NOTE: Since retiring from public life I have tended not to offer political commentary. My work has been small: as a volunteer with L'Arche, as a spiritual director, as a grandfather and part-time musician. This reflection steps beyond my current restraints in the hope that, like Dan Rather, another perspective might be useful.
There has also been a boatload of carping, whining, self-righteous posturing, and self-pity coming out of the Left alongside the calculated, muscle-flexing bravado of those on the Right. This blathering is disingenuous. Did people NOT know Justice Ginsberg was old and riddled with cancer? Have we become so mathematically challenged as to be unable to count Republican votes in the Senate? It all strikes me as an ugly caricature of how politics can pursue the common good but no longer does. Sadly, those on the Left appear addicted to doing the same old song and dance mime of liberal kabuki theater as they act the part of wounded and betrayed political innocents. Those on the Right publicly look shocked at being called out for stacking the Court with ideological lap dogs. They prevented President Obama's nominee from even the courtesy of a hearing 9 months before the 2016 election. And now claim only to be following the rule of law allowed by the Constitution. Privately, they're smirking in the shadows because once again they've outstrategized their opponents.
All of this disgusts me, but what I find galling is the feigned shock of those who should know better. Back in 1944, Reinhold Niebuhr hit the nail on the head in his Children of Light, Children of Darkness saying out loud what many of us still refuse to acknowledge.
The consistent optimism of our liberal culture has prevented modern democratic societies both from gauging the perils of freedom accurately and from appreciating democracy fully as the only alternative to injustice and oppression. When this optimism is not qualified to accord with the real and complex facts of human nature and history, there is always a danger that sentimentality will give way to despair and that a too consistent optimism will alternate with a too consistent pessimism.
The consistent optimism of our liberal culture has prevented modern democratic societies both from gauging the perils of freedom accurately and from appreciating democracy fully as the only alternative to injustice and oppression. When this optimism is not qualified to accord with the real and complex facts of human nature and history, there is always a danger that sentimentality will give way to despair and that a too consistent optimism will alternate with a too consistent pessimism.
That is to say, the children of darkness know how to play for keeps: they are ruthless, cruel, and strategically smarter than the so-called children of light who consistently fail to accept the brokenness of human nature when it comes to politics. What Niebuhr knew all too well is that some engage in power only to win without any regard for the common good. Their self-interest is clear, well-defined and, to paraphrase what Chuck Colson once said about his loyalty to Richard Nixon, they will run over their grandmother if it will help them maintain their power. Liberals are besotted with sentimentality that causes progressives to choke when faced with naked power. They are uncomfortable with the ethical murkiness of such combat and try to play nice rather than advance the goals of their cause. And while I believe in the liberal democratic agenda, I also know it is more about the lesser of various evils than purity. The insights of Niebuhr continue to be necessary: "Man's (sic) capacity for justice makes democracy possible, but man's (sic) inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary." The art of politics - and war - is a balancing act requiring regular times of confession so that humility is always brought to the table. Without this, it is all too easy for us to forget our shadow side and believe our own public relations campaigns.
In the fight to control the Supreme Court, it is absurd to think that the current Republican Party would act in a noble or fair manner. As one ex-Republican strategist, Stuart Smith, writes in his confession, It Was All a Lie: How the Republican Party Became Donald Trump, since 1968 Republicans have cultivated and courted America's (sometimes) closeted white nationalist vote for their own advantage. These technocratic financiers at the top did not share the values or goals of the wounded white working class, but were willing to manipulate them to win. Of course, they turned a blind eye to the vulgar and ugly racism of the masses. Beyond a doubt, they did not care if some people of color where hurt or even killed as collateral damage. Such are the sad consequences of war and playing to win. In time, however, this Faustian bargain with America's racist minority overwhelmed those at the top as the fringe became the core and the zealots devoured all moderation.
Tragically, as this was happening, most of our mainstream liberals refused to see what was true for black and brown people, women of all ages and races as well as the LGBTQ community, and alienated white working people. They turned a blind eye to the cruel madness being cultivated by the Republican center. And when they awoke in November 2016 to the fact that American politics had become what we hated, it was too late. So let us not forget that one of the reasons it was too late is because progressive types confused their own questionable ethical purity when the challenge was winning part of the battle. They sacrificed the good for the perfect forgetting or not knowing that politics is ALWAYS about the good and NEVER about the perfect. Bernie Bros, Jill Stein-heads, Ralph Nader clones: who cares what you call them? They all opted out because HRC was tainted. The Left regularly does this: think of their halfhearted support of LBJ - remember their whimper "Part of the way with LBJ?" - or their absence when HHH needed them the most? Pete Townsend likes to scream: "Meet the new boss - same as the old boss"- but that is mostly self-righteous bullshit.
How did St. Paul put it in his letter to the Romans? "None of us are righteous (meaning just and compassionate.) No, not one. We have ALL sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." That so many traditional Republicans are finally bailing in the hopes that the Trump regime goes down in flames in 40 days is one sign that humility matters in politics. So does striving towards the common good and listening to those who disagree with us. And bending over backwards to find common ground. Niebuhr grasped that honest politicians realize that the unintended consequences of our best plans are often ugly - and while we can't predict what they are - we can make contingency plans to clean up the messes we make. That is what distinguishes Joe Biden, in my opinion, from Donald Trump. Trump is a fascist riddled with pathological narcissism and limited intelligence. Biden is a time-tested, middle of the road liberal who has made tons of mistakes in the past - and tries to humbly own and redress them in the present. One is an historic swindler, the other a life-long politician looking for compromises and common ground. Given this moment in time, there is no contest that Biden is not only a better human being and wiser politician, he is the right man for the job when it comes to restoring a bit of integrity to the quest for power. Niebuhr put it like this:
Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by faith. Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness.
No comments:
Post a Comment