Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Dear Mr. President,

Last night you called for “winning the future” by investing in America, in things like roads and bridges, education, high-speed rail, high-speed internet and clean energy technology. Certainly needed but I don’t see how you’re going to do any of it what with those Tea Party Republicans hell-bent on dismantling every program that benefits the American people, indeed, dismantling government itself by cutting spending so drastically that it cannot provide even basic services. (Is stopping the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and using that $13 billion a month here at home out of the question?) All those restive Republicans must be giving you fits, but I’ll bet what really worries you right now is all those restive Arabs. Tunisia, Lebanon, Egypt, who’s next? What’s striking about these nascent revolutions is that they’re not ideological but true grass-roots movements trying to topple corrupt regimes run by autocratic suppressive anti-democratic rulers that we’ve supported, funded and propped up for years. The heart of the matter is this paragraph in this morning’s paper: “So it [the U.S.] is proceeding gingerly balancing the democratic aspirations of young Arabs with cold-eyed strategic and commercial interests. That sometimes involves supporting autocratic and unpopular governments – which turned many of those young people against the United States.” Well, right there’s the key to a lot of questions you should be asking, Mr. President. Like the underlying reasons for the 9/11 attacks, the Iraqi insurgency, al Queda’s very existence, and what the future looks like for Afghanistan. In each revolution, it’s the same, years of repressive, corrupt government, injustice, fraudulent elections, high unemployment and lack of human dignity and regard for its citizens by these autocrats, the “allies” of the U.S. Will we never learn? In your speech last night you said the right words: “the United States of America stands with the people of Tunisia and supports the democratic aspirations of all people.” But do these words really have any meaning beyond your speech? We, the U.S. of A., have a long history of promoting democracy in word but not deed. When push comes to shove, it’s the commercial and political that rule, never idealism and never democracy. Not if it gets in the way of capitalism. Republican or democrat makes no difference. We are a capitalist society, not a democratic society. Big difference, Mr. President. What ye sow, that shall ye also reap.

Free Bradley Manning!