NOT ENOUGH AUDACITY TO ACT FOR THE PEOPLE?
Paul Krugman, in his June 25 New York times editorial "Not Enough Audacity", points out that: "When it comes to domestic policy, there are two Barack Obamas.. On one side there’s Barack the Policy Wonk, whose command of the issues — and ability to explain those issues in plain English — is a joy to behold. But on the other side there’s Barack the Post-Partisan, who searches for common ground where none exists, and whose negotiations with himself lead to policies that are far too weak.
Both Baracks were on display in the president’s press conference earlier this week. First, Mr. Obama offered a crystal-clear explanation of the case for health care reform, and especially of the case for a public option competing with private insurers. “If private insurers say that the marketplace provides the best quality health care, if they tell us that they’re offering a good deal,” he asked, “then why is it that the government, which they say can’t run anything, suddenly is going to drive them out of business? That’s not logical.”But when asked whether the public option was non-negotiable he waffled, declaring that there are no “lines in the sand.”... So Mr. Obama and Democrats in Congress have to hang tough — no more gratuitous giveaways in the attempt to sound reasonable. And reform advocates have to keep up the pressure to stay on track."
I have defended for years the idea to use a public health plan to out-compete the private health plans. Because of its bulk, a public health plan can negotiate lower prices from drug makers, and it is cheaper, because it does not have to make such a profit that it would attract investors. Now, clearly, the people who expect to make a fortune from the bad health of their fellow citizens, are terrified by the perspective of losing a major source of gouging. So the plutocrats are on the rope, and now is not the time to rescue them, They were already rescued by giving them a few trillions for their bankrupted banks.
But there is a more general question.
The leader of May 68, the highly successful Franco-German politician, Daniel Cohn-Bendit,has boosted ecology in France and the European parliament. Considering his great popularity, he has been pressed to run for the French presidency, but the "green giant" declined "Because to be president, one has to be a killer."
By this Daniel Cohn-Bendit meant that the French president comes across decisions where he has to decide to kill people. It is part of the job. France declared war to Hitler on September 3, 1939. During the cold war, Soviet attack plans in Europe intended to stop at the French border, because the Soviets were persuaded that France would strike with its nuclear arsenal. Same for Britain. Everybody knew that the defense of democracy, worldwide, depended upon the military resolve of the three great democracies, Britain, France, and the USA. That, in turn, depends upon them being led by killers.
To be a strong warrior, one has to have resolve. One has to believe in something beyond seduction. Of course, successful politicians, in a democracy, have to be seducers, otherwise they would not be elected. But the heads of government of the top democracies have to be more. They have such very strong beliefs that they would order whatever is necessary.
Obama believes deeply, apparently, that the truth is somewhere between yesterday's obsolete democrats, and yesterday's obsolete republicans. But, being half way lost between two wrongs does not make one right. That the USA does not have a public health plan is abysmal, and it has become a national weakness so great, it is actually a strategic threat against the USA.
Obama has enormous power and clout at his disposal right now, but he is wasting them because he seems to believe that it is wise to believe in nothing except being the interlocutor between adorers of the plutocrats on the left, and adorers of the plutocrats on the right.
Look at the gas tax: it has never been lower, because it is not adjusted for inflation. But Obama will not rise his voice about such things, he just runs a deficit that will soon paralyze him. All he seems to want is play a smile on TV. But the USA, and democracy, need, even require, to be defended by people with ultimate convictions. If one is so weak in one's conviction, that one cannot dispose of the weakest ideas of the extreme right, that have proven so completely wrong, for so long, how could one look as if one could order a nuclear strike? Because it is ultimately what it is at.
Obama's metapsychological waffling is also apparent in foreign policy. After proclaiming the Qur'an "holy" several times in Cairo, he declared: “And I consider it part of my responsibility as President of the United States to fight against negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear.” Apparently Obama had forgotten the blatantly secular Constitution of the USA. The consequences were immediate: Khamenei, the official "Supreme Guide" of Islam in Iran, stole the election there, within days. Khamenei had every reason to expect that Obama would fight by his side, against the "negative stereotypes of Islam wherever they appear", for example in the streets of Teheran.
Patrice Ayme
http://patriceayme.wordpress.com/
Note: For days, Obama held to the position that "The difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised." Maybe the noodle is al dente, maybe it is not...
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