Fall of the Republic

[My thanks to Shakespeare’s Sister for allowing me to borrow her soapbox.]

A few weeks ago, Sarah in Chicago and I had a small discussion in a comment thread about whether the USA today more resembled the last years of the Roman Republic or the Roman Empire. I submit that, domestically, we are definitely witnessing the fall of the Republic and the introduction of the Empire. [Cliff’s Notes history lesson: The Republic ‘morphed’ into the Empire over a period of roughly 75 years, from about 60 BCE to 14 CE. From 14 CE to 476CE, Rome was ruled by an Emperor (‘Caesar’); in the Republic, the Senate had been the dominant political body.]

While no comparison is exact, the USA today is entering a new age of Caesarism, in which a single person is the final arbiter of all governmental matters (one might call such a person “The Decider,” if one is especially inarticulate). This process began decades ago, although the regime of Bush II has accelerated the pace exponentially. Nearly every president since at least FDR has pushed for more power and authority. However, under W, what had been a mere turf war with Congress (and to a lesser extent, the courts) has become a naked power grab for total control of every branch of government, and of our individual lives.

For centuries, the Roman Senate jealously guarded its prerogatives, and never lost confidence in itself. Eventually, it cared more about its privileges and perks than its duties. However, the end of the Senate’s power did not come until the first two Caesars made the Army personally loyal to them instead of to Rome or to the Senate. Thereafter, the Senate never again held any real power (and several Emperors were totally dependent on their Praetorians for their power, and at their mercy). Additionally, Julius Caesar and Octavian (Augustus) used civil war to undermine confidence in the Republic and to convince many that a ‘strong leader’ was necessary, that debating things in the legislature was too time consuming, that a crisis was at hand and decisive action must be taken. Sound familiar?

In this country, Congress long guarded its own powers, and at times threatened to dominate the national government. The tension between the branches was a part of the checks and balances that kept this country from becoming either a parliamentary system or a dictatorship. For the last five years, however, this administration has used a compliant majority in Congress (often more concerned with its perks than its duties) to entrench unprecedented power into the executive branch by packing the courts; by passing legislation like the Orwellian PATRIOT Act for increased internal control; and by breaking any inconvenient law with impunity knowing that there are those in Congress who will provide political cover after the fact. And hasn’t this admin been spending some serious time wining and dining the troops, courting their favor? Just a thought…

When Julius Caesar marched his legion on Rome illegally to defeat the Senate, he sent out notices to the people that he was there to restore the Republic from the ‘madmen’ in the Senate, and that he only sought his ‘rights’. He also took great pains to distribute huge sums from his own reserves to the peasantry. He made sure that his reputation among the people was that he was on ‘their side’ against the aristocrats of the Senate.

Here and now, the masses are subjected to propaganda in support of these actions on an unprecedented scale. The consolidation of media into the hands of the few has reduced the number of voices and viewpoints that are broadcast, even while the number of outlets has proliferated. Nearly every talking head on TV is reading from the same script. Some, like Fox, do it from a shared ideology with the regime. Others are just too lazy to read the press releases they are handed with an eye for analysis, or a lack of concern that they are being used. This is why every new restriction of our liberty is hailed in the media as a ‘necessary tool against terror’, or crime, or drugs, or immigrants, or avian flu, or whatever they’ve decided to demonize today to keep the fear levels high. And isn’t W ‘a guy you’d want to have a beer with’ according to the reports? Just a regular Joe, they say…

Can the process towards Empire be stopped? Frankly, I’m not hopeful that it can. History certainly doesn’t provide me any examples where a republic or a democracy didn’t degenerate into some form of repressive, authoritarian regime. We’ve all seen the polls where a majority of US citizens would fail the citizenship test that we require of the naturalized. Although millions of my fellow citizens are intelligent, educated, and concerned, millions more are… well, pretty close to Homer Simpson on the politically engaged scale. Everyone mocked Britney Spears when she said, “We should trust our president without question,” but the truth is that millions agreed with her. Millions still do.

In less than three months, the mid-term elections occur. Already, we are witnessing the media try to ramp up the fear quotient. This will continue and increase. We’ve seen repeatedly that anyone who opposes the consolidation of power is labeled an enemy of the state in one form or another, whether they’re called ‘traitors’ or ‘Al-Qaeda candidate’ or ‘surrender monkeys’. This will also increase. The regime must close the gap in the polls to a level where a sudden, ‘surprising’ holding of power is plausible.

Make no mistake: I am not convinced that a Congress consisting of 260 Democratic representatives and 55 Democratic senators would stop this process. I fear that, even if the Dems retake both Houses of Congress and the White House in 2008, they will enjoy the power that falls into their hands too much to destroy it. Haikuist has a point that the Democrats are currently the ‘me too, but less’ version of Republicans. However, I am convinced that continued dominance by this regime will result in the loss of all our real freedoms, and we’ll be left with memories and phantoms of lost liberty. Remember, the Roman Senate was never officially abolished by the Caesars; it was shorn of all real power and kept as an administrative tool, and to support the fiction that nothing had changed.

On another related topic, our foreign policy is a fitting subject for a long vent of verbiage, should Sis decide to allow it. Short version: in foreign policy, we’re well into the Empire stage.