Post Partisan America When The Game
The word “partisan” has become a bad word. It also does not make sense anymore. It clouds our arguments, and blinds us to reality. And, if “partisan” makes no sense, then “non-partisan” and “bipartisan” begin to lose meaning. Why?
Because we are in a “post-partisan” America.
Originating as a military term denoting irregular forces often engaged in what we would now call guerrilla warfare, partisan fighters took on a romantic, positive connotation running from the Napoleonic wars through WWII, when “partisan fighters” came to be seen as plucky underdogs – the Yugoslav Partisans fighting the Nazis are emblematic.
Something changed in recent years, and the word took on a different meaning – “strongly adherent to a particular political party,” a definition strongly associated with party politics in the United States over the past two decades. Contrasting with its more positive counterparts, “bipartisan” and “nonpartisan,” “partisan” became an insult and slur.
But it was a term, however derogatory, that made some sense. A two party system, where Democrats and Republicans fought, sometimes fiercely, sometimes dirty, within a framework of law and constitution, over competing policies and approaches, can be partisan. And when the fighting stops, or an agreement is reached, we can say things are “bipartisan.” Abortion, taxes, international engagement, environment, all were battlegrounds for partisanship, and in some cases, resulted in “bipartisan” solutions.
It was in that spirit that a group of former National Security officials formed what came to be named “The Steady State” in 2016. Populated by members from both parties, The Steady State still calls itself non-partisan.
Organized in hopes they could help the then-newly-elected Trump Administration find its way in national security matters, the group evolved, grew, and, when it became clear that the Trump One administration was not interested in being helped, gave up trying to help. When President Trump was exposed attempting to extort the President of Ukraine to interfere in American politics, and to “investigate” Joe Biden, the Steady State redirected and became actively involved in elections, endorsing Joe Biden, and then, more recently, Kamala Harris for President.
The new Trump Administration has taken dramatic steps since inauguration that are far outside the parameters of “normal” two-party partisanship, flouting law and regulation, abandoning norms, disparaging courts, treaties, Governors, and minorities, stepping outside the traditional Constitutional boundaries which permitted “partisanship” itself, not to mention the occasional bipartisanship or non-partisanship. If partisanship is, as often metaphorized, a team sport, like football or baseball, it makes sense only if the teams agree that there is actually a set of rules within which the competition takes place. The Trump Administration’s latest actions, deploying the military in our cities, and unleashing wholesale arrests, dramatically underscores where things stand.
There is opposition to President Trump. Individuals and institutions have publicly stated their support for “rule of law.” For adherence to the Constitution. For following anti-corruption and ethical rules. For adhering to treaties. For following science. For telling the truth. Some think that taking such positions is “partisan.” I disagree.
We are in a post-partisan world.
What does that mean? We are no longer in a political world where two major parties battle out policy. Rather, we are in a world in which we must talk about the existential questions surrounding constitutionality and rule of law. Such do not, or at least should not, fall into the “partisan” category and any suggestions that they should are fallacious. It no longer makes sense to talk about “Republican” or “Democratic” approaches to the critical issues. It is no longer appropriate to label positions on the issues of the day as forwarding one party or the other views of policy. We can no longer be “partisan,” if we define that as adhering to one parties’ policies, in contrast to the other party.
The issue now facing us is not how to play the game, but whether we want to keep the game at all. Do we want to retain a Constitutional government, with checks-and-balances, rule-of-law, and a republican (small “r”) form of making decisions through elected officials, reviewed by Courts? Protecting and supporting those things is not properly called “partisan.” It is not “partisan” to say that Courts decide what the law is. It is not “partisan” to say that laws should be followed. It is not partisan to say the Constitution should be our guide.
The Steady State, and organizations and individuals outraged and terrified by the actions of the Trump Administration, may be “non-partisan” in many respects, but that label makes less and less sense in a post-partisan America. And we all need to recognize that.
Steven A. Cash is the Executive Director of The Steady State. He served as a former prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney’s office before joining the CIA in 1994 as Assistant General Counsel, subsequently serving as an intelligence officer in the Directorate of Operations. In 2001 he joined the Senate Select committee on Intelligence as Counsel and designee to Senator Diane Feinstein. He later served as Minority Staff Director for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, and later as Chief of Staff of the Department of Energy’s Office of Intelligence. He returned to serve on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security as Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel to Senator Feinstein. In the private sector he has advised on national security, counterintelligence, and technology policy and served on the Biological Sciences Experts Group under the Director of National Intelligence.
Founded in 2016, The Steady State is a nonpartisan, nonprofit 501(c)(4) organization of more than 290 former senior national security professionals. Our membership includes former officials from the CIA, FBI, Department of State, Department of Defense and Department of Homeland Security. Drawing on deep expertise across national security disciplines including intelligence, diplomacy, military affairs and law, we advocate for constitutional democracy, the rule of law and the preservation of America’s national security institutions.