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Bush Holy Rollers Rule Debt Crippled American Theocracy
Writing American Theocracy
By Kevin Phillips
My underlying thesis in American Theocracy is that these are the three major perils of the United States in the early 21st century.
| Socialism, secularism, and ... oh, that's not what you mean. |
First, radical religion this encompasses everything from the Pat Robertson-Jerry Falwell types to the attacks on medicine and science and the Left Behind books with their End Times and Armageddon scenarios. Second, oil dependence oil was essential to 20th century U.S. hegemony, and its growing scarcity and cost could play havoc. And third, debt is becoming a national weakness indeed, the borrowing industry in the U.S. has grown so rapidly that finance has displaced manufacturing as the leading U.S. sector.
Pat Robertson is overbearing and shallow, but Jerry Falwell and the Southern Baptists, etc contribute much to public debate on vital issues. Too bad that Red-State Republicans don't pay attention.
| Financing has always been around. The Rothschilds did well. Modern financing has helped us to build a world our forefathers couldn't imagine. |
After George W. Bush narrowly won a second term in 2004, ...
| ... having a won a majority of the vote, something no Democrat since LBJ has managed to do ... |
... which meant four more years of Religious Right power, over-dependence on oil and over-involvement in the Middle East and the fattening of the debt albatross, I decided to shift my focus from the biases, failings and deceits of the Bush family, going back four generations, which had been my focus during 2004 in my book American Dynasty.
| Now sitting on the remainder pile. |
The new book would concentrate on the three perils to the U.S. all of which, however, were closely related to the re-orientation of the Republican party that occurred under the two Bushes. Here readers should keep in mind that from 1980 to 2004. Only one presidential election (1996) did not have a Bush on the ticket as the presidential or vice presidential nominee. Between 1988 and 2006, the two Bush presidents put a particular stamp on the GOPs regionalism, religious pandering and fealty to oil and finance.
Northern urban conceit or epiphany?
| Progressive conceit, you find it everywhere. |
A second major element of the new book is to look at the three perils in the context of the weaknesses of the previous leading world economic powers. All of them, from Rome to Britain, resembled the Bush era U.S. in imperial cockiness. They thought they were unique, that God was on their side and that they had transcended history. Ultimately, too much crusading, strutting, borrowing, luxuriating and interest-group entrenchment helped do them in.
Empires don't facilitate free elections for their subjects, while permitting freedom of expression. I would have imposed reparations on Iraq, and implemented disproportionate retaliation against post-occupation terror.
| He also forgets how Rome was brought down: that era's progressives refused to fight to preserve the land, and hired mercenaries and barbarians to defend them. Disease took a major role (measles killed 1/5 of Romans in the 2nd Century AD). Continued war and strife with competing wanna-be emperors took its toll. It's like Mr. Phillips hasn't ever heard of, let alone read, Edward Gibbons. |
The excesses of the Religious Right in the Bush years represent a particular danger.. Some 45% of U.S. Christians believe in the End Times and Armageddon, and Tim LaHayes lurid Left Behind series helped mobilize them and shape Washington awareness of their importance. Centrist religious leaders believe its a gross distortion of the Bible, but theres no doubt that a large percentage of the Bush electorate believes that war and chaos in the holy lands (including Iraq) heralds the Second Coming.
| The Left Behind series is escapist entertainment. It's harmless, and you only have to read it to recognize that. Guess there's another book Mr. Phillips hasn't read. |
Oil was also central. Dick Cheney was very mindful of the coming shortfall, and during 2001 his Energy Task Force poured over maps of the Iraqi oilfields. The big U.S. oil companies were also desperate to have them, and since 2001, the U.S. military has increasingly taken up oilfield, pipeline and sea route protection. But alas, botching Iraq botched U.S. oil relationships.
Someone took a gullibility pill.
| If only we had elected Al Gore, we'd no longer be dependent on oil. |
The Republicans have profited from a weak opposition. Bluntly put, since the 1960s the Democrats have been the vehicle for the growth of secularism and irreligion among perhaps a third of the U.S. population.
| It doesn't help the Democrats that, on the six major social issues in this country, their position is the minority position. There's a name for a political party that consistently takes minority positions: the minority party. |
Strong churchgoers now vote Republican for president by roughly 3:1. As of 2005-2006, the new chance for the Democrats is to compete for the people in the middle in particular, merely occasional religious attendees and moderates who think that the liberals went too far in the 1960s and 1970s but that the Religious Right and the would-be theocrats are the danger now. That is certainly my anslysis, and it is developed at great length in American Theocracy.
The Secular State was the product of the religious wars of 16th century Europe. It was accepted by competing faiths, in the interest of institutional barriers to domination by one religion.
| Secular doesn't mean irreligious, which is what the progressives demand. Secular means that all parties have a role, and no cardinal, grand vizier, preacher-man or rebbe tells the rest of us what to do and how to think. |
Electorally, Its useful to divide Bushs supporters in two. On one side, the economic conservatives and centrist traditional GOPers; on the other, the true-believing religious electorate. Hes lost many of the middle-roaders with his Iraq, Katrina and Schiavo bungling. However, as long as he has most of his religious voters, itll be hard to push him below 35-40% job approval in the national polls.
Islamist aggression will force a harder line on counter-terror, in the last years of the Bush administration. Traditional Seculars, who form the political Center, will support global security initiatives that Democrats have already squelched.
| There's at least six different factions within the Repubs, and Bush continues to do well with several of them. Iraq isn't a bungle to most Republicans, and most Repubs see Katrina as a general failure of all levels of government. |
Fear is likely to remain a Bush tactic.
| As opposed to Howard Dean and Co., who never, ever use fear as a tactic. |
His people have tried to polarize voters into seeing a fight between good and evil, stoking fear and a sense of global chaos. The doomsday preachers are on the same side.
Fear as "Bush tactic?" If anything, the President's perception of the evil of Islamism (for me: Islam, per se) is an indequate assessment of that vulgar ideology of murderous aggression and human enslavement.
Central to Bush administration policy, is the inclusion of Islamists - like Hamas - in "democratic" processes.
What we are seeing in the Middle East is Weimar type plebiscites on extremism and terrorism, which Mid East Muslims are embracing. Real Politick dictates that Reagan-security should trump sham Carter-liberty, as the cornerstone of US foreign policy.
The majority of Americans are not in their camp, but there is a large minority certainly 25%, probably not 40% that want more Bible and less science, abstinence rather than contraception, fewer drugs and more faith (faith-healing) and uphold confidence in fuel supplies and resources because God will provide.
| This guy is good at his straw-men, isn't he? It's too bad he doesn't get out more; the kinds of people he slams are some of the nicest, most charitable people I've ever met. |
Neither Al Gore in 2000 or John Kerry in 2004 was a strong Democratic nominee. Most of the time they had nothing important to say.
Got that right.
Thats why Im an independent now. The Republicans started losing me in the late 1980s, and lost me completely with George W. Bush. In this year 2006, theyre starting to show signs of change, but so far its much too little much too late. One of our Republican congressmen here in Connecticut, Chris Shays, complains flat out that the party of Lincoln has become the party of theocracy. Yes, the Republicans should be vulnerable in the 2006 Congressional elections. But so far the Democrats have been a lackluster and unimaginative opposition. Their capacities or lack of them should also be part of the 2006 debate.
| They will be -- count on it. |
Posted by: Listen to Dogs 2006-03-22 |
