Polianiac

This has been an amazing week to hang out with the social scientists. There is a sense of renewed hope for our respective fields; and there is hope for those who believe in the work of the social sciences. No one is counting chickens before the electoral votes are cast–but there has been a sense of optimism for what might be if we can break out of the morass we have faced over the past eight years.  Vision is returning, the kind of vision that allows us to dream of leaving this world better than we found it. Vision to realize although we have been muted, we are not silenced. Vision that leads us to hope, not only for ourselves, but for us all. Here is a great new video that pretty much sums it all up from the world of the social sciences….

I realize Meet the Press is a huge Political tradition in this country. My personal loyalty to the show is contingent on my own political mood, what is happening in the world, and the cosmic question: does today’s guest on Meet the Press offer clarity toward my personal concerns.  This morning clarity became an existentiale.

I am certain the blogosphere is currently at DefCon 2 regarding Senator McCain’s appearance. I can not compete with that; and honestly do not want to. My interest this morning can be likened to a wide-angled zoom lens: I started the show with the intent to analyze McCain’s comments based on political points in a microscopic fashion; and within three minutes, my view zoomed to the other end of the spectrum, struggling to make sense of Senator John McCain.

I can now say I understand the term maverick. Maverick means you have your own agenda and to hell with any one else’s. Maverick means you possess a separate set of facts and to hell with other facts, known as provable, quantifiable, or generally known. Maverick means you believe and participate in the political necessity of The Big Lie. The Big Lie may soon face a reckoning. One can always dream.

In the case of politicians within a duly elected representative republic—where is the place for Maverick-ness ? I know other bloggers will tackle McCain point for point. I know they will speak to the fact that at times, Brokaw sat there as if in disbelief; but did nothing to challenge McCain’s alternate reality.  I think today’s appearance on Meet the Press will rest the case on free passes for certain candidates by an elite media.  

The case that got rested for me is one of clarity. I now understand that McCain believes, “the cause of the financial crisis was the housing crisis.” Wrong John, the housing crisis is merely a symptom of a bankrupted economic philosophy. I now have clarity that McCain actually believes government buy-up of troubled mortgages, “So Americans can realize the American Dream,” is an antithetical philosophy to my own concerning the role of government.  I now have clarity on how our two views differ: McCain stated clearly this morning that the role of government is different at different times.  Again, McCain stated his view reflecting America-as-victim.  This construct of McCain and Co. represents a laissez faire approach, not only in economics, but also in political philosophy. His statements are alarming and resonate clearly within historic memory. 

There have been other times, in other countries, where the role of government was allowed by its people  to flex and conform to the whim of the moment, mood of the masses, or vision of one maverick politician. I always believed in the Constitution of the United States to protect me from such nightmares. This morning, I achieved clarity on the state of that belief. It is fragile, completely dependent on an informed, engaged, and ever vigilant electorate, and ours only if we remain dedicated to perpetuating the core values it was created within.

There is a saying, “Sticks and stones can break my bones; but words can never hurt me!”

Really, words can never hurt…?  Tell that to quarrelling lovers, or a 13–year-old, or American citizens with any degree of awareness regarding Election 2008. Each one of us needs look no further than the mirror to know words can and do hurt.

The phenomenon I find most interesting is how we choose to view words and the role they play in life. Within that context, philosophy of language gets really messed up and many times quite interesting!

Consider Rep. Bachmann’s new ad yesterday, considered by some as an attempt to dig herself out of the hole she created last week on Hardball.  Bachmann opens her new 30 second ad by declaring our nation at “a crossroads…a time of choosing.” Gee, I wonder where she got that idea…  

Bachmann then lays out her vision, what she wants to signify we are choosing between: “We could embrace government as the answer to our problems or we could choose Freedom and Liberty.” A dissertation could be written on this one sentence. To posit “government” in polarity with “freedom and liberty” is radical, especially if you happen to live in the United States of America, founded by and through the Declaration of Independence and constituted under the Constitution of the United States.

What is more interesting is the use of the word “could”. What are we talking about here, which restaurant to go to after we finish taping this commercial?  Where is the agency, the conviction that drives the argument? Well, I suspect it lies in Bachmann’s continued employment of the Cartesian split: that duality that resides in the concept of mind-body as separate entities, as opposed to an embodied view which rejects the concept that we walk through life with head-detached. Bachmann’s case may be the exception.

In closing, Bachmann’s confusing code-switching becomes frantic: “I may not always get my words right, but I know my heart is right because my heart is for you, for your children, and for the blessings of Liberty to remain for our great country.” From where I sit, “the blessings of Liberty” have never been as threatened as they have been under Bush-Cheney. The blessings of Liberty  throughout Bush-Cheney serve at the pleasure of this administration. What part of this am I missing?

Representative Bachmann: I believe your words continue to signal a radical vision of what constitutes Liberty in this country; and furthermore, I believe you believe that Liberty does not find genesis in The Constitution of the United States. To your point, “I may not always get my words right,” I beg to differ Congresswoman; I believe you always get your words right !

I stared at the screen in disbelief, “McCain…Visit With Chilean Dictator Pinochet…” No way! 

The Huffington Post is reporting a recently declassified U.S. Embassy cable detailing a December 1985 meeting between then Representative John McCain, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and the Chilean dictator Pinochet, a man who can only be described as the “bin Laden of his time”.

The United States is not the first country to suffer a September 11^th. It is well known that on September 11, 1973, General Pinochet led a bloody, U.S. backed coup d’ état  that resulted in the seizure of the democratically elected government of Salvador Allende. This coup marked the beginning of a 17- year reign of terror over the Chilean population; including the torture, false imprisonment, and killing or “disappearing” of more than four thousand Chilean citizens.

According to the Huffington Post, McCain reported his meeting with Pinochet as, “friendly and at times warm, but noted that Pinochet does seem obsessed with the threat of communism.” Why do fascists repeatedly state a fear communism?

Senator McCain has a long history as “professional politician”. No doubt throughout these years, he has changed his position on issues for various reasons; and if those reasons are informed by and through “learning something new”—well, hooray for us!  That is a good thing. My problem, since our own 9/11 and the subsequent actions taken on my behalf by my government,  is the failure of government officials to acknowledge their own debt of truth to the American citizenry.

For months, all we have heard from McCain-Palin and their surrogates is how Senator Obama “pals around with terrorists”, and demonstrates lack of judgment when it comes to foreign affairs. To that point, how interesting is it that Senator John McCain fails to acknowledge his own New Year’s visit with Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte.

Is this what Senator McCain meant when he stated, “I know how to heal the wounds of war.” Is this what Senator McCain meant when he stated, “I know how to deal with our adversaries.” If McCain’s meeting with Pinochet is any indication of his judgment concerning right and wrong,  that really scares me to death… I feel sick.