On thing I really hate about politics is what it does to me sometimes. The bilious nature of the attacks by both candidates, the exaggeration and deliberate ginning up of outrage by partisans, and in this race, the relative weakness of both candidates in the midst of war and economic crisis turns me even more pessimistic than usual.
I fear for the United States not because either candidate would destroy it but because both candidates appear to me incapable of doing the things necessary to save it.
Save it from becoming a second rate power adrift in a world that has been salivating at the chance to take us down. And I’m not only talking of al-Qaeda here. Since the end of the cold war, it has become apparent that most of the big economies in the world have been working to create a counterweight to the United States or even surpass the US in economic influence. The European Union – socialist policies and all – has nevertheless been able to grow enough that it now rivals us in GDP.
In some respects, you have to see the situation from the European’s point of view. They are at the mercy of the US economy in many ways. Globalization has internationalized markets for everything from credit derivatives to tractors. And standing atop the heap has been the United States with the dollar generally recognized as the currency of choice while trading on Wall Street and the commodity markets sets the price for all kinds of financial instruments.
As big as the EU has become, the input they have into this system has not been commensurate with what they feel they are owed. Hence, while there probably isn’t much rejoicing going on about the crisis on Wall Street, I suspect there is a sense of satisfaction that we are getting our comeuppance and being brought down a little closer to their level.
This schadenfreude was also present in the immediate aftermath of 9/11. I have sought unsuccessfully to make a dent in the dominant narrative after 9/11 that the “world was with us” following those attacks. John Rosenthal writing in the Wall Street Journal on October 17, 2004 demolishes that myth by showing how the famous Le Monde editorial “We are All Americans,” written by the left wing publisher Jean-Marie Colombani of that newspaper was not a paean to solidarity but rather an anti-American screed that blamed US government policies for the attacks.
Since attention was first called to it in the Times, the title of Mr. Colombani’s post-9/11 editorial has been widely cited in the rest of the American media and on the Internet. Its content, however, has been largely ignored. (The only exceptions of which I am aware are an op-ed I published in Newsday on Sept. 27, 2002, and several articles published by Fouad Ajami the following year.) Thus are legends born. For the solidarity ostentatiously displayed in the title of Mr. Colombani’s editorial is in fact massively belied by the details of the text itself.By the fifth paragraph, Mr. Colombani is offering his general reflections on the geo-political conditions he supposes provoked the attacks:
The reality is surely that of a world without a counterbalance, physically destabilized and thus dangerous in the absence of a multipolar equilibrium. And America, in the solitude of its power, of its hyperpower, . . . has ceased to draw the peoples of the globe to it; or, more exactly, in certain parts of the globe, it seems no longer to attract anything but hatred. . . . And perhaps even we ourselves in Europe, from the Gulf War to the use of F16s against Palestinians by the Israeli Army, have underestimated the hatred which, from the outskirts of Jakarta to those of Durban, by way of the rejoicing crowds of Nablus and of Cairo, is focused on the United States.
The last sentence is grammatically no more coherent in the French original than in English. But it amounted to the first, albeit awkward, suggestion in the French press that America had perhaps merely got what it had coming. In the following paragraph, Mr. Colombani went on to add that perhaps too “the reality” was that America had been “trapped by its own cynicism,” noting that Osama bin Laden himself had, after all, been “trained by the CIA”—a never substantiated charge that has, of course, in the meanwhile become chapter and verse for the blame-America-firsters. “Couldn’t it be, then,” Mr. Colombani concluded, “that America gave birth to this devil?”
Then there was the famous incident in Great Britain when the BBC show Question Time was aired in the days following 9/11 and the American Ambassador was brought to tears by an audience who booed him when he tried to defend the US against their attacks. There too, the Ward Churchill/Jeremiah Wright suggestions that our “chickens came home to roost” on 9/11 was the dominant feeling – and not just in the audience. William Shawcross found similar feelings among ordinary Brits wherever he went that week.
Obviously, Mr. Bush, taking office just 9 months earlier, had not been given a lot of time to become hated so something else must have been at work. Gee…do you think that maybe a very large segment of the world was not “with us” following 9/11 after all and, in fact, celebrated this hit against our pride and prestige?
Not if you listen to Democrats. The point being, that this financial crisis is one more indication that there are those who do not wish us well – even among our friends – and that there will now be a concerted efforts by our rivals to kick us while we’re down. In my opinion, neither John McCain or Barack Obama is capable of dealing with this situation. Obama could very well end up grovelling and apologizing to most of the planet while McCain ends up bombing the crap out of Iran and isolating us further.
On the domestic front, does anyone seriously believe either candidate can “reach across the aisle” and heal the gaping wounds that we inflict upon each other? The Democrats will be angry and frustrated if Obama loses to the point that they will be as obstructionist as the Republicans were during the Clinton years – perhaps even more so given their unhinged base that will demand everything from War Crimes Trials to a whole slew of investigations into Bush era crimes, real and imagined. A President McCain would have his hand cut off if he tried anything approaching bi-partisan consensus building.
And President Obama? What reason would he have to “reach across the aisle” when he would have such solid majorities in both houses of Congress? The man has never – repeat never – reached across the aisle for anything in his short, unproductive senate career. Why should he change when he will hold all the legislative cards?
Meanwhile, defense spending will almost certainly have to be cut by either man thanks to eye-popping budget deficits down the road that could approach half a trillion dollars a year. We will probably have to say goodbye to missile defense, the new generation fighter (or at least a dramatic slowdown in production), and say hello to a Rumsfeldian force reduction and the decommissioning of any number of carrier battle groups. In short, our ability to project our power will be diminished and our military will be generally weaker all around.
Put this all together and you have the US under siege abroad and disunited and weak at home. An economy in the toilet for the foreseeable future no matter who wins with tighter credit, less investment, and fewer jobs being created. And a continuation of partisan gridlock in government.
Can anyone honestly say either man is up to the job ahead? What I have just outlined is not just my native pessimism coming to the fore but rather some cold, hard, projections from leading economists. Can they be wrong? I suppose so. The future is never set in stone and I guess there’s a chance that increasing or lowering taxes, increasing or cutting spending, apologizing to the world for our “sins” and meekly accepting a lead role for the UN might avoid a downturn in our fortunes here and abroad.
But I’m doubting it. The forces of history that are driving the Chinese miracle, the Islamic fundamentalist revolution, the ascension of Europe to a position of near equality with us, the leftward lurch in Latin America and other massive changes in our world wait for no country. You either deal with the changing world or you watch as the panorama slides by, waking up a decade later wondering “What happened?” Right now, these forces of history are working against the United States. Can we adapt and make the right decisions that will keep us strong, safe, and pre-eminent in so many things?
If you are honest with yourself, you will agree that neither John McCain or Barack Obama have the ideas, the courage, or the foresight to bring us through to the other side of this epoch safely and still the dominant military and economic power on the planet.
1:50 pm
Take it easy Rick,
Not being the unitary super power is NOT the end of the world.
It’s just not as exciting.
You’re missing the point. We faced a similar crisis in the early 70’s when the rest of the world finally recovered completely from WW II. Nixon, for all his faults, did stuff like go off the gold standard, the opening to china, established a more useful relationship with the USSR, and many other things that allowed us to come through that period with the least amount of disruption. The resulting stagflation was partly his fault but mostly Ford and Carter. All it took to recover from that was Reagan’s and Volcker’s monetary and tax policy changes.
This is different and it worries me that we will reach the other side of this epoch in much worse shape. The US can hardly help but be a superpower what with a $13 trillion economy and 5,000 nuclear weapons. But our ability to influence events will be much diminished relative to what it is now.
Unitary superpower? Of course we will be for the reasons mentioned above. But also in some respects, a paper tiger which is not a good thing for America.
ed.
2:28 pm
“Gee…do you think that maybe a very large segment of the world was not “with us” following 9/11 after all and, in fact, celebrated this hit against our pride and prestige?”
You are equating “Cheering on their downfall” with “Watching one thing happen after another”.
Acknowledging that events tend to have causes is not the same as wishing that those events happen. using phrases like “Got what was coming to them” is simply playing to this misconception, and I cannot imagine that you don’t realise it.
3:02 pm
It’s not that both Presidential candidates don’t have any plan , no one does. Oh you hear a few voices crying in the wilderness, but they are weak and without influence. Most Americans do not even know what you are talking about. They have been captured by the “let’s not get to concerned about the old wives tales of American individuality and distinctiveness” and lets just worry about all those mundane things that occupy the press, the sports world, the entertainment industry, and the hack politicians who pose as representatives of the people.
4:55 pm
Rick is what the Brits call “spot on” on pointing out the dislike most of the world has about America and Americans whether from jealousy or envy or belief system or just your common, everyday terrorist.
In WWII, one of the Brit’s favored expressions regarding the “Yanks” was “over fed, over paid, over sexed, and over here”. I recall Vice-President Nixon spat on and generally mobbed by hostile crowds in Latin America in the 1950s. The term “The Ugly American” was came from a book by the same title written around 1958 and has been used repeatedly – and not in a loving way.
Both candidates seem intent on sacrificing our economic system on the alter of global warming carbon controlled legislation. The financial crisis pales in comparison.
So, I’m mostly in Rick’s camp – Bush was like a JFK-type Democrat; McCain is somewhat more conservative than Bush, and Obama is just plain Lenin want-a-be. Some choice.
However, the Left always grossly misunderstands “main street” and the majority of good people the US still retains. The Hope I have is that well over half will actually learn what caused the financial crisis and vote Change to kick all of them out, at least in the House of Representatives. How’s that for dreaming about the Messiah?
5:44 pm
Meh. It was a valid observation.
6:05 pm
Rick,
Why do you keep dishing out such brutally honest stuff
I have pretty much resigned myself to an Obama Presidency, a Pelosi lead House and a Reid led Senate. The Trifecta.
Card Check = “Free” Choice
Obama = “bi-partisan”
1 + 1 =3.
Wake me up when 2016 elections come around. wait a minute. dont worry, i will be back in India within the next year.
Good luck America – you NEED LOTS OF IT.
6:44 pm
If you read history, the American populace often feels we are at the brink of disaster. That we’re going to hell in a handbasket.
I remember the 80’s, when Japan was “cleaning our clock” and America was already just a few days away from the sunset, and permanent night. Read the last few pages of “Rising Sun” by Michael Crichton again, to get a sense of our sense of American doom.
No nation lasts forever. But I think we’ve got at least a good hundred years of good ahead of us. Tragedies and natural catastrophes will happen. Wars will occur. And we’ll keep going on.
7:25 pm
“I remember the 80’s, when Japan was “cleaning our clock” and America was already just a few days away from the sunset, and permanent night. Read the last few pages of “Rising Sun” by Michael Crichton again, to get a sense of our sense of American doom.”
Well, America had Ronald Reagan to turn to then – and thank God, he was the right man for the right time.
What this country faces today is an absolute lack of leadership – as Rick pointed out, the US Congress is going to play a huge role – if by some miracle McCain wins, (and its going to take nothing short of a stunner for McCain to win) the Democrat dominated Congress will go out of its way to confront McCain on EVERY POSSIBLE ISSUE. He will be a lame duck President to start with.
When Obama wins, there were will be solid majorities for Democrats in Congress – there is going to be no “bipartisanship” – legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley that have helped drive investment away from the US will be shoved down our throats in the name of “necessary regulation”.
The entitlement problems caused by Medicare and Social Security will once gain be ignored – dealing with these problems requires a conservative solution – heck, it requires conservatives.! None of them exist in the Congress today.
What every one is looking foward to is MORE entitlements/NOT Less. They will not accept even the smallest reduction in benefits. Why should they ? They are “entitled” to it, arent they ?
No one dares to ask the simple question – why the heck we need Social Security ? or if it could be have an opt out clause. Why exactly does health care cost so much ? Well, when employers are footing the bill, why do you care about how much it costs?
The country is ripe to depend into the socialist model of European countries- the Democrats have always salivated over this prospect.
8:07 pm
I came from Germany to the United States quite a while ago. I can tell you that Germans are also masters of doom and gloom. There are a lot of strengths that the United States still has, e.g scientific creativity and the flexibility to turn things around. That is why I’m cautiously optimistic even in times like these. However, science and new technologies have to be supported ferociously. In my opinion, the left really messed it up in the aftermath to the sixties mainly by pretending everyone has equal talents and a certain hostilities towards new technologies. By the same token there is a hostility towards science also in the religious right that should not be tolerated.
I for one came of age watching Star Trek as a kid (Raumschiff Enterprise) and like many of you dreamt of a better future through technology. Sure I’m a lot more cynical now but sometimes the dream, and for me also the United States as a catalyst, is still there. And, I believe, for a good cause liberals and conservatives can come together and figure out a solution, can achieve energy independence etc. Why not, if not here than nowhere. If I didn’t believe this than I wouldn’t have come here.
8:30 pm
One more point: there always is a little anti-American sentiment flying around in Europe. I just wouldn’t blow this out of proportion. All people that I know of all political orientation from Germany expressed their solidarity with the United States after 9/11,
However, I could also point you to ‘virulent’ anti-European feelings among Americans just go to many ‘conservative’ blogs. I just don’t take any of those serious because when it comes down to it Europe is still and should be the most natural ally of the United States. Trust me, Paris looks great after a year in Ryad.
9:16 pm
funny man, I’ve long felt that the lunatic left fringe (that I used to believe made up about 5% of the left here in the USA, but is probably up to 10% or more now) are the ones so concerned about our “reputation and/or standing” in the world.
Further I think that who our own left are really worried about are their own lefty counterparts in Europe as opposed to that population in general—who obviously like us as rule, as witnessed by so many of them trying like hell to get here.
My question to you is, do you feel that that fringe element over there, that our own fringe is trying to please, is similarly miniscule (though certainly more vocal and given more voice by the media than other points of view) to their numbers here, or are they more or less prevalent?
Because, for me, I consider the hate of that fringe to be an indication that we’re still seeking freedom and liberty in a way that annoys them. A feature, in other words, not a fault.
The longer term problem, in my view, is if we become what our own left wants, no one will want to come here anymore as there’d be no point in it. What a sad world it will be indeed if the USA folds to fringe pressure.
10:02 pm
Mark H,
I assure you that being concerned with our reputation and/or standing in the world has very little to do with pleasing European leftists. This seems like an excuse for horrible foreign policy.
It has absolutely noting to do with “seeking freedom and liberty.” The simple truth is that a better reputation and standing in the world directly translates to more people buying our products.
Well, unless you include military hardware in that, then it really doesn’t matter.
11:36 pm
Hey Chuck, thanks for making this point:
“The simple truth is that a better reputation and standing in the world directly translates to more people buying our products.”
Good to see that I’m not alone on this issue. Right now, we have to start exporting our way out of economic difficulty, and I can’t imagine that a McCain presidency will help. While it’s not obvious that an Obama presidency would really aid our industrial base either, I think the most important thing is “First, do no harm”. A belligerent McCain is the last thing we need on our backs when trying to sell our goods. As Rick says:
“Obama could very well end up grovelling and apologizing to most of the planet while McCain ends up bombing the crap out of Iran and isolating us further.”
If this observation is true, I wonder which president would be better for our economy?
12:19 am
Marc H:
well the problem is what do you call ‘left’. I give you one example: conservatives in Germany as in the Christian Democrats are as ‘liberal’ as are there counterparts the Social Democrats (almost) if you would use an American yardstick. Now I’m not assuming you would call these the “lunatic fringe”. There is a couple of things that annoys the average German (and a lot of other Europeans). For example, there is a perceive lack of respect by the Americans. Remember Rumsfeld’s ‘old Europe’? A lot of Americans get pissed of anything the French do (Chirac btw is a ‘conservative’) but the only thing they do is give their opinion and ‘advice’ on ‘American affairs’. IMHO the United States tends to do that all the time regardless who is in office. I’m not necessarily saying they shouldn’t but then it’s the tone that sets the music.
Luckily all of Europe is now are more or less organized as democratic countries who could vote otherwise if they wanted to. Contrary to your belief it is not ‘liberty and freedoms’ that they loathe. I mean why should they? They often think the freedoms in the US are excessive (getting caught with a swastika will send you straight to jail in Germany) and that the society here is too individualistic. You can disagree with their point of view but as a democracy they have just as much right as the people here to make their choices.
Now back to the ‘lunatic’ left. For me that is people that are set in their dogmatic, pure and of course always right worldview. Intolerance at it’s best and for them the biggest dog around is the root of all evil (in this case the United State). Unfortunately (but not surprising the student of human behavior), the ‘lunatic’ right works under the same basic principle just with different ‘bad guys’.
Now to answer your question: I actually think that Americans and Europeans have reasonably worked together in the last 60 years regardless of who was in charge in their respective countries. However, both sides shouldn’t take each other for granted.
12:33 am
The US will never again be a dominant military and economic power. That got trashed by deregulation and greed. Reaganomics finally revealed its toxic fruit.
2:38 am
I think anti-Americanism is vastly exaggerated. I live in Italy (for the last 5 months) and in the last couple of years have traveled extensively around Britain, France, Netherlands and Spain. And I don’t see it. I think it’s mostly paranoia.
I drive around Italy and France in a car with North Carolina license plates. My over-fed, over-loud, over-here family and I could hardly be anything other than American—everyone knows what we are, it’s not a secret we keep. And so far, in six months, I’ve had exactly one guy flip us off. No one spits, crosses the street, rolls their eyes or threatens us.
I was just at Omaha Beach. The visitors to the American graveyard were primarily French. They didn’t stand gazing respectfully over those crosses because they hate Americans.
11:52 am
So…the financial house of cards has needed attention for many years and we did nothing. Now we are dealing with the aftermath…holding the stinking bag of crap. Now let’s think just a minute…is there anything else that demands attention and we are incompetently dealing with because of party dogma, entrenched financial interests, lack of true leadership? Hmmm..could it be extreme dependence on foreign oil to power our transportation…a cornerstone of our economy? Could we not agree that we must have an actionable strategy to reduce our dependence..like…NOW! Are we so stupid as to believe that Drill
Drill! is a “strategy” (nod to Senator McCain). Why is there a false divide on this issue? It is not a Democratic or Republican issue…but somebody’s ox is going to get gored as we work through it (like corn farmers, oil companies, states with wide open spaces to store spent nuclear fuel)...let’s get the hell on with it.
3:24 pm
Rick – let’s really go for perspective here. This country has been suffering a lengthy national nervous breakdown since 11/22/63 and the 1968 assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. We had a brief remission during the Reagan years but the attacks on 9/11 just confirmed that we were going to hell in a handbasket for a lot of us.
Between Barack Hussein Obama and John McCain, here’s the difference: John McCain will keep us safe and Barack Obama is a dithering coward with a vacancy where his soul should be. While I am no fan of Senator McCain, compared to his opponent, he’s the second coming. And bottom line? This still is the greatest country in the world, most freedom, best standard of living. And that’s another reason to defeat Obama – he is interested in a “national security force” (KGB anyone?) and based on his numerous questionable associations, he is a dyed-in-the-wool socialist if not a full on communist – something this nation does not need! Already he is, through his campaign’s lawyers, attacking free speech all over the country. This man is not now, nor will he ever be, ready for prime time!
3:48 pm
Gayle Miller,
Barack Obama might be a lot of things but he is no communist. Part of my family left a so called ‘socialist paradise’ but I never heard Obama suggesting to nationalize factories or install proletarian courts. Also, please don’t bore me with this ridiculous ‘Hussein’ thing. You don’t want to know my middle name and if that is all I had to worry about with Obama I would elect him immediately
5:01 pm
Hey Gayle Miller, if you are going to use “Barack Hussein Obama”, the least you can do is use “John Sidney McCain”.
8:39 am
I have a liberal blog/readership, but I am dedicating this week to conservatives with whom I agree.
This story will be the first one.
Honestly, my “ideal” is a moderate one: a government divided equally between conservatives and liberals passionately devoted to public service and trying honestly to enact legislation that betters America. They’re willing to listen to both sides of an issue, convince the “other side” when necessary and concede the others’ point of view when applicable.
I live in a dream world, but I’m happier there.