I fear that my generation, a cohort still struggling to define itself, is paralyzed by the hugeness of the changes we have witnessed. In our short lives, the tidy if dangerous geopolitical landscape of our fathers has simply decomposed. How are we to make sense of the world when all we have known is the deepening confusion of the people in charge? How are we to move with any sort of resolve through the shifting sands of this new era?
We came into a world shadowy with the communist threat, the biggest arms race in history peaking as we put away our first memories. At the tender age of 7, we were introduced to a newly democratic and capitalist world without war. At 8, we watched “smart bombs” turn Iraqi tanks inside out for the first time.
Our parents struggled through recession amid talks of decline. Just a few years later, they were building big houses in the suburbs with the dividends from their stock portfolios.
We were the first children to use the internet, the first students for whom its resources were indispensable. We have watched it evolve from a formless free-for-all of nerds and hackers to the most useful tool since fire.
At 17, the towers came down and the new nightmare began. We were just old enough to form ourselves under the image of Old America, the strong and beneficent champion of freedom. As a result, we felt most keenly what was lost when we were forced to accept the New American Empire and the security apparatus that accompanied it.
As we sat glued to the television news through the attack, the invasions, and the insurgency, we asked ourselves, who are these people and why do they want to destroy us? In the subsequent months and years, we would learn the answer to that question and many more we would never have thought to ask.
Our view of the world as a friendly and open place is shattered, yet with each year it becomes more important for us to be good global citizens. If we retreat within ourselves and the fortified borders of our state, we will never reverse the tide of provincialism and violence.
Though deeply flawed, our country still contains within it the seeds of something great. The revolutionary ideas that we embody as a nation – that we try to embody, pretend to embody – will outlast our corrupt politicians and our drowning bureaucracies if our generation can keep the ideas vibrant.
The intellectual will required to renew the world’s governments is not a simple thing to muster however. Repeating the tired words of the founding fathers as if they were gods is not enough anymore. New scholarship, new writing, and new compromises are necessary to make freedom, peace and prosperity real in this world. We the youth of America have the power to resist the agonizing slide into mediocrity, the power to resist the temptations of apathy, the power to resist those who would make us free people in name only.
Our generation is engaged in a struggle for clarity and understanding in a world of mixed messages and bad data. The battle for the future begins in our minds, and so far we are losing.
Tuesday
Thursday
Well, the Votes Are In
Nothing to say I haven't said already, but everyone keep your fingers crossed for an uneventful lame duck session.
Tuesday
The Roll of the Dice
On the eve of the election, let’s take a moment to consider the possibilities and what they would mean for the country.
Scenario 1: The Republicans get destroyed.
All the truly contested districts go to the Democrats, who will now hold majorities in both houses of Congress.
As they have argued to the public, these incoming representatives and senators view the election as a referendum on President Bush. In order to satisfy their constituents, they will issue a wave of subpoenas to key Administration officials. If the gritty details of the country at war are half as interesting as I expect, the resulting media circus and the opportunity for windbaggery it provides will keep the Democrat-controlled Congress from doing anything but talk. They may enact some punitive and purely symbolic legislation aimed at taxing rich people more heavily or regulating drug prices, but these measures will be unhesitatingly vetoed by the President.
If all this comes to pass, I believe the Republican Party will actually emerge stronger. Americans will get a snoot full of the Democrats and they won’t like it. The leadership will look mean when they yell at the administration officials, and they certainly won’t have any legislative accomplishments to speak of in 2008. The Republican Party will be renewed and motivated by its defeat as the election will serve as a purge for the corrupt and worn out members who have allowed the party to drift away from genuine conservatism. I have placed this possibility first because it holds my great hope: that the libertarians and traditional conservatives will realign against the Neocons and the crazy Christians to articulate a more sensible and measured policy than the “permanent revolution” of today’s leaders.
Scenario 2: The Democrats get destroyed.
All the seats that were in play go to the Republicans, and they maintain control of both houses.
This will come as a surprise for Republican lawmakers who have been dodging a new scandal every 2 weeks since summer. If the Democrats are unable to take at least one house of Congress tomorrow, they are finished. It shows that they will never be able to shake the caricature of them drawn by Newt Gingrich and his new Republicans during the 90’s. If they can’t win now, they can’t win ever.
With that said, the Republican party will not be invigorated by a victory, and will face determined obstructionism from the other side of the aisle. There will be no momentum conferred because the same old guard with the same old ideas will remain in Congress. They may attempt some legislative reforms, they may take a stab at some oversight, but the acts will be half-hearted and unconvincing. There will be nothing to talk about but the presidential race, a prospect that I find quite depressing. However, a contest between two utterly bankrupt parties offers the first real opportunity for a third party candidate in many many years.
Scenario 3: It’s a toss up.
This one is the tricky one. The Democrats capture one or both houses of Congress by a slim margin, have no clear mandate, and are forced to govern in cooperation with the Republicans or not at all.
This outcome signals continuing dissatisfaction with both parties and very little slack for political games.
In this case, there are two possibilities. If the leadership of both parties is stupid, there will be total gridlock, daily wild accusations from one corner or the other, and a 2 year period so totally enraging that the American people will be ready to elect anybody, provided he can make Congress shut up. Dissatisfaction not with the politicians of the moment but with politics in general has historically preceded the emergence of authoritarian leaders, and if another large scale terrorist attack takes place the polity will be in a very dangerous position.
If the leaders of Congress asses the situation with some uncharacteristic sobriety, they will realize that the price of continued partisan bickering will be felt in ’08 by the party deemed most responsible. In this case, they will come to negotiating table and play nice. The Republicans will have no choice but to distance themselves from Bush and agree to sideline their more inflammatory social legislation. In return, the Democrats will leave the tax cuts alone and try to refocus the populism that made them a national party in the first place by “doing something for the middle class.”
Predictions anyone?
Scenario 1: The Republicans get destroyed.
All the truly contested districts go to the Democrats, who will now hold majorities in both houses of Congress.
As they have argued to the public, these incoming representatives and senators view the election as a referendum on President Bush. In order to satisfy their constituents, they will issue a wave of subpoenas to key Administration officials. If the gritty details of the country at war are half as interesting as I expect, the resulting media circus and the opportunity for windbaggery it provides will keep the Democrat-controlled Congress from doing anything but talk. They may enact some punitive and purely symbolic legislation aimed at taxing rich people more heavily or regulating drug prices, but these measures will be unhesitatingly vetoed by the President.
If all this comes to pass, I believe the Republican Party will actually emerge stronger. Americans will get a snoot full of the Democrats and they won’t like it. The leadership will look mean when they yell at the administration officials, and they certainly won’t have any legislative accomplishments to speak of in 2008. The Republican Party will be renewed and motivated by its defeat as the election will serve as a purge for the corrupt and worn out members who have allowed the party to drift away from genuine conservatism. I have placed this possibility first because it holds my great hope: that the libertarians and traditional conservatives will realign against the Neocons and the crazy Christians to articulate a more sensible and measured policy than the “permanent revolution” of today’s leaders.
Scenario 2: The Democrats get destroyed.
All the seats that were in play go to the Republicans, and they maintain control of both houses.
This will come as a surprise for Republican lawmakers who have been dodging a new scandal every 2 weeks since summer. If the Democrats are unable to take at least one house of Congress tomorrow, they are finished. It shows that they will never be able to shake the caricature of them drawn by Newt Gingrich and his new Republicans during the 90’s. If they can’t win now, they can’t win ever.
With that said, the Republican party will not be invigorated by a victory, and will face determined obstructionism from the other side of the aisle. There will be no momentum conferred because the same old guard with the same old ideas will remain in Congress. They may attempt some legislative reforms, they may take a stab at some oversight, but the acts will be half-hearted and unconvincing. There will be nothing to talk about but the presidential race, a prospect that I find quite depressing. However, a contest between two utterly bankrupt parties offers the first real opportunity for a third party candidate in many many years.
Scenario 3: It’s a toss up.
This one is the tricky one. The Democrats capture one or both houses of Congress by a slim margin, have no clear mandate, and are forced to govern in cooperation with the Republicans or not at all.
This outcome signals continuing dissatisfaction with both parties and very little slack for political games.
In this case, there are two possibilities. If the leadership of both parties is stupid, there will be total gridlock, daily wild accusations from one corner or the other, and a 2 year period so totally enraging that the American people will be ready to elect anybody, provided he can make Congress shut up. Dissatisfaction not with the politicians of the moment but with politics in general has historically preceded the emergence of authoritarian leaders, and if another large scale terrorist attack takes place the polity will be in a very dangerous position.
If the leaders of Congress asses the situation with some uncharacteristic sobriety, they will realize that the price of continued partisan bickering will be felt in ’08 by the party deemed most responsible. In this case, they will come to negotiating table and play nice. The Republicans will have no choice but to distance themselves from Bush and agree to sideline their more inflammatory social legislation. In return, the Democrats will leave the tax cuts alone and try to refocus the populism that made them a national party in the first place by “doing something for the middle class.”
Predictions anyone?
Thursday
My Television Has Betrayed Me
If I see one more trashy, poorly shot, lying, weasel faced attack ad I will throw my television out a window. I am seriously considering unplugging it for the next week just so I don’t have to hear any more about how Webb is a misogynist or Allen is a racist or Joe Smith is a dirty terrorist-loving spendthrift who will kick your granny off Social Security and give Bush weekly blowjobs.
I DON'T CARE! IF I DIDN’T KNOW ALREADY I CERTAINLY SUSPECTED AS MUCH.
Tell me why I should elect YOU, Candidate X. Tell me, in 100 words or less, how your presence in Washington will do anything but maintain the status quo. Tell me how you will evict the money changers from the temple of democracy. Tell me how you are nice to your pets and enjoy reading erotic fiction. Tell me anything that demonstrates that you are a real human being and not an animatronic doll being operated from off-screen by some Karl Rove wannabe.
But enough of this.
I’m going to let you all in on a secret, oh my loyal readers: I am a conscientious objector in this fight. That’s right, I don’t vote. And do you want to know why?
I have yet to see a candidate for national office that I would trust to fix my car much less run my country. Not in my district anyway.
I refuse to cast the “lesser of two evils” vote because it gives the impression that I support somebody whose character I find flawed and whose platform I abhor. That vote just contributes to the myth that we live in a functioning republic.
Now call me naïve, but I define a functioning republic as an institutional structure that selects the best and most capable people for public office. Our political system fails in this regard not because good people cannot get elected. It fails because the best people realize the senselessness of going into politics.
Who would make a career of banging his head against a wall? Who would willingly undergo the public scrutiny? Who would submit to the financial and psychological punishment entailed in running for office?
People who make this leap fall into three categories: hopeless idealists, remorseless profiteers, and shameless megalomaniacs. The truly successful ones are a bit of each. They cling to the camera, make friends with everyone who has deep pockets, and decry with convincing vocal tremors the injustices perpetrated by the Other Guy.
With each catastrophe that our leaders prove unprepared to confront, they confirm that we live in a demagoguery not a democracy.
I DON'T CARE! IF I DIDN’T KNOW ALREADY I CERTAINLY SUSPECTED AS MUCH.
Tell me why I should elect YOU, Candidate X. Tell me, in 100 words or less, how your presence in Washington will do anything but maintain the status quo. Tell me how you will evict the money changers from the temple of democracy. Tell me how you are nice to your pets and enjoy reading erotic fiction. Tell me anything that demonstrates that you are a real human being and not an animatronic doll being operated from off-screen by some Karl Rove wannabe.
But enough of this.
I’m going to let you all in on a secret, oh my loyal readers: I am a conscientious objector in this fight. That’s right, I don’t vote. And do you want to know why?
I have yet to see a candidate for national office that I would trust to fix my car much less run my country. Not in my district anyway.
I refuse to cast the “lesser of two evils” vote because it gives the impression that I support somebody whose character I find flawed and whose platform I abhor. That vote just contributes to the myth that we live in a functioning republic.
Now call me naïve, but I define a functioning republic as an institutional structure that selects the best and most capable people for public office. Our political system fails in this regard not because good people cannot get elected. It fails because the best people realize the senselessness of going into politics.
Who would make a career of banging his head against a wall? Who would willingly undergo the public scrutiny? Who would submit to the financial and psychological punishment entailed in running for office?
People who make this leap fall into three categories: hopeless idealists, remorseless profiteers, and shameless megalomaniacs. The truly successful ones are a bit of each. They cling to the camera, make friends with everyone who has deep pockets, and decry with convincing vocal tremors the injustices perpetrated by the Other Guy.
With each catastrophe that our leaders prove unprepared to confront, they confirm that we live in a demagoguery not a democracy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)