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(The Latest Word provides Sandy's latest observations about folk music and other topics. The main Latest Word page contains a list of additional installments.) REPUBLICANS, RECALLS, AND SQUARES...OH, MY! I've been uncharacteristically silent since St. Patrick's Day 2003, a/k/a the debut of "Shock and Awe: The Series" (which has been renewed indefinitely). Part of my absence has been due to increased demands on my time: performing, songwriting, recording, volunteer work for various music organizations, parenting, and travel. But part is also due to my bewilderment as to what to say about the war on Iraq that hasn't already been said or can't be said more effectively in actions or song. Mea culpa. But I'm tired of shutting up. Besides, there's more than enough going on in the world right now that demands commentary, so here goes. Thanks to the wonders of modern satellite TV, I receive local broadcasts from not only my home base of Chicago, but from New York City and Los Angeles as well. I've been following the California gubernatorial recall process from its inception, and have realized there is a connection between the Golden State Political Circus, the train wreck that is the Bush II administration, and the right-wing agenda in general. Hillary Clinton was only slightly off-target back in 1998 when she alleged the existence of a "vast right-wing conspiracy against&ldots;[her] husband." She got the "vast" and "right-wing" parts right. Bill Clinton also was correct when he chided her for using the word "conspiracy:" The word implies secret plotting, and few plots have been as overt and transparent as the right-wing's attempt to force America and the world back into an Iron-Curtain-free version of the 1950s. And the conservative Republican game plan was and is aimed not at Bill Clinton but at anything Democratic—heck, anything not conservative Republican. The earliest manifestation, of course, was the GOP-controlled Congress' feeding frenzy over Monicagate. In retrospect, it's almost quaintly comical that a body in favor of those driving Hummers went ballistic over the President receiving one (and one that exuded gas rather than burning it, at that). Next came the (s)election of Dubya as President in 2000, despite Gore receiving the largest margin of popular vote victory of any Democratic Presidential candidate in decades. Bush was already in serious trouble in the polls on Sept. 10, 2001, which proved the next morning to be the darkest day in American history for most of us and was a political deus ex machina for his image as a leader and a fortunate (for him) distraction from, and later a brazenly invoked justification for, the conservative Republican plan to drag this nation back into the Eisenhower—or perhaps even the Hoover—era. Anybody ever notice that every escalation of the color-coded terror alert system has been immediately preceded by news reports of polls showing a drop in Dubya's Presidential approval rating? Then came Operation Avenge Poppy. Gulf War I got Saddam out of Kuwait (so the Kuwaitis could go back to oppressing both foreign guest workers and their own women, and gouging the West on oil prices) but not out of power, and there was that nasty little matter of that death threat against Dubya's dad. There was little interest in the Clinton administration in attacking Iraq except to enforce sanctions and the conditions of Saddam's original surrender agreement (and, some say, as a distraction from the aforementioned Ms. Lewinsky). But 9/11 changed all that. The Bush spin machine kicked into high gear, alleging a Saddam connection to Bin Laden, a nascent Iraqi atomic weapons program, and a flourishing biochemical weapons arsenal—all allegations which have been unproven and apparently unprovable, false, or both. Meanwhile, Bush (who couldn't find oil in Texas) appointed John Ashcroft (who couldn't beat a corpse for Senate) as Attorney General; and Ashcroft (using the specter of domestic terrorism) promptly began to reestablish, via the Patriot Act, "loyalty" standards unheard of since the heyday of Joe McCarthy (and possibly even the Alien and Sedition Acts). Moreover, Ashcroft used his office as a springboard to spread the religious agenda of the reactionary fundamentalist Christian right wing, tilting us toward theocracy. And, sad to say, many leaders of my own Judaism became their strange bedfellows in return for support for Israel. Never mind that the Christian right-wing's support for the state of Israel stems not from any affinity for the Jewish people or the land as a Jewish state, but rather from the necessity of an Israel ruled by Jews in order to fulfill New Testament Apocalyptic prophecy—which ultimately requires either the conversion or destruction of all Jews. Cut to one of the few states in America where after the disastrous midterm elections of 2002 it was still safe to be a Democrat—California. Despite economic woes and disastrous energy shortages, the aptly named Gray Davis survived a challenge from a popular ex-mayor of Los Angeles and an ethically (and some say, intellectually) challenged financier to win reelection. But California was still a mess financially and otherwise—no thanks to any one person or event (save, perhaps, that created nationwide by Our Man Shrub). However, California's constitution provided for a recall mechanism far simpler and swifter than the Federal impeachment process; in fact, it was almost as easy as the "vote-of-no-confidence" process of parliamentary systems such as Canada, Israel, and the UK. So another wealthy Californian (who later dropped out of the race for lack of support) successfully bankrolled the right wing's attempt at a political do-over or "mulligan." The result was the multiring recall circus in California. In almost any other jurisdiction, a successful recall would automatically result in the next-in-command assuming the vacant office until a special election was held to determine the official successor. Not so in California. Voters there got to vote yes or no on the recall itself—and then, on the same ballot, for a successor regardless of how they voted regarding the recall. And there is no runoff—if the "yes" votes prevail, then a candidate can win with a simple plurality. How are all these phenomena intertwined? Simple: Conservative Republicans believe they are the only ones who are Right, Not right wing, but simply "right." They believe with nearly missionary fervor that the vast majority of the country shares their values and that any Democratic victory must have been either a fluke, a result of skullduggery, or both. They, like their British Puritan forebears, also believe that freedom of religion means the freedom to practice one's desired form of nonliberal Christianity. In their opinion, the last evidence of the press' freedom from liberal bias was the Chicago Tribune's November 1948 headline, "Dewey Defeats Truman." With equal missionary fervor, they believe (to paraphrase Barry Goldwater, who is doubtlessly spinning in his grave) that "extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice," at least in the defense of their convoluted definition of "liberty." Hence the disenfranchisement of thousands of validly registered minority voters in south and urban Florida and elsewhere, the approval of invalidly witnessed and notarized military absentee ballots in heavily Republican north Florida, the machinations of Katharine Harris, and the ultimate decision by a U.S. Supreme Court with serious conflicts of interest. And it's happening in California. The conservative right wing of the GOP cannot believe that a majority of voters in this day and age would honestly prefer a Democrat, so they are taking advantage of the ridiculously easy (and equally ridiculously expensive) recall process to get themselves a "do-over." Once again, they feel they are being topsy-turvy Robin Hoods and their ends justify the means they are using. Moreover, back in Washington, D.C. there is a new endangered species, the "RINO." No, that's neither a misspelling nor a typo. It's an acronym for "Republicans In Name Only." That's right. While the Democrats include under their umbrella liberals, moderates, centrists, and even conservative "blue dog Democrats," the leadership of the Republican party is totally intolerant of all but the most conservative. If the GOP powers that be have their way, such dangerous lefty radicals as Arlen Specter, Colin Powell, and Dennis Hastert may be looking for jobs in the private sector. So let's see. What Bill Clinton did with an intern (with her consent) netted him impeachment and the specter of expulsion. George Bush the Younger does the same thing to the economy, the environment, the Constitution, several nations, our foreign policy and international credibility, and our soldiers, their families, and veterans—and expects praise and reelection. And if Democrats don't stop insisting on ideological purity and unite behind any qualified candidate with a reasonable chance to beat him, Bush will get the latter half of his wish. What's wrong with this picture? Main Page • Additional Installments • Contact Sandy Copyright © 2000-2004, Sandy Andina, All Rights Reserved |
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