Move Over, Colin
In a longish but riveting post aptly called American Betrayal, David Michael Green finds plenty of blame to go around for these "last, sad years" in American history, years in which "the empire begins its slow descent." And during the unraveling:
...where were those who did know better, and why did they stand by and allow their life’s work and the country they loved to be ruined by the political equivalent of drunken adolescents operating heavy machinery?
When Green asks, "is there a greater shame imaginable," he is referring to craven Congressional partisans and Democrats in 2002 who "opted for the advancement of their own political careers over the literal lives of hundreds of thousands of people" by voting for the Iraq war resolution, just before the mid-term elections. But he is also referring to others who also knew better and should have stood up and spoken out, but didn't — for example, Colin Powell, for whom " the hottest place in Hell is being reserved," and Jerry Ford, who made his criticisms of the Iraq war "from the safety of his grave."
Ultimately,the responsibility lies with those who are most responsible for the actions of a democratic republic — you and me. Although Americans pay that idea respectful lip service, down deep not enough of us seem to believe it's actually true. Even many who criticize Bush and Co. the most regard this administration as an aberration, not a logical outcome of a deeply flawed system.
It's up to us to fix the system, and bring it into the 21st century. We need to end paid lobbying, for example. We need serious election reform. Abolish the Electoral College. Invent a mechanism to remove an out-of-control president without having to impeach him (although this one surely deserves impeachment).
But we won't do any of those things.
It's not the particular changes that we object to. It's the idea of change that we're afraid of. It may be "hopelessly foolish" of us to feel that way, but we "have been purposely trained to be so."
Be advised, Colin. It's going to get pretty crowded down there in the hottest place in hell.
Comments
It's not the particular changes that we object to. It's the idea of change that we're afraid of.
That's a profound observation.
We've been tinkering with this democracy since the beginning, when did we decide that we'd gotten it right? Was it that the injustices at the beginning were so great that we had to tinker in order to live up to our ideals, lest we be recognized charlatans. Was it that, as prosperity spread to more and more people, we became timid afraid to lose what we have? Were we taken advantage of?
A very interesting question.
Posted by: Kvatch | February 20, 2007 09:57 AM
Those are good questions, Kvatch. I don't know why we're so afraid of change, but we are. That's why most Americans insist on calling themselves moderates. But there's such a thing as being moderate to an extreme, especially when there's so much that needs fixing.
One of the reasons I started this web site was to emphasize the need for change.
Posted by: abi | February 20, 2007 12:14 PM
The idea that a two party system is somehow the end-all of democratic establishments is the biggest farce of all.
Indeed we must actually fix the system. Simply saying that we should vote for a third party candidate is the ultimate in self-deception. Until minority parties can have a place in government, voting for them is as useless as voting for either of the big two.
Posted by: praguetwin | February 20, 2007 06:27 PM
Green really ripped up a lot of people, but I never really thought about the role Powell played until I read his words. I have to agree that Powell was probably the one person who might have made a difference, especially when it came to Bush being reelected.
I'm not entirely sure it's fair of him to dump on all of us though. From before the beginning of this war, people were speaking out and asking questions. People even tried to stage protests. It worked in the Vietnam era, but this time around the administration was prepared to thwart people and the media aided and abetted them. The good journalists who tried to ask questions and sow doubt were labeled un-American and terrorists.
It also didn't help that we had votes being manipulated in Florida and Ohio, and gerrymandering taking place across the country. Throw into that mix the heavy hitting corporate lobbyists and it's a wonder the people even get heard anymore. The deck is definitely stacked against the people.
We definitely need change, that's for sure, but it won't be easily won, and it might take another American revolution to make it happen.
Posted by: Kathy | February 20, 2007 07:20 PM
prague, on the other hand, continuing to vote only for the big two parties just encourages the pols to keep them the only two parties. There's no incentive for them to change.
Kathy, all good points. I hope I wasn't oversimplifying in my post. But part of what needs to be changed is the mindset that change must be avoided at all cost. In fact, until we change that mindset, real political change is impossible.
The sad and frustrating thing is that we have the capacity for change built into our system. We're just afraid to use it.
Posted by: abi | February 20, 2007 07:43 PM