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American Republicanism
Oct. 11th, 2005 09:53 amOne thing which has become abundantly clear over the last few years is the way that, despite holding both the White House and a majority in congress, the American Republican party has lost its way. Back in the Halcyon days of the right, the 1980’s, there was a clear sense of purpose and direction emanating from the White House and its Republican President, Ronald Reagan. These days, despite the brouhaha of the non-war on terror, there’s a feeling of directionlessness emanating from the United States which, as the world’s only superpower, isn’t very comforting for the rest of us. With the decline of the evil empire, the American right doesn’t really seem to feel it has anything left to do and so it casts about aimlessly for shadowy, ill-defined enemies and causes to give it focus and purpose. Whilst 9/11 might have been appalling, in terms of the credible threat to the US it’s as if the Japanese had successfully staged Pearl Harbour and then it had turned out that the entire Imperial Nipponese army comprised of three old men, a boy with a stick and his dog, which makes the whole war on terror a bit of a shadowplay, really.
Additionally, there’s been a marked lack of sympathy coming from the American Right for those who suffered in New Orleans recently. These people were warned to leave and didn’t, is the feeling, so it’s their own fault. They can help themselves, right. Isn’t that the American way? Helping yourself?
Well, no, it isn’t, but more on that in a moment.
There is a sense that George Bush has rather blotted his copybook with his handing of the hurricane aftermath. There’s been a certain amount of happy-to-be-proven-right told-you-so head nodding amongst the anti-Bush crowd. There’s a feeling that perhaps Bush’s ill-handling of the situation may well give the Democrats a shoo-in to the White House next time, so hurrah for that, right?
Well, I’m not so sure. Not because I hold any particular love or respect for Bush, but because the next time round the likelihood is that the two front runners for Presidency will be Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and of those two my hopes are firmly pinned to McCain as a real inheritor of the US and what it should be standing for.
The American Republican Party has traditionally been the cowboy party. It is the political movement which best exemplified the American dream that anyone can do it. It is the party which says that if you can stand upon your own feet then it is your duty to do so. It is the party of the lone stranger who rides into town and cleans up the bad guys.
What American Republicanism has lost sight of is the reason for doing those things: the reason is to help those who cannot do it for themselves.
It is possible to see the heart of American Republicanism in the films of John Wayne; the sheriff who rides into town and sees off the bandits and who does it not because he can, but because he must. Because the people who live in town cannot see off the bandits themselves or, even better, can be inspired to take a stand on their own behalf. If the American Presidency had as it’s motto :”What would the Duke do in this situation?”, then a great many problems would have been averted, because, say what you like about the simplicity of this statement, the Duke never acted unless he had to, and he always acted, ultimately, to help the weak no matter who they were.
Let’s face it, I’d vote for pretty much any politician who used the motto:”What would John Wayne do”, because the answer to that question would never have been “Let the poor drown because they can’t afford a car.”
That’s why the American Right has lost it’s way. It is trying to act like the guy in the White Hat, but it has forgotten the reason that the White Hat guy does things – because he must. Because others cannot do it for themselves. Because although the hero may be just one person, they recognize they are a part of something greater and it is their responsibility to help everyone, even – no, especially the weak. Until the Republican Party remembers this, it will remain a derided shadow of it’s former self.
So why McCain over Clinton? Because McCain, like the better Presidents of the last century, has seen the world and has served in armed conflict abroad. He has seen the effects of warfare first hand and has seen the rest of the world – something both Clinton and Bush Junior both failed to do. Not only this, but he has a purpose – he and Hillary recently both went to Alaska to see the Glaciers melting first hand and both came away horrified by global warming.
It’s this issue which may well define the next American presidency, and who would you rather have fighting global warming? John Wayne or Andrea Dworkin?
Additionally, there’s been a marked lack of sympathy coming from the American Right for those who suffered in New Orleans recently. These people were warned to leave and didn’t, is the feeling, so it’s their own fault. They can help themselves, right. Isn’t that the American way? Helping yourself?
Well, no, it isn’t, but more on that in a moment.
There is a sense that George Bush has rather blotted his copybook with his handing of the hurricane aftermath. There’s been a certain amount of happy-to-be-proven-right told-you-so head nodding amongst the anti-Bush crowd. There’s a feeling that perhaps Bush’s ill-handling of the situation may well give the Democrats a shoo-in to the White House next time, so hurrah for that, right?
Well, I’m not so sure. Not because I hold any particular love or respect for Bush, but because the next time round the likelihood is that the two front runners for Presidency will be Hillary Clinton and John McCain, and of those two my hopes are firmly pinned to McCain as a real inheritor of the US and what it should be standing for.
The American Republican Party has traditionally been the cowboy party. It is the political movement which best exemplified the American dream that anyone can do it. It is the party which says that if you can stand upon your own feet then it is your duty to do so. It is the party of the lone stranger who rides into town and cleans up the bad guys.
What American Republicanism has lost sight of is the reason for doing those things: the reason is to help those who cannot do it for themselves.
It is possible to see the heart of American Republicanism in the films of John Wayne; the sheriff who rides into town and sees off the bandits and who does it not because he can, but because he must. Because the people who live in town cannot see off the bandits themselves or, even better, can be inspired to take a stand on their own behalf. If the American Presidency had as it’s motto :”What would the Duke do in this situation?”, then a great many problems would have been averted, because, say what you like about the simplicity of this statement, the Duke never acted unless he had to, and he always acted, ultimately, to help the weak no matter who they were.
Let’s face it, I’d vote for pretty much any politician who used the motto:”What would John Wayne do”, because the answer to that question would never have been “Let the poor drown because they can’t afford a car.”
That’s why the American Right has lost it’s way. It is trying to act like the guy in the White Hat, but it has forgotten the reason that the White Hat guy does things – because he must. Because others cannot do it for themselves. Because although the hero may be just one person, they recognize they are a part of something greater and it is their responsibility to help everyone, even – no, especially the weak. Until the Republican Party remembers this, it will remain a derided shadow of it’s former self.
So why McCain over Clinton? Because McCain, like the better Presidents of the last century, has seen the world and has served in armed conflict abroad. He has seen the effects of warfare first hand and has seen the rest of the world – something both Clinton and Bush Junior both failed to do. Not only this, but he has a purpose – he and Hillary recently both went to Alaska to see the Glaciers melting first hand and both came away horrified by global warming.
It’s this issue which may well define the next American presidency, and who would you rather have fighting global warming? John Wayne or Andrea Dworkin?
