Democratic Depression

What a week in politics. First there was the upset victory of Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race, ending the Democrat's ability to avoid a filibuster, meaning the Republicans can now stop any health care reform dead in its tracks. And it seems like they are determined to do this, regardless of the consequences for the country, because it makes the Democrats look bad.

Then, just after Obama announced he was getting tough on the banking industry, and wanted to limit how big they could get to avoid future economic disasters and bailouts, there was the outrageous decision of the US Supreme Court to withdraw any limit to corporate funding of election campaigns. That's right. Unlimited. Meaning, unless the Democrats find some way to stop this, through corporate law, our democracy is pretty much dead. Meaning, in the 2010 elections, you can expect the Republicans to sweep up a lot of House and Senate seats and gain a majority. Meaning we can forget about health care reform, economic recovery, or a second term for Obama. Meaning our new de facto government, will, quite literally, become a cartel of the likes of Exxon, ConAgra, and Blackwater.

The Democrats can't seem to manage to accomplish anything even when they have a clear majority. How is it that Bush and Cheney did whatever they liked even when they didn't have a majority in the House and Senate? The whole idea of bi-partisanship doesn't work. The Republicans don't want to cooperate. There is no health care plan that everyone can agree on. The Republicans just want to cause the Democrats to fail at anything they try to achieve, and they want power back as soon as possible so they can continue their agenda of dismantling what's left of democracy and solidify a shadow corporate regime.

Yes it's depressing. I feel even more full of despair than I did during the Bush years. That's because Obama got my hopes up. I tried to resist, as I explained in a post around that time. Like so many Democrats, disillusioned by a disastrous two terms of Republican rule, and waking up to the deregulatory betrayals of the Clinton era, I didn't jump on the bandwagon of hope without reluctance. But he was so charming! Barack Obama managed to revive the idealistic strain in Democrats around the country. We had to stop being cynical and band together, and believe! I did. Now, a year later, it feels like all may be lost.

This is a critical moment in the fate of the United States. If the Democrats don't stop trying to please everybody, and stop trying to compromise with a completely uncompromising GOP, they will lose the mandate that they were given by the American people just one short year ago. They need to stop worrying about alienating conservative voters because of ideological differences and just do something. Results will get votes. Prove to them that left-leaning policies will work. Now's your chance! If the country swings back into the control of the Republicans, the damage may be irrevocable. How much worse can the economy get? How long can we last with our failing infrastructure? How much more can corporate power increase its stranglehold on the rights of Americans to pursue life, liberty, and happiness?

This is scary stuff. It's terrifying and it's depressing. But depression is not going to help us. Democrats need to be as angry, as full of unmovable conviction, and as uncompromising as Republicans are in our vision of where this country needs to go. This is a war we cannot afford to lose. For the love of democracy, Obama, now is the time to martial the party and lead us into battle. That is why we elected you.

One patriotic expat

I still can't get over Barack Obama's stunning victory on Tuesday. It seems to me that this victory is not only the result of the presidential race. This event represents a victory over bigotry and the legacy of slavery, over right-wing conservatism, over Bush and Cheney and the neo-cons, over the empty rhetoric of nationalism, and over the thoughtless consumerism, waste, irresponsibility, and anti-intellectualism which has characterized the dominant American culture for so long. I just can't believe it. I can't believe that we have a president-elect who I agree with. After years of shouting at the screen whenever Bush or his cronies came on, I'm now just sitting there saying- yes man yes! Our next president gave the speech of a generation, and he mentioned Native Americans and gays! Unthinkable in the last decade. At last. America has signalled a will to make a change, and move into the future, at last.

I haven't been this excited about politics in a while. I mean, I always follow it, but it generally fills me with depsair. I have tried to guard against this hope, to remain on the ground, armed with my cynicism, but I, like so many others, have been completely disarmed by Barack Obama's intelligence, charm, and apparent sincerity. In fact, the more I watch him and read him, the more I believe that he is, in fact, a great man. A man who will change history and who will leave a legacy of a better America and a better world.

It sounds like I'm towing the new line some how. It sounds patriotic and standard. But I feel in a way like all those American ideals which I grew up hearing about, which I have always admired, and whose betrayal has been so painful, may be about to be rescued. For we do, like many countries, have some beautiful ideals- the most obvious being freedom, individual expression, and the rewards of hard work. The reality has gone so far astray, but people still want to believe them, and they still want to get there. At last, it seems like we are waking up from a nightmare to build the American Dream again. Perhaps it all sounds like sentimental garbage. Perhaps it's just the residue of my cultural indoctrination. But Barack Obama has inspired a new sense of hope in so many of us, and why should we be ashamed of it? Why should we adopt some post-modern malaise because we're embarrassed about sincere feelings? I'm not. I'm going to study Romanticism after all, and I freely confess that I have utterly fallen for my new president.

Amid this excitement and hope, I still know it's not going to be easy. It's not going to be perfect. It might take a long time, many things might never happen. But the symbolic turn in a new direction, by a new generation, fills me with more hope and pride in my country than I've felt in a long time. So many people voted! So many Americans decided to take back their country. It would have been nice if they had done it after four years instead of eight, but hey- the important thing is that they have finally woken up. I really believe that Obama can make a change, or more aptly, that he can inspire the American people to make a change. In fact, his victory shows that he already has.