Republican extremism is damaging the national interest

In his farewell address, George Washington warned the nation of the great danger posed to our form of government by political partisans. Washington cautioned us that extreme partisanship “agitates the Community with ill-founded jealousies and alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, and foments occasionally riot and insurrection.” He could not have given a better description of present-day America.

On Jan. 6, we suffered the riot and insurrection that the prescient father of our country predicted. The unprecedented attack on the seat of our government should have served as a shocking wake-up call for congressional Republicans about the dire consequences of their hyper-partisanship. When GOP congressional leadership immediately spoke out against President Trump’s instigation of the insurrection, it appeared the message had been received. But that did not last long. 

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), apparently suffering the trauma of losing two Senate seats in Georgia and fretting that he might not realize his dream of taking back control of the Senate, quickly redoubled his partisan posturing. Many Republicans at both the national and state levels were intrigued by the Trump strategy that came close to snatching an undeserved victory from the jaws of electoral defeat. They calculated how that strategy might ensure victory next time with the installation of partisan election officials and some strategic changes to voting laws in Republican-controlled states.

Almost worse than the attempted take-over of our government by Trumpist forces is the present denial by so many Republicans about the horrifying events of that day and the continuing danger the extremists pose to American democracy. How did we get to this ugly state of affairs, where partisan interests trump our national interest? 

Although neither of our political parties has clean hands, the Republican Party is primarily responsible for today’s slash-and-burn political partisanship. Former Rep. Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) laid out the path to toxic polarization of American politics during his tenure as speaker of the House in the 1990s. In the ensuing years, GOP politicos have fashioned their form of extreme partisanship to perfection, particularly in the last five years under Donald Trump’s noxious influence. McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) now lead the take-no-prisoners partisan warfare in their respective houses of Congress.

In recent days we have seen several instances in which GOP legislators have tried to squeeze partisan advantage out of matters that were historically of concern to both parties. A recent instance involved the national debt, which increased about $7.8 trillion during Trump’s presidency. Congress needed to urgently increase the statutory debt limit by mid-December to avert economic disaster. McConnell announced weeks ago that no Republican senators would support an increase, solely as a cheap political trick to shift blame for the increase onto Democrats. The Democrats gave in last week in order to save the economy — something the GOP Senators were willing to risk just to score political points.

Then, on Dec. 9, every Republican senator voted to block President Biden’s vaccine mandate for large employers, knowing that the House would not go along. Again, the lock-step GOP vote appeared to be just a move to gain partisan advantage. 

Several Republicans have tried to have it both ways — doing whatever they can to assist the spread of the virus by opposing shots and masking and, at the same time, criticizing the president for failing to get the pandemic under control. Playing politics with the pandemic trumps the health and safety of their own voters. A recent study found that counties that voted heavily for Trump in 2020 have a COVID-19 death rate three times that of those that voted heavily for Biden. Political advantage apparently trumps saving lives.

For decades following World War II, the GOP fancied itself as the bulwark against Soviet and Russian aggression. Strangely enough, that all changed with the election of Donald Trump, who could not keep from fawning over Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump was an absolute gift to Putin. GOP lawmakers must have supported Trump’s Putinophilia because we heard nary a peep of disapproval from them during Trump’s tenure.

The GOP has done an about face on Putin and Russia since Joe Biden became president. Kevin McCarthy has criticized Biden for giving “Putin a pass,” although that would accurately describe what McCarthy gave Trump for four years. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) chimed in on the same day as the Biden-Putin summit, falsely claiming that Biden was “appeasing” Putin. So much for speaking to the enemy with one voice.

There are many other instances where GOP extremism has damaged the national interest. The most dangerous and shameful instance was the rabid partisanship that, in George Washington’s words, fomented riot and insurrection in Washington. America’s voters must take heed and throw the partisans out in coming elections if we hope to remain a democracy.

Jim Jones is a Vietnam combat veteran who served eight years as Idaho attorney general (1983-1991) and 12 years as a justice of the Idaho Supreme Court (2005-2017). He is a regular contributor to The Hill.