Steve Robinson: We are in a dangerous new era of Know-Nothings

You certainly don’t need me to tell you how much damage the right-wing zealots in Washington who call themselves legislators have done to our country.

This nation elected a president who, in his first term, signed into law a sweeping health-care plan that, among other things, provides medical insurance for millions of people who previously could not afford it. The law is not perfect, and the rollout has been inexcusably rocky, but it is a huge step forward in addressing not only the shameful reality of nearly 30 million uninsured people in the richest country on earth, but also the skyrocketing costs of medical care for everyone.

We then re-elected this president by a substantial margin. To a great extent, granting a second term to Barack Obama was a referendum on his signature piece of legislation. He has a clear mandate to press forward with the Affordable Care Act.

Nevertheless, the Republican Party, captured by its most extreme element, was determined to undermine a law that was ruled constitutional by a Supreme Court that is viewed as right of center.

The shutdown and the brinksmanship that played out over raising the nation’s debt ceiling was a lot more serious than just having to cancel that trip to Yellowstone. The dollar figures are still being tallied, but Standard & Poor’s reported that the shutdown took some $24 billion out of our economy.

All of this was orchestrated by radical Republicans who represent districts that have been gerrymandered to ensure that they face virtually no opposition. The voters in those districts don’t appear to understand that they are overwhelmingly among the number of Americans who stand to benefit from the Affordable Health Care law.

The far right, through its house organs Fox News and talk radio, has persuaded many working-class Americans that “Obamacare” is a handout to lazy people. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I know that many on the right consider The New York Times to be the voice of socialism in America, but a recent Times column by Eduardo Porter should be required reading for Obamacare opponents. As Daniel Patrick Moynihan famously said, “You are entitled to your own opinion, but not your own facts.” And here are the facts as outlined by Porter:

“Almost two-thirds of uninsured Americans have a full-time job … A further 16 percent are employed part time. The Department of Health and Human Services recently estimated that nearly six in 10 uninsured Americans could qualify for health coverage in the insurance market for less than $100 per person per month.”

Porter points out that some 8 million uninsured “earn more than twice the poverty level of $47,100 for a family of four.” Deadbeats looking for a freebie? I don’t think so. This represents a broad swath of the American populace—maybe even someone you know. Or maybe you.

Porter sums it up best: “As it turns out, the core Tea Party demographic — working white men between the ages of 45 and 64 — would do fairly well under the law.”

So why was our country — indeed the entire global economy — being held hostage by a group of extremists, who may be nominally representing their districts but not their district’s best interests?

I offered you the facts, and I invite you to form your own opinion, but here’s mine: We are in a new era of Know-Nothings (the name given to a loud political faction in the 19^th century), in which people who have no business gaining elective office are occupying seats in the U.S. Capitol.

These are the people whose agenda includes a denial of science — evolution and climate change are just liberal hogwash to these people — and an embrace of conspiracy theories that has them defeating sensible gun legislation.

It is difficult for progressive thinkers to deal with this sort of ignorance. But our nation was in a desperate crisis over the past several weeks not because of the Know-Nothings, who are always out there, but because people who know better were afraid to hold them to account.

Instead of parking the extremists in a dark corner, Speaker of the House John Boehner allowed them to hijack his party. Boehner, as well as Republican senators like John McCain and Lindsey Graham, knew from the beginning of the debt ceiling showdown that there was no way the radical fringe would prevail.

Pardon the awkward segue, but it was often said of Yasser Arafat that the reason he could never achieve any real peace with Israel is because he cared more about his own survival than about the survival of the people he represented. Fearing he would face the same fate as that of Anwar Sadat, Arafat forfeited any claim to being a statesman and instead became just another political hack.

 I don’t think the legions of Republicans-Who-Know-Better fear for their lives, but they definitely have consigned themselves to the dust bin of political hacks, and in so doing have done grave damage to our nation.