Zero Hour

No cute headlines today nor any one-liners. (Well, maybe later...) Mr. and Mrs. Base10 voted before going into work today and did their bit for democracy. Of course, a Republican vote in NYC is really just an act of defiance anyway, but hey, let's defy!

I have grave fears about the future of our great nation. We face great threats both from within our country and from without. I hope that this election signals a new beginning for the United States rather than the beginning of its end.

The threats from within come from those that do not believe in our system. Stability in our political system depends on many things that are not written in the constitution or in any law. Our regime depends on an orderly transition of power and that concept presupposes that when elections are held, the loser shakes hands with the winner, takes it like a man and goes home for four years to try again later. Persons trying to destabilize our nation are attacking the very fabric of our system.

Spurious attacks on the legitimacy of the system will ultimately result in loss of confidence in the system and its demise. How does one attack the system? The attacks range from false claims of voter intimidation to the ridiculous concept that low turnout is somehow bad. Americans traditionally have low turnout. Sometimes less than 50% of registered voters, registered voters being only half of the electorate themselves. Conventional wisdom holds that non-voters are disenfranchised and would sweep socialist-like changes into the American political system. What's really going on is that low voter turnout indicates a high level of satisfaction with the regime. Low voter turnout is a good thing. There is also no reason to suppose that the non-voters would vote in any different proportion than the voters.

Another threat from within is the end of civil political discourse. There have been very dirty elections in this nation's history, but this one is the most vicious in memory. (Some pundits claim that this is certainly not the worst election as far as belicosity goes). I think both sides share some blame here, but this started in Base10's mind during the Reagan years. Bush is not the first President to be called a "cowboy." The level of personal attacks against Ronald Reagan set the tone for the politics of my generation. It has only gotten worse. When more or less mainstream political actors start comparing the president to Hitler, something has got to change.

The threats from without are just as diverse and deadly. America is engaged in an inter-generational war against Islamic fundamentalists. These groups must be crushed. No quarter can be given. But the war is not only about them. Arab moderates must be forced to restrain these groups. This outcome will be the only thing that achieves victory. And the only way to achieve this outcome is by democratizing the Middle East. Whatever your feelings about Iraq, any long term victory in the war on terror come at the cost of toppling the most dangerous regime in the region.

The nation can easily fall into a Chamberlain-like somnambulence. If we ease up on the war now, we will probably buy a few years of peace. Clinton did it afterall. But America must remain focused on our choices. We can fight a big war now, or our children can fight a really big war later against those same Arab moderates. The war on terror is not a war between cultures, but appeasement at this point could result in just such a war later. I fear that Kerry will lead us down this historically 'European' path. Considering the growing 'islamization' of many European nations, failure to act decisively now might very well result in America fighting a third war in Europe in the future. Only then, it might very well be a war for America's survival.

Both sides please remember, whatever happens today, America needs to go on. We must not let petty partisan politics change America's role as the "last, best hope of earth."
- posted by Base10 @ 10:26 AM