Happy Birthday, America

[poliphilo]

Sometimes it can be comforting to look back. 

There was Senator Joe McCarthy- that was a shameful period of American history- with the US polity mirroring that of Stalin's Russia in staging show trials of intellectuals- but McCarthy got run out of town eventually.

And then there was Vietnam. 

And Watergate.

There's nothing the Bush administration has done- waging disastrous imperial wars,  corrupting the political life of the Republic- that hasn't been done before- and worse. America has these massive mood swings- and when she turns nasty the rest of the world cowers- but she always pulls herself right in the end.

I'm not an American, I'm not even particularly Americanophile, but I believe as a sober matter of fact that the USA is the single best political idea we (meaning human beings) have ever had. A Republic based on the values of the Enlightenment- how cool is that!

Of course America has done horrible things- which nation hasn't?- but she remains- because of the vision of her founding fathers-  "the last best hope of earth". 

That's a quote from Abraham Lincoln- the nearest the dirty profession of politics has ever come to producing a saint.

So, happy birthday, America,

You'll get over these recent set-backs-

Of course you will.

Comments

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Obama seems hell-bent on negating all the qualities that made him such an outstanding and attractive candidate. It's a terrible shame. It's as though- faced with the really big challenge- his courage is failing him.

The more I learn about McCain, the less I like him. Still, I doubt if he'd make as thoroughgoingly incompetent a president as Bush.

Obama's "move to the center"

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

I too have been alarmed and seriously disheartened by Obama's apparent change of tone, at least until I read a piece by Al Giordano, entitled Smart Dissent. The entire piece bears reading, but perhaps the gist of his argument might be quoted here:

Among the baggage from the Clinton era of Democratic Party politics is this narrative about a nominee “moving to the center”. I myself have a hard time breaking out of it, even though I know it's generally bullshit, and here's why: I have reported the campaigns of hundreds of candidates in the US and elsewhere, and for a number of years in my reckless youth I worked inside of political campaign staffs. And there's one thing that is evident from that experience: What a candidate says while seeking office has little to no bearing on his or her actions upon obtaining that office.

Too many progressive activists suffer from the illusion that if they leverage a candidate during a campaign that getting him or her to say one thing or another will later translate into policy. … I can find very few examples of that in the campaigns I've covered, and plenty of evidence to the contrary. Candidates that clipped to the right turned out to govern quite progressively. Candidates that tacked to the left governed more conservatively, sometimes to authoritarian extremes. A thousand issue organizations and interest groups tell their members to send them money and portray themselves as those who are policing the politicians and leveraging campaign seasons to do it, but their track record producing results from those politicians is abysmal.

I cannot disagree with his logic and, given his years of effective activism and the fact that Giordano's political views are well to the left of most Democrats in this country, I feel that if Al doesn't worry about the Democratic candidate's rhetorical jog to the right, then neither should I. What comes out of Obama's mouth between now and November does not matter, so long as it ensures that he takes the oath of office come January.

Seems a bit tawdry and cynical, but then politics is a tawdry business and I think at this point in history winning the White House is more important than being politically correct. Whatever he or his supporters might claim to the contrary, there is every reason to believe that McCain, if elected, will serve out Bush's “third term” in office. It will be more of the same and worse, probably far worse. Forgive me, but I should much rather support an Obama who is effectively gaming the system, stealing the votes of independents and moderate Republicans right from under his opponent's nose, than support some beautiful loser. I think the last thing we need right now is a candidate who'd rather be morally superior and lose than sully himself, suffering the slings and arrows of his more idealistic supporters, and actually win the race.

Apologies for the lengthy response, but I so desperately want the white hats win one, for a change.

Re: Obama's "move to the center"

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks for that. It makes a lot of sense.

Here in Britain we elected a Labour government in '97- and it went on to pursue an agenda that was more right-wing and cravenly neo-conservative and in thrall to big business than any conservative government would have dared to be. So, yes, what it says on the label is not necessarily what's in the can.