Keywords or terms: Carol Fiorina; Ben Carson; Minority Republicans; State of Texas; Paranoia; Presidential Campaign; Republican Party; Extremism; Racism and narrowed vision of the extreme right; White Anglo-Saxon Male Privileges and the Republican Party; National American Free Trade Agreement; Immigration Reform and Control Act; Stumbling blocks; and American Political Development
The instrument of collective authority and accountability are often essential to a thriving democracy. If residents of the State of Texas believe that routine military exercise and training are precursors to declaration of martial laws and takeover of the State of Texas by the Federal Government, then we need to redefine collective authority and accountability in the context of our democracy to all Americans, no matter where they reside in the union. Further, if the narrow vision of the extreme right have exposed more Americans to doubt the authenticity and purpose of routine military administrative actions or permeated to a consciousness level or psyche of paranoia in the State of Texas, it is time to revisit definition of powers at the federal, state and local government as they relate to governance in our democracy. In addition, if the governor of the State of Texas is unable to shed more light on what the military communicated with his office regarding the on-going military exercise, then the misrepresentation of the ongoing exercise by anyone, for whatever reasons, must be a thing of concern for all Americans.
Could the current Republican propaganda on multiple far-right media outlet or platforms, be it on FOXNEWS or other far-right radio outlets, degenerating to intractable ignorance in the Texan populace; or, a case of misguided misinformation floating around the state as gospel truth? Could the structure of governance in Texas Assembly be meeting new challenges, including unfounded rumors mongering designed to cause disarray and misdirection during a time of relative peace in America? Is there an effort to weaken the credibility of the federal government, just because of unfounded grievances against the current occupant of the White House and President of the United States by a few anarchist or American Taliban? Could Texas Governor Greg Abbot activation of Texas State Guard to monitor US Military exercise and Senator Cruz’s quick missive to Pentagon be construed as the height of ridiculousness or unconsciousness? These are rather pertinent questions that must be explored; however, for more juicy stuff, I’ll like you to reflect on the announcement this week, that two minority Republicans, minority in the context that their sexuality and race is inimical to their self-identified political association or ambition; they are Republicans. Who? What?
Yes, former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina and Neurosurgeon Ben Carson, declared their candidacies for the 2016 White House race early this week. The first on ABC Good Morning show and the latter, on a local Ohio Television Station, WKRC-TV. The declarations of both candidates and their chances of ever being the Republican party flag bearer, is as remote as Texas succeeding from the Union and the Pope getting wedded to a beautiful convent nun, independently or simultaneously. Not that both events could not occur; however, the chances of either taking place is as remote as being stricken by a lightning thunder on an early frigid winter morning. You see, these two candidates are talking and campaigning to a base that, by choice, have already ruled minorities or females as incapable of holding the mantle of leadership in their party. Forget the lofty idea of diversity in the party, or bigger tent, metamorphosing around the Grand Old party. The truth is “it ain’t ganna happen!”
With a twitter announcement of New Possibilities and Real Leadership, the $21.4 million golden parachute former Hewlett-Packard CEO, sixty-year-old college dropout, with a ghost written book in her kitty, declared her candidacy, with some choice words for the former US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. If a former CEO, who laid off over 30,000 Americans from work because of her ambitious acquisition of a competitor, Compaq Computer; a gross mistake, if not felonious executive decision, because she got paid off to get rid of her in the office, wants to become the President of the United States, then anything is possible in America. The tax dodgers, the fascist anarchists, the Cuban-American Ambassador of a tax dodger and the bare-knuckled bridge-gate godfather of New Jersey, all have a place here. Welcome to the America of all possibilities!
He is here, the “smartest” brown-skinned former neurosurgeon from Baltimore, Ben Carson. The candidate who wants to undo the glorious effort of President Barack Obama, the Affordable Care Act. With Carson, big government is going to be a thing of the past, a neophyte who acknowledges he is never going to be politically correct, never going to be politically expedient, wants to parlay his academic success and modern-day speaking evangelism for a ride to 1800 Pennsylvania Avenue. His ambition is as huge as the globe; however, the chances are as slim as the spec of a needle’s eye. The nationally acclaimed Republican with “preponderance” support from the tea party wing of the Republican Party, is set to get rid of social programs that create dependency. It isn’t that Dr. Ben Carson could not be a formidable candidate; it is his stars that is against him. “He ain’t just got the zing with the establishment Republican Party, the White Anglo-Saxon male voters that seem to hold the power in the Republican Party of today.”
While both CEO Carly Fiorina and Neurosurgeon Ben Carson are the first female and black to indicate interest in the 2016 contest for the White House, the perception that they both bring diversity to the Republican party fray of candidates, is rather mundane and essentially, a none starter. Let’s debate Racism and Sexism in the next few paragraphs and you’ll understand why the Diversity Candidacy of the CEO and Neurosurgeon are non-starters in current day Republican Party.
To explore these two hot topics, I will default to the subject of immigration, one of the pending issues that will come up in the presidential debates in the 2016 White House Race. The unattended consequence of the unresolved national immigration issue probably has its roots in racism; if not sexism. Regardless of what any Congressional Republican may say, the effort to resolve this problem at the national level, has been fraught with right wing hardliner’s perception of what a liberalized immigration system will mean. The fact that the current occupant of the White House, President Obama, had resorted to using executive powers to move the debate ahead, is one very important reason, why many White Anglo-Saxon, the rich base of the Republican Party, will fight tooth and nail, against a minority, female or male, occupying the White House oval office in 2016.
Advocates of national immigration reform, documented several instances of racist and discriminating undertones that the effort at reforming America’s immigration had taken, most recently. Defenders of minorities interests, Latinos and many under-represented groups, some undocumented and living amongst us, established one fact, it is not the dependence or perceived consequence of the 1993 National American Free Trade Agreement or the debacle of the 1986 Immigration Reform and Control Act that are the stumbling blocks to resolution of this problem, it is the inherent belief among many in the Republican Party, that a new reform is unfeasible, because the potential beneficiaries of the reform are too dependent on social welfare programs and crime. Contrary to what national statistics say, the predominate movers and shakers in the Republican party, are not about to welcome new social welfare programs’ dependents’, when they are still working overtime and overdrive to win-off dependent citizen minorities, including the poor and elderly, from these social welfare programs.
CEO Carly Fiorina and Neurosurgeon Ben Carson will have to go the length of signing an undertaker statement with the preponderance group in the Republican Party, the White Anglo-Saxon Male, vowing never to sign into law, congressional legislation that regularizes twelve million undocumented US immigrants, for them to get their vote. Organized struggle and activism by interest groups within a party, often have a sway, in who ultimately become the party’s flag bearer. No one is doubting the sincerity of the Republican Party to empower the minorities amongst them; however, the concept of diversity is relatively new to the party; and, it is going to take more time for the party to measure up to the big-tent philosophy that it has often longed for, since a realization of the majority-minority shift in population dynamics; and the likely trending, not certain as of date, that it is probably the burgeoning minority populations in America that are more likely to determine who ends up in the White House, in the near future. This very real but difficult fact to accept is probably, why a minority Republican candidate stands rather slim chance, ending up as the party’s flag bearer in general election.
In entirety, the notion that a minority will end up lording it over the White-Anglo Saxon male is so tormenting and excruciating, some of them will hardly acknowledge the present occupant of the White House, twice-elected in general elections, as the President of the United States. But alongside this, is the fear of dealing with a female power, the testosterone raising in the male specie and the religious puritan upbringing of many White Republican Anglo-Saxons, make it rather unsettling, to have a female in the helms of affairs of this nation. To accept a female Republican flag bearer, is to reduce somewhat in size the ego of the White-Anglo Saxon, that have dominated the flag bearer nominees; and hence, the President of the United States in the past two centuries. However, it is even more important to recognize that the establishment Republican, feels somewhat of a threat at this time, with the excellence in governance and successes of the forty-forth President of the United States, President Barack Hussein Obama.
In terms of overall chances, the scale of preference is still with the White Anglo-Saxon male wielding the power of office of the presidency. To say that this is not the preference of the establishment Republicans, is to ignore the strength of tradition – or accept a minority male as an award winning neurosurgeon or a female CEO becoming the President of the United States. To repeat, campaign teams of Fiorina or Carson, must come up with the ingenuity of crafting their message(s), that they re-assure the predominant Republican Anglo-Saxon White male, that he will not be losing his current privileges; and or, eroding his power any further in the party’s stratosphere and national political arrangement or discuss. If either is going to end up as the Republican Party flag bearer, a sense of present power to chart the future of the Republican Party must be negotiable; however, except one is living in illusion, the current White Anglo-Saxon male is hardly ready to subject himself to this perceived humiliation. One will like to believe that these apprehensions are not true, that all races and sexes within the Republican Party are treated equitable; however, the size of the sacrifice that the candidacy of Fiorina or Carson is calling the establishment Republican White Anglo-Saxon male to make or bear is probably too much at this time of America’s political development.
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