news commentator Paul Harvey broadcast a five minute commentary giving all of the reasons he was “...on the edge of anger.”  In that commentary, he railed against every government activity and consequence from our then comparatively small national debt and the bureaucracy which brought it about, to the stalemate in the Vietnam War -- the child of LBJ’s military indecisiveness as Commander-In-Chief. Mr. Harvey’s rich radio baritone reflected the intensity of his personal frustration as he concluded his commentary by saying that by November he might move over the edge if the best either political party could offer us was “....crisis, after crisis, after crisis, after crisis.”

Back then I was sympathetic to Mr. Harvey’s elegant outrage even if I didn’t quite share his intensity.  This fall it is my turn to be “...on the edge.”  As I’ve asserted a number of times in these musings, fear is the father of anger and by nature I resist fear.  Nevertheless, I can’t deny any longer with any integrity the political and social storm clouds I see on the horizon. I’ll explain!

The spring of 1981 was for me a disheartening time.  Ronald Wilson Reagan had just defeated Jimmy Carter, a man and president I’d come to revere for his brains and his humanity. Mr. Reagan, to me, was the embodiment of insensitivity to the needs and concerns of those who are forced to struggle against the outrages of poverty and social prejudices.  His heroes appeared to be almost solely the well-heeled successful in business and those in the military establishment.  His outlook in foreign affairs appeared to be more judgmental than practical.  Politically, he appeared again and again to be above either criticism or tough luck.  It was said back then that if President Reagan drove through a car wash with the top down, Jimmy Carter would be the one to get wet.

As hard as all this was to live with, I felt, as you can be sure most conservatives then felt, that it was less than patriotic to give President Reagan anything less than the benefit of the doubt. I went out of my way to find reasons to appreciate Mr. Reagan even if I could never give him my vote.  Thus, I joined conservatives in applauding his tax-indexing scheme.  I supported the way he masterfully handled the crisis between us and the Soviets when they shot down Korean Airlines Flight 007 in September of 1983.  I also saluted his efforts to reform taxes, Social Security financing, and our immigration laws.  After all, whether or not I liked him much personally, he was the President of the United States of America.

Forty-seven falls later, Barack Obama has twice been elected president.  His major piece of legislation, healthcare reform, has not only been passed by Congress, it has been successfully adjudicated in the United States Supreme Court and, through the president’s re-election last November, it has been sustained by a free people.  Nevertheless, despite all that, opposition to healthcare lies near the center of the current shutdown of the United States government.

I say healthcare is near -- not precisely at -- the center of the GOP’s current strike against the welfare of the American people, because the Republicans’ disapproval and dislike of President Barack Obama is really and truly at the dead center of the current crisis.  South Carolina GOP Congressman James Wilson’s rude and public categorization of the president as a liar and Michigan Republican Congressman Kerry Bentivilio’s recent public crack about the president’s repulsiveness are two examples of this reality.  Hence I assert the following:

First, a total shutdown or -- if you will -- collapse by starvation of the modern federal government has been the goal of conservatives since the late 1970s.  Rush Limbaugh takes delight in reminding all of us that “...Franklin Delano Roosevelt is dead, dead, dead!”

Second, your well-being and mine and that of our families has never been and isn’t now a national priority that concerns conservatives except from the narrowest and most academic standpoint of theoretical constitutional law.

Third, the main reason for this is just plain greed.  Their money is simply too valuable to be spent on you.

Fourth, conservatives find it convenient not to understand the fundamental difference between the functions of business and government.  The legitimate function of business is to make a profit.  The legitimate function of government is the management of national affairs – both foreign and domestic -- in patriotic service of us all.

Fifth, conservatives somehow believe they can spend four or eight years in personal attacks and impeachment proceedings against “liberal” presidents without doing the slightest damage to the credibility of the office once one of their own is elected to exercise its once awesome power and prestige.

Conservative thought and the restraint it can offer to responsible and accountable government is valuable to all of us.  Our liberty would be truly endangered if it didn’t exist.  However, the way conservatives are currently behaving is downright unpatriotic!

Hence, from the edge of something, that’s the way I see it!

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,

EDWIN COONEY