changing politics
I've been trying to stay connected with recent political stirrings, as it was recently brought to my attention that I would, indeed, be eligible to vote in the next presidential election. I came across this great article on Digg (but by the time I returned to Digg, the link had disappeared in the hordes of popular upcoming stories), which was written in response to a work by Peter Berkowitz, who was recently added to Rudy Giuliani's foreign policy advisory team, and who essentially tries to categorize the type of people (the majority of people) who "strongly disapprove" of George Bush.
His main argument against Berkowitz is not aimed at his pro-Bush stance, but rather at his interpretation of American politics as a left-right partisan, instead of between those who favor, in his words, "tyranny", and those who favor "liberty". Here's a favorite excerpt of mine:
How disappointing, ultimately, to hear a seasoned political scientist fall into the false right-left paradigm, when, in fact, the construction of tyranny depends upon an alternation between right and left, between authoritarianism or neo-fascism on the one hand (the neo-cons) and nanny-state socialism on the other (the neo-libs).
It makes more sense to conceive of American politics today as a contest between liberty and tyranny, and not between left and right. Perhaps the degree of hatred towards Bush is an indication that - ever so slowly - Americans are drawing new battle lines.
Andrew Bosworth (the writer of this article) really hits the nail on the head. It's refreshing to see that our political situation may finally be transforming. And really, what better way to bring unity in a vast sea of diversity than being able to fight for the common cause of liberty? What better way can there be bring an end to the partisan-centric politics that have plagued America for the past two decades? The sooner politicians pick up on this scent, the sooner they'll start making a real impact, rather than having to please their own niche or demographic and push their opposition further and further away. Right now, it seems, they haven't quite gotten it. Except for Ron Paul :)
Bush Bashing Explained
His main argument against Berkowitz is not aimed at his pro-Bush stance, but rather at his interpretation of American politics as a left-right partisan, instead of between those who favor, in his words, "tyranny", and those who favor "liberty". Here's a favorite excerpt of mine:
How disappointing, ultimately, to hear a seasoned political scientist fall into the false right-left paradigm, when, in fact, the construction of tyranny depends upon an alternation between right and left, between authoritarianism or neo-fascism on the one hand (the neo-cons) and nanny-state socialism on the other (the neo-libs).
It makes more sense to conceive of American politics today as a contest between liberty and tyranny, and not between left and right. Perhaps the degree of hatred towards Bush is an indication that - ever so slowly - Americans are drawing new battle lines.
Andrew Bosworth (the writer of this article) really hits the nail on the head. It's refreshing to see that our political situation may finally be transforming. And really, what better way to bring unity in a vast sea of diversity than being able to fight for the common cause of liberty? What better way can there be bring an end to the partisan-centric politics that have plagued America for the past two decades? The sooner politicians pick up on this scent, the sooner they'll start making a real impact, rather than having to please their own niche or demographic and push their opposition further and further away. Right now, it seems, they haven't quite gotten it. Except for Ron Paul :)
Bush Bashing Explained
posted by John Mark at 1:42 PM
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