Maybe It's Time To Give Up

Are we a serious people?

That question has repeatedly been posed by Bill Maher on Real Time in the past year; I think it's a good one. And I fear that the answer is a resounding, "No."

We are a people who believes that we can get something for nothing. We believe that we can simultaneously have both increased government services and lower taxes. We decry government "pork-barrel" spending, yet ferociously defend any program, agency or policy that directly benefits us individually. We shed crocodile tears about the burdens our current policies will place upon future generations, yet refuse to do anything to change those policies.

The politics of our day is a stunning exercise in self-delusion and cognitive dissonance. I encounter many liberals, people who supported Barack Obama's Presidential bid, who are in many cases absolutely enraged that the President is enacting exactly the policies that he promulgated during the campaign. And conservatives who nodded heartily in agreement when Vice President Cheney intoned, "Deficits don't matter," who cheered as the Bush Administration went about the business of squandering the budget surpluses left them by the Clinton Administration, now unselfconsciously clothe themselves in the ill-fitting robe of fiscal responsibility.

Today's political parties, to a greater degree than since the Gilded Age, serve narrowly-defined constituencies; the corrosive influence of special-interest monies has eaten away at the notion of a "public good." Good policy no longer matters, only the exigencies of the permanent election cycle. And, most disturbing, we actually embrace this notion of politics-as-gladiatorial-theater; we root for our chosen "leaders" and their insincere, insubstantial, bought-and-paid-for ideologies as though they were players for our favorite sports team.

This can be seen even in America's pop culture. A new class of celebrity has emerged: people who are famous just for being famous. Lack of talent, ability or intelligence is no longer an issue, as long as one is determined enough to force one's way into the popular consciousness. We have Paris, Jon, Kate, OctoMom, Balloon Boy, and the list goes on, and on, and on.

This is not the manner in which a serious people behaves. It is the behavior, rather, of an empire in decline. One can't help but think that we have reached the point as a nation where we are essentially ungovernable; we have lost the self-discipline and perspective to forestall our eventual, inevitable collapse as a society.

And so I sadly say: Perhaps it is time for the serious-minded among us to give simply up and join in America's death-throe party. Though we may be well-meaning, the pearls we cast before swine just don't matter.

Why Does John McCain Piss Me Off So Much?

...It's a question I ask myself. What is it about his candidacy that makes me see red?

I guess that it's really about disappointment. A year ago, I could easily have seen myself voting for John McCain. He is, after all, a genuine American war hero; he's a very likable public figure, capable of rare self-deprecation; he had shown an ability to learn from his own mistakes (can you say "Keating Five?") by co-authoring campaign reform legislation; he had refused to pander to the crazy religious right, correctly calling them "agents of intolerance;" he had been more pragmatic than doctrinaire on numerous policy positions, including climate change and progressive taxation.

But, in the last year, much about John McCain has changed for the worse; the man has turned against much of what made him worth believing in. He started taking his economic outlook from the Republican orthodoxy (in the persons of Phil Gramm, et al) rather than from Main Street; he began kowtowing to the likes of Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell and James Dobson; he abandoned policy for personality, honesty for obfuscation, straight talk for double talk.

As a proud independent, I have been let down by the Senator. Look, I understand the reality that he had to win the Republican nomination, and honesty doesn't fit into that equation. But these seemingly endless inconsistencies make me wonder if John McCain has any beliefs at all.

And that's something I can't waste a precious vote upon.

The MILF Speaks! Republicans Hear What They Want To.

Listening to Sarah Palin speak Wednesday night at the RNC, I couldn't help but be unimpressed. Her speech said essentially nothing, and certainly nothing new; it was just the same old cultural warfare, decrying us "elites" who believe in crazy notions like evolution and gravity. A couple of convenient lies, some snarkiness, but no substance. No policy. Nothing.

Others, though, seemed much more impressed. In part, this is probably because I always listen to speeches, rather than watch them; I do not wish to be distracted by empty images when I could actually be hearing the words. So, while most people were immersing themselves in Palin's warm MILFiness (and, doubtless, seeing the TV cut to adoring looks from the party faithful), I was left with her tired phrases, delivered in that high-pitched, nasal Alaskan whine.

But there is more to it than just imagery. In post-speech interviews, party delegates were utterly, over-the-top effusive in their praise, some even calling her the next Ronald Reagan. So why this wide gap between my perceptions and theirs? The answer, I feel, lies in what Sarah Palin is not.

You see, each of John McCain's other potential running mates was, to a greater or lesser degree, more of a known commodity. And each had some potential difficulty looming with one or another of the GOP's core factions. Palin, by contrast, is not burdened with much of a national reputation. She is a blank canvas upon which Republicans of every stripe can project all of their fondest hopes and dreams. And that is just what they're doing.

Now, in order to be elected, all McCain and Palin need to do is keep us (and especially the press) distracted for the next two months with red herrings -- you know, stuff like endless discussions of pregnant teenage daughters -- and we'll never have to think about pesky things like her record, nor who she really is.

Longing For A Cuba That Wasn't

Now that the presidential general election has arrived (in a de facto sense, at least), American eyes again turn toward that mightiest of swing states, Florida. And the saber-rattling toward Castro's Cuba is sure to ratchet upward.

For many South Floridians of Cuban descent, this is a sacred political cow. And understandably so; those who were pushed from their privileged status by Fidel Castro's revolution, as well as their progeny, can reasonably be expected to harbor animosity toward the current Cuban regime.

But why must this parochial concern be a fulcrum of U.S. presidential politics? Because of the vagaries of our electoral process, of course, in which small constituencies in key states often take on far greater significance than they otherwise would (or should) be accorded. And because conservatives in this country have seized upon this narrow issue (along with the four Gs*) as part of their divide-and-conquer strategy.

(*The four Gs, if you're wondering, are: God, Gays, Guns and Gynecology.)

So we get conservative pundits and politicians talking about the good old days in Cuba, and about how those days must be returned. About the necessity of maintaining our Cuban embargo as long as a Castro is in charge. (And this despite our current engagement with such characters as Pervez Musharraf, Hosni Mubarak, Hu Jintao, King Abdullah, and the list goes on...)

All of this in the name of a lie.

See, if you're not familiar with Cuban life under Fulgencio Batista, Castro's predecessor, then do a little research; it was not a pretty thing. In Batista's Cuba, poverty and illiteracy were rampant, especially among the nonwhite population. Health care was of third-world quality. The disparity of wealth distribution was obscene. Violent political repression was commonplace. The island was a haven for Mafia kingpins and drug runners. And it was all done with the active support of the U.S. government and American corporations. (Gosh, why would Castro have any hostility toward us?)

And so, the next time some Republican scumbag tries to lecture you about the impossibility of engagement with Castro's Cuba, just remember: They are selling you a vision of a Cuba that never was.