Democratic what?
The Republicans, no doubt, get what they deserve, given the out-of-control federal spending the last few years, the corruption and sex scandals in the Congress, and the inability to articulate a conservative message.
That said, the current Democratic Party is nothing like what I remember my parents and grandparents belonged to. The latest Farm Bill is welfare for the wealthy. The restrictions on energy exploration and production are boutique—and hurt the working classes, who can’t wait for hydrogen cars and solar houses while they drive the 10-year-old Chevy truck to work at $4 a gallon.
Democratic populism is an oxymoron these days, something like multimillionaire John Edwards in blue jeans on his way to his mansion, or John Kerry in duck-hunting garb, or Michelle Obama and those oppressive Ivy League loans that have to be paid back and no doubt cut into the meager $20,000 annual donations to the pulpit of Rev. Wright.
What I miss most about the old Democratic Party was its “can-do” energy. Here one thinks of Pat Brown building California highways and universities, or a Harry Truman setting up the ambitious policy of containment, or the soaring rhetoric and tax cuts of JFK. After that it was mostly ‘how do we divide up the pie’ rather than ‘how we create a bigger pie.’ And for ‘damn it, we are all going to get along, and stand together or hang together’ we got ‘you and you and you can all have your hyphenated-names, set-asides, and tribal spaces.”
Populism
The last two weeks in speaking in various places I have had dinner with a few of what I would call “elite” Democrats. I was struck how in conversation one hears about Johnny going to Stanford, Jane to the Peace Corps after Princeton, the private clubs, the parties where the local grandee and the regional magnifico were present—all chit-chat sandwiched in between a sort of radical socialist hymn to Barack Obama. The point? That the people in question lived lives that were not merely not harmonious with their abstract world views of a radical egalitarianism by result, but downright antithetical to them—without a hint of the contradictions.
When a privileged wealthy liberal elite goes on about unfairness in between name-dropping and snobbery it achieves the same effect as the evangelical moralist talking about loose women or going to the bar for his fifth cocktail.
Quiet in Iraq
There are two keys to stabilizing Iraq—getting a Shiite-dominated government to turn on Shiite militias backed by Iran, and doing so in such a fashion to lure the Sunnis back into the government that will ensure regional support and a continuance of the Anbar Awakening and coalition against al-Qaeda.
Both seem to be happening in major campaigns in Basra, Mosul and Sadr City. And yet in the midst of these operations, American fatalities at the half-way point in May (it could change next hour) are, by the standard of past months, low. Something is going on in Iraq, and the U.S. military and its Iraqi allies are on the verge of achieving a radical reconfiguration of the theater—to the silence of the media.
I talked for about an hour with Dave Petraeus last October in Baghdad. One thing struck me: at the time in Washington it was fashionable for almost everyone (especially Senate Democrats) to damn the Maliki government for its incompetence and biases. But while acknowledging problems (that caused him problems), Petraeus was almost alone optimistic in his support for the elected government, the take-over process of the Iraqi Security Forces, and the eventual ability of the government to deal with the Shiite militias. “They’ll make it” is what I remember him saying.
Given the campaign hype, we haven’t heard much about Petraeus lately, but already he has achieved an amazing turn-about, not just in the military sense, but in the cultural and political sphere of giving confidence to the Iraqis, prompting them to take over their own security, and in a manner that assures them of our support even as we plan to slowly disengage.
If he pulls this off, I think his place is assured among the very great generals in our history. In his appreciation of the role of public opinion, politics and perceptions of war, he resembles Sherman; Marshall in his efforts to reform the military and promote a new sort of officer; and Ridgway in his ability by personal leadership to turn around an entire front. I think he is a rare talent, and as often happens in American history, we were given a great gift by his command—and none too soon.
Such things can happen very quickly in American history. In late 1861 Sherman was in self-imposed exile, melancholy and without a command, by December 1864 he was a legend. Grant by late April 1862 was all but finished, by July 1863 a genius. And so on…
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6 Comments
1. vb:The Petraeus “They’ll make it” comment highlights exactly what has been missing from all the politicizing, punditry, and do-gooderism of this war: wanting the Iraqis to make it. There is much talk about how we will know when we’ve won. I’d say we’ve won when the Iraqis can ask for a new road or reliable electricity without fear of ending up in a meatgrinder. We have won when they win. That is what I have been praying for.
May 15, 2008 - 2:50 am 2. Trudy B. Taylor:democrats talk a game where it is impossible to create a bigger pie. the deliberately false picture they paint for “the little guy” is one of a zero sum game of resources and opportunities that is calculated to keep regular folk ,who aren’t familiar with economic forces, forever frightened that someone else will erode their share of the american dream.
concerning iraq: at this point i almost prefer the media to remain silent ,and let the military get on with it. it wont be the first time the media got it wrong. my only fear is a burgeoning democrat legislature cutting the purse strings to a representative iraq.
it looks like mccain is already positioning himself to “deal” with the above mentioned overwhelming democrat congress. it appears that he wants to expose himself to weekly shout-fests with congress, a la great britian’s parliamentary tradition. good grief…
May 15, 2008 - 7:38 am 3. Ron Kean:Dear Professor,
Everytime I write ‘Dear Professor’, I feel like I’m a character in an Arthur Conan Doyle book.
I caught you at the ‘Corner’ at NRO today. You keep giving sound advice to Obama. They should send you a check.
Here I defend McCain and then he comes up with global warming. Two steps forward and one step back.
What gets me about the left is that they’re so vocal and adamant defending the few hundred or thousands in Abu Ghahrab and Gitmo and couldn’t care less about millions of decent people in Iraq. People like us. Kids like our kids.
vb. What’s your name? Vicky? Vincent? Vera? Victor? Van? Vaughn?
May 15, 2008 - 6:38 pm 4. TLM:Small wonder polls say 80% of Americans are dissatisfied with the direction the country is going — neither political party adequately represents the beliefs of their constituents anymore. As VDH points out, it’s hard to find an old fashioned Democrat anywhere, especially in places like California. Sure, Hillary Clinton rooted around the rust belt and rallied the the surviving remnants of these dinosaur Democrats. But, alas, they no longer matter. Her belated reincarnation as a common man of the people will not derail Obama on his way to deification in Denver. Her cause and that of her new found supporters is lost. Note that after Obama’s defeat in Pennsylvania, his campaign manager essentially disowned the segment of Democrats who voted for Hillary, calling them unnecessary for a win in November. He may be right. Probably half of those traditional PA Democrats will eventually hold their nose and vote for Obama, and the rest will do the same for McCain. Either way they no longer have a Party to call home.
John Edwards knows this. Reading the tea leaves (or the entrails) of his Party, he has now cast his lot with Obama, thereby abandoning all pretense of being the champion of the little guy and the working poor. I’m sure for the multi-millionaire lawyer this comes as a relief, as it was all a charade anyway, and they knew it. Fittingly, his endorsement of Obama comes only after the Senator from Illinois has conclusively shown he has little support among the segment of Democrats that Edwards previously courted. Oh, and remember his Two Americas? If you want a perfect example of that notion, look at the split in the Democratic Party: well-to-do liberals and their college age brood vs. blue collar working class joes. Guess we now know where ol’ Johnboy’s loyalties truly lie. Fightin’ for the little guy only makes sense if it helps you get rich or get elected.
And so the Party of the People is about to veer left and completely disown its historic roots in favor of a junior Senator with no leadership experience who talks the talk, their talk. How did this happen? My pet theory is a couple of years ago the billionaires in the Democratic Party had a focus group session where everyone got high, pulled out their laptops and designed the perfect liberal candidate. The result was a biracial man, raised mostly outside of the mainland US by a strong willed single mom who had a PhD in Anthropology and worked in the third world. He was given a golden tongue, good looks and, critically (because he’s male) a non-confrontational demeanor. He was educated at all the “best” schools and had the most progressive advisors. As unions were either defunct or contaminated with plebian minded Democrats, he worked as a community organizer in an African-American neighborhood where he learned to speak the local patois. He married a woman of equal or better professional credentials and they had two daughters. He was introduced to the local political scene by a couple of sixty’s radicals. At this point in their collective hallucination, the focus group all rubbed real hard on an Evian water bottle and out popped a genie who conjured up Barack Obama. The money flowed like honey and the rest is history. I mean the rest of the Democratic Party is history.
Next time the Republicans are up.
May 15, 2008 - 9:52 pm 5. TLM:I tried to write about the Republicans, but Obama’s distractions kept distracting me. Case in point, what’s his issue with wearing, or not wearing, a flag pin on his lapel? Do I really care one way or the other? No. I am a little concerned, though, about his indecision on this matter. It doesn’t rise to the level of flip-flopping, but it is somewhat flippant. As Obama explained, he initially stopped wearing the flag pin as a symbolic gesture against what he perceived as false patriotism post 9/11. Now he wears it intermittently depending on his mood, or whatever. Since he, therefore, understands the import of such symbolism he might want to recall that, post 9/11, we were sending young troops into combat, some of whom may have had a different take on the symbolic nature of the American flag. Then as now, our troops are probably a little too busy to understand convoluted explanations about something as simple as wearing the flag on your uniform of the day. After all, their uniforms are festooned with just such symbols. If he becomes commander-in-chief, he might want to remember that.
May 16, 2008 - 1:17 pm 6. Sallyo:Thank you for articulating what I’ve been feeling about the Democratic party lately; I’m embarrassed to admit that I am a registered Democrat. I haven’t voted for a Republican for President since 1980, but this time around I have no hesitation in voting for McCain. I also appreciate your appraisal of General Petraeus. My son served under him in Mosul in 2003, and he is a true hero. I just hope the politicians will let him do his work without interfering.
May 17, 2008 - 10:14 am