Opinion: From baby talk to adult nonsense

I met a pediatrician recently and asked, in my anticipation of great-grandchildren, when does a baby first speak? She said that many kids say “bye-bye,” or ”dah-dah,” or “mama” before they’re a year old. But she also told me that some kids don’t start so pleasantly. Their first words are, “balance the budget” and they whimper a lot. Without that whimper and with a smile, some say “cut taxes.” They speak Republican, a dialect of American English with no words for caring, compassion, or concern.

The ecstatic parents often hope the kid will grow up to be a member of Congress and its Freedom Caucus, maybe become speaker if they aren’t too smart. The parents weep with joy that the conservative gene goes on and they simply grin with pride while changing diapers.

When those babies get older, they also wake from a bad dream with “shut down the government.” Babies may not know; but adults should know that shutting down government is not a solution to anything. Our budget is not our distinction. Good Republicans, and there are some, know that. Think Liz Chaney or even Chris Christie. It is a party struggling for its soul, and the far-right ideologues are winning.

They seem to care about rhetoric, not results. There is no better example of the childish babble than’ “balancing the budget” and threats to shut down government. What would the effect be?

A union leader says, “a government shutdown is not a harmless, DC drama. Federal employees in every American community will lose income, through no fault of their own, and in many cases, they will be locked out of doing the work they were hired to do for the American people.”

She also pointed out, ”House Republicans would cut $3.6 trillion from the budget over 10 years. They would cut money from child care, schools, housing, medical research, transit, college aid, among other crucial parts of our good life.

“In a shutdown, the nearly 2.2 million Americans who are federal employees — plus the 1.3 million active duty troops — would feel the effect immediately if their agencies aren’t funded, Essential workers would remain on the job, but others would be furloughed until the shutdown is over. None would be paid until the impasse was over.”

I have watched Democrats and Republicans debate for almost 80 years. For most of them, they got along, opponents, not enemies. That began to change with Richard Nixon and his vice president, Spiro Agnew dividing the nation into “them and us.” (Agnew later reigned when he was charged with “extortion, bribery and income-tax violations.”)

That’s long ago, but I keep up with conservative politics. I get about half a dozen emails a day from conservative organizations. They mistakenly embrace me as a brother in an important battle. I particularly like hearing from Donald Trump Jr. Today, one told me,” Joe Biden is not holding back. He wanted you to know that. He plans to raise Income taxes, death taxes, capital gains taxes, corporate taxes.”

Don’t cry Republicans. It’s called balancing the budget.

Norman Sherman of Coralville has worked extensively in politics, including as Vice President Hubert Humphrey’s press secretary.