In his recent essay, “On the Sabotage of Democracy” Bill Moyers, who I often think of as the conscience of America, calls out the forces who are trying to demolish democracy, and likens this shut-down to the time this nation was torn asunder by the Civil War.
Like the die-hards of the racist South a century and a half ago, who would destroy the union before giving up their slaves, so would these people burn down the place, sink the ship.
He is blunt in conclusion.
At least let’s name this for what it is, sabotage of the democratic process. Secession by another means. And let’s be clear about where such reckless ambition leads. As surely as night must follow day, the alternative to democracy is worse.
In the essay he calls out the lies told by Rep. Steve King, Fox and Friends, Rush Limbaugh, and hones in on Newt Gingrich, reminding us:
It was Newt Gingrich who twenty years ago spearheaded the right-wing’s virulent crusade against the norms of democratic government. As Speaker of the House he twice brought about shutdowns of the federal government once, believe it or not, because he felt snubbed after riding on Air Force One with President Clinton and had to leave by the backdoor.
It was also Newt Gingrich, speaker Gingrich, who was caught lying to congressional investigators looking into charges of his ethical wrongdoing. His colleagues voted overwhelmingly, 395 to 28, to reprimand him. Pressure from his own party then prompted him to resign.
Yet even after his flame out, even after his recent bizarre race for the presidency bankrolled with money from admiring oligarchs, even after new allegations about his secret fundraising for right-wing candidates, Gingrich remains the darling of a fawning amnesic media.
Thank you Bill Moyers.
And to those Teapublicans who do not remember history, perhaps you should think long and hard about who won that war, and the cost of it to us all.
Cross-posted to Daily Kos