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Family Security Matters does not stand behind or endorse any candidate for president (or any other public office). However, as the President is also Commander-in-Chief and is responsible for setting national security policy, we will be publishing a variety of articles on both the Republican and Democrat candidates for President during this election year. As always, the opinions of our Contributing Editors are their own, and do not necessarily reflect those of Family Security Matters.

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August 20, 2008

Exclusive: A Nation of Whiners?

Colonel David F. Bedey (US Army, ret.)

Last month, former Sen. Phil Gramm was excoriated for purportedly branding Americans as “a nation of whiners.” Within ten days he had been hounded from his position as co-chairman of John McCain’s presidential campaign. Old news.

But in fairness to Sen. Gramm, it ought to be recognized that his now notorious statement was uttered in the course of a thoughtful analysis of the underlying strength of America’s position in the current global economy. In his interview with The Washington Times, he suggested that confidence in the U.S. economy is lower than warranted owing to the media’s doom-and-gloom coverage of the topic. As he told the reporters, “The media is a leading indicator of a downturn, and the media is a lagging indicator of an upturn. . . . Misery sells newspapers.” (Who could honestly disagree with this characterization of the news business?)

Sen. Gramm summed up his discussion of the economy as follows:

You just hear this constant whining – complaining – about our loss of competitiveness, America in decline. [Yet] we’ve never been more dominant; we’ve never had more natural advantages than we have today. We have sort of become a nation of whiners.

Taken in context and quoted in full (as opposed to a sound bite), his remarks seem less than damnable. Unartful, perhaps, given the nature of the political game. Most Americans are resilient, though the media’s distorted coverage of economic – and other – issues can dampen one’s spirits. And some of our fellow citizens are facing tougher financial circumstances. But only a thoroughgoing cynic would believe that Sen. Gramm meant to disparage all Americans or to deny the distress that some are feeling. Be that as it may, harsh political reality demanded that he be ostracized. And so it was to be.

But lost in the din of the Gramm controversy is the sad fact that whining has indeed become a pervasive form of social and political dialogue in this country.

This whining follows a predictable pattern. First is hypersensitivity to trivial or imaginary slights. Second is posturing as a victim, or as the spokesman for victims. And finally come demands for “respect,” public apologies, political concessions, compensation, etc. The following few examples illustrate the art of whining:

· A white aide to the mayor of the District of Columbia uses the term “niggardly” (i.e., miserly) in the course of discussing department budgets with a black coworker. The coworker complained that he had uttered a racial slur. The aide immediately resigned and apologized. (In a similar case in North Carolina, a fourth-grade teacher was forced to undergo “sensitivity training,” but at least she was allowed to keep her job.)

· At a scholarly conference, Harvard University President Lawrence Summers posited that gender disparities in the fields of mathematics and science may in part be related to genetic differences between men and woman. A female professor of molecular biology stormed out of the session, claiming to have been made physically ill by Summers’ heavily qualified conjectures. In what amounted to a public show trial, Summers groveled but in the end was ousted from his position at Harvard anyway.

· Sometimes the whining has a much harder edge, as a major automobile manufacturer found when Jesse Jackson judged that one of the company’s ads was racist. Jackson withdrew his threat to orchestrate a boycott only after the company agreed to a “diversity plan” aimed at increasing the number of its minority-owned dealerships. And perhaps it was only a coincidence that shortly thereafter the firm decided that a Jackson associate ought to be cut in on a $300 million equity offering.

· Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi recently whined to the Christian Science Monitor that “I am a victim of sexism myself all the time.” Astonishing – coming as it does from one of the most powerful people in Washington. Perhaps she felt the need to burnish her feminist bona fides.

Of course as any parent would know, whining is not effective unless the whiner’s demands are accommodated. Sadly, major institutions in our society increasingly cater to purported victims. The media’s role has already been touched upon. But our judiciary system, big business, the government bureaucracy, higher education, and the major political parties also facilitate whiners.

The courts are clogged because they tolerate frivolous lawsuits brought by vulturous trial lawyers and by zealous advocacy groups. Apparently, anything bad that happens to you is always someone else’s fault. And filing lawsuits is a surer way to riches than is playing the lottery. This problem is only exacerbated by the propensity of so-called “living Constitution” jurists for inventing extra-constitutional rights.

Corporate leaders cave in to avoid the possibility of bad PR and high legal expenses. But in mitigation, it should be noted that such bottom-line behavior is consistent with maximizing profits. So it may well be too much to expect CEOs to act on principle.

Anyone working in government can attest to the pervasiveness of mandatory “sensitivity training,” which resembles indoctrination in that it tolerates neither the expression of contrary ideas nor even the questioning of unexamined assumptions. Similar to the case of business executives, government bureaucrats (both civilian and military) often yield to whiners in the belief resisting them is too much of a distraction from normal business.

American colleges and universities have perfected both the theory and the practice of whining. In the first place, they are the fount of virulent multiculturalism that subordinates individual merit to group identity and celebrates victimhood. And there is nowhere in America where the diktats of political correctness hold greater sway.

And finally, both Democrat and Republican politicians respond to whining: the former because whining is central to their party’s platform; the latter because of the misguided notion that it will win them votes. The Republican betrayal of core conservative values is frankly pathetic because most whiners are as likely to vote Republican as pigs are to fly.

Are we a nation of whiners? Not yet. Most Americans remain committed to individualism, to personal responsibility, and to judging others based on merit. To many, being called a “whiner” would be fighting words. Yet our elites’ embrace of - or acquiescence to - a culture of whining victimhood ought not be ignored. For, like it or not, there is no escaping the fact that elite opinion eventually shapes the nature of our society.

When the elites have it wrong, it is up to the free citizens of a democracy to act. But what is to be done?

First, we must press for changes to laws that encourage whining. In this connection, tort reform and the appointment of strict constructionists to the bench are essential. To that must be added the enactment of legislation that ends the polarizing practice of state-sponsored racial and gender preference (i.e., discrimination) in hiring, in the award of government contracts, and in college admissions.

It is also high time that the alarm that William F. Buckley sounded years ago with his publication of God and Man at Yale be heeded. Universities do not belong to their faculties, regardless of the protestations of the abusers of “academic freedom.” Taxpayers, trustees, parents, and alumni ought not tolerate the Left’s rampant politicization of our campuses - for it is the academic Left’s embrace of frankly anti-American ideology that bred and now nurtures the culture of whining.

And while eliminating the Leftward bias of the mainstream media might be desirable, there is no way to accomplish this without savaging the First Amendment. But we must staunchly resist the Democrats’ attempt to reinstate the “Fairness Doctrine,” which is a transparent effort to silence conservatives. Free speech is essential to our cause.

None of this will be possible if the Democrats control our government. So in the short term, it is imperative that Republicans - flawed though they may be - thwart the Democrats’ quest for filibuster-proof control of the Congress. Should the Democrats prevail in the Senate and Obama be elected, the institutionalization of whining will only accelerate. This is no time for disgruntled conservatives to stay away from the polls.

For now, there is little hope of reform on the Left. So Republicans must work to strengthen their commitment to individual freedom and accountability - proven principles that benefit all Americans.

Breaking the hold that faux-victimhood has on too many of our fellow citizens will not be easy. Nor can it be accomplished overnight. But we must persistently strive to restore the primacy of the values that made America great and have kept us strong. Given the challenges we face in an increasingly troubled world, it is no time for the United States to become a nation of whiners.

Family Security Matters Contributing Editor Colonel David Bedey (US Army, ret.) served more than 30 years on active duty with the Army before retiring in July 2008. A veteran of the Persian Gulf War, he served in combat engineer units around the world and spent the last 12 years of his military career on the senior faculty at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He now lives in Montana where he writes on cultural issues.

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