Dreamers Rise An Open Notebook And for those who choose the twisty road, prefer it to the straight Let joy beat out old misery, as love will conquer hate. Illustration by Henry L. Stephens from The Goblin Snob (ca. 1855) A sort of electronic broadside, composed of rants and reviews, conceits and speculations, and whatever else feels the need to be here. Issued as chance will have it. September 2007 The machinery of American democracy has seemingly ground to a halt. We continue to fight a war that made no sense to begin with and which the majority of the people long ago lost faith in. Congress is too divided and too cowed to pull in the reins, and what maneuvering goes on in Washington seems driven not by concern for what is wise and just and beneficial to the welfare of the public and the world at large but by the demands of the next election's playbook. Our representatives can form a consensus to condemn a newspaper advertisement that has the temerity to suggest that the judgment of a man with stars on his collar could be open to question; they can come together to hand a blank check to the White House to potentially start yet another disastrous war; but they are unable to insist upon their own constitutional responsibilities in the face of an administration that acts as if its own powers are without limit. The remaining Republicans are discredited but know they have little left to lose by their obstinacy; the Democrats, having been given a mandate that could hardly have been more explicit, are terrified lest they be seen to use it. The peace movement has little leverage and seems to have lost momentum. The lack of a draft has ensured that those who suffer from our occupation in Iraq are disproportionately those who in this country have the least power: minorities, rural whites, people who have little alternative but the military. For the rest of America, Iraq is just something we would rather forget, another stupid, endless war far away in a place we don't understand and where we should have known better than to muddle in the first place. Daily atrocities and outrages no longer shock. Since no one in power lifts a finger to punish those responsible, why should ordinary people, who have little influence, waste their breath? And so the idea of an informed, involved citizenry, and the last faint traces of national self-respect, fade away. As Paul Goodman wrote in another time of war, long ago, “I would almost say that our country is like a conquered province with foreign rulers, except that they are not foreigners and we are responsible for what they do.” Removal and punishment of those responsible for our predicament will not happen. A move for impeachment could never overcome the gridlock in Congress, and in any case the public at large evidently have little stomach for it. Americans don't want political theater; they just want our current crop of leaders to go away. Which, in sixteen months, they will — unless, that is, they manage to concoct some sinister means of staying. It would be a relief to think that they will not do more grave damage in the meantime, but I'm afraid I can find little grounds for reassurance in that regard. September 30, 2007 [ Permalink ] Previous page Next page Home Index About Email me