By Mustang
When did American politics become polarized? The answer depends on who answers. If you’re a left-wing hack, the turn to the dark side occurred when Republican Newt Gingrich became Speaker of the House. One of these hacks is Princeton professor Julian E. Zelizer, who assures us that American politics “went pear-shaped” between January 1987-March 1989, when Newt Gingrich’s rise to power culminated in the forced resignation of former Democratic House Speaker Jim Wright of Texas.
Having made that mind-shattering statement, Zelizer continues to say that it was Gingrich who “legitimized ruthless and destructive practices that had once been relegated to the margins” and “helped degrade Congress’s institutional legitimacy and paved the way for the anti-establishment presidency of Donald Trump.”
Zelizer isn’t standing alone. Other “scholars” have made similar claims, such as Harvard University professors Daniel Ziblatt and Steven Levitsky, who claim that Gingrich’s speakership had a profound and lasting impact on American democracy because Gingrich instilled a combative approach in the Republican Party, where hateful language and hyper-partisanship became commonplace.
Balderdash.
U.S. Capitol
Gingrich simply the one man in the Republican Party who refused to be kicked around by Democrats, who controlled the House for 40 years (1955-1995)?
And how did Gingrich “skewer” former House Speaker Jim Wright?
House members elected Jim Wright as their speaker on 6 January 1987, following the retirement of the famed Tip O’Neil, whose tenure as Speaker lasted ten years. In 1987 (the 100th Congress), Democrats outnumbered Republicans 258-177. Wright won reelection as Speaker in 1989 (the 101st Congress), Democrats outnumbering Republicans 260-175. Tom Foley replaced Wright as Speaker in 1989. Gingrich didn’t become Speaker of the House until 1995. So how did Gingrich skewer Wright?
He didn’t. Wright skewered himself.
In 1988 Wright became the target of an inquiry by the House Ethics Committee. Their report in early 1989 implied that Mr. Wright had used bulk purchases of his book, Reflections of a Public Man, to earn speaking fees above the allowed maximum. Not only that, Mr. Wright’s wife, Betty, was given a job and perks designed to help hide the limit on gifts to members of Congress. Of course, since the 100th Congress was controlled by Democrats, Mr. Wright’s misconduct was only implied, which is different from evidence of wrongdoing.
During the 101st Congress, in May 1989, when the United States had a somewhat non-partisan press, media reports revealed that 16 years earlier, Representative Wright’s top assistant, a man named John Mack, had violently attacked a woman named Pamala Small. Mack not only hit Miss Small repeatedly with a hammer, but he also stabbed her with a knife, and slashed her, and left her for dead. Miss Small survived and gave testimony against Mack, whose trial ended in a conviction. The trial judge sentenced Mack to 15 years in prison. He only served 27 months. You see, John Mack’s brother was married to Jim Wright’s daughter.
Oh, and when Mack walked out of prison, he walked into a clerk’s job in the Capital — and then became the executive director of the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee and Representative Wright’s Chief Legislative Strategist. According to the press report, Wright manipulated the legal system to get Mack out of prison and then protected him from media scrutiny. Somewhat embarrassed by this revelation, John Mack resigned from his post in May 1989. With that horrid tale out of the bag, some wondered whether Mr. Wright could long remain Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Well, there is more to consider about Mr. Wright. In the 1980s and 1990s, over 1,000 savings and loan associations (S&Ls) failed. William K. Black, an S&L regulator, publicly accused Speaker of the House Jim Wright, and five U.S. Senators (John Glenn, John McCain, Alan Cranston, Dennis DeConcini, and Donald Riegle) of improperly intervening in the investigation of Charles H. Keating, Chairman of the Lincoln Savings and Loan Association. According to journalist Bill Moyers:
“The former Director of the Institute for Fraud Prevention now teaches Economics and Law at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. During the savings and loan crisis, it was Black who accused then-house speaker Jim Wright and five US Senators, including John Glenn and John McCain, of doing favors for the S&L’s in exchange for contributions and other perks. The senators got off with a slap on the wrist, but so enraged was one of those bankers, Charles Keating — after whom the senate’s so-called “Keating Five” were named — he sent a memo that read, in part, ‘get Black — kill him dead.’ Metaphorically, of course. Of course.”
Keating went to jail. He was the only one who went to prison. Dirty members of Congress didn’t. And Jim Wright? A report by a congressional special counsel implicated him in several influence-peddling charges, such as Vernon Savings and Loan, and attempting to get William K. Black fired as the deputy director of the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation (FSLIC). However, the Democratically controlled House Ethics Committee concluded that “… while the Congressman’s dealings with representatives of the Federal Home Loan Bank Board may have been intemperate, the committee was not persuaded that there is reason to believe that he exercised undue influence in his dealings with that agency.”
Have I mentioned that Jim Wright was a Democrat in a Democrat-controlled Congress? With 34 years in Congress, Jim Wright “resigned.” Actually, he retired with a comfortable income for life. Mr. Wright drew that retirement until he died in 2015.
So, for Dr. Zelizer to argue that Newt Gingrich’s rise to power in the House of Representatives forced Jim Wright’s resignation is a very long reach, borders on revisionist history, and goes a long way in questioning the veracity of Zelizer’s claim that Mr. Gingrich “burned down the House.” Gingrich may have filed the charges with the House Ethics Committee, but it was Wright himself who misbehaved and escaped prosecution owing to the corrupt practices of the U.S. House of Representatives.
Who did the Democrats choose to replace Mr. Wright? Tom Foley, the only member of congress to lose his seat in Congress while serving as Speaker of the House since 1862. Meanwhile, Nancy Pelosi (also a Democrat) said of Jim Wright, “Speaker Wright was a person of deep courage, brilliant eloquence, and complete mastery of the legislative process. Speaker Wright’s strong, decisive leadership built an indelible legacy of progress, not only in his beloved state of Texas but around the world. Wright championed prosperity for every working family and helped lead the way to peace to Central America.”
Okay then. But what about the fact that Wright was a liar and a thief?
All of this is “old news,” of course. Its only relevance is that in 2020, revisionists and left-wing hacks (such as Dr. Zelizer, Burning Down the House) are trying to explain the toxicity and polarization of our political system, and they’re doing it by shifting blame from corrupt Democrats to certain “toxic” members of the GOP. This is what Democrats do — avoid responsibility, shift blame, and revise history. And Dr. Zelizer, remember, is a college professor who bends the minds of our tuition-paying children to suit his own brand of politics. How does that fit in with “polarization of politics” in the United States?
Photo credit: “File:US Capitol from NW.JPG” by UpstateNYer is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
Mustang also blogs at Fix Bayonets and Thoughts From Afar
BUNKERVILLE | God, Guns and Guts Comrades! 