Are Republican presidential candidates too down on America?
MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough seems to think so.
In a blistering rant Monday morning, the “Morning Joe” host ridiculed unnamed GOPers for sounding dour on America’s future. (RELATED: Joe Scarborough: I’m Sick And Tired Of Republicans ‘WHINING’ About America)
“We’re still the greatest country in the world!” Scarbourough announced. “Even the Chinese say eight of the top 10 universities are ours. There is an energy revolution that happened despite Washington, it was American ingenuity that figured out how to drill sideways, draw more energy up. We totally blew everybody’s minds and now we’re going to control the next century. We’ve got Apple, we’ve got Intel, we’ve got the tech sector, we’ve got the smartest, most brilliant people in the world… All we have to do is get Washington out of its way!”
The former Republican congressmen asked then of his party, “Why doesn’t any Republican believe that the new American century is going to be better than the last? And I’m dead serious, I’m so tired of ’em whining.”
Instead, he suggested: “Let the Democrats whine!”
The thrust of Scarborough’s argument is that this Debbie Downer tone will hurt Republican candidates at the polls and that the negativity goes against Ronald Reagan’s “sunshine, patriotic” view of the country.
While overt pessimism is unbearable, are the GOP frontrunners really engaging in it?
Not quite.
Scarborough’s rant was launched in response to a Politico article that reported Republicans aiming for the White House “mourned” the Fourth as “no holiday from the nation’s downward spiral.” Ignoring the snarky tone and its many exaggerated contradistinctions, the report did accurately report that candidates — such as Rick Perry, Bobby Jindal and others — do sound concerned about the country’s future.
Believe it or not, concern about the future is not unusual for candidates. Even the apparently always sunny Reagan sounded apocalyptic in 1980 when discussing the possibility of a second term for then-President Jimmy Carter.
It’s also not unusual for everyone else. Many Americans have serious concerns about our country’s prospects. A pessimistic mood prevails. Skepticism is growing about what exactly makes us great.
And, in that regard, Scarborough doesn’t offer the most resounding reasons for national pride. Yes, we have great schools. Yes, have lots of resources. Yes, we have a nice tech sector.
So what?
There is so much more to a great nation than economics. A shared culture and a shared set of values are far more important to a nation. It glues us together and provides the basis for a citizenry capable of democracy. It is also what instills pride in being an American and calling this land your own.
This common glues is much more than social policy. It is the foundation for how we live our lives and shape our communities. Without shared civic assumptions and basic agreement on vital institutions — such as what constitutes a family — society becomes atomized at best and viciously divided at worst.
Today, it is tough to tell what values and culture are shared by Americans. If you say a shared commitment to freedom, you should read what the left thinks of free speech and religious liberty and how poorly corporations — including the prized tech industry — respect these values. If you say a common language, then you might be labeled a racist. If you say a common history, you should see how America’s past is portrayed by those elite universities Scarborough praised.
In fact, you should just pick up any high school history textbook and learn how our society has been defined by genocide, oppression, white privilege and countless other sins. How we can be a great country when young minds are filled with such negativity towards this nation’s history?
On top of all that, you have a federal government seeking to implement policies — such as executive amnesty and overturning gay marriage bans — without the consent of Congress. Many Americans view these actions as those of an out-of-control government that’s unconcerned with their interests.
That’s why it’s not whining for Republicans to adopt an alarming tone when it comes to the direction of the country. To take a sunshine approach to our country requires an obliviousness to reality and a disregard for authenticity. If you want to know what a campaign looks like that adopts this mindset, just take a gander at Hillary 2016.
Reveling in doom and gloom is no way to win an election. But telling Americans everything is hunky dory because Silicon Valley is booming and the Chinese think Harvard is a great school will just make you look like you’re from a different planet.
There’s nothing wrong with wannabe presidents voicing their concern about troubling changes — as long as they can offer a vision that promises to overcome the crises of our time.