Mr. Andrew C. McCarthy, Esq., has been unequivocal in both his condemnation of the machinations regarding the deceitful weaponization of government known as “Russia-gate” and his conclusion that there is likely no recourse to criminal law to hold accountable two of its key perpetrators: Mr. John Brennan and Mr. James Comey.
In my heart, I hope he is wrong, but in my head, I know he is right. Why? Because the federal bureaucracy and its Deep State are designed for insularity, not accountability. After all, not only has the father of the Deep State never been unmasked for that unconscionable act, but he has also been praised for being a “reformer.”
Following the assassination of President John Garfield by Charles Giteau, who (irony of ironies) was a frustrated office seeker, Chester A. Arthur assumed the presidency. The new president, nicknamed “The Gentleman Boss,” was well versed in the ways of political patronage—er, “administration.” Writing for the University of Virginia’s Miller Center, Dr. Justus Doenecke, Professor Emeritus of History at the New College of Florida, explained:
No president ever came to power who was better equipped to handle the management of a federal bureaucracy than Chester Arthur. His service as quartermaster general for New York and as the collector of the New York Customs House had provided him with a wealth of administrative experience. Those who knew him understood that few men in public life could match his administrative skills.
Consequently, having risen through the school of spoils and on the public record as wary of civil service reform, it caused much surprise and consternation by his Republican contemporaries and, later, much acclaim by historians when, in 1883, Mr. Arthur signed into law the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act. Again, Dr. Doenecke:
Written by the Democratic Ohio Senator George Pendleton, [the act] established a bipartisan five-member examination board. The law banned salary kickbacks, apportioned federal appointments among the states, and ruled that new employees must begin their service at the bottom of the career ladder, advancing only by merit exams.
Dr. Doenecke believes President Arthur panicked in the wake of the 1882 midterms, in which Democrats made significant gains. Such knee-jerk, “bipartisan” capitulations to Democrat legislative demands are not unknown in the annals of GOP presidents. So, is it the case that Mr. Arthur was just a foppish dupe who was manipulated by his Democrat opponents to cut his own and his party’s throats?
Not likely. As enumerated by Dr. Doenecke, the Pendleton Act had significant limitations that prevented it from curbing machine politics that were, in fact, bemoaned at the time of passage:
Its initial impact, however, should not be exaggerated. As the legislation was not retroactive, present (primarily Republican) incumbents could remain in office even if the Democrats won the forthcoming presidential election. Hence, one Democratic senator caustically called the measure “a bill to perpetuate in office the Republicans who now control the patronage of the government.” Furthermore, the Pendleton Act exempted the vast majority of federal employees and all municipal and state workers.
President Arthur was not duped by the Democrats. This master of the spoils system aimed to hoist them by their own reform petard and “perpetuate” GOP mastery of federal government (as well as state and municipal governments) patronage, regardless of the new law. In sum, the Gentleman Boss was a devious, evil genius who sought to hoodwink his opponents and the public—and later generations of historians—into thinking he was a reformer. The problem was that he also hoodwinked his own patronage-loving GOP into believing it. They dumped President Arthur from the ticket in 1884.
But President Arthur continues to dump on us via the Deep State he sired.
In endeavoring to protect GOP patronage from reform, Mr. Arthur began the federal bureaucracy’s long march to supremacy as the de facto fourth branch of government because he established and prioritized its principal aim as being insularity, not accountability. It is, perhaps, a historical accident that President Arthur signed the Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act on the cusp of the Progressive Era. But it is no accident that the progressives built upon this “civil service” and baked into it the belief of the elitist rule of unaccountable “experts” that would govern the unruly, ignorant, subordinate citizenry.
Like the old machine politician, the “Gentleman Boss,” history teaches that “politicians gonna politicize.” In the instance of today’s federal bureaucracy and its Deep State, it also means they are going to weaponize it, too.
This explains why so many Democrats have lately been reclassified from political appointees to protected civil servants. It allows them to subvert the agenda of a duly elected Republican president. Make no mistake, these bureaucrats relish their insularity and lack of accountability. They know the rules—and have created many of them—no one can better play by and, when necessary, evade them. Sadly, this bodes well for the aforementioned Mr. Brennan and Mr. Comey and bodes ill for the citizenry and the rule of law.
Of course, that many Democrats in the federal bureaucracy do not feel compelled by their duties to comply with the directives of a duly elected Republican president bodes ill for “our democracy.” Good luck trying to explain that to Democrats, who long ago came to believe that Deep State elitists are entitled to thwart democracy to save it.
Still, we live in an oft-unjust world. The current calls for using criminal statutes for punishing Deep State evildoers, while cathartic, are difficult, if not impossible, to heed. Such abuses of power likely need remedying through Congress and the President enacting new civil statutes with remedies to specifically curb instances of malfeasance of office and attain true civil service reform.
But let us all be ever mindful of the lessons of history: when something is deemed “bipartisan,” it means everyone gets screwed, and today’s “reform” is tomorrow’s problem.
Oh, and one more thing, Chester A. Arthur, “Gentleman Boss” and evil genius: curse you!
An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) served Michigan’s 11th Congressional District from 2003-2012. He served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee; and as a member of the Financial Services, Joint Economic, Budget, Small Business, and International Relations Committees. Not a lobbyist, he is also a contributor to Chronicles; frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a co-host of “John Batchelor: Eye on the World” on CBS radio, among sundry media appearances.