The Magnificent Ambersons

What happens when an aristocracy faces change not of its own design and a rapidly expanding democracy? In The Magnificent Ambersons, Orson Welles depicts the response of the ruling class when facing a terminal crisis in leadership. The protagonist, George Minafer, is a spoiled young man secure of his place because of his old family name and connections. Disequilibrium results when he meets and is charmed by a young Lucy whose father has come into new wealth through the automobile industry. In the economic acceleration following the Civil War, landowners were displaced by men able to harness new technologies.

Early on, I mistook Hillary and Bill Clinton's obstinate defiance as a marker for their own particular psychological defects. But over at Jack and Jill Politics, Rikyrah has nailed it. Folks who say that there is no difference between Democrat and Republican are wrong. The Republicans had there own version of Obama in the form of Mike Huckabee but he was quickly marginalized in favor of a candidate who enjoyed less enthusiastic support but wasn't a threat to their pecuniary interest like Governor Huckabee and didn't arouse the tensions associated with Mitt Romney's Mormon faith.

On the Democrat side, Barack Obama's ability to outmaneuver Hillary Rodham Clinton poses an existential threat to the dominance of her ultra rich supporters. For what is the value of being a multimillionaire if an upstart politician can circumvent you and gather more money by appealing directly to voters? What is the use of controlling a traditional media outlet if a politician's supporters can use the Internet to reach the masses without filters and counter skewed portraits?

What has traditionally been marketed as a democracy has really been a carefully fashioned product given to the public and called a choice. Sometimes the leash guiding the voter is bypassed in favor of direct control the way it was in 2000 with Bush versus Gore. But you can't do that more than once a generation so for the most part we're gently led toward our heart's desire. The money men and women have divided their purses fairly evenly with a modest tilt toward Republicans.

But a renaissance of democracy and open source input has challenged this approach. It was only through Youtube that Ron Paul was able to moderately overcome obstacles to getting access on network and cable television. And Obama's political capital is derived in great measure from his skillful use of the Internet. That does not obviate the truth that Barack has been carefully vetted and has his own crew of embedded insiders.

There is a difference, however, between a realist willing to accommodate a new and more inclusive and transparent order with a revanchist unwilling to give up a lost cause based on political infighting and brokered arrangements suited to the era before the blogosphere. Despite all the talk about enfranchising the voters, Hillary and her supporters are seeking to do just the opposite at this summer's convention. But let's hope that not too many accept the largess Hillary's closest friends. After all, they were willing to drop $12 million on Michigan and I'm sure they'll bring their wallets with them to Denver.

Liberty versus Justice

America promises liberty and justice. But achieving one often comes at the expense of the other. In a country as conservative as the United States, when the aims of liberty conflict with those of justice, power elites usually decide in favor of liberty. Senator Obama himself testified to this when he said that the decision he regrets the most was voting in favor of congressional intervention in the Terri Schiavo case. The Illinois senator did not act on behalf of justice for a brain damaged patient. Instead he advanced the cause of media savvy cultural conservatives who saw the case as a proxy for anti-abortion interests.

In a vigorous exercise of geopolitical spelunking, Temple3 has been connecting the stalactites of Black American history with the stalagmites of African experiences. His ability to cross boundaries of ethics, science, history, and political economy has inspired me to see connections between the Pastor Jeremiah Wright imbroglio with African attempts at decolonization.

Since the days of William Jennings Bryan, progressives have usually tattooed social justice with racialism and nativism. Whether it was anti-immigrant or anti-Catholic sentiment, popular advocates for the lower classes usually entertained some degree ethnic or racial hierarchy and exclusion. Even in this current season, John Edwards, the only candidate to speak boldly about class divide, also alluded to the notion of his being the most credible Democratic candidate by virtue of being a white man who could appeal to rural voters. Oddly enough, his wife simultaneously expressed the Ferraro gene by saying that Mr. Edwards was disadvantaged because he is a white man.

Pastor Wright's pronouncements are the latest inducement for mainstream America to emerge from its state of oneirism. With the unpleasant reminders in such proximity, it is doubtful that the United States could ever follow Germany in actively recovering suppressed memories of past violations. Indeed, as a settler nation, America is the model for South Africa's white citizens who use appeals to liberty and individual responsibility to counter government mandates to improve material conditions of apartheid's black victims.

Hillary Clinton to Barack Obama: Get Some!

The Green Kitchen

Mr. Dean and Ms. Pelosi, please end this.

Hillary Must Go

I've written before that the Democratic Party is in the middle of carefully extirpating Bill and Hillary Clinton. The time for gentility is over.

Every Congressional Black Caucus member must publicly repudiate the Clinton campaign's race baiting tactics. They don't need to endorse Senator Obama but they must announce the withdrawal of their support from Mrs. Clinton. The time for expressions of regret and sorrow on the part of Senator Clinton is far gone. She has crossed the commander-in-chief threshold established by previous aspirants to the office such as Stephen Douglas, Strom Thurmond, and George Wallace.

Howard Dean and Nancy Pelosi must publicly announce that the Clinton campaign's forays in this area of casting aspersions related to Senator Obama based on race and religion is not reflective of the Democratic Party. Senator Obama, in turn, must deliver a keynote address on this recent turn of events and give his supporters a reason to support him. Endurance can be sustained for just so long before turning into apathy and unconcern. I know that this is politically risky, but Obama needs to put forth a vision that sets straight the vertigo coming from the New York senator.

I'm in the middle of composing letters to my congressional representative, senator, and governor, all of them white supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton, expressing my firm conviction that if Senator Clinton is the Democratic nominee, then my wife and I will never vote for any Democrat, even Jesus, ever again. Mrs. Clinton has turned a sober and inspiring moment that I was enthused to share with my six year old daughter into a tawdry affair more suitable for Jerry Springer or Maury Povich. She is unworthy of our votes.

Aha!

I think I have it figured out. The Democratic Party is in the midst of performing an appendectomy on itself. Hillary Clinton is a vestigial remnant that has become toxic and threatens the body politic. Although no longer significant in a productive sense she remains a dangerous presence.

Last weekend Barack Obama proved his worth by lending his not too inconsiderable influence to help the Dems capture Dennis Hastert's old congressional seat. The winner, a newcomer to politics, is a former physicist who came upon wealth and was by all accounts not a charismatic figure or gifted speaker. If Barack brings those kinds of trophies and he's not yet even POTUS just think what he could do in high office. This net gain came at the expense of Republicans. It's fair to say that Hillary Clinton could never replicate this feat in her state of New York.

In the zero sum game of partisan politics, this is the essence of power. While Hillary fights tooth and nail for the party's nomination with her NCAA level skill, Barack Obama is using his professional talent to become President of the United States. He goes into states where he is not favored and meets with constituencies that are not natural allies. He issues direct but respectful challenges to John McCain and unlike Senator Clinton doesn't provide the opposition a thick portfolio of his weaknesses.

Obama is gold backed currency to Hillary's overextended Mastercard. Her career in public life is effectively finished. Do not expect her to return to Washington after her term runs out. She is threatening to cost the Dems millions of dollars that they would rather spend on contesting against Republicans in the fall than holding elections in Florida and Michigan after they forfeited their rights and just to prolong her slim chances. Barack certainly doesn't need this to prove his legitimacy and neither does the DNC.

This is definitely not something that one does if one expects to return or be invited back. I now believe that Mrs. Clinton doesn't care for the Senate. Her time there was just an attempt to show that she wasn't really all that bad before taking a swipe at the White House. We all know better now.

Hillary is through with public life. The Hill reports that Clinton and RNC attacks on Obama appear coordinated. The Huffington Post and DailyKos have both pivoted noticeably against Clinton: calling foul on her endorsement of McCain and noting her odd switch on Obama's fitness for leadership by suggesting he would be an excellent VP. The New York Times's recent piece on her inner circle also suggests a person unprepared for greater responsibilities than she currently holds.

There is mass outcry against Geraldine Ferraro's incredulous comment about Obama being advantaged over Hillary, the wife of a recent President, because he is black. Hillary has reportedly revamped her website to appear more like Obama's. The suggestion for voting by mail in Florida is denounced even by Florida Democrats. (Obama was reported as receiving no votes in certain Harlem districts.) The recent Elliot Spitzer bombshell is the last nail in the coffin. Not only did he endorse Senator Clinton, but the prostitute issue raises up uncomfortable memories of Bill's dalliances. The Spitzer scandal is particularly disadvantageous to Hillary because it gives the media beasts fresh meat and decreases their incentive to prolong the illusion of a Clinton resurgence.

The Clintons have promulgated the notion of a brokered convention. They're stuck in the Sixties. The truth is that the convention is a coronation.

Nah, bruh. Hillary is done. She won't get re-elected to the Senate. She and Bill are engaged in a folie-a-deux, a mental disorder in which two close individuals share the same delusion. What the country is witnessing is the kind of mental breakdown that was observed by insiders while LBJ was losing Vietnam and Nixon was being strangled by Watergate. Such blunders, as Clinton's, are ill tolerated in elite politics. Supposed loyalists seek to evacuate and find shelter and enemies use the opportunity to strike back. Barack is the emerging sun and the Clintons are a setting moon.

The last minute attempt to smear Obama just as the general election is about to start has sealed the Clintons's fate. As a former president, Bill will always be accorded respect and by association so will Hillary. But they are effectively in the Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter category. They will effectively become peripheral figures which you treat like distant relations that you encounter every so often at a cookout; force a smile, pat too aggressively on the back, and quickly excuse yourself to go to the punch bowl.

Hillary is a pitbull that will not let go and must be carefully euthanized.

Update 11:10AM EST:

This is a very, very dangerous and unsteady posture to assume. A classic Gulf of Tonkin move: create a provocation to incite Iran and turn to the American public and say, "See what they did?" And launch a 'just' war.

This is why people who say that there is no difference between Dems and Repubs or Hillary and Barack are wrong. The commander-in-chief reference that she dropped last week was a thinly veiled expression for willingness to go to war. That is why Hillary put herself and McCain ahead of Obama and why she will never be the nominee. Nancy Pelosi has practically ruled Hillary out.

There is some serious jockeying among the elites right now. The outcome is no longer in the voters hands. The Dems are in the tenuous position of extirpating the hawks in their midst. Hard to do this without disemboweling itself, to be sure. The chess match isn't just between the candidates but what they represent. The Dean and Pelosi wing will never countenance the Clintons. That is why Lieberman had to go and Hillary has to go. But you can't just expel them. This is Shakespearean drama being played out in real life: King Richard the Second(Clinton) versus Bolingbroke (Obama).

Commander-In-Chief Threshold

For anyone who still thinks that Hillary Clinton will be on the Democratic ticket much less the nominee, I say this just about ends her political career. She will finish out her term in the Senate and be a political version of Dennis Hopper. I just wish she cared more about her supporters and quit the race by the end of March, but at this point she is another gambling addict sitting at a blackjack table and doubling her bets despite mounting losses.