Reconstruction 2

If you learned American history back when it was still being taught in schools, you probably learned about the era called Reconstruction - the period after the Civil War lasting roughly from 1865 to 1877. It was the period in which the former southern states of the Confederacy were reintegrated into the Union and millions of formerly enslaved people were integrated into the United States as citizens. 

Reconstruction was a period of great social and political turbulence as white southerners chafed at losing the war and their privileged position in society. Because the federal government under President Andrew Johnson dealt leniently with the former Confederate states, requiring only that they abolish slavery, repudiate secession, and pay off Confederate debts, the southern state governments generally had a free hand in managing their affairs. This led to the rise of the Black Codes to maintain white supremacy, the rise of the Ku Klux Klan and the dawn of the Jim Crow era. From there it led to the beginning of the Gilded Age in which wealthy oligarchs lived in splendor while their workers were little more than slaves earning meager wages.

Many of our regional political views, particularly in the south and west, arose and were cemented during Reconstruction - you can read a compelling discussion of how this took place and what the present-day ramifications are in Heather Cox Richardson's masterful book "How the South Won the Civil War." 

In some ways, today's America is much like the nation at the end of the Civil War. The economy is in turmoil, red and blue states fume angrily at each other, a president and his deeply conservative advisors are relentlessly dismantling the government and instituting tax and social policies that advantage wealthy white citizens, and the drumbeat call for the supremacy of states' rights echoes that of the antebellum era. This leads to two obvious questions: 

(1) Will we need a Second Reconstruction once the self-destructive era of Der Furor is over?; and, 

(2) Can it succeed?

As to the first question, my answer is a resounding and obvious yes. 

Although our economic and social systems had issues that needed to be addressed, the wholesale destruction of great swaths of the federal government has done nothing to address them and has, in fact, wrecked large parts of the federal apparatus that can not be quickly repaired. Here are just a few examples ...

The penetration and compromise of federal computer systems by individuals working for Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" has utterly compromised critical systems and databases, with no documentation of or accountability for the changes that have been made. 

The scattershot, ever-shifting tariff campaign has left the once-powerful economy lurching along, with businesses unable to plan for the long term, unwilling to make major investments, and wary of hiring staff that may need to be fired later. 

The relentless Republican focus on tax cuts which benefit the most wealthy Americans and tariffs, which are actually a tax on consumers, ignoring the warnings of virtually every competent economist*, will leave the nation in a vast economic hole ... but not until after the 2025 midterm elections and the 2028 presidential election, enabling the Republicans to avoid the anger of the voting public. 

The systematic wrecking of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by unqualified believers in discredited medical theories has led to a resurgence of deadly diseases long thought to be eradicated or, at least, under control.

Air travel has become more dangerous as a result of the firing not only of air traffic control personnel, but of other critical personnel who maintain the radar and communications networks upon which safe travel depends. 

The weaponization of the Justice Department - long a fever dream of the conservative right - has become reality as Der Furor brings the entire weight of the government against his real and perceived enemies.

The gutting of the National Weather Service and turmoil in the Federal Emergency Management Agency will severely limit storm tracking and warning that have been critical to the saving of lives in hurricanes and tornados, and cripple the integrated response to natural and man-made disasters. 

Can a new Reconstruction succeed? I'd like to think so, but I'm not sure, for several reasons. 

The willy-nilly firing of tens of thousands of trained and experienced federal civil servants not only left agencies understaffed and unable to carry out their duties, but got rid of the experienced personnel who would have trained their replacements. Many agencies will be, quite literally, starting from scratch.

The complete reversal of decades of foreign policy positions has destroyed our credibility on the world stage, and has left other nations uncertain whether they can count on the United States as a reliable ally. 

Trust in the rule of law is gone. Under the present administration, the blatant graft and corruption,  the open use of the justice system to publish opponents of Der Furor, and the wildly revisionist reinterpretation of what had been considered settled law has destroyed the confidence we once had in the old adage that "justice is blind." The United States was once known as a nation of laws, not men. No longer.

In spite of the obvious damage Der Furor and his actions have caused to the nation, he remains popular with nearly half of the population. But what happens when he is no longer on the scene? There is no obvious figure on the right who can command the loyalty of the MAGA crowd and assume the leadership of a movement motivated by a combination of economic anger, political dissatisfaction, religious fervor, nativism, and long-suppressed racial prejudices. The lack of a leader, even one as flawed as Der Furor, will hinder any reconstruction attempts. 

The right-wing information silo represented by Fox News, Newsmaxx, OANN, and the online scrum of far-right podcasters and commentators will continue to rile up a conservative base already convinced that it has been denied its proper role as the true heart of America. They will continue to reject reality in the face of all evidence to the contrary, steadfastly denying it as "fake news" and continuing to rely on "alternative facts" they believe support their beliefs.

The manner in which the government was dismantled and wrecked was the result of a long and detailed planning effort, documented in the infamous Project 2025. The incoming administration moved with lightning speed to swamp the legislature and the judiciary with a blizzard of royal decrees executive orders which, although lacking the full force of law, served to upend the legislative and legal systems and avoid serious review and challenge. Although all or most of these royal decrees executive orders can be rescinded by the next administration, the actions already taken will take years, if not decades, to unravel through the courts and an actually-functioning Legislative Branch, and their negative effects will hamper the business of government for generations. 

The original Reconstruction was headed by Andrew Johnson, a weak president sympathetic to the former Confederacy. The Second Reconstruction, if it can succeed at all, will require a president of uncommon strength of character, backed by a Congress that has regrown its spine, a Judiciary that puts rule of law above politics**, and an American public horrified at the destruction wrought by a man unfit to hold any office of responsibility, much less the presidency of a once-great nation.

Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.

Have a good day. More thoughts coming.

Bilbo

* The term "competent economist" does not apply to any member of the current administration serving in any role governing the economy.

** I don’t know about you, but I find it appalling that news coverage of legal issues finds it necessary to indicate what president appointed a particular judge or justice.