Just about every four years, we hear about how this election is going to be a transformational election and how the direction of the country is going to be permanently changed and how our children and grand-children will be affected by what we decide now. In reality, transformational elections are rare and this election doesn't look like it's going to change much no matter who is elected.
History shows that America is a one-party state. What I mean by this is that one party tends to dominate and the other party tends to be a "me too" party. In the early nineteenth century, the Democratic Party established itself as the majority party in the era of Andrew Jackson. That lasted about forty years until the Civil War, when the Republican Party under Abraham Lincoln seized majority status. The GOP dominated American politics from 1865 until 1932, when Franklin Roosevelt inaugurated an era of Democratic hegemony. For most of the twentieth century, from the thirties until 1980, the Democrats controlled the government. Reagan's election in 1980 began our current epoch of Republican and conservative domination.
How do we know that this has been a conservative era? Not just by the number of Republicans who have occupied the White house. We also know by looking at the behavior of Democrats who have managed to get elected. Today Bill Clinton goes around boasting, "We won the Cold War." "We fixed welfare." "We signed the free trade agreements." "We put the lid on spending." Remarkably all Clinton's accomplishments are conservative accomplishments. At least one of them, welfare reform, was signed reluctantly because of GOP pressure. None would have been possible without conservative support. Clinton's liberal ideas, such as gays in the military and national health care, went down in flames. In sum, Clinton was dragged by the conservative tide and basically governed as a moderate Republican.
Is the conservative era now finished? Many of the pundits say it is, but I see no sign of it from the actions of the three presidential candidates. McCain of course has largely pleged to "stay the course." His independence is genuine but it does not constitute a departure from Reagan principles. Mostly McCain is a temperamental departure from Bush. Interestingly Hillary seems to have tempered her erstwhile radicalism. As a senator she has generally occupied the right flank of the Democratic party, voting for example to authorize the use of force in Iraq. Even in the campaign Hillary has sounded cautious notes, warning of the danger of negotiating with Iran, promising a staged rather than precipitous withdrawal from Iraq, an so on.
That leaves Obama, who sounds transformational in his rhetoric. But where is the actual change that Obama is proposing? Basically Obama's argument is that he is different because he grew up in many different places, has a black father and a white mother, and because his grandmother lives in an African village. Obama claims to be different because of his name and his background. So is Obama going to radically overhaul the tax system? No. Is he going to change America's longtime alliance with Israel or our special friendship with Great Britain? No. Does he have any new ideas for reshaping race relations in this country? If so he has kept them entirely to himself. Even Obama's tiresome repetition of the need to change the way Washington does business is unaccompanied by any concrete strategies for changing the modus operandi in the nation's capital.
One of these days we will have a transformational election, as we did in 1932 or 1980. But so far this doesn't look like one at all. The long shadow of Reagan still hangs over American politics, shaping the way the presidential candidates see themselves and the world.
Reader Comments ( Page 7 of 27)
91. GHB
On Post 72 You forgot “wiper of other people’s bottoms.”
rabidmccain at 5:24PM on May 14th 2008
92. Jerry Brown.
Answer > Beginning to end.
Without depth... Without logic... Without fact...
Endlless rambling...
Watchful at 5:20PM on May 14th 2008
93. 89. Jerry Brown.
Answer > Beginning to end.
Without depth... Without logic... Without fact...
Endlless rambling...
Watchful at 5:20PM on May 14th 2008
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Thank you for that excellent demonstration of how a conditioned christian sees a well thought-out post with some real depth.
It is exactly as my previous post above predicts that you will react.
It must be fun to be such a robot. Your brain gets a lot of rest that way.
Godless Heathen Brian at 5:23PM on May 14th 2008
94. 88. Watchful, are you or do you know Man_In_Wilderness? Remember, it's a sin to lie.
K at 5:17PM on May 14th 2008
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You don't have to remind me of the law that was given so that man would have a knowledge of sin.
No law no sin...
I have read many of his post, but other than that no...
Watchful at 5:24PM on May 14th 2008
95. The bible said> And from a child thou hast known the Holy scriptures that are able to make thee wise unto salvation.
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This is your idea of a FACT?
All I see in it is more conditioning. It's all over your pet book there.
Yeah, all you need for wisdom is between these very pages! How CONVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENIENT!
So no need to look at all the other books for any truth. It's all right here. How do we know that? Because it says so, right here...
AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!! My brain hurts! Your mind-poison is so vile! It makes me retch.
Nice glasses you've got there. Don't you think you should have gone with the transperent lenses though? Instead of the opaque matte black ones with the gold crucifixes on the insides, I mean.
Godless Heathen Brian at 5:29PM on May 14th 2008
96. Watchful
89. Jerry Brown.
Answer > Beginning to end.
Without depth... Without logic... Without fact...
Endlless rambling...
Watchful at 5:20PM on May 14th 2008
Are you so ignorant you do not understand enough of what you object to you are unable to state your reasons to communicate where I might have faulty thinking?
Jerry Brown at 5:30PM on May 14th 2008
97. Thank you for that excellent demonstration of how a conditioned christian sees a well thought-out post with some real depth.
It is exactly as my previous post above predicts that you will react.
It must be fun to be such a robot. Your brain gets a lot of rest that way.
Godless Heathen Brian at 5:23PM on May 14th 2008
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No sir, thank you, You are a perfect example of what happens to human beings after your minds are programed to reject God.
Watchful at 5:32PM on May 14th 2008
98. God is real!
-How do yo know?
He tells us so.
-You hear him?
No, but he tells us so in the bible.
-He wrote the bible?
No, men did a long time ago, but they were informed and inspired by God Himself.
-How do you know?
God tells us so.
-In the bible?
Yes, the bible is the literal word of god, and is perfect.
-But it was written by men and not God! You said so yourself! How do you know that is's the literal word of God?
Because it says so right here.
-But, that's the book in question!
Yes, and it's perfect. It says that right here too.
-What if the men lied and made it up?
They didn't. It's the Word of God. If men made it up, it wouldn't be perfect.
-But, the only reason that you "know" it's perfect is because it tells you that it is!
Of course. It is perfect, and the Word of God, so of course it tells us that it is perfect. It wouldn't lie. Do you think God lies? What kind of person are you?
(at this point the questioner's head explodes)
Godless Heathen Brian at 5:33PM on May 14th 2008
99. Jerry B, as far as I'm concerned, you are one of the most spiritual persons that post on this blog. I think you are too deep and sincere for the hypochrists.
You go, boy.
Linda at 5:35PM on May 14th 2008
100. No sir, thank you, You are a perfect example of what happens to human beings after your minds are programed to reject God.
Watchful at 5:32PM on May 14th 2008
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And since you are from bizarro-reverso world, thank you for the compliment.
Yes, I am. Proudly. I had the balls. You are a sissy nancy boy. Too scared of the hell bogey man to ever be a real man yourself.
Conditioning is all about fear. Carrot and stick. I conquered my fear and became an independant thinker, many years ago. You still live in fear. Which one of us is the fearful one here? I have no temerity of your hell. Or your god. You're the chicken that can't stand the thought of being a free-thinker, due to your abject terror of sin and damnation.
Godless Heathen Brian at 5:38PM on May 14th 2008
101. 97. Jerry B, as far as I'm concerned, you are one of the most spiritual persons that post on this blog. I think you are too deep and sincere for the hypochrists.
You go, boy.
Linda at 5:35PM on May 14th 2008
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Linda you are a perfect example of someone who is confused. Or brain dead might be a better word.
You do not believe in the spititual realm, but yet you praise Jerry for something you do believe exist.
Watchful at 5:43PM on May 14th 2008
102. Gutless hateful brian,
The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom...
Watchful at 5:46PM on May 14th 2008
103. I'll be watching you........
Watchful at 5:48PM on May 14th 2008
104. 86. (GHB) "Your inability to tell facts from beliefs, due to being conditioned not to be able to by the presentation of supposed "facts" to you that are really just beliefs, only you've been taught to accept them with even more authority than you accept science and direct observation."
Hey GHB. I've been reading your posts through the day and it's obvious that you're trying to hold back. Chill. It's a great day. I think most of us get what you're trying to say. I appreciate it when you are specific about what angers you, as you mentioned above. Whether or not it helps the newbies, I don't know. I've been reading this blog for long enough to understand you, Linda, npbfloyd, et al. I don't feel threatened by your or their posts, but I can understand how some new folks might get a bit jarred if they haven't seen your wit and humor come through over a period of time.
Some of the things I wrestle with are related to the stuff that bugs you and many of the others. There are so many things about religion that really aren't discussed here, and I wonder sometimes why we don't focus on them more.
I think the problem mostly is ideology, something that I've been thinking a lot about lately. Ideology is only one aspect of religion and it seems to get blown out of proportion here. It's like Jerry (I think?) said about homosexuality. I'm baffled by how much airplay that gets in this blog and in society in general. I'm wondering if the belief communities emphasized charity and love of neighbor as much (even to the point of attempted legislation--not sure how that would work, but...) as banning gay marriage and so forth, if that wouldn't change things in this country more.
Now to defend faith a bit. I have faith that there's a life after this life. I can't prove it. It may be a fairy tale, but that's what I believe. And faith is a special thing to me. I've seen too many people (both believers and non-believers) try to destroy the faith of other people and I think that's a sad thing. I understand your anger when faith tries to enter the realm of the empirical. My "ideology" is that it doesn't belong there, and that faith in spiritual matters can reside quite well with rationality in the physical universe. This may be hard for some people to accept (again, both believers and non-believers), but I think it's possible.
So, to the believing community, I would ask, what is most important to talk about in the public sphere, banning gay marriage or treating your fellow beings as you would want to be treated? Don't we do a disservice to Christ by ignoring most of what he said and focus instead on narrow political agendas because of some minor ideological point of view? This is something that I just don't get. Even though I don't agree with legislating religious values, I could understand the desire to, say, legislate the values of the sermon on the mount.
GHB and the atheist/agnostic posters on this blog ain't the enemy here. The enemy is intolerance and (intentional) miscommunication. As mentioned earlier, we need to come together to solve difficult problems and putting us into camps of us and them isn't going to help solve any of it.
Ideology--the mother of all evil...
Lloyd the Lurker at 5:54PM on May 14th 2008
105. Alright. Obviously "Watchful" is trolling; either he does post here and just wanted to be an anonymous jerk or he's trying to get the atheists to flame him to prove a point. Either way, it's a laughable attempt.
K at 5:54PM on May 14th 2008