From
Corked Bats Blog. Are you Pro-Loofah?
I am a big fan of the work my friends at Outside Report do. Andrew is in Thailand right now and he has put together a provocative analysis of U.S. vs. Thai media coverage of the tsunami recovery. It is worth reading.
Which brings me back to an argument I have made before. I still think the tsunamis are potentially a defining moment for liberal ideas--sort of an anti 9/11. The response to this view has been so tepid, however, that I should probably just resign it to the ash heap. But, I'll try again anyway.
My basic argument is that 9/11 is an event that, by its very nature, makes conservative arguments about America's role in the world more plausible to people. Think about it: an attack on our soil implies that we should tighten up our borders, exact vengeance in response, relentlessly focus on our own self interest. All of these responses align beautifully with conservative/corporate aims, stances and goals. Here are some off the top of my head:
- might makes right (taking the war to the terrorists),
- zero-sum geopolitics (with us or against us),
- weariness of foreigners (racial profiling),
- rallying around the flag,
- militarized budgets and militarized politics (Halliburton, dissent=gay),
- constant fear of an outside enemy (Cold War=good, ideological struggle),
- excuses for crony capitalism (defense spending=sacred, business=patriotic),
- survival of the fittest (vanquish foes, hierarchy of toughness among nations),
- surveillance on and marginalization of domestic minority groups.
9/11 can be framed in such a way to imply a common-sense reason for all of these. And the conservatives have been relentlessly effective at taking full advantage of all that 9/11 implied in order to make a coherent argument for their view of society. Liberals got hip to this way too late and lost the early opportunity to debate the meaning of 9/11. That was understandable at the time--though I was afraid of this exact phenomena as soon as Lee Greenwood's
God Bless the U.S.A became an important American, rather than wingnut, song. Sadly, it turns out that I should have been shouting far louder than I did.
The Democrats have not been nearly as effective as they could be at implying obvious liberal conclusions from the Asian tsunami disaster. I have outlined the basic frames in this short piece. I have so far barely generated discussion after having posted it at Daily Kos several times, MyDD, Rockridge and Demspeak.
This is not an ego thing, it is just something I think is important. Maybe I need help saying it more clearly. Is there something I am missing? Is there an idea that would make it better? Comments are welcome because I really think it would be a shame if we miss another opportunity to scope out a bold, coherent view of America's role in the world that competes with conservative aims--and does it without fear.