[Mb-civic] Reconciliation is a myth, not a strategy + A Post-Election Rant

Tue Nov 9 17:01:55 PST 2004

Here are two more post election essays.  It is helpful to digest the diversity of these
to find our way forward...  

The Oregonian - Nov 4, 2004
http://www.oregonlive.com/news/oregonian/steve_duin/index.ssf?/base/news/10995729
58286170.xml

Op-Ed:

Reconciliation is a myth, not a strategy

by Steve Duin

Sue for peace? Retreat and surrender? Kneel before the victorious president
and kiss his ring? Concede that George W. Bush was right -- about the war in
Iraq, tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and the burgeoning deficit --
all along?

Are you kidding me? Are there serious Democrats who believe that's an
option? Are there passionate liberals who can veer from "regime change" to
"reconciliation" in the blink of an eye?

I understand why reconciliation is so tempting. Reconciliation is the
Democratic way, the party's reflexive, knee-jerk reaction. "Can't we all
just get along?" is the liberals' perpetual, passive password. They haven't
figured out that reconciliation, in the pursuit of power, isn't the
solution. Reconciliation is the problem.

Had Ohio gone south -- er, northeast or northwest -- and helped unseat the
incumbent, the Republicans wouldn't be second-guessing themselves ormoaning 
about healing.The Republicans would be at Defcon-5. The red states would be
preparing for the anti-Christ. GOP apologists would have taken to the
airwaves, whipping the faithful into a frenzy, leading the saints to war.

Such imminent political hostilities were averted by Bush's comfortable
victory, just as imminent unity was denied. Does anyone truly believe, based
on the president's record, that his interests are served by uniting this
country? If the man was emboldened by losing the popular vote in 2000,
imagine how empowered he will be by winning it in 2004. His moderate term is
history. His true colors will soon be unfurled.

John Edwards understands this. While his exhausted running mate staggered
through his concession speech in Boston on Wednesday, Edwards -- now looking
for work, eyeing the 2008 ticket and checking his mirrors for Hillary Clinton
-- pushed the same battle metaphors that are the ruling party's stock in
-- trade.

"We won't stop fighting for you when this campaign ends," Edwards said. "You
can be disappointed, but you cannot walk away. This fight has just begun..
. This campaign may end today, but the battle for you... rages on."

If the reeling, bloodied Democrats need an emotional anchor, that'll do. And
if they need a liberal oasis in which to lick their wounds and plot their
counterattack, they might consider wintering in Oregon.

On a day in which the Republicans took total control of power inside the
Beltway, the liberal landslide in Oregon was stunning. The state's four
Democratic incumbents in Congress won re-election by averaging 60 percent of
the vote. Democrats took firm control of the Oregon Senate and won all three
statewide races. While Measure 36 passed, Portland voters put mayor-elect
Tom Potter and Sam Adams, two vocal supporters of gay rights, on the City
Council, and Multnomah County retained its controversial income tax.

Why is Oregon an exception to the Republican rule? Is it possible that
liberals in this state take an unapologetic approach to defending the
environment, protecting schools, advancing civil rights, autonomy in those
end-of-life decisions, and -- contrary to Bush's management of the war in
Iraq -- the doctrine of shared sacrifice? Does that explain their reward on
Election Day?

The Democrats need to figure that out. The Democrats need to decide, once
and for all, if the war in Iraq is disabling the terrorists or enabling the
monsters. They need to find a candidate whose sincerity matches Karl Rove's
dexterity. And they need to drive a wedge between the curious alliance of
those who seek significant fiscal advantage or superficial spiritual solace
in the arms of the GOP.

Retreat isn't an option. Reconciliation isn't a strategy. The Republicans
are not at rest. The Republicans don't want the gaping wound in the
liberals' flank to heal. If Bush is a lame duck, he is surrounded by chicken
hawks who are enamored of power and determined to lock up the franchises.

Rock on, Democrats, or roll over. Choose or lose... again and again.

Steve Duin: 503-221-8597; Steveduin at aol.com; 1320 S.W. Broadway, Portland,
OR 97201

---

Progreso Weekly - Nov 4-10, 2004
http://www.progresoweekly.com/index.php?progreso=Landau&otherweek=1099720800

A Post-Election Rant

By Saul Landau

It's over. But questions remain, beyond the fairness of the voting
process. Before November 2, Beverly Ryan commented that "God is out
there, actively campaigning for President Bush." The born-again
Christian retired legal secretary from West Palm Beach, Florida, voiced
the belief of tens of millions of voters. Was she right? Did the Almighty
play a role in the campaign? Ryan believed that aside from blessing
America - and presumably telling the rest of the world to go f. itself? -
He had intervened in this U.S. ritual and directed born-agains to vote for
Bush.

Ryan represents a sizable portion of the electorate, including some 4
million evangelicals who had not voted in 2000. So, Bush let his pious
articulation ring forth. "I feel like God wants me to run for President,"
W allegedly told Rev. James Robison. How did he get this feeling? "I can't
explain it, but I sense my country is going to need me," reports Stephen
Mansfield in The Faith of George W. Bush, citing a Texas preacher who
recalls Bush confiding those words to him in 1999.

While Bush boasted of his link to the Higher Power, Kerry tried to feign
religious fanaticism, along with promises to strengthen the military, get
Castro and Chavez, pursue the endless drug war, and kill, kill, kill the
terrorists.

I, like other Kerry supporters also had faith that Kerry lied, that he
wouldn't do the terrible things he promised. Bush doesn't know from truth
or lies. He speaks and assumes what he says is true, regardless of facts.
Each candidate lusted to govern the empire, actually agreed on most of the
global policies: support for free trade pacts and corporate globalization;
keep the military budget high; don't do any basic redistribution of wealth
and offer Israel more support than it asks for.

Kerry claimed he could better administer the occupation of Iraq and work
with all our allies. Bush claimed he had found a few allies to actually
work with him. What allies? The Soviet menace imploded a dozen years ago
and the institutions designed to combat it remained. Indeed, a useless
NATO has grown larger than ever but has no purpose other than to employ
generals and buy unnecessary airplanes and bombs.

The campaign rhetoric actually negated the notion of democracy that we all
learned in schools, where political opponents would carefully explain
their positions and an informed electorate would decide. As Kerry lied - I
hope - and Bush mouthed empty clichés, the non-committed public grew
confused, but not informed.

The depth of public ignorance manifested in Tuesday's election are
reflected in a study by the Program on International Policy Attitudes and
Knowledge Networks on perceptions of Bush and Kerry supporters, based on
September and October interviews. After the media repeatedly informed that
Iraq did not have significant WMDs, 72% of Bush supporters continued to
believe that Iraq had possessed or was about to develop those dangerous
weapons.

Seventy-five percent of Bush backers remained convinced that Iraq had
offered backing for the 9/11 terrorists. 63% affirmed that the media had
proven that proposition; some heard experts verify it. 55% of the Bush
voters assumed that the 9/11 Commission had confirmed this "fact."

Steven Kull, director of PIPA, interpreted the date as confirmation that
Bushies believed that this message came from "the Administration."
Further, Bush backers "have not accepted the idea that it does not matter
whether Iraq had WMD or supported al Qaeda." In other words, after
revelations of the various Commissions investigating the issue whose
conclusions were amply reported, tens of millions of voters still
maintained that the secular Saddam regime possessed dangerous weapons and
colluded with the religious terrorists.

Gross cognitive dissonance? Or did Bush-backers secretly insert Stepford
wives' chips into 50 million born-again brains? Has Dick Cheney arranged
for the Manchurian-candidate style brainwashing of tens of millions?

Yes, legions of people receive news from biased sources - like Fox - and
cannot confront the fact that billionaire hucksters manipulate them to
propagate a corrupt system designed to protect their ill-gotten wealth.
Some stubborn Republicans undoubtedly still believe that their Party
carries the heritage of Lincoln freeing the slaves and Eisenhower winning
the war. And as Thomas Frank dramatizes (What's Wrong With Kansas),
Democrats don't confront the social issues.

Surveys revealed that voters often ascribed positions and beliefs to
their leader, contrary to the facts. A "regular guy" like George Bush
couldn't be a religious nut and extremist on foreign policy. He's
patriotic and clear. Maybe he tried to avoid Vietnam and used family
wealth to slide into the National Guard where he at best barely complied
with the rules. But now, he has matured into an ideal, courageous military
commander, not a sleazy little coward who never had a fight in his life.
His followers believe in his pugnacious veneer. After reading this, I
thought briefly about trying to sell the Brooklyn Bridge to some of Bush's
followers.

Kerry on the other hand, opposed the Vietnam War, went there anyway to see
action, killed people and then returned with the conclusion that the U.S.
was doing terrible things to its own GIs and to Vietnam. Nor should we
have invaded Iraq. But once there, he intoned, we must accomplish our
mission. What mission? The one we shouldn't have undertaken?

The servile media re-enforced the notion that Bush actually had
leadership qualities (ignorance, stubbornness, refusal to read or listen
to other opinions). Voters favorable to him became impermeable to ideas
that might contradict his views. Indeed, many voters saw their leader as a
role model: infallible and righteous. As a model, Bush teaches that he
doesn't commit errors or acknowledge facts that might undermine his
beliefs. He repeats the word freedom. I conclude that he means "free from
the burden of doing anything that helps another human being." Saying it is
enough.

George W. Bush has become a cult leader. Those who claim to interpret the
Bible literally attribute to him Godlike powers. I will search the Holy
Book for passages extolling the virtues of election rigging.

This election proved that tens of millions of Americans believe that
they or their preachers get direct messages from God. The ministers
instruct the foot soldiers of the Lord on how to vote. But I cannot
fathom how people can believe the peddlers of sleaze and slime. The
"sins" of Russ "The Junky" Limbaugh, William "The Gambler" Bennett, or
Bill "The Sex Harasser" O'Reilly should have sufficed to wipe the illusory
pus from any believer's eyes.

Bush backer Rev. Jimmy Swaggart was "trying to find a correct name for it
- this utter, absolute, asinine, idiotic stupidity of men marrying men.
I've never seen a man in my life I wanted to marry. And I'm gonna be blunt
and plain; if one ever looks at me like that, I'm gonna kill him and tell
God he died. God calls it an abomination. .These ridiculous, utterly
absurd district attorneys and judges and state congress. 'Well, we don't
know.' They oughta - they oughta - they oughta have to marry a pig and
live with them forever. I'm not knocking the poor homosexual, I'm not.
They need salvation just like anybody else. Sept. 12, 2004

During a preaching - fundraising - tour in Indio California, Swaggart
propositioned 31-year-old Rosemary Garcia. In his car, she began to
perform her magic when cops stopped the couple for driving on the wrong
side of the road.

Garcia said that Swaggart wanted to watch porn on TV. "He asked me for
sex. I mean, that's why he stopped me. That's what I do. I'm a
prostitute."

In 1984, Swaggart declared that "Sex education classes in our public
schools are promoting incest." Eighteen years later, on November 10,
2002, after confessing to being a pornography and sex addict, Swaggart
denounced the Prophet Muhammad as a "pervert" and a "sex deviant."

But Swaggart also believes Armageddon will "be fought in the valley of
Megiddo. It is coming. They can sign all the peace treaties they want.
They won't do any good... It is going to get worse... My Lord! I am
happy... I don't care who it bothers. I don't care who it troubles. It
thrills my soul."

It chills my soul that after Swaggart's repeated confessions on his porn
and prostitution addictions, millions still donate money to that
mountebank. He epitomized Bush's life: do as I say not as I do.

In 2004, candidates contested for governing rights over the troubled
empire. Neither had plans to fix the rising deficit, reinvigorate the
dollar, stimulate foreign investment in the United States (at its lowest
point in 25 years) or, most importantly, successfully export our order to
those "immoral" states that export oil to us. Indeed, the best or worst
man won. Now we must go to the streets to organize opposition. Our lives
become meaningful not by voting, but by playing a part in our history - to
bring more justice and equality to the world, not less.

[Landau teaches at Cal Poly Pomona University and is a fellow of the
Institute for Policy Studies. His new book is The Business of America: How
Consumers Have Replaced Citizens and How We can Reverse the Trend.]

-- 
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