On Friday night Moyers and scholar/former army colonel Andrew Bacevich, discussed what has gone wrong with American government and policy over the last several decades.
"The Congress, especially with regard to matters related to national security policy, has thrust power and authority to the executive branch. We have created an imperial presidency. The Congress no longer is able to articulate a vision of what is the common good. The Congress exists primarily to ensure the reelection of members of Congress... As the Congress has moved to the margins, as the President has moved to the center of our politics, the presidency itself has come to be less effective...
Because of this preoccupation, this fascination with the presidency, the President has become what we have instead of genuine politics, instead of genuine democracy... We look to the next President to fix things and, of course, that lifts all responsibility from me to fix things. So one of the real problems with the imperial presidency is that it has hollowed out our politics and, in many respects, has made our democracy a false one. We’re going through the motions of a democratic political system, but the fabric of democracy really has worn very thin."
As I watched the "Faith Forum" on CNN last night I couldn't help but think of Bacevich's powerful arguments, and that McCain is the candidate who will lead us further and further down a the path to the decline and eventual destruction of America. While most of us here see how McCain is using his narrative to suggest he's still the "maverick", that he is the "decisive" candidate who is ready to lead, there is a large swath of America that buy into his ploy out of (you guessed it) fear. Of course if he is elected, McCain’s Bushian blustering and policy positions will only lead us further astray.
The discussion by Moyers and Bacevich was extraordinarily thought-provoking,and actually made the hairs on my neck stand up. It was very scary, but on target. Where I disagree with Bacevich was his suggestion that neither candidate will be able to change the direction of our country, that we are electing an "imperial president" who can do nothing to change the course we are on. I agree when he said that Americans can and must change the course of the nation, by each of us looking in the mirror at ourselves, our society, and the course we are taking and to finally say no. However, I feel Bacevich did not consider the individual qualities of the candidates that could make a difference.
I feel that McCain and Obama were in startling contrast last night, as could be seen by their responses to how they would deal with "evil" in the world, and their comments about the Supreme Court justices. In particular, Obama said of John Roberts that, while he is brilliant jurist and that he feels he is good man, that he is troubled by Robert’s votes that favor putting more power into the executive branch. I believe this statement points to the profound difference between Obama and McCain on an imperial presidency. If he's elected I have hope that Obama will work to turn back the devasting changes made by the Bush administration and that McCain would not. The personal qualities of the candidates are critical, and while neither is perfect, McCain is a troubling. Anyone running for the presidency must have quite an ego. But at his core it appears that Obama is not a narcissist (in the clinical sense of the word -- I'm a psychologist), that he is far and away healther than McCain, that he is much more self-aware, and that he is top notch intellectually. He seems to have a profound understanding and appreciation of history in a way that McCain can't touch.
The discussion on the Journal pointed out how America has been turned slowly and steadily into a consumer society since the mid 1960's. Bacevich pointed out that we are afraid to give up our things, are afraid of events in the world that seem beyond our control and many want a "leader" who makes things look simple and controllable. Many American’s continue to believe in America as the world’s policeman, and that a leader like McBush feels safer to them. Our country is perilously close to the brink if we put in place yet another war president with a very simplistic view of the world and our place in it.
I'd love to see discussion of this on the dailykos. And let's get this book instead of Corsi's garbage!