King Midas in Reverse:
The World George Built

May 16, 2007

The list of national and international institutions that have been damaged by the Bush administration is getting quite lengthy. Recently we have been treated to the spectacle of Paul Wolfowitz clinging to his job at the World Bank. The Justice Department is not a happy place to be right now with Alberto Gonzalez discredited. The list could go on to include FEMA, the United Nations, and the EPA. News stories that point to corrupt practices are easy to pass up these days. You might not have seen this one on the hiring of a former industry lobbyist to take over the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It would appear that there is hardly an institution that Bush does not feel can be weakened and gutted of legitimacy.

We could also throw into the mix the worsening situation in Iraq and the Middle East broadly. The New York Times Magazine had a saddening article on the fate of Iraqi refugees in neighboring countries. The article is laced with first hand accounts of life for Iraqis, such as the following:

On Sept. 2, 2006, Lujai’s husband went to work and prepared for the first of three operations scheduled for the day. At the end of his shift a patient came in unexpectedly; no other doctor was available, so Adil stayed to treat him. Adil was driving home when his way was blocked by four cars. Armed men surrounded him and dragged him from his car, taking him to Sadr City. Five hours later, his dead body was found on the street.

As she told me this story, Lujai began to cry, and her confused young children looked at her silently. She had asked the Iraqi police to investigate her husband’s murder and was told: “He is a doctor, he has a degree and he is a Sunni, so he couldn’t stay in Iraq. That’s why he was killed.” Two weeks later she received a letter ordering her to leave her Palestine Street neighborhood.

Hundreds of thousands of such stories are floating around in the Middle East.. ready tinder for a larger conflagration.

But then turn from this article to the posturing of the Republican candidates for president. You may have already heard it, but listen to Rudy Giuliani put an emotional stopper to any possible questioning of American actions in the Middle East:

Andrew Sullivan posted an insightful letter from a reader who noted what drew applause from the Republican crowd:

It's just fascinating that the Republican audience is so moved by certain statements that they simply must applaud (despite requests that they abstain). What floats their boat so far?

 

1) John Edwards in the beauty parlor - they simply adored that one
2) McCain's super-wimpy cop-out on the Confederate flag
3) Giuliani's shameless twisting of Ron Paul's caution about interventionism
4) Three cheers for torture!
5) Romney: Let's double the size of Guantanamo!
6) More cheers for torture!

 

I try very, very hard not to believe that Republicans are jerks. This debate has been most unhelpful.

This is just unreality. The Republican field as a whole stands for an embrace of a vision of America as strong and belligerent.. and right by virtue of being America. It is a scary vision.

This week I have been reading Twenty Years at Hull House by Jane Addams in my Intro to Religious Studies course. The last time I read it was in the fall of 2000. It is fascinating to realize how far I have come since then. Addams ties her progressive social actions to fundamental American values and symbols.. to Abraham Lincoln and to democracy. I see what she was getting at.. and I think that in her context those were beautiful ideals. But I will never trust America again.. nor intellectual versions of what America can do in this world. That is over. The world of Jane Addams is gone. Read the article on Iraqi refugees. Watch the Republican debates. Listen to the applause.