But why is the public starting to go down this road one more time? The answer is in Andrew Bacevich's interview with Bill Moyers, which was repeated here in New York tonight.
BILL MOYERS: Here is one of those neon sentences. Quote, "The pursuit of freedom, as defined in an age of consumerism, has induced a condition of dependence on imported goods, on imported oil, and on credit. The chief desire of the American people," you write, "is that nothing should disrupt their access to these goods, that oil, and that credit. The chief aim of the U.S. government is to satisfy that desire, which it does in part of through the distribution of largesse here at home, and in part through the pursuit of imperial ambitions abroad." In other words, you're saying that our foreign policy is the result of a dependence on consumer goods and credit.
ANDREW BACEVICH: Our foreign policy is not something simply concocted by people in Washington D.C. and imposed on us. Our foreign policy is something that is concocted in Washington D.C., but it reflects the perceptions of our political elite about what we want, we the people want. And what we want, by and large - I mean, one could point to many individual exceptions - but, what we want, by and large is, we want this continuing flow of very cheap consumer goods.
We want to be able to pump gas into our cars regardless of how big they may happen to be, in order to be able to drive wherever we want to be able to drive. And we want to be able to do these things without having to think about whether or not the book's balanced at the end of the month, or the end of the fiscal year. And therefore, we want this unending line of credit.
If you haven't seen this interview, find it, read it and keep it close to you. It's the definitive explanation of what is going on. As Professor Bacevich tells us, we continue as a country to refuse to look ourselves in the mirror and say "we have to change". We're addicted to buying stuff, we have no savings, the country is in horrible debt, we have an army that is stretched too thin, and yet we do nothing about it. It's because we want something for nothing.
Recently, herein New York, Abu Dhabi bought the Chrysler building. How symbolic is that? American is being sold off piece by piece. It's been going on for a while now, and it will get worse.
But back to Obama. Professor Bacevich thinks that neither candidate will be able to change the direction of the country unless we want to change. But I still think Senator Obama is the best shot at that. However, he's got to win. Here's my opinion for what he needs to do:
- Put Hillary Clinton on the ticket. I'm not a PUMA, but I've been in favor of this for a while. I think if anything, she could work as the best attack dog and would probably deliver Ohio, and give him a lead in Florida.
- Go hard negative. Obama has got to go deeply and profoundly negative on McCain and try to drive up doubts about his maverick and war hero myths. The cross in the dirt story is a lead in to that.
- Bring it back to the real issue of "Do you really want 4 more years of Bush?" That's the central question, not "Who is Barack Obama?"
If he doesn't change course now, he's going to be defeated. Don't tell me I'm Chicken Little, and don't tell me to trust in the campaign. They've got to get fired up and punch McCain in the nose.
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