Any man can handle adversity, but to see his true character, give him power.” -Abraham Lincoln
I transitioned from child to teenager during the 1970s. The television, music, and history of that decade are ingrained in my mind like a 10 year movie. It is amazing to me sometimes, as a man in my forties, to see how often history repeats itself with an event or media from the 70s.
This week, Utah State Representative Mark Walker (R-Sandy) resigned to shield his family from the fallout of an ethics hearing that might have become quite revealing to the business-as-usual in the Utah legislature. He had been accused of offering a bribe in exchange for his primary election opponent dropping out of the race for Utah State Treasurer. Rather than admit his mistake outright, and pay the consequences for his actions, Walker sacrificed himself and may have saved some of his House colleagues from being internally investigated. But his willing exit comes off more as an admittance of his guilt, and the question of impropriety within the Legislature in this case will not be answered. With Republicans nationwide suddenly realizing that the gig is up, the phrase “house of cards” comes to mind. And with it, the image of a big clumsy dog from television of the 70s.
The Brady Bunch television program was in its heyday during the 1970s. The campy show played in the afternoons and I saw an episode or two on rainy days. I remember the vase broken when the boys were playing ball in the house against the wishes of Carol, the trip to the Grand Canyon when Bobby and Cindy got lost, and many more of the Brady family adventures. Most every episode had a message to families; indoor baseball is not advisable, don’t wander off when camping, and many common sense things that we mostly take for granted. With a large family, sharing was a common theme. In one episode of sharing, the family had been saving stamps to exchange for a product, a common part of the 70s. I remember saving S&H Green Stamps with my mother. I think she redeemed them for a jewelry box or something. Maybe I got a toy. The Brady girls wanted a sewing machine, and the boys were eyeing a canoe. Naturally, the conflict needed to be resolved, and a contest of skill would decide the winner. Bob and Carol decided to have the kids build a house of cards and the side that toppled the house would lose. The house started innocently enough, and through the magic of television, the first level was done in mere seconds. As the house grew, the tension followed. Greg’s puffy shirtsleeve and Jan’s loose bracelet proved to be pitfalls that were avoided, but no one expected the house to be flattened by the family dog. Cindy saw Tiger, called him to her, and he jumped on Bobby and pushed him into the house, which came crashing down. Girls win. They go to the stamp redemption center and it’s closed. But after thinking about it and with a few carefully dropped hints from Carol, the girls realize that Tiger is the real reason they won and decide to share the stamps with the boys and that’s the way it worked in Brady-land. Every day ended happily.
A house of cards is one of the most delicate structures known to man. Even a delicate breeze or slight shift in its base can flatten the house completely. For the past eight years, even back to 1994 when the GOP took control of Congress, we have experienced the building of our own house of cards with the prosperity of the 90s allowing the house to be built with fewer regulations for business, tax incentives for corporations to expand at a breakneck pace, and WalMarts in nearly every county of America (and no more than five miles apart in most metropolitan areas). The Republicans feel that regulation is a hindrance to the economy, stifling businesses from making piles of cash and allowing that cash to trickle back in through employee salaries and the purchase of everyday items. The GOP controlled congress would have deregulated everything until money was flowing in the gutters of America, but there was a Democrat in the White House. Until Clinton left office, there was a check on that power of deregulation. Then along came Bush and the GOP rejoiced. Bush inherited a booming economy, a trillion-dollar budget surplus, and the first real level for the house of cards was in place. Regulations? What regulations?
When Bush took office after the debacle of 2000, VP Dick Cheney held a secret energy summit in 2001, and the second floor of the house began to take shape. With the GOP clearly making the rules, they built it so fast no one even knew it was done. Then 9/11 happened and the GOP-led government continued construction. We went to war without much discussion, revenge was the reason in Afghanistan. Then without Osama bin Laden’s scalp on a pole, they went after Saddam, and his Iraqi oil.
Jan, watch that bracelet.
Since 2003, the American economy has yet to stabilize, air travel is a nightmare and the airlines are struggling, energy prices are skyrocketing, the US dollar is tanking, gas is approaching a price tripling, sub-prime mortgages are causing many people to lose their homes, and we are still killing for something in Iraq to the tune of $20 million per day. Democrats won a majority of Congress in 2006, but seem to be content to let the GOP actions and policies in place knock the card house down. Everyone knew they were in the house, but no one expected the game to end like that. Now they’re crying foul on The Dog (D).
People I have talked to are fed up with all of that and more, and most seem to point their fingers at Bush and the GOP. But, then one must wonder why the Democratic congress is sitting on its hands. They seem to be willing to watch the agony in slow motion, waiting for the last card to fall in November and get that sewing machine. With their man Obama in office, and a majority in Congress, the Dems can act without threat of veto, perhaps reversing some of the GOP policy shift back in their favor. Hope trumps acting in the present. Some think the sun will suddenly shine again. For the moment, the collapse has more allure than trying to stop it.
In Utah, where the economy is slightly better than the US average, the GOP holds a 70% majority in the legislature. They do much of their actual work in caucus behind closed doors, always seeming to favor roads and development over classrooms and social programs. The Legislative Ethics Committee is made up of legislators rather than an independent council. They protect their own fiercely and do not offer much in support to passing bills from the minority. That type of arrogance, lack of transparency, and conceit is beginning to wear thin on many voters as was evident in the Republican 3rd District race won by a young, fresh face, and the state treasurer’s primary election. After losing his bid for treasurer, Mark Walker was a pawn sacrificed to protect a bigger player. It will be interesting to see if the criminal charges he could face expose that guarded piece. My money says it’s Greg Curtis (R-Sandy), the Majority Leader in the Utah House of Representatives. He has a Guzzlegate past. And he’s up for re-election. Reputation and Motive.
The whole thing reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons and Scooby Doo. In every episode of that one, someone was being haunted by a “ghost” that scared the locals into submission until Scooby and the gang showed up and solved the mystery. The Republicans probably think they would have gotten away with it, if it weren’t for those blasted kids. Aah, the 70s…
