While I was recently reading a speech delivered by Barack Obama to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) I found myself wishing I could hear for once a candidate saying something that was honest and reflective of what really is happening in the world. Before anybody immediately jumps to the Senators defense and misreads my intentions here I want to say, it was a good speech and I think he did the best he could. That’s what this topic is supposed to address; how can any candidate speak to any issue honestly and reflectively if doing so assures they could never be elected.
Let’s face it, all third party candidates have been doing that from the beginning; Ralph Nader for example. Then you have members of the Democratic and Republican parties that practically have no chance of winning an election but run for office anyway. In both cases their candidacy represents an attempt to bring marginal issues and perspective into the mainstream and open for debate. My question is has this ever really changed anything? Doesn’t it actually take a major upheaval or instability in America to generate real political discussion in America and then it is quickly controlled and directed; propagandized to fit the parties rhetoric; the issue framed in familiar terms and solutions that satiate the public’s anxiety but does little to solve the problem. Doesn’t this lead to our nation either limping along watching a festering wound being untreated or at some point when the system of illusions and band-aid fixes can no longer sustain the pressure, total melt down occurs leaving people staring in wonder at how this could have happen. I think it is 9/11 was one such event.
Back to Barack Obama’s speech for a moment; it would have been refreshing to me to hear a candidate have the opportunity to say; of course we want to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons; we want to prevent and end the threat of all nuclear war and for that reason the United States will be at the forefront of downsizing, containing, eliminating nuclear devices in the world and here at home too. We will show the world true leadership and not the hypocrisy we practice today. We need to take bold new steps for the future of this nation and the entire world to put an end to the possibility of nuclear holocaust once and for all.
On the Israeli-Palestinian issue, the United States stands behind our friends and allies; we respect the right of the Israeli people to defend themselves and their national sovereignty. This however does not mean that we condone or support the occupation of lands they have no right to. This does not support disproportionate response or war crimes committed by any people against another. For this reason the United States will host an ongoing commitment for a two state solution based on returning Israeli and Palestinian lands to their 1967 borders and proposing a DMZ under UN jurisdiction to last as long as necessary to assure stabilization within the region. We will work with the Palestinian people to create opportunity and restitution of their infrastructure to encourage independence and inoculate them from the influence of radicalism within the region. Let there be no mistake; this is a brokered peace that will be vigorously defended and violators will be swiftly and decisively dealt with.
You know as well as I do, any candidate that came out with something even remotely similar to this would have zero chance of being elected. My question is why? The answer is simple; the American citizenry are uninformed; often times victimized by our own political propaganda to the point they simply do not believe the truth even if they hear it. The only solution to the problem of not having candidates who present real solutions to critical issues in our nation is increase public awareness. I have written endless about this. I have read article after article on why fact sheets and policy papers do not work in America and you have too. If you do not hear your candidate saying what you want them to say; I hear all the time there are no good candidates to choose from; then you should be asking yourself why not. I propose the obvious; they can only say what we are willing as a nation to hear.
Perhaps there is a reverse to this however. I also believe if someone was bold enough, courageous enough, showed leadership and resolve in their passion for this nation and her people; I believe America is ready to listen. But this requires a boldness and strident visionary that seems strikingly lacking today.
I have a hard time imagining Barack Obama sincere as he is; John Edwards with all his populist appeal; Hillary Clinton with all her triangulation; saying something as unpretentious and direct as these quotes from Roosevelt:
Franklin D. Roosevelt, said when he accepted his party's nomination in 1936 in Philadelphia, "...out of this modern civilization, economic royalists carved new dynasties. It was natural and perhaps human that the privileged princes of these new economic dynasties, thirsting for power, reached out for control over government itself. They created a new despotism and wrapped it in the robes of legal sanction. And as a result the average man once more confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man...."
"These economic royalists complain that we seek to overthrow the institutions of America. What they really complain of is that we seek to take away their power. Our allegiance to American institutions requires the overthrow of this kind of power! In vain they seek to hide behind the flag and the Constitution. In their blindness they forget what the flag and the Constitution stand for."
My solution, “keep talking”. Tell everyone you know the nation needs them to be involved. If they truly believe there is no solution then it is because they are part of a growing culture of despair in this nation. America needs to snap out of their trance of non committal, non participation while they still can. We need to show them the way!
Lastly, and hopefully this will not seem pretentious of me, let me quote myself from another thread that predominately went unread:
Why have a majority in congress if we are so concerned about pleasing everyone and offending no one that we do nothing? The whole point to discussion on this board and hopefully the nation at large is to fix a crippled political system that is clearly not working as the founders intended. We need to talk about the policies that are good for America and not an endless procession of why they will never happen. They would happen if democracy worked like it should.
This thread is about challenging the status quo. If the facts are political dynasty and class warfare has robbed us of a system of representation that works, which many here would agree is the problem, then that is the most critical problem that must be address.
I am convinced we are at a crossroads. We can either vote for, support, challenge, hold candidates accountable for what they do or concede the end of democracy in America; we will not have both. This will not happen with business as usual. This will not happen without growing resolve that something can and must be done to increase public awareness to dangers gathering over this nation.
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