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America's Ex-Men and the Fight for the Future.
Having lived, loved and traveled in USA I have more than a passing interest in the country and its politics. I was there in the 2004 on the build up to the last election and remember the passive atmosphere around it. It seemed that the people were either comfortable in their lives, miles from danger or confused and disinterested in the politics as there really wasn’t much of a choice for the people to make. While many will harp on about the rigged voting system, I really wonder what the difference would have been had John Kerry won.
The country then, as it is now, was already set on a free-fall path of war and self destruction and it’s doubtful that mild-manned Kerry and his compulsion for exaggeration would really have cut the mustard.
Despite being one of the most useless Presidents America has ever had George W. Bush has achieved one incredibly positive thing. Albeit inadvertently; he has shaken the general American conscious into an awareness of the wider world and its problems.
By bombing the shit out every country containing a disproportionate amount of sand he has done what Clinton never even attempted: he acknowledged the existence of a world beyond America’s boundaries. So much so that in 2003 Bob ‘Give Us Your Fucking Money’ Geldof, told the Guardian that Bush has done more for Africa than any President since Kennedy.
People are highly critical of the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan but really they are a relic of the Cold War and one that Clinton never really had the balls to address head on.
A fine example was 9/11, arguably the result of Clinton’s refusal to acknowledge American involvement with the Taliban and Afghanistan during the Cold War . Bush had only been in office eight months and, as anyone who has had to deal with Glasgow City Council tax will tell you, not a great deal of beaureaucratic or political progress can be made by anyone in that timescale.
But it was the Bush Administration’s reaction to 9/11 that was the catalyst for a major upheaval in your average American’s political awareness. They kept very quiet about their immediate response to the attacks. As a result, the internet lit up with the most conspiracy theories it had seen since JFK was killed by Elvis. Everything from planned government attacks to missiles painted to look like jet planes was 'uncovered'. Whether you believe them or not is another story. Frankly, the idea that, rather than playing golf, Bush spent ten months orchestrating a terrorist attack that would ultimately lead to his presidential legacy being judged as nothing short of sadistic means that he either has very bad advisors or he has no clue as to what is going on around him. Which is, of course, a very likely possibility.
It’s this possibility that Bush was never really aware and that someone else was was in charge that added kindling to the conspiracy fire surrounding the political system in America. Did the Levee break or was it broken; is it for God or for Oil; and, most recently,when will the pan-American alliance take place and the dollar be replaced by the Amero?
Many of these arguments miss out on vital elements of the American constitution, which every man woman and child in the USA rightly cling to. We live in an age of digital media and, for all their paranoid ramblings, the conspiracy theorists succeeded in showing Americans that they needed to pay more attention to politics.
It may be timely that the current crash in the world economy came around the same time as this presidential election. An election where many Americans saw a great new hope in Senator Barack Obama.
Here, for the first time in the county’s history, was an African American who could realistically become President. He had enviable character flaws, a beautiful family and he represented the American dream in its entirety. Here was hope incarnate.
In the last few months it didn’t matter what Obama’s policies were, what mattered was that he was different. New and improved. Young and patriotic. Obama was America 2.0; it was almost inevitable that he would win.
Maybe I’m a little behind but I’m sure there are rumours afoot that he is nothing more than a placeman for the ‘real people’ who run America, those shadowy figures that pull the strings. Certainly his election success is a calming influence on a populous filled with distrust for their own government. A black man in power proves that democracy works in America. Doesn’t it?
Regardless of your beliefs I’m left a little shivery after all the fever. An election hangover if you will. The last time the West saw such a monumental victory for democracy was when Thatcher became the Iron Lady of Downing Street and I’m not too convinced that was for the best.
Her legacy lives on in the failings of the housing market and the infrastructure of the U.K’s failing healthcare system and partially privatised public services that leech on the Bank’s new 3% base rate . As we’ve seen in the past few weeks, Governments themselves are forced to gamble in the short term and they very rarely win.
It takes time to make and implement successful policy changes and lurching between administrations every four years is never going to make for a stable climate. With the press quick to cause a stir; the invisible impact of the previous administration on the new will, almost, always create a negative effect. After all, that’s why their policies were voted out in the first place.
Obama has a tough time ahead. With nearly a quarter of a century of Bush and Clinton’s churlish decision’s to address I’ll be amazed if he isn’t assassinated for his apparent immediate failings rather than the colour of his skin.
A wise American friend told me on Wednesday night, ‘it’s up to us now to make sure he’s accountable.’ And while that may be true, I’m terrified that this great man will fall victim to the newly politicised, rabid American people before he’s even had a chance to make a real difference.
contemplativeThe country then, as it is now, was already set on a free-fall path of war and self destruction and it’s doubtful that mild-manned Kerry and his compulsion for exaggeration would really have cut the mustard.
Despite being one of the most useless Presidents America has ever had George W. Bush has achieved one incredibly positive thing. Albeit inadvertently; he has shaken the general American conscious into an awareness of the wider world and its problems.
By bombing the shit out every country containing a disproportionate amount of sand he has done what Clinton never even attempted: he acknowledged the existence of a world beyond America’s boundaries. So much so that in 2003 Bob ‘Give Us Your Fucking Money’ Geldof, told the Guardian that Bush has done more for Africa than any President since Kennedy.
People are highly critical of the problems in Iraq and Afghanistan but really they are a relic of the Cold War and one that Clinton never really had the balls to address head on.
A fine example was 9/11, arguably the result of Clinton’s refusal to acknowledge American involvement with the Taliban and Afghanistan during the Cold War . Bush had only been in office eight months and, as anyone who has had to deal with Glasgow City Council tax will tell you, not a great deal of beaureaucratic or political progress can be made by anyone in that timescale.
But it was the Bush Administration’s reaction to 9/11 that was the catalyst for a major upheaval in your average American’s political awareness. They kept very quiet about their immediate response to the attacks. As a result, the internet lit up with the most conspiracy theories it had seen since JFK was killed by Elvis. Everything from planned government attacks to missiles painted to look like jet planes was 'uncovered'. Whether you believe them or not is another story. Frankly, the idea that, rather than playing golf, Bush spent ten months orchestrating a terrorist attack that would ultimately lead to his presidential legacy being judged as nothing short of sadistic means that he either has very bad advisors or he has no clue as to what is going on around him. Which is, of course, a very likely possibility.
It’s this possibility that Bush was never really aware and that someone else was was in charge that added kindling to the conspiracy fire surrounding the political system in America. Did the Levee break or was it broken; is it for God or for Oil; and, most recently,when will the pan-American alliance take place and the dollar be replaced by the Amero?
Many of these arguments miss out on vital elements of the American constitution, which every man woman and child in the USA rightly cling to. We live in an age of digital media and, for all their paranoid ramblings, the conspiracy theorists succeeded in showing Americans that they needed to pay more attention to politics.
It may be timely that the current crash in the world economy came around the same time as this presidential election. An election where many Americans saw a great new hope in Senator Barack Obama.
Here, for the first time in the county’s history, was an African American who could realistically become President. He had enviable character flaws, a beautiful family and he represented the American dream in its entirety. Here was hope incarnate.
In the last few months it didn’t matter what Obama’s policies were, what mattered was that he was different. New and improved. Young and patriotic. Obama was America 2.0; it was almost inevitable that he would win.
Maybe I’m a little behind but I’m sure there are rumours afoot that he is nothing more than a placeman for the ‘real people’ who run America, those shadowy figures that pull the strings. Certainly his election success is a calming influence on a populous filled with distrust for their own government. A black man in power proves that democracy works in America. Doesn’t it?
Regardless of your beliefs I’m left a little shivery after all the fever. An election hangover if you will. The last time the West saw such a monumental victory for democracy was when Thatcher became the Iron Lady of Downing Street and I’m not too convinced that was for the best.
Her legacy lives on in the failings of the housing market and the infrastructure of the U.K’s failing healthcare system and partially privatised public services that leech on the Bank’s new 3% base rate . As we’ve seen in the past few weeks, Governments themselves are forced to gamble in the short term and they very rarely win.
It takes time to make and implement successful policy changes and lurching between administrations every four years is never going to make for a stable climate. With the press quick to cause a stir; the invisible impact of the previous administration on the new will, almost, always create a negative effect. After all, that’s why their policies were voted out in the first place.
Obama has a tough time ahead. With nearly a quarter of a century of Bush and Clinton’s churlish decision’s to address I’ll be amazed if he isn’t assassinated for his apparent immediate failings rather than the colour of his skin.
A wise American friend told me on Wednesday night, ‘it’s up to us now to make sure he’s accountable.’ And while that may be true, I’m terrified that this great man will fall victim to the newly politicised, rabid American people before he’s even had a chance to make a real difference.