May 14 (UPI) — Last week in London, I had the chance to listen to four members of the House of Representatives at the “For Country” caucus. The caucus comprises almost 40 veterans in the House who served in uniform, and it seeks to encourage political bipartisanship that could bring Republicans and Democrats together.
The panel was quite impressive, if not over-congratulatory, in the comradeship each expressed for the other. And in trying to be frank, the panel raised a profound question that challenges this concept of working together. Given the critical issues facing the nation, why is this and other caucuses incapable of making Congress act in the best interests of the people in governing?
One traditional problem has always been the “other house,” namely the Senate for the House and the House for the Senate. The mutual complaint has been “if only the other house …..” That misses the point.
After the talk, I approached the lone Republican on the panel, an airman who spent two tours in Afghanistan flying rescue and medical evacuation missions. I asked him if he and his fellow Republicans really understood how deeply the divides had become between the United States and its European allies due to the Trump policies.
To add a touch of humor, I recalled President John F. Kennedy’s biting comment that “the only thing worse than being an enemy of the United States was being a friend.”
In response, I got what we called in Vietnam “the 1,000- yard stare” of complete disinterest. And then a “thank for your view.” I persisted. It was pointless.
This is America’s political dilemma. Donald Trump has so-controlled the Republican Party and turned it into his own that, with few exceptions, members have become cowed into support or silence. In part, this is also a Democratic Party problem. By not having offered a genuine and legitimate political alternative that the public can accept, Republicans cannot be always blamed for supporting Trump to excess.
But fact and reality cannot be denied. Trump’s America First policies and the stunningly inconsistent ways the president has approached virtually every issue include immigrants infesting the country, supporting NATO or not, threatening and then backing down on tariffs, and blaming Volodymyr Zelensky for starting the war in Ukraine. His actions have created a wedge the size of the Atlantic that is separating and infuriating European friends and allies.
Can Republicans in Congress grasp this? So far, the answer is not reassuring. Of course, for those who favor a return to a 21st-century version of the isolationism of the 1930s, Trump is moving in the correct direction. Making America Great Again also means making it more autarkic and thus largely, if not entirely, free and independent of relying on offshore resources and access to some foreign markets.
But whether Republicans like it or not, while globalism has become an epithet, no country with any aspirations for improving the lot and well-being of its people can be fully economically independent and cut off from the rest of the world.
Where then is the leadership from both sides? While perhaps Trump can be persuaded to change his mind without admitting it in a round of golf on one of his courses or over a Mar-a-Lago cheeseburger, governing by creating a crisis to solve that crisis is a prescription for failure. At the least, it erodes or destroys trust and confidence that are foundational to virtually every relationship, especially that between the governed and the governing.
Meanwhile, Democrats seem unable to get out of their own way, falling into political traps set by the other side whether supporting men playing in women’s sports, opposed by about 80% of Americans, to substituting complaints for viable policy options. And for the time being, Republicans appear happy to continue down this path. All the while, the president’s public opinion ratings continue to plummet.
At some stage, there will be a reckoning. Perhaps before then, however, the For Country and other congressional caucuses might take another, more penetrating and objective look at what is happening to American alliances in Europe and Asia. If at that point, nothing happens, be assured of this: American leadership has been fully replaced.
Harlan Ullman is UPI’s Arnaud de Borchgrave Distinguished Columnist, senior adviser at Washington’s Atlantic Council, chairman of a private company and principal author of the doctrine of shock and awe. His next book, co-written with General The Lord David Richards, former U.K. chief of defense and due out next year, is Who Thinks Wins: Preventing Strategic Catastrophe. The writer can be reached on X @harlankullman.
