SPECIAL COMMENTARY: KNOW YOUR ENEMIES! GROVER NORQUIST TOPS THE LIST

Anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist
photo provided by CBS.

Rochester, N.Y.-- First of all, let’s get something straight. In Republican Abraham Lincoln's words, our government was instituted "of the people, by the people, and for the people." Government is not "them." It is "us." Government is not inherently good or evil; it's how we choose to govern ourselves is the real investigation.

So, why the hell do we need to continue to write in defense of good government? Well, unbelievably, right-wing ideologues and politicians have vilified government to the point that rational people are asking themselves this very question. Under their relentless attacks, government is portrayed as the evil-doer-- something anti-tax zealot Grover Norquist and his tax reform cronies relish. Norquist, perhaps the most evil and uncivilized person in America, says that he and his organization wants to reduce government, "to the size where I can drag it into the bathroom and drown it in the bathtub."

Norquist is not an insignificant figure. He founded Americans for Tax Reform, and is a key strategist behind the Republican Party attack on government. This assault on government is not a compassionate attempt to serve the public good. Norquist says, "Our goal is to inflict pain. It is not good enough to win; it has to be a painful and devastating defeat. ... It is like when the king would take his opponent's head and spike it on a pole for everyone to see."

Inflicting pain on others does not further the values of democracy. Contrary to the public's desire for civility, Norquist says, "We are trying to change the tones in the state capitals-- and turn them toward bitter nastiness and partisanship." This guy is perhaps the most despicable political operative on the planet. He has personally done more to create the unparalleled divide between the have and have-nots than anyone we know. He has literally ripped apart the fabric of our nation and distorted our nation's understanding of what good government really means.

Norquist's relevance in doubt

But his power may be on the wane. For a quarter-century, Norquist has bullied politicians, mostly Republicans, into signing a no-tax pledge. The pledge is supposed to be for a lifetime, longer than a Rush Limbaugh marriage or Mitt Romney's position on any issue.

But some good news came earlier this month when 40 House Republicans signed a letter urging the congressional "super committee" to consider revenue increases as part of the solution to the debt problem. The 12-member committee has a few days yet to cut at least $1.2 trillion from the budget over the next decade.

Many of them had also signed Norquist's pledge in the past. Norquist, flippant as ever, responded to the news by telling media sources, "Consider anything. Just don't vote for a tax increase."

The Wall Street Journal, official record of right-wing thinking, recently reported that 236 of 242 House Republicans have signed the Norquist pledge, as well as 40 of 47 Senate Republicans. And you wonder why nothing rational gets done in Washington?

Norquist rose to power during the Reagan era, when anti-government rhetoric was ascendant. He was a major pusher of the Bush tax cuts that turned Clinton-era black ink into Bush's red river. Norquist is also a member of the board of directors of the National Rifle Association, a group whose policies assist mass murderers.

Like the NRA, Norquist uses one-issue leverage with deadly efficiency to scare the common sense out of elected officials. He represents the hard core of right-wing radicalism in American politics with roots in the crackpot philosophy of Ayn Rand.

Rand, a Russian-born atheist, wrote the 1957 novel Atlas Shrugged, more than 1,100 tedious pages propagating greed and selfishness while disparaging the poor or unfortunate as parasites, looters and moochers.

Despite some of the most turgid prose and plodding plotting in the history of the English language, Rand's book was -- and still is -- extremely successful and influential.

She helped warp the thinking of Alan Greenspan, the former Federal Reserve Chairman whose "greed is good" attitude led to the disastrous financial bubble of the Bush era. He was a personal friend of Rand who attended indoctrination sessions at her home.

"I engaged in the all-night debates and wrote spirited commentary for her newsletter," Greenspan wrote. "I'm grateful for the influence she had on my life. I was intellectually limited until I met her."

Another power broker swayed by her book was Republican Paul Ryan, the scheming Wisconsin congressman who wants to attack Social Security so that wealthy people can have more money.

These people treat Atlas Shrugged as holy scripture. They are part of a cult and, like some cults, can be extremely dangerous. Nevertheless, the book has been made into a movie that even conservative critics have panned.

But that didn't discourage Norquist from this Twitter post on Nov. 9, tweeting, "Atlas Shrugged, Part 1... Worth seeing."

Perhaps, in a way Norquist did not intend, it is indeed worth seeing. The book is worth reading, if only to understand the malicious wrong-headedness of powerful people who threaten to drown our nation in a bathtub filled with red ink. If you haven't read the book, we suggest you go to your public library and check one out.

-Commentary by Ove Overmyer
This op-ed is the expressed written opinion of the author only and does not reflect the views of CSEA as an organizaton.