June 03, 2007


IMPEACH BUSH


IMPEACH CHENEY

MANIFEST DESTINY

Throughout our history there has been a belief that Americans are special. We can make up rules because we are special. There was the doctrine of "Manifest Destiny" that said it was the destiny of Americans to take over the continent. Never mind those pesky Mexicans and Indians. We created the "Monroe Doctrine" that said only the U. S. could dictate policy in this hemisphere. I doubt there was consultation with countries in the Caribbean or Latin America. George W. Bush and his administration ran with the ideas of the PNAC group who advocated a "project for a new American century." Bush and company have used the belief in American exceptionalism to preemptively attack a country and to torture people. This article by William T. Vollmann is at www.latimes.com:

We are Americans, and so until recently, we knew that we were the best. Because so many people wanted to be us, we could act as we pleased — and we did, because we were the Great Exception; we were America the Blessed. Hence our complacent belief, so long borne out by the facts, that American movies and American brands would always sell. Hence also our comforting faith that the Kyoto Protocol did not apply to us, so that we could spew out all the greenhouse gases we liked, and use a pig's share of the world's resources. (Just this week, I learned of the U.S.' new plan for energy independence: coal plants, subsidized for the next 25 years.)

Being America the Perfect, we invented the doctrine, even before 9/11, that we could seize war criminals in any part of the globe and whisk them off to The Hague. Of course, we insisted that should we ever commit war crimes, we would remain immune to prosecution in that court. Well, after all, how could Americans do any wrong?

THE CONTRAST

I have been disappointed in Democrats on many occasions. Initial support for this despicable war, voting for bankruptcy "reform," supporting globalization, and foot dragging on impeaching and removing Bush and Cheney are all major disappointments. But there is a difference between Democrats and Republicans, despite the rhetoric of people like Ralph Nader. Life will be better with Democrats in charge, not only for those of us in the United States, but for people around the world. We have a slate of Republican candidates who are fine with the war, fine with torture, who don't want to do anything about global climate change, who think we aren't unequal enough. They will continue the policies of George W. Bush, no matter how they try to dress them up. This article by E. J. Dionne is linked at www.working for change.com:

So when Democratic presidential candidates get together, they argue about who has the best health care plan. When Republicans have a big discussion, it's about torture and who'll use it when.

OK, OK, Republicans had their chat about torture in one debate in response to a hypothetical question. Still, the contrast points to one of the strangest qualities of the 2008 presidential campaign: Our two political parties and their candidates are living in parallel universes. It is as if they were running for president in two separate countries. Their televised debates next week will be productions as different from each other as "American Idol" is from "P.T.I."

The parties do have some things in common -- Iraq and the economy are concerns for both. But beyond these two issues, what matters most to Republican voters is hugely different from what matters most to Democrats. The polarization between our parties now extends to the very definition of our country, its problems and the stakes in the next elections.