Waiting for the light
Feb 11
Here’s a good piece written by Bernard-Henri Lévy reiterating the fact that the American “left” is waiting for something: A Letter to the American Left. It’s been waiting for probably close to a decade now. It still amazes me that with all the huge blunders of the conservative movement over the last 6 years, they’ve come out relatively unscathed. I mean, come on!, Clinton was impeached for lying about an affair. Bush could do that and it would be at the bottom of the list of about 100 other worse things he’s done.
I really think the “left” is waiting for a leader. It seems like people are almost embarassed to speak out or take action without this. Or, maybe it’s the fact there’s a war going on, that could be a large factor too. Progressive people need a leader, and fast. They need a Kennedy or a Martin Luther King, Jr. It certainly wasn’t any of the Democratic candidates that ran last time, although perhaps Dean would have been closest if the Media hadn’t purposefully destroyed him. Maybe it needs to be someone outside of politics. It’s too complicated to be in politics in the US and have a strong message since everyone is so scared about walking the middle line.
The “right” doesn’t have one of those leaders but they built a machine-like entity to simulate one. This was through their media blitz in the 90s: taking up large mailing campaigns, talk radio, and politicizing churches and religion.
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Feb 14, 2006 @ 13:09:24
Great article, full of insights that would get an American accused of treason. Most interesting was this question, which Americans will never ask themselves for fear that the answer will be to shameful to believe.
“And what should we make of that handful of individuals who, after September 11, launched the debate about the circumstances in which torture might suddenly be justified?”
Typical of power structures, the people at the top had such detachment from the pain and suffering of those on the ground that they could make life-or-death decisions off-the-cuff with impunity. And they had made such efforts to replace potential nay-sayers with yes-men that there was no possibility of being questioned.
Take Alberto Gonzales. He was GW’s lawyer in Texas, and through loyal service he earned himself official crony status. George rewarded him with the Attorney General appointment. So when the administration asks him if it’s legal for them to torture, he can’t say “no”. That’s not an option for a yes-man. A good loyal yes-man finds justification for a “yes” answer, no matter what.
Feb 17, 2006 @ 10:55:35
This is a comment to the original Waiting For The Light post…
Clinton wasn’t impeached. In fact, after the whole “I had no s&xual (spam filter) relations with that woman” episode exploded in Clinton’s face, his approval rating actually went up.
If Clinton had been able to run for a third term, he probably would have beaten George the II.
I think that you’re right about the Democratic left needing a figurehead. Who knows, maybe Hilary will be the Democratic candidate…
(That could be just as much wishful thinking as Belinda Stronach running for the Liberal party leader in Canada. Who wouldn’t want to have this running their country? http://www.belinda.ca/images/gallery/37/medium/CDAY-19400OPT.jpg)
Or, maybe Michael Moore was right in suggesting Oprah Winfrey. <– I didn’t say this…