I NEVER THOUGHT THE DAY WOULD COME when I couldn't be sure whether I was reading the Los Angeles Times or the Onion, but I came close this weekend.
The front page of the Times featured a story about the conservative protests in Washington, D.C.
Democrats have, in that sense, been more conservative than conservatives, more Republican than Republicans.
Angry citizens carried signs denouncing, among other things, socialism in America, terrorists running the government, and a foreigner in the presidency.
I was very amused, until I noticed it was the Times.
Then I found it troubling—especially troubling when I read that Republican members of congress were supporting this nonsense.
On reflection, though, I realized that both the march and the stance of Republican politicians are an inevitable sign of the times.
They are both a symptom of the box Republicans, and conservatives in general, find themselves in: they have no real causes, so they must invent them.
Hawks vs. Doves? Obama is currently winding down the war in Iraq within the same rough timetable put in place by the Bush administration. At the same time, he's pursuing a war in Afghanistan with more seriousness and more transparency that the Bush administration used in Iraq.
Fiscal responsibility? The Bush administration blew that one, big time, and both Obama and the Democratic congress seem determined to get us back on the road we were on during the Clinton administration.
Anti-abortion? Anti-contraception? It's wearing thin. The country is pro-choice. The base for this issue is "Bible-believers", and the Bible isn't even on their side.
Health care reform?
This is perhaps the best example of all.
If Republicans stand for anything, it's for free markets.
But we've been trying free market health care for years now, and it's led to disaster on almost every front.
The grass roots of the country, across the political spectrum, realize that something has gone wrong, even when they don't know what.
The costs to government, business, and individuals have run amok, and the reason is clear: there are some things that completely free markets do not handle well.
In the end, market solutions depend on a willing buyer and a willing seller. If either is compelled, by force or by circumstance, the market cannot work.
Often this does not matter in the big picture: there are, on average, just as many people who are forced to buy as are forced to sell, and the vast majority are not forced at all. So the market works in the long run.
But health care is another story. Almost everyone who buys it must buy it, and almost no one who sells it must. This produces a permanent seller's market. And that, in turn, produces ever-rising prices.
One might expect that the Republican response would be to recognize this anomaly and figure out how to fix it, in order to preserve a free market. But they have instead clung resolutely to their ideology, fighting any kind of "government regulation".
One might also expect that the Democrats, those horrible liberals, would have used the public dissatisfaction to introduce socialized medicine—nationalizing all the doctors and hospitals, putting them on the government payroll, and assigning everyone to their local clinic.
They could probably have gotten away with it, too, since corporate run health care doesn't look that different from socialized medicine anymore.
But the Democrats did no such thing. Instead of dismantling the free market system, they have proposed to save it.
Democrats have, in that sense, been more conservative than conservatives, more Republican than Republicans.
Their fix involves a sort of chain reaction:
- They've introduced some laws to make it fairer for individuals—protections against pre-existing condition clauses and denial of service.
But of course, if health insurance companies have to take everyone without questions then people would be tempted to not buy health insurance until they needed it. That would make health insurance very expensive, so... - They've made everyone carry basic health insurance, just as all motorists have to be insured.
But of course, if everyone has to buy it, health insurance companies would be tempted to charge a lot and give minimal service, since no one has a choice, so... - They've added a single, optional, government-run insurance plan, so that people will have a choice, the insurance companies will have to compete, and the free market will work.
To put it briefly, they buttressed the free market approach to health care: that is what the public option is all about.
It's the only reason it exists.
This is why, aside from incurable good will, Obama expected bipartisan support. His solution to health was a perfect fit for Republican ideology. It was the minimum government could do to make the free market work in the health care field.
But Obama didn't count on Republican commitment to the strategy of "NO".
The problem with that strategy is that it leaves Republicans back in their box. There is nothing, in the real world, for them to say "NO" to, nothing that has any political clout left.
So they have retreated to a fantasy world:
- "NO!" to Obama being a "foreigner".
- "NO!" to the government planning "death panels".
- "NO!" to The Democratic "terrorists".
- "NO!" to The Democratic "socialists".
- "NO!" to "socialized medicine".
Come on.
Republican politicians know none of this is true.
I'd be willing to bet that Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck know it isn't true.
I'm only slightly less sure that the tin-hats marching on Washington know, in their hearts, that it isn't true.
The problem, for the Republican party, is that they can no longer continue to play "Just say 'NO!'" if they want to be taken seriously by the rest of the country.
They need to start saying "Yes" to responsible measures before history leaves them behind.
At least, that's what I think today.
