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| Fragmented atmosphere, by Webdiary artist Martin Davies. www.daviesart.com |
I was about to fire off a protest message to you! I was about to say that I am not reading or contributing to Webdiary for a week. Big time hissy fit thing. I wanted to take this direct action because you were publishing Chomsky again after a welcome hiatus. Then something funny happened.
I read Chomsky.
I feel chastened by Chomsky. Ouch. I am not prepared to get into the same political bed, but I am intrigued.
Oh, and I am not a late bloomer as suggested by your Webdiary artist in Waking up to strange bedfellows: a dirty capitalist’s lament. I just like to keep an open mind – there is a difference. I am NOT converting to Chomsky – I am merely intrigued. Maybe intrigued is not the right word. “Concerned” might be a better one.
As you well know, I am an Ameriphile. There is not even such a word for rare birds like that. I suspect Bob Carr is one, but I’d rather not identify with him right now (see In bed with developers, Carr tops Toaster with harbour as theme park). Francophiles and Anglophiles abound, but us Ameriphiles are quite rare.
So I become concerned when I find myself agreeing with some of Chomsky’s assertions. I become concerned that America is “losing its way”. I put this in quotes because that phrase was once used quite a bit in America. I haven’t heard it used in recent times, but I am sure the phrase is embedded in the minds of the average American. The American public have a better radar for detecting this uncomfortable “we’re losing our way” thing than they are credited for.
America has lost its way at many points in history and has often corrected itself. There are now 290 million people calling themselves US Citizens. My view is that the momentum is such that the current administration will be eliminated at the next election. Only a tiny percentage will kick out George Bush because of the reasons Chomsky cites. The reasons will be many but in the end, George Bush will be flown back to Crawford, Texas, never to return to the White House but for the rare state dinner where former presidents are invited.
It is not going to work for him to play the national security thing over and over. That plays large in the wider world, but it is not the only thing we should consider. The average American won’t get caught up in the philosophical underpinnings of the current foreign policy. What will they do? They will simply look at the overall picture, conclude it is not working out and replace the President and his administration with a viable alternative. That alternative will be Howard Dean.
The reasons why George Bush is “not working” are myriad. Chomsky says that the dominance presents dilemmas, and that is true. Only a zealot could say things are gong “well”. Clearly they are not. People are not buying the rationale that “the world is a better place without Saddam”. That is simply not good enough, and it is an absurd slap in the face to those who supported the war in “good faith”. When I say good faith, I mean that they thought the basis for it was really there.
Of bloody course it is better that Saddam has gone. What about the cost though? A lot of voters in America will be counting this. How many billions does Bush want this week? How many lives does he need to spend this month? These questions are gnawing into the psyche in America.
George Bush Snr visited Australia before he left office. He watched fireworks from Kiribilli with the relatively new Prime Minister Keating. In 1991 it was inconceivable that one day Howard would preside over a veritable era from Kiribilli and that one day the son George Bush would visit as President. History doesn’t always turn out as you expect.
Soon George W Bush will visit Australia, and like his father he will be a single term president. They both presided over wars in Iraq, lack lustre economies and lasted one term. George W Bush will be toasted at the inevitable state dinner in Canberra just as his father was. In just over a year’s time, his political death warrant will be signed by the American people.
The first Clinton campaign focused on the economy. Campaigners were reminded of the main issue in clear terms: “It’s the economy, stupid”. Recall that in 1992, no one gave a damn anymore that George Bush Snr had defeated Saddam and kicked him out of Kuwait. They were just angry, tired of him and wanted him out.
There will be some similarity in 2004.
The powerful people in the current administration may have some of the designs for the world as feared by Chomsky. Maybe they really do have an idea to track every vehicle in every foreign country.
That’s all well and good but what if you live in Kansas City, and you are pissed off about your underhanded school? What if you see a link between a “train wreck” of a budget and declining services all around you?
Howard Dean likes to remind people that they have the power.
They do. They are about to exercise it and no amount of campaign money will change their minds in the numbers required. It is a year away but it is clear. Last time the Democratic Party Candidate won the popular vote. He will again, but this time it will result in a Democratic President: Howard Dean.
I am going to Washington for President Dean’s inauguration and will be happy to be the Webdiary correspondent for the happy day. Mr Heidelberg Goes to Washington.
PS: I just checked deanforamerica What was on the front page? Today he was in Council Bluffs, Iowa talking about prescription drugs today. PEOPLE CARE ABOUT THIS SHIT AND THEY WANT TO BE BLOODY WELL HEARD. They do NOT want some grand design against the bloody world – they want to be able to afford their medicine in the richest country in history. I know Council Bluffs quite well. It is the butt of jokes for people living in Omaha, as it is on the wrong side of the tracks just over the state line.
It is all well and good to be the butt of jokes, but Iowa is important in the primaries. These people will be heard. Some of the states will be the battleground. The average person in these kinds of places are salt of the earth. They just want a fair go. And don’t dare paint these people as ordinates. Iowa and Illinois are FAR from that. These people are going to be heard. Do the maths. 80 million people live within a days drive of Kansas City and they are NOT all Republican.
Look at the psychology of Dean’s web site. Do you see fancy flash ammunitions and such like? No. Does it look slick and corporate? NO. He has the money and resources to do anything like that but he makes it look ordinary because he is smart. He is the next president and as an Ameriphile I am hanging out for his inauguration.
I will stand in the background on a frigid January day in Washington and smile. The new era will begin. Europe, and the world will like this guy and as one who likes America I care about that
And what about the way Dean goes into COMBAT? (See The power is in your hands – contribute!) He doesn’t placate people – he has views and fights for them. That part is also different, a plain talking thing. He almost seems to go out of his way to disagree with people in audiences that come to see him. I LOVE THAT. It is so EXACTLY the opposite of what we know as normal American politics, which becomes so superficially civil that it becomes meaningless.
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Affordable Prescription Drugs
October 14, 2003
COUNCIL BLUFFS: Speaking last night at a town meeting here, Democratic presidential candidate Governor Howard Dean, M.D., announced his plan to lower prescription drug costs in the United States. “Today U.S. citizens spend approximately $200 billion on prescription drugs, twice as much as just five years ago. Government programs and large healthcare providers negotiate deep discounts on prescription drug prices, and Canadian citizens pay far less for prescription drugs than U.S. citizens. Yet senior citizens and other Americans who have no health insurance coverage pay the highest prices for prescription drugs,” Governor Dean said.