Happy Illusions

“It is style and story, not content or history or reality, which informs our politics and our lives. We prefer happy illusions. And it works because so much of the American electorate, including those who should know better, blindly cast ballots for slogans, smiles, the cheerful family tableaux, narratives and the perceived sincerity and the attractiveness of candidates.” Chris Hedges, Truthdig

The Tea Fire shoved politics off my table. When a wildfire devastates people in your own family, it’s hard to focus on the goings-on in Sacramento or Washington D.C.

The fire was a stark reminder of the ephemeral nature of life, how in an instant the course of a life – no matter how rich or seemingly protected – can change. In a matter of hours on a preternaturally hot and windy November night, hundreds of people lost a lifetime of memories, investment and their place in the world. You have to walk in the burn area, through the ash and charred timbers, see with your own eyes the collapsed roofs, blackened bricks and torched oak trees to fully grasp the devastation.

But politics has returned now, as it always does, because human beings are political creatures, and the decisions made in the capitol city of any nation carry implications for real people with real needs. Americans are riveted by the economy, desperate to know how bad it will get and how they might be personally affected, while Detroit cries for a bail-out and once proud and arrogant CitiBank calls for a helping hand. The irony is as stark as the hypocrisy and I don’t know where to start my tirade, other than to say that lavishly compensated and coddled corporate CEO’s know no shame.

The bottom line on Detroit is that the Big 3 have been sliding into the shitter for years, stubbornly wedded to shoddy designs and crappy quality. Sorry, UAW members. (The Ford parked in my carport is the most service-prone vehicle I have ever owned, and never, ever again will I plunk down my hard-earned credit on a Ford, GM or Chrysler product.) While the Japanese focused on quality, the Big 3 focused on the slick commercials they would show during halftime at the Super Bowl. While Honda and Toyota were getting out front of hybrid technology, the Big 3 were rolling out one gargantuan SUV after another, with names like Explorer and Expedition, Yukon and Tahoe, rugged luxury for suburban soccer moms who never ventured within a hundred miles of an unpaved road.

Now Detroit wants taxpayer money to execute an about-face, but let’s be honest: six months or a year from now, the Big 3 CEO’s will be back in front of a Congressional committee asking for more money, more concessions, more assistance, and they will spout the same arguments about the auto industry’s importance to the American economy, how it cannot be allowed to flounder or fail, blah, blah, blah. Congress will cave in, as it always does, and the slow death will continue, limb by limb, organ by organ; two of the Big 3 will merge amidst the usual corporate rhetoric -- happy talk of synergy and complimentary strengths and how the merger is good for America and American workers – and that too will fail.

But what was the point I was sidling up to when I got off on a Detroit tangent? Yes, Mr. Hedges, whose piece I came across a week after the election, when Sarah Palin embarked on her magical media tour. The hapless Governor from the Alaskan Frontier didn’t seem to grasp that her ticket was on the losing end of the electoral vote count or that she was the anchor that helped pull it down.

Palin is the poster child for Hedges’ thesis that American voters are easy marks for slick media images, sunny personal narratives, and campaign messages that bear little or no resemblance to reality. Why journalists following Palin didn’t burst out laughing when she said she was keeping her options open for 2012 is beyond me; she won’t be any more qualified then than she is now because the Governor of Alaska is Stupid. Flat stupid. Dense. Moronic. A politician who claims, as Palin does, that the economy will right itself if Government will just get out of the way of the people, is simply not to be taken seriously. The problem, Governor, was caused by lack of government oversight of the financial system, and that lack was systematically engineered by free-market ideologues.

Palin can run amok in Alaska without doing much damage because the state is sparsely populated, remote, and rich from petro-dollars and Federal subsidies. If the people of Alaska want a dolt for a governor, fine, they have the right to keep electing Palin, but do us all a favor and never again allow that dingbat into the lower 48.

Rush Limbaugh’s millions of faithful listeners also add credence to Hedges’ argument. There was Limbaugh, two or three days after the election, two and a half months before Obama will be sworn in, calling the economic downturn the “Obama Recession.” Rush contended that the financial markets were rattled by the mere thought of a Liberal in the White House – as if the past eight years of economic mismanagement by Republicans (and some weak-kneed Democrats, too) never happened. If we’re going to give this recession a name, let’s be fair, include the architects and the enablers, and call it the Phil Graham-Alan Greenspan-Robert Rubin-George W. Bush Recession.

Limbaugh shouldn’t be taken seriously, either, but I can see thousands of his adherents nodding in agreement when he spouts nonsense about the “Obama Recession.”

Meanwhile, the President-Elect is surrounding himself with Clintonites and moving closer and closer to the safe center. No one should be surprised by this – campaigning is one thing, governing another. As Eric Alterman wrote in the Nation, “Obama will disappoint us.”

The Rule of Law & Other Fables

George W. Bush continues to strut around the White House as if he will depart on January 20, 2009 on a triumphant note – and not as the worst and most unpopular Presidents in U.S. history. You have to admire George’s uncanny ability to shut out the real world and create his own alternate reality, where the nation’s economy is humming – thanks to his tax cuts for the wealthy – and our wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are going according to plan – thanks to his brilliant leadership.

Barack Obama lives in the real world where outrageous political corruption and slavish devotion to failed ideology leads to the suffering of flesh and blood human beings. The cable TV pundits are wild with advice for the President-elect, what he should do first, who he should appoint to what Cabinet post and so on. Office pools predicting the final composition of Obama’s cabinet are enjoying enthusiastic support and faring far better than the average 401K.

Meanwhile, King George is ramping up efforts to rat-fuck the nation one last time. While the country celebrates Obama’s victory and enjoys a resurgence of hope and anticipation, Bush and his cronies are changing rules and re-writing regulations to make it easier for the FBI to spy on American citizens, dismantling environmental protections in place since Bill Clinton enjoyed blow-jobs from Monica Lewinsky in the Oval Office, and basically standing around playing pocket pool while JPMorgan Chase and other big banks use their bailout windfalls for mergers and acquisitions rather than loans.

We expected nothing less from Bush than a last gasp orgy of ideological intercourse, one or two final lost weekends where the rich and well-connected get richer and American taxpayers get saddled with the bill. The big bailout (paid for with our hard-earned money and our kids’ future, don’t forget) wasn’t supposed to play this way, and we can only hope that an Obama Administration will tweak the bailout to make it work the way it was intended. This is important. The country’s leaders need to understand what made the financial system run off the rails, identify who was culpable, and enact legislation or create regulations to make sure it never happens again. Unfortunately, with the likes of Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers circling Obama’s camp like birds of prey, it’s possible that Obama, in the end, will do nothing to upset the status quo.

That would hurt, not to mention insult, all the people who supported Obama’s campaign by donating money, knocking on doors or making phone calls; people didn’t work their tails off for Barack Obama only to watch him fall victim to the Clinton Syndrome. Remember? Clinton entered the White House on a wave of hope, but after encountering some early opposition, promptly pitched his tent in the valley of corporate interests and became a shill for Wall Street flim-flam. Despite his rhetoric and good-old-boy charm, Bill Clinton was no friend of working Americans. Frankly, when he wasn’t screwing someone other than his lawfully wedded wife, he was screwing us.

It’s natural for TV pundits and citizens to focus on the economy in this time of uncertainty and spreading financial distress, but personally I would like to hear the President-elect say something about restoring the rule of law at home and abroad. It seems to me that an affirmation of bedrock American principles is not only necessary, but a precondition for solving all the other problems we face. Are we going to allow Administration officials to ignore Congressional subpoenas or not? Are we going to continue violating the human rights of detainees? Are we going to turn a blind eye to Israel as it continues to violate every treaty it has ever entered into with the Palestinians? Are we going to allow further erosion of our civil liberties in the name of a false security? From there we can debate the best way to create a more just and equitable society, deliver health care to those in need, and get the hell out of Iraq, with or without “honor.”

I don’t think such introspection and reflection will happen, but it’s nice to hope.

Flight of the Owners

“Since becoming President of the United States in 2001, President Bush has worked with the Congress to create an ownership society and build a future of security, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.” Official White House Website

That’s rich, isn’t it, given that the “owners” are currently running to the Federal government and lining up for a taxpayer-funded bailout. Rich but hardly surprising -- the fact that this nonsensical blurb remains on the White House website is testament to the Bush Administration’s staunch refusal to recognize reality.

The Ownership Society was always a codeword for supporting the wealthy at the expense of the middle class and the poor. Bush and his posse of radical ideologues pretended that the Ownership Society was open to all, but of course the front door was guarded and only the “right” people were allowed inside. Bush & Co. wrecked the economy by misplaced faith in the “free market” and by dismantling the regulatory framework that was created to curb the schemes and shenanigans of greedy capitalists.

We’re experiencing the end result of Bush’s disastrous blindness and incompetent leadership: a $700 billion Government bailout. Lo and behold, the Market God is neither infallible nor immune to manipulation and gaming; now the Federal government is poised to become the not-so-proud owner of billions of dollars worth of paper – much of it of unknown or dubious value. That there is no place to turn except the Government must make the Bushies squirm and retch; they have nothing but contempt for Government, and to watch their cronies, political allies and campaign contributors run to Government for aid must gall them no end.

Or perhaps it galls them not at all. Introspection has never been a Bush Administration strength.


The meltdown in the financial markets pushed a lot of things off the table last week. I lost track of GOP-darling Sarah Palin while her running mate was stumbling for words to explain his economic flip-flops. I assume Palin was closeted with advisors and tutors, learning the capitols of the world, the names of heads of state, and the major exports of India, Saudi Arabia and China. By now, I’m sure Palin can recite the Bush Doctrine forwards and backwards.

Ah, folly, you twisted devil. Regardless of who he claims to be as Wall Street burns, John McCain is one of the best legislative lackeys that bankers, investment houses and hedge fund operators ever had. McCain’s claim to carry the banner for improved regulation of the financial sector is contradicted by his voting record.

McCain keeps trying to reinvent himself as someone he’s not, hoping, I suppose, that the media will ignore his record and let his blatant lies pass. If you believe that John McCain can “reform” the corrupt culture he helped create in Washington, then you might as well bet your house on the Pittsburgh Pirates to win the World Series next season. The truth is that McCain has assiduously championed the interests of his corporate benefactors, and to believe that he has changed is pure fantasy.

Crude oil is up, the DOW is down and the US Government can always tap taxpayer money for ill-advised wars or to rescue wayward corporations. We can’t find ten bucks to provide health care for the uninsured or to educate our children properly or to wean ourselves from fossil fuels, but we can wage wars and rescue the wealthy with hardly any debate at all.

That’s the American Way in this age of perversity.