The US Presidential election is drowning out all other news. It can not be escaped from, this blog included. Even the world press seems to be pausing, waiting to see who will be elected.
In some ways, it’s the most important election in decades; a choice between a stone cold extremist nut case and a centrist. In other ways it’s just Tweedledum vs.Tweedledee. Oh sure, Kerry will be more moderate on domestic social issues, but it’s the war that is dividing and threatening to bankrupt the country. A President Kerry won’t do much different in Iraq than Bush. Both will continue the occupation. Both, despite their protests, will reinstitute the draft.
Green Party candidate David Cobb is an embarrassment, his campaign is nonexistent. Ralph Nader has morphed into a loon, forming coalitions with more than a few weird and unsavory groups, using right wing companies to gather signatures, and has broken his vow to focus on attacking Bush, not Kerry.
Were it be it was otherwise. But it’s not. It’s looking like Kerry will win. This will be an undeniable moral victory and the end of the Bush Dynasty (two one-term presidents spells “loser” in any political book.) There will be a brief period of euphoria on the Left and in Democratic circles, then the reality of the war will set in.
The economy is also not well. Regular self-serv gas is $2.43 a gallon here in L.A. now! Way too many people are unemployed or under employed. Teachers, for example, are having serious problems finding full time work, many have 2-3 small jobs in widely varied geographical areas, jobs that don’t pay the bills. Public hospitals are shutting down or cutting back drastically. Seems like Bad Moon Rising to me. The war is responsible for much of this, along with our predatory system of capitalism that must grind out profits at the expense of everything else.
President Kerry will not change anything structural in the country. He probably couldn’t even if he wanted to, and he doesn’t. The iron glove will be replaced with a velvet glove, that’s about it. But, for the rest of the world, the iron fist will still be there. And that’s the problem, US imperialism that can and must be continually trying to expand its military and economic power. But it’s not working anymore, is it?