No1 Issue: Fear of National Decline

Ye Editor has  been following Republican intellectuals like George Will, Charles Krauthammer, and David Brooks wondering how could they tolerate the extraordinary flip-flops and utter political nonsense emanating from the Republican Party for the last decade. Start with the Republican’s treasonous “Starve the Beast” policy and the takeover of Republican messaging by the extreme right from Beck to Limbaugh to Fox News. This means that  every issue becomes a litmus test of your GOP and conservative loyalty – better not dare to cross the party line. So it was a surprise, when NYTimes David Brooks broke the mold and declared himself “reluctant commentator” on the upcoming election politics. Even more compelling Brooks provided a telling definition of the root issue in the upcoming election.

This election is about how to avert national decline. All other issues flow from that anxiety. The election is happening during a downturn in the economic cycle, but the core issue is the accumulation of deeper structural problems that this recession has exposed — unsustainable levels of debt, an inability to generate middle-class incomes, a dysfunctional political system, the steady growth of special-interest sinecures and the gradual loss of national vitality.

Now this is a viewpoint and perspective on the election that is sorely lacking in CNN’s & HuffingtonPosts Breathless Issue Rattling, the Sunday Morning TV Networks twitch twitter-like Political News Analysis or the Fox News latest GOP Propaganda Report. Now the question is who will pick up Brooks analysis and carry it forward – God help US if it turns out to be John Stewart and Stephen Colbert and their Weiner obsessions.

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