THE FOLLY OF ONE-PARTY POLITICS

A WELL KNOWN PRACTITIONER
OF ONE-PARTY POLITICS

Last fall on election night, I drove to the Cameron County Court House to catch the latest election returns. Regrettably, when fellow onlookers perceived my political orientation they became downright hostile. Consequently, it dawned on me that the better part of valor would be to make a strategic retreat.

Coming from a background of appreciation and toleration of other points of view,  treating political and ideological opponents as the "enemy" has always struck me as immature and ill-considered. Nevertheless, by today's standards of "take-no-prisoners politics" the age of civil discourse has long ceased to exist.

An older relative, who by himself built the Republican Party in his town and served as a county judge, once told me that he could not have accomplished his goals without the support and cooperation of his Democratic friends.  Unfortunately, that attitude is rarely encountered anymore.

For those who would wish to have a ring-side seat to observe the results of one-party politics, there is no better locale than Cameron County, Texas, which now has only two office holders not of the Democratic persuasion. One-party rule in Cameron County has produced a deep, dark hole of corruption, making the county the laughing stock of Texas.  Throughout the state, Cameron County Democrats are often referred to as the northern version of the Partido Revolutionario Institucional, or the PRI, the political party which ruled without challenge for some 70 years in Mexico.

Avoiding the cesspool of corruption is difficult in Cameron County, as it includes a goodly number of "public servants," attorneys and members of the judiciary.  The list of attorneys indicted by the federal district court for racketeering seems to grow longer by the week, and already one state district judge has been convicted for malfeasance and has turned state's witness.  Even Cameron County's district attorney has been convicted, but his newly-elected replacement is in the process of having his reputation besmirched in judicial proceedings taking place in Corpus Christi.  Also, the name of Conrado Cantu, a former sheriff convicted for facilitating the passage of illegal drugs through the county, still resonates strongly, although Cantu presently resides in the federal prison system.  Incredibly, Cameron County voters, year after year, continue to line up to pull the "palanca" (lever) for the Democratic pols.  Invariably, ignorance leads to one-party rule, crooked politicians and plenty of corruption.

On the national scene, one has to question various groups wanting to put all of their political eggs in one basket. When there is almost total unanimity of opinion politically, it is apparent that members of such groups are not very well disposed to do their homework.  A case in point is black Americans, who regularly expend well over 90% of their political power in the Democratic column. Clearly, someone other than themselves is doing their thinking for them.  With such rigidity, cerebral "rigor-mortis" and close-mindedness, it is difficult to imagine how the larger community of black Americans will ever be able to embrace new ideas, much less new leadership.  In the meantime,  they continue their mindless march to the drumbeat of the NAACP and other organizations wishing to perpetuate dependency and to promote the societal death knell of socialism.

In 1796, George Washington warned of the factionalism of political parties that could adversely affect the new Republic  However, that was then, and this is now, and the fact of the matter is that the two-party system has become traditional in America.  But for one to wish for the decease of one party in favor of another is to wish for the demise of the Republic. Historically, the two parties have had more in common than they have had in opposition.  But, now with the realignment that is apparently taking place in society, the normal pattern of politics has been disrupted.  In large part, the disruption is the result of participatory politics being taken to an extreme, with more and more unsophisticated, ill-informed voters taking part in the electoral process.  Easily swayed by promises of governmental beneficence bestowing untold benefits, such voters are prone to follow the lead of charismatic individuals who place politics over country, which is surely a template for a Third World-style dictatorship.

With one of our parties now rushing headlong with all guns blazing to destroy the competing party, extreme vigilance is now called for.  Sadly, this challenge must now be met with with the same intransigence and inflexibility that is arrayed by the forces that would foist upon us one-party rule.  The survival of the Republic could well depend on it.