1. a state of society without government or law. […]
4. lack of obedience to an authority; insubordination …
Does this definition remind you of the agenda of any current major political party? Certainly one party has made as its primary goal the “shutdown of the government” as Rachel Maddow reminded us last night:
After getting sworn in in January, by April they threatened to shut down the government. That was April. By July, Republicans had forced the first ever debt ceiling crisis in American history. We got our national credit rating downgraded for that one before they eventually blinked and decided they didn’t want to keep going. By September of that same year, Republicans were again threatening another government shutdown. By April of the following year, more threats from Republicans of another government shutdown. By December, by this past December, Happy New Year! Republicans were pushing us over the fiscal cliff! By January, this past January, Congressional Republicans were talking about forcing another debt ceiling crisis before again backing down. And now, Happy September 30th. We are due for that often threatened Republican shutdown before tonight is through.
This is not an accident that just keeps happening over and over again. […]
Now some may say that I’m stretching the truth here to call Republicans anarchists, or the party of anarchy, but am I?
Which party’s members have consistently opposed obeying the laws of this country to the extent that they are willing to cease funding the federal government unless their demands that those laws be repealed are met? Which party’s congressional members in the House of Representatives have previously impeached a President merely because they despised him?
Which party’s members continue to call for the impeachment of the current President because [fill in the excuse of the week here] and/or they hate him? Which party’s political leaders continued to encourage the most radical of their members in the lie that President Obama was not a US citizen and therefore not qualified to be President until that lie became a parody of itself?
Which party controlled the state legislature of Missouri, and passed legislation making it illegal to enforce all Federal gun regulation (thankfully vetoed by the Governor of Missouri)? Which party has had major elected officials, including governors, call for or support secession of their states from the United States of America?
The preamble to the US Constitution reads as follows, in case anyone forgot:
We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Read the rest of the Constitution. It establishes the creation of a three pronged Federal government, with an Executive branch (to carry out the operations of that government), a Legislative branch to pass laws which are supreme over the laws of all the states should they conflict, and the Judiciary branch to consider all cases and conflicts involving issues of federal law, including the Constitution itself.
In effect, the constitution is the foundation for our current Federal government that does indeed provide for the general welfare of “we the people.” Which party wants to see the Federal government in the words of one of its most famous (or infamous) leaders “drowned in a bath tub?” Which party opposed federal funding for the survivors of 9/11? Which party opposed funding for disaster relief in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy?
In short which party gives a rat’s behind about the general welfare and forming a more perfect union? Which party would prefer a federal government with fewer laws and less enforcement of those laws? Which party actively engages in deliberate acts to sabotage the functioning of the Federal government for any reason or no reason?
Long ago, before we had a country, there was a group of activists/rebels who styled themselves as the “Sons of Liberty.” Their goal was to remove what they considered the oppressive control of the British Crown over the governance of the American colonies, so that they could have the same rights as other “Englishman,” i.e., a voice in the government, rights to a fair trial, the right to vote for those who passed the laws that governed them. Eventually, as you know, they became the basis for the independence movement and many of their leaders became leaders in first the Continental Congress, later as participants in the Constitutional Convention. Obviously, they were not anarchists.
There are groups of conservatives and Republicans who compare themselves to the “Son’s of Liberty” but that comparison is not just deeply flawed, it is false. The current Republican Party, from top to bottom does not support democracy, or the rights of people, nor do they give a damn about the general welfare.
What they do resemble is a fictional organization of thugs who terrorize people and use their power to extort benefits for themselves from their victims. Sadly, unlike the television show of the same name, the Republican Party is real, and today’s attempt to overturn the laws of this country through the use of extortion tactics is only one more piece of evidence that demonstrates they are the true “Sons of Anarchy.”