Sarah Palin energized conservatives and reactionaries with her vicious personal attacks on Barack Obama last night.
She also energized the much larger Democratic grassroots movement. Most people in this country do not support Palin's political positions -- anti-abortion, anti-environment, anti sex-ed, anti-intellectual, pro-drilling, pro-guns, pro-pork barrel politics, and that's only the beginning.
Most importantly, she is fiercely pro-American and anti-global.
The problem is not that Palin isn't charming, articulate, or tough -- she may well be all those things and more. It's that none of that matters one whit. She is an extremist, which is why McCain picked her. McCain himself has chosen to discard his long record as a maverick to pander to the marginalized right.
Why don't these neo-Reaganites get it? They're lost in the swirl of history. They are facing backward. This is no time for nationalistic demagoguery. This is a time to rebuild our shattered links throughout the interlocked global economy.
Thank God we have an alternative. Obama has clearly outlined an intelligent foreign policy to replace the belligerence of the Bush administration. And you know, at the end of the day, this country is in awful shape.
Our national economy is staggering. Our home mortgage market is wrecked. Inflation is growing. Our national debt -- the essential measure of national security -- is soaring to record levels. We are so indebted to China that it would be out of the question to have any serious confrontation with them. The dollar is at record lows. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are again headed for bankruptcy. Government spending, under Bush, is profligate. Illegal spying on citizens, secrecy, political corruption at the highest levels of the Bush administration all stand in stark contrast to the clean government run by Bill Clinton.
Then, under a Democrat, we were a prosperous country, without serious enemies at the nation-state level, respected and even loved around the world. When 9/11 happened, I like most Americans supported my government to go after the perpetrators. As I've stated many times, I continue to support the military actions in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
But the war on Iraq was folly. That it is possibly winding down is a blessing, except that the winner is not the U.S., but Iran, which now emerges as the power broker in the region.
This type of "toughness" we no longer need. John Wayne is dead, and everything he stood for is dead with him. The macho, jingoistic, racist right wing still can make noise: witness the crap show they are staging in Minneapolis, but their days are numbered.
At least I hope so. Otherwise, our days as a nation worthy of anyone's respect are numbered, and the U.S. will fall as all empires fall -- rotting from the head. Good people, sincere people, fall for the type of attack rhetoric Palin specializes in. Suddenly they feel good about themselves. Why? Because, secretly, they don't feel good about an eloquent black guy who speaks the truth. They don't want to be told to cut back on their gas-guzzling vehicles. They don't want to admit that the chant "We are Number One" is morally wrong and utterly inaccurate. They don't want to accept that the world has changed, and Grandma's values are so outed as to be laughable.
We are a nation of minorities. Unless we build a coalition of the thoughtful, demagogues like Sarah Palin will rise to do their dirty work, much as happened in Italy and Germany in the '30s. Right-wing extremism has always been the greatest threat facing Americans -- not the phony anti-Communist red herring.
Republicans always govern on the basis of fear and hate. This year's ticket is no different. Yuck. It turns my stomach. For once in history, ordinary Americans have an opportunity to leave our ugly collective past behind and really embrace the future. Do we as a people have the courage to do so -- that is the question.
The one piece of great news today is that Palin's speech so enraged Democrats that Obama raised over $10 million in immediate donations. That surge of support will continue, which means he will at least have the tools to try and counteract her smear propaganda.
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1 comment:
David,
I started this comment in the form of a paragraph by paragraph response:
Yep. Sarah energizes conservatives, I'll agree there. And the truth can be vicious when so plainly self evident. I challenge you to select just one of her statements about Barak to argue was not true. Just pick one, David. I will welcome the discussion.
I'm quite convinced that those of you on the far left have been enraged by the challenge of an articulate and accomplished woman with conservative values. The shrill response from your side of the political spectrum has been non-stop since her introduction last week. Need I remind you again that human anger does not exist in the absence of fear; your fear betrays the weakness you sense in the candidate you've selected. By the way, I do not remember her saying anything about disliking intellectuals – did I miss something? And, in her 8 years of executive experience, her best accomplishments so far have been achieved in fighting wasteful government spending. Couple that with her enthusiastic support for McCain's pledge to veto any legislation with earmarks and it's really, really difficult to understand how you arrived at the conclusion that Sarah is “pro-pork barrel”.
Why would you want to elect anyone president who is not for America first? I'm still not clear on what “anti-global” means to you, but if it includes refusal to relinquish America's sovereign right to self determination then, by God, I hope you are right about Sarah.
Actually, I think charming, articulate and tough all matter quite a lot. Were she not those, and more, you wouldn't be nearly so exercised about her being on the Republican ticket. Extreme in her beliefs is really a relative assumption; from your perspective, no doubt she is. I think you will find, though, that Americans who do not share your view are of far greater number than you calculate. This factor will show itself in the election results and I'm content to wait until then.
As a “neo-Reaganite”, let me explain it this way; the world in which we live is dominated by the use of force. The many tyrants and thugs employing force to brutalize and subjugate multitudes of human beings around the planet are anything but pro-American. They would love to see us “globalize” ourselves into oblivion. Our example of governance “of the people, by the people, and for the people” represents the greatest single threat to their every waking day. That we have shattered our links with our allies is a myth. In truth, we haven't enjoyed better relations with democracies around the globe since the close of WWII. As for the communists, socialists, fascists, and assorted thug dictators and terrorists: That we anger them often is a good sign to me. It tells me they are afraid – and that fear will help hold them at bay.
Did you just invoke “voodoo” to offer thanks to? Or, is your relief at the arrival of Obama so great as to bring you a new religious faith?
Oh, hell. I could go on with this, but I'm simply weary now...
Suffice it to say, IMHO, there isn't another country on the planet who wouldn't love to be in the “awful” state that America is in. Our most recent quarter GNP rose a robust 3.3%. Our beleaguered credit industry (brought on in no small part through force of law by a Democrat controlled congress compelling liberalized loan practices) will recover. Our inflation rate will have to triple and our unemployment rate double to match most other industrialized countries. Economically, the other countries of the world need us every bit as much as we need them. (Tell the Chinese that they hate us so much they should just stop trading with us – it ain't going to happen. Tell the Arab oil states that they despise us and shouldn't sell us any more oil – it ain't going to happen.) Weakening our resolve to the rest of the world will do no good for our economy. It will certainly embolden our enemies.
Obama can't hold a candle to Sarah Palin in terms of experience. I'm afraid dear cousin this will become painfully clear in the next few weeks. And she's only the vice presidential candidate.
This is, indeed, a most unique political year.
Dan
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