The National Interest and 2008
There is something called the national interest. It is not an ideology. It is not the possession of a single cabal of self-appointed imperialists. It is not achieved by substituting consensus for principle. It is not "bipartisanship" for its own sake or in pursuit of bad policy. And it is not a euphemism for oil.
Our national interest is the product of more than two centuries of national history which constitutes an amalgam of colossal mistakes, most notably Iraq, and grand sacrifices and noble actions. It required a terrible civil war to establish that slavery was not in our national interest. It required a cold war to establish that alliance and collaboration was in our national interest.
Oil dependence, climate change, nuclear proliferation, concentrated wealth, fear of terrorism, theocracy, empire, corruption in government, an arrogant and ignorant executive, and violation of civil liberties are not in our national interest.
Equal rights for all, respect for our constitutional guarantees, including most notable habeas corpus, economic opportunity, regulation of market excess, our natural heritage and environment, fairness, justice, and checks and balanced government are all in our national interest.
The age of Roosevelt was replaced by the age of Reagan which itself is coming to an end. The age of Reagan was relieved only briefly by a rare period of peace and prosperity in the 1990s. The brief Clinton era pursued "centrism" at the cost of blurring the fundamental principles of the 20th century Democratic party -- a sense of national community (Roosevelt), citizen duty (Kennedy), and equality and justice for all (Johnson). Return to the age of Reagan, under the current administration, destroyed the security alliances established by Truman.
There will, presumably, always be a conservative party. But it must be retaken by pro-environment, anti-interventionist, fiscally responsible traditional Republicans. For its part, the Democratic Party must redefine itself for an American generation that does not know what it stands for or what its principles are.
The national interest cannot be achieved by settling old scores, vengeance for past wrongs, and demonization of those with whom we disagree. History operates its own court of justice and vengeance is the enemy of progress.
Together, the two new/old parties must recapture a sense of the national interest, above partisan victory and advantage, willing to achieve consensus for the good of the country as men and women of good will and leadership define it, operating in good faith and mutual respect, and most of all bound by constitutional guarantees and constraints.
I choose to be a Democrat. But I am able to do so because I am first an American.
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Thank you!! My thoughts exactly! I was once a die-hard Republican. I still am a Nixon supporter, despite some of the obscene things that he and his cronies did. However I've changed to an Independen
This sounds good, but you're preaching to the converted here at HuffingtonPost.
Take your message to the likes of Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly, Michael Savage, etal.
When you get them on board, then come back and we'll talk.
Personally, I think in 2008 the Invertebrates (formerly known as Democrats) should concentrate on evolving a spine.
So now after eight bad years we are supposed to lie down with a party that stole one, if not two, elections and attempted to impeach a popular president over nothing.
The GOP is a group of selfish people who have openly declared that they want to destroy the government with unending tax cuts. Now they are doing that by taking us so far into debt that the next president will be unable to move toward a balanced budget and provide for the general welfare.
Salutations Mr. Hart. While you and many posters here bring up salient points, I am perplexed at how you so readily dismiss any responsibility from the corporate world to the mess our country is in. You speak of the age of Roosvelt and of the age of Reagan. You don't speak, however, of the age of corporations. With their 'person' status, corportions have priveliges even we citizens don't have. How can this be a fair and just society? I don't begrudge the wealthy their money nor their ability to hide their liabilities or wealth behind the corporate mantle. I do, however, draw the line at the constitution. A corporation's 'person' status means the corporation can invoke the 1st(free speech), and 14th(equal protection under the law) AGAINST THE PEOPLE. The whole point of the constitution was to give THE PEOPLE protections. Now, Corporations use the constitution against us by claiming protection under it and thus stopping our ability to regulate them. Yes, we can move forward, but only if we learn from our mistakes and correct them. Happy New Years!
I agree with those who say we need to seek justice for what are possible criminal acts perpatrated by the Bush administration. The first charge would be deceiving the country into an unnecessary and unwise war where thousands have died, thousands more brutally injured, and untold billions spent and misspent.
We still have no accounting for lost billions in Iraq, which I am sure have found their way into Swiss bank accounts. It is not for revenge that we need to persue these crimes against the nation and the world, but to send a message to future administrations and the world that the American people do not tolerate being deceived into an unnecessary war and the abuse of power that the Bush administration has exercised. A lack of offical inquiries into how we were misled into this war tells the world we accept the Bush style of presidential leadership. All who died in the name of "democracy" should be rolling over in their graves at that thought.
B
There will be no reconciliation. We are in a state of civil war. The right and left in America are going to fight.
If the next president doesn't open the books on 9/11, then the next president is also a traitor. I'll know to stop supporting the democrats if they choose to allow a false history to remain intact.
Gary:
You are WAAAAAAYY off base! The government runs best when there is a correct "tone at the top". This means that Bush is the leader and as such should set the example. He sure has. All partisan bully pulpit tactics.
First, we have to assure that the constitution should be honored as promulgated by the oath of office Bush took. I'll take Mr.Bush's opinion of his attempt to honor that oath when he said it "is just a piece of paper". Until we find our past, there is no way to properly go forward. There are substantial issues that must be investigated by a legislative branch with oversight. This has been missing throughout the entire Bush years.
The bullies have to be punched in the face. Enough of the Dems playing the victim to the hilt.
Dear Senator Hart,
We are progressives, not "avengers.
It is apparent that moderates and conservative Democrats would seek to demonize Progressives as extremists, interested in revenge or retribution. But that is not a progressive motivation or objective. (Repudiation perhaps, but not some mythical revenge, for revenge is truly a myth, sir, and you are just making things up.)
Universal health care is not something that will be achieved without a national cost. But the gain for 50 million Americans will be considerable, and the loss will affect far fewer, perhaps several hundred thousand people.
Economic inequality, the defunding and destruction of our national institutions, the perversion of our Department of Defense as a cash cow for political and special interest cronies, corporate welfare, the subversion of our national goals or peace and prosperity for all...thes
So do not accuse the Progressive movement of revenge. Please call it repudiation; we seek amends for economic harms done us over the past 7 years, and Bush and Cheney can just leave the keys on their way out.
"Vengeance is the enemy of progress,"
Lawlessness is also the enemy of progress.
Why do you call pursuing the rule of law "vengeance"?
Do you believe in the law Mr. Hart? If so, then why are you demeaning it by framing the defense of justice as a pejoritive?
That sounds simple enough, but there is still a problem. What about Christianity? They sold their soul to the Republicans, their leaders led us to Bush, and brought us war and rendition and torture. If they can come to an understanding of what they have done things can change. If not, we are still on a course of self destruction. They need to be brought into this national dialogue.
Reestablishing the Constitution cannot help but be seen as near revolution because our government at present is severely broken and is disfunctional. America cannot swallow the big lies about 9/11 and the war in Iraq, billions by the minute for bogus "defense" and survive.
In the United States, the underlying political power struggle for most of our history has essentially been one between liberal Anglo Protestant and conservative Anglo Protestant interpretations or reactions to the Judeo-Christian Greco-Roman tradition. As we become infinitely more diverse and multicultural, the challenge becomes: Which assumptions do we share that allow us to broker any kind of political "peace" at all? While I have often found paleoconservatives such as Pat Buchanan annoying and hysterical, I cannot see how this nation can continue with its current western constitutional structure if a critical mass of our citizenry do not possess a modicum of understanding not only of the US Constitution, but also of the various debates that have gone on between the two predominant power-holding groups in the United States over the past two and a half centuries. Arguing for violent revolution might satisfy temporary revenge urges, but what happens when individuals engaging in a dialectical materialist rebellion share only in common their feelings of anger? What happens when the world they want to build afterwards shares no common organizing assumption and everyone falls back into fearful tribal and ethnic communities, unable to agree on anything except how to kill one another? This is a genuine challenge the political right and left in this country will have to deal with, as each one becomes less Protestant, less Anglo, less "western" and less familiar with the same historical assumptions about what it means to be American. Many on the left (I include myself here) have assumed that such differences can best be resolved by empathy and acceptance of individual experience, whatever that experience is. But what happens when empathy is viewed as "weakness" or is rejected altogether? This, I think, is where a serious challenge to the Anglo secular political view of the world is posed.
With respect, Mr. Hart, I am totally outraged by what this administration has done to the United States of America. It is in the national interest that we have drastic change and the imposition of unyielding accountability.
In 2006 the voters opted for change, but got more of the same as the Republicrats and Demopublicans became indistinguishable.
It is in the national interest to punish the criminals to the full extent of the law; not to kiss and make up while all around us this country lies in shambles. Yours is a stay-the-course position -- enough of that.
The arrogance, cynicism, deliberate deceptions, and knowing violations of law by those in power must be brought to an end. It is in the national interest to restore the constitution and return to our former system of a balanced government. Patriotic Americans clamoring for CHANGE must be heard loudly and clearly by those in power. Now lets have some new leadership with guts enough to get the job done.
The real problem is that we have too many politicians who 'don't speak the truth and cower before power'. This problem can't be solved by being Mr. Nice; saying all kinds of nice things nicely. What we have here is a lack of virtue in which the ruling attitude is fear.
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Posted December 31, 2007 | 05:42 PM (EST)