The Self-Delusion of the American Political Establishment

Washington D.C. is not just a city of monuments, museums and millions of square feet of buildings housing a preponderance of left-leaning overpaid bureaucrats complaining about how hard they work, it is also the home of the American Political Establishment (APE).  This monolithic body has evolved over the past eighty years as an ever increasing amount of political power once delegated to the states and the people has been seized by the federal government.  Within this entity are two branches: the senior partner — the Democratic Establishment — and the junior partner — the Republican Establishment.

There are no offices on Connecticut Avenue in Washington with signs reading “The Republican Establishment” or the “The Democratic Establishment”; rather both are an amalgam of like-minded groups with one common interest: the control of the government purse-strings and the attendant influence and ego-gratification that brings about.

These establishments are made up of the following: 

1) many of the current members of Congress who have served more than two terms and as a result have become dependent on the income, perquisites and notoriety in holding elected office;

2) a vast cadre of retired national office holders whose livelihood as lobbyists and political appointees as well their narcissistic needs depends upon fealty to Party and access to government largesse;

3) the majority of the media, including pundits, editors, writers and television news personalities based in Washington and New York whose proximity to power and access is vital to their continued standard of living and social status;  

4) numerous think-tanks, law firms and members thereof who are waiting to latch on to the next Republican or Democrat administration for employment and ego-gratification;

5) the reliable deep pocket political contributors, crony capitalists and political consultants whose future is irrevocably tied to the political machinery of either party.

Therefore the overriding interest of this cabal has been and continues to not only be their narcissism and wealth accumulation but the amassing of power through the control of the income, borrowing and spending by the Federal Government.