Commentary: Creating the “deep state”

3 hours ago 9

Accusations of a deep state cabal of government employees plotting against the president, nay the people, is an Orwellian call to arms in a dystopian America. A nefarious fifth column readying the attack on democracy. Political campaigns are war, and “to the victor, the spoils,” a rallying cry.

The American experiment of, for and by the people initially failed with the decentralized chaos of the Articles of Confederation. The new and improved Constitution, informed by the Enlightenment, ceded more authority to a centralized government, with three branches sharing power, accountable through checks and balances.

We the people granted carte blanch to our newly elected presidents to stock their cabinets as they saw fit, presumably with qualified associates supporting their policy and political priorities (emphasis on the former). New president, new cabinet. Representative and responsive, though not necessarily professional and efficient.

This spoils system invariably resulted in de rigueur Washington corruption scandals, delving to a nadir with appointments in the Andrew Jackson administration (1829-37). It didn’t stop there, oh no. It continued until the 1881 assassination of President James Garfield by a disgruntled political supporter who did not get “his” federal sinecure. So finally, in response Congress enacted the Pendleton Act of 1883 adopting merit-based hiring of qualified administrators, thereby limiting political patronage. Buttressing this professionalization was the Hatch Act of 1939, which prohibited political activity by employees while engaged in their government work.

These and other reforms have ensured that Americans can trust their government to deliver services — after completing the correct form, in triplicate, in blue ink, of course. All’s well, yes?

Yeah, no. A simple burglary in 1972, ushered in a cover-up, flying subpoenas, the head of a special prosecutor and a constitutional crisis, and yes, a “deep throat.” Here, two attorneys general dutifully refused to yield to presidential pressure to terminate the Watergate special prosecutor. The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that presidents were not above the law (United States v. Nixon). Congressional Republicans put country before party and informed Richard Nixon he would be impeached. And, The Washington Post reported it all. Period.

In 1974 Nixon resigned, and Congress continued reforms such as the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ensuring proper execution of the federal budget by the president) and the Inspector General Act of 1978 (providing independent review of major executive agencies).

Today, approximately 2 million non-political federal employees do their jobs professionally; only about 4,000 political appointees head agencies.

The fifth column (quinta columna) has its roots in the Spanish Civil War, where in 1936 four columns of nationalist rebels marched against the democratically elected government in Madrid. Rumor had it a fifth column, composed of nationalist sympathizers within the Republican government, would support the nationalists.

There was no fifth column. The fascist nationalists lost the battle, but eventually won the war in 1939 with the help of Nazi Germany and America neutrality.

About 40,000 immigrated to Spain in support of Republicans. Included were Ernest Hemingway, who wrote about the horrors of war (For Whom the Bell Tolls), and George Orwell, who issued a clarion call against the complete and unquestionable submission to authority (1984). Orwell may have missed by about 40 years. Hear any bells?

Leonardo Olivares of Weslaco is a former congressional staffer.