Monday, December 31, 2018

ESSAY: Failed State & The New Reformation--#MAGA #SHUTDOWN POLITICS, 2019

CH203.1002 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, RENO, DR S PASQUALINA, SPRING 2019



THE NEW REFORMATION

     (The Scullery)--Beyond the rhetoric, the insinuations and the failed state syndrome, the view from higher ground is one of renewed confidence in the process of democracy. There is something greater going on above the dysfunction and low-brow clamor on a daily basis from furloughed congressmen and women, disgruntled news media pundits attempting to relate everything to Watergate, and pollsters squeezing out impeachment statistics wherever they can.
     By definition, "reformation," according to Collins, means "the act or an instance of reforming or the state of being reformed."


Along with a definition, Collins offers a usage graph illustrating the most common reference of the word to the Protestant Reformation, capitalized, of the 16th century. Clearly, the word has lost its meaning since then and appears to have very little meaning today. However, on the horizon is a new movement that has yet to be properly evaluated as it isn't related to religion, but to politics and in particular, politics in the United States. If we were to define the roots of this new movement, which for the sake of clarity we define as "#MAGA," it has as its origin not in America, but in Iraq.
     To be more accurate, mainstream media is just now beginning to understand the nature of the cold-blooded killer caliphate known by its acronym, ISIS, and the mistake made by the previous administration in removing all American soldiers from the Middle East, paving the way for the march of ISIS. The result was yet another entry into the muddled quagmire that is Middle East politics; from the self-interest of Israel, to the dark regime of Syria, the "other" caliphate of Iran and the on-again, off-again NATO partner Turkey.  On the sidelines but with just as much influence in the neighborhood is the Western ally, oil-based Saudi Arabia. All of these players are what Rand Paul (R-KY) referred to in CBS' Face the Nation recently as "can they not do anything?" But the caliphate was only a small fraction of the issues facing the Commander-in-Chief when he assumed office, Afghanistan was the other foreign policy quagmire. At the time it was on the back burner as the main course was cooking on the front of the stove, the fight for the wall along the border between Mexico and the United States. In time, the Middle East would indeed surface to become part of the New Reformation.
     New Year's Eve, 2018 and a resolution for border wall funding has become the cornerstone of The New Reformation with the US government deadlocked and in a shutdown mode over the issue. The President has promised delivery of the wall to the nation but opposition in Congress has fought him every inch of the way on the hundreds of miles of wall slated for construction. Even though Iraq may have been a more difficult agenda to complete, specifically, withdrawal from it and Afghanistan as well, it was the border wall that created the climate for the New Reformation. The political revolution in American politics was long overdue and postponed by the previous administration as it just didn't have enough resolve, for that matter, political savvy and philosophy, to address the issues. It was all about affordable health care, an agenda that was recently dismantled by a Texas judge as non-enforceable, part of the previous "failed state" syndrome.
     No revolutionary movement is complete without a set of grievances and demands, as witnessed from the religious Reformation to the Declaration of Independence. Can we assume the combined action of the border wall shutdown along with the recent orders to withdraw from foreign wars of occupation represents at least a beginning in long overdue "reforms" in the way politics function in Washington, DC? According to the media, impeachment isn't good enough for the President. In fact, add the hostility of the press toward the administration as another product of The New Reformation. Daily, the media attacks with everything it has; polls, opinions, condemnations, harassment at press briefings, attempting to topple the regime. None of it works, the President isn't queer for the media, unlike his predecessor.
     Impasse looms into the New Year, the view from the high ground is that something bigger is going on, rooted in frustration from decades of mismanaged government policies that are legislated only to be dismantled. Finally, Congress will have to decide on the course of action for the nation, with firm resolve or with impotence. The President has been a one-man show ever since he took the oath of office; his loyalty to #MAGA is remarkable, not just campaign demagoguery, but conviction. If he succeeds, there will be a New Reformation, politics will not be as-usual, and he will reaffirm the belief that one man can make a difference.



   
     HAVE A VERY HAPPY & PRODUCTIVE NEW YEAR,         JAMES C L'ANGELLE

Contributing Sources:
Reformation definition, https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/reformation
Rand Paul, Face the Nation, CBS, Dec 23, 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/full-transcript-face-the-nation-on-december-23-2018/
#MAGA Hats & Soldiers,  Newsweek,  https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-signing-maga-hats-troops-during-iraq-trip-truly-disgusting-says-1272147
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