I forgot to put in the links earlier, LEK. 1:40 PM Nov. 8, 2006
Reading this article at the New York Times, and somehow I can't quite believe the Democrats controling the House now, indicates any real change in America or in the electorate. I am sorry Rahm but this quote “The American people have sent a resounding and unmistakable message of change and a new direction for America,” rings in my ears as just so much rhetorical noise.
So according to this article exit poles indicate 60 percent now oppose the War in Iraq (fine timing oh great people of the US) 40 percent saw there vote as a vote against W. Is that really surprising given how close the presidential elections have been? I don't think so. And then there is the scandal peice. But really should Democrats glory in Republican scandal? Is winning because the other guy is a worse person than you make me want to rejoice in some new direction that we are now supposed to be going.
Here is my complaint, I have been paying fairly close attention to politics since I was 10 years old, that is now for 27 years, not that long I suppose, but I also majored in History and emphsized in American History, and it is common for corruption to up end a party's control of government, but once the supposed reforming party gains power corruption is soon exposed and the party once viewed as corrupt is now the rerforming party. Are we all really that stupid, am I supposed to believe that the Democratic party isn't as knee deep in the dirt as the Republicans? Voting like Cliff makes sense to me, it seems clear sighted and free of triumphalism that seems part and parcel of our political and governing processes, but what candidate could win an election if his or her rhetoric actually saught to appealed to such a voter. I submit highly unlikely. And thus I say the problem isn't with our politicians but with us. If our politicians are corupt if we are upset with the war in Iraq we have ourselves to blame not Bush, not Rove, not Kerry, nor Clinton (you pick which one is worse), etc. We have the politicians whom we have created. They are us. I don't vote to say we need some deep examination as a people, we need to abandon our superiorty complex, we need to forget some idea of bringing democracy and freedom to the world.
Sure this is a great country and I'd rather have our problems than other problems but I think we are in a persistent delusion of our purity and in many ways we are no better than our enemies, no better than the Europeans, no better than whoever you think we are better than. And guess what if you think a politician or a political party will fix this nation, and bring us back to the glory days you are mistaken for two reasons. 1) A Politician has never righted anything really, only been forced to do things by circumstances and 2) there is no golden age to go back to, no time of national purity no time when some ideal of liberty existed in this country.
There is no wind of change people this was just an election, like all others.
Oh, I so totally disagree with you. There is a mandate for change, just not the change Rahm thinks it is. This is not a mandate for liberalism. Its a mandate for competance and accountability.
ReplyDeleteWhat the American people seem to want is a divided government so that congress will be forced to stop being partisan ideologes who want to dictate other people's personal lives and actually do the boring job of governing.
It's clear that Iraq is a massive problem, but it is only one of an array of massive problems that our hyperpartisan government is paralyzed on: the environment, medical care, energy, globalization. I think we'll accept a Republican or Democrat who is willing to do that.
Angeli
Angeli,
ReplyDeleteI really hope you are right and I am wrong.
I don't have the faith in our system or the American people to actually believe it.
However, if what you say actually happens and the signs continue to show the change in the electorate you speack of I assure you I will start voting again.
However, in the long view, not only of my life time but the life time of this nation, I find little evidence of what you see, and I just see the same old ineffectual game and lies we tell ourselves, appeasing ourselves with small reall changes but no great thing happening.
The civil rights era really was a blip, and aberation as far as I read our history, and largely the status quo has co-opted that for its own puposes.
But really, I really do want what you say to be true, and if it actually happens I will rejoice.
But I also wonder if we are examining differetn phenomena. And thus what seems like a great change simply appears to me to be a minor shift with little significance.
Larry,
ReplyDeleteI just read Tempting Faith by David Kuo. It is an interesting book that is making the rounds where he talks about how Christianity is being used by the Republican party. He worked for the President's "faith based" inititive but became disillusioned by all the politics. It is definitely being written by a conservative Christian, and yet it is full of disappointment in the Republican party.
What the author realized is that politics is not the answer. What he discovered was that Christians were putting their trust in false gods. His prescription is for Christians to fast from politics for two years. He prescribes this not to hurt the politicians, but because he is convinced that the religious right has their priorities out of whack.
What I got out of the book was that many of the politicians who I am particularly disappointed in started off on the right track. He tells a story of John Ashcroft and his father and an annointing ceremony when Ashcroft first was confirmed into the senate that is extremely powerful and on track. But then (it seems to me) Ashcroft was seduced by the power of politics. The same with President Bush.
I think the problems you mention are real and should be taken into consideration, but I think that the deeper problem is that politics is so very seductive and when you mix it with Christianity, you have God serving the political process and not the other way around.
Because of this I voted for democrats this election and will probably find myself voting for republicans in the future, because you are completely right: the reforming party will turn into the decadent party and the party that is out of power will turn into the reforming party.