Sea Change in America?
What an interesting thesis!!
First, their constitution and the system of power distribution is practically fail safe. I believe most Americans are coming to see they made a big mistake in 2008, but because they have mid-term elections, they have an opportunity to correct course. Wish we could do that every two years!!!
Secondly, perhaps the death of Senator Edward Kennedy really was the death of an era. What a refreshing breeze is blowing in from the East. The Kennedys were instrumental in reforming the USA in the 1960s. Their vision then was in fact implemented in the years that followed.
Since the 1960s there have been an ever increasing number of Black people holding important offices at every level: police chiefs and commissioners, mayors, school board chairpersons, governors, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, supreme court justices, congressmen and senators, etc., etc., etc. The same can be said of the private sector. Look at the number of African Americans in the media, for example, or the entertainment industry.
So many people viewed the election of Barrack Obama as watershed development. A turning point. I didn't. I thought the election of a Black man to the presidency was only a matter of time. Once a critical mass of politically experienced Blacks had developed, it would have been ludicrous to expect one or more of them would not take a stab at attaining the highest office in the land. The really telling bit woven into the fabric in the American tapestry today is the fact that Blacks occupy all positions along the political spectrum and those on the right are calling the race hucksters to account.
Indeed, IMHO, the most intelligent and articulate are on the Republican, or at least the right, side of the aisle. They are part and parcel of the tea party movement, whether the media, or especially, the old guard likes it or not. The realization of Martin Luther King's "content of our character" dream is in full bloom, right in front of our faces.
Thirdly, the Sarah Palin phenom and especially the Tea Party movement have been unprecedented. The great masses of Middle America, or for that matter, Middle Anywhere, DO NOT, AS A RULE, SPONTANEOUSLY HIT THE STREETS IN PROTEST. They are too busy creating and maintaining the fabric of the society that the elites clothe themselves in.
Even during the sixties, with the exception of the Civil Rights Movement, it was primarily students that participated in protests, and the leaders of these protests were invariably leftists, hard leftest, in many cases, some of whom went on to highly influential positions in government and academia where their influence would continue and expand, and, especially in academia, remain unchallenged.
Along comes Sarah Palin. She is the antithesis of the elitist expert, the know-it-all academic. She is speaking Middle America's language. She does not look down on them. She is one of them. She represents bedrock values. No wonder her book is a run away best seller and her speaking tour attracts so many thousands of people. No wonder the old guard is shrieking in horror!!
As far as I'm concerned, I haven't been this enthralled with American politics since the sixties. (Well, with the exception, maybe, of the war in Iraq, but that was for reasons that had very little to do with the internal dynamics of American politics.) I await eagerly the 2010 mid-term elections. We'll see whether there really is a sea change. And may the next Black president be a Republican.
"America is on the verge of something unprecedented in history: the peaceful, constitutional replacement of our country's entire political establishment."I find that country to be so fascinating. Annoying sometimes, but always fascinating.
First, their constitution and the system of power distribution is practically fail safe. I believe most Americans are coming to see they made a big mistake in 2008, but because they have mid-term elections, they have an opportunity to correct course. Wish we could do that every two years!!!
Secondly, perhaps the death of Senator Edward Kennedy really was the death of an era. What a refreshing breeze is blowing in from the East. The Kennedys were instrumental in reforming the USA in the 1960s. Their vision then was in fact implemented in the years that followed.
Since the 1960s there have been an ever increasing number of Black people holding important offices at every level: police chiefs and commissioners, mayors, school board chairpersons, governors, ambassadors, cabinet ministers, supreme court justices, congressmen and senators, etc., etc., etc. The same can be said of the private sector. Look at the number of African Americans in the media, for example, or the entertainment industry.
So many people viewed the election of Barrack Obama as watershed development. A turning point. I didn't. I thought the election of a Black man to the presidency was only a matter of time. Once a critical mass of politically experienced Blacks had developed, it would have been ludicrous to expect one or more of them would not take a stab at attaining the highest office in the land. The really telling bit woven into the fabric in the American tapestry today is the fact that Blacks occupy all positions along the political spectrum and those on the right are calling the race hucksters to account.
Indeed, IMHO, the most intelligent and articulate are on the Republican, or at least the right, side of the aisle. They are part and parcel of the tea party movement, whether the media, or especially, the old guard likes it or not. The realization of Martin Luther King's "content of our character" dream is in full bloom, right in front of our faces.
Thirdly, the Sarah Palin phenom and especially the Tea Party movement have been unprecedented. The great masses of Middle America, or for that matter, Middle Anywhere, DO NOT, AS A RULE, SPONTANEOUSLY HIT THE STREETS IN PROTEST. They are too busy creating and maintaining the fabric of the society that the elites clothe themselves in.
Even during the sixties, with the exception of the Civil Rights Movement, it was primarily students that participated in protests, and the leaders of these protests were invariably leftists, hard leftest, in many cases, some of whom went on to highly influential positions in government and academia where their influence would continue and expand, and, especially in academia, remain unchallenged.
Along comes Sarah Palin. She is the antithesis of the elitist expert, the know-it-all academic. She is speaking Middle America's language. She does not look down on them. She is one of them. She represents bedrock values. No wonder her book is a run away best seller and her speaking tour attracts so many thousands of people. No wonder the old guard is shrieking in horror!!
As far as I'm concerned, I haven't been this enthralled with American politics since the sixties. (Well, with the exception, maybe, of the war in Iraq, but that was for reasons that had very little to do with the internal dynamics of American politics.) I await eagerly the 2010 mid-term elections. We'll see whether there really is a sea change. And may the next Black president be a Republican.
posted by Louise at 11:23 am
1 Comments:
Nicely written!
It reminds me of the words of the great Iowahawk:
"So for now, let’s put politics aside and celebrate this historic milestone. In his famous speech at the Lincoln Memorial 45 years ago, Dr. King said 'I have a dream that one day my children will live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.' Let us now take pride that Tuesday we Americans proved that neither thing matters anymore."
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