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Clichés are an inherent feature of American politics, and this election year is no exception. They surface in any bar or coffee shop where there’s a political discussion. Most contain at least a kernel of truth, and are harmless enough, but one of the most common -- the old bromide that if you fail to vote you have no right to complain or criticize the system -- is poison. This verbal tool of the established order, intentional or not, encourages resistance to change and preservation of the status quo.

11th Feb -08 - Wayne A. Clark, Ad's Libs

Think of the sheer illogic of the proposition. A nation where fewer than half the eligible voters bother to show up at the polls would silence its citizens who stay home or go fishing. But the miscreants are neither lazy nor ignorant, and they don’t give up their right to free speech when they take a pass on voting. They understand that voting – whether for a winner or a loser – is now no more than an empty symbolic gesture. It makes no real difference in their lives, and they know it. Neglected Americans actually have more grounds for complaint than anyone else. Progressives should encourage them to scream from the roof tops or take to the streets, not bite their tongues in passive stoicism.

Wealthy Americans know for certain that they will be rewarded for taking thirty minutes to go to the ballot box. Regardless of which Party or candidate wins, they remain in the cat bird’s seat. A Clinton gives them lucrative trade deals and a Bush gives them obscene tax cuts. NAFTA lost millions of middle class jobs but made a killing for multinationals. Bush’s tax policies returned about $150,000 to each millionaire and virtually nothing to those who earn less than $50,000 annually. Corporate welfare, bloated defense contracts and free market fundamentalism keep the dollars flowing up. As for the poor, they understand full well that “trickle down economics” and “ownership society” are cruel jokes. They know too that voting will not make it easier to find a decent job or improve the lousy school their kids attend.

Another, more accurate cliché is that politics in America is a spectator sport. The significance of this verbal thrust is that it reveals more than it was meant to. The middle and lower classes watch from the sidelines as the governing elite sort out and anoint candidates for higher office. Phone calls are made, checks are written and endorsements made. The corporate-controlled media follow every move, take the appropriate cues and provide a play-by-play description of the contest. The policies of the finalists, regardless of Party, are more similar than different. Pundits call this continuity. To alleviate boredom, an occasional candidate will run as “an agent of change,” but what actually changes, other than players on the field, is nothing more than the amount of smoke and number of mirrors deployed to obscure political reality.

George Wallace, in his younger days, was a racist governor and third-party candidate for president. But he got one thing right when he said there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the Democratic and Republican Parties. Ironically, that too has now become something of a political cliché among those on the left. (Some clichés are truer than others.) Ralph Nader once compared the two Parties to Coke and Pepsi. Since then, the small gap between them has narrowed; Coke and Diet Coke might be the more accurate metaphor today. Virtually no nutrition, lots of fizz and a bad aftertaste.

The large, enthusiastic crowds of young people who turn out to cheer Obama are cited adoringly by the mainstream media as an example of renewed faith in the system. Media gurus applaud the sight, waxing about the novelty and hopefulness of it all. Many are reminded of the youthful political ardor they felt for JFK. The New York Times quoted a young woman from Idaho who said, ‘I’m going to vote for Obama because his ideas are young and he has not been jaded by politics yet.” There is hope here, but the revealing qualifier “yet” shows that she knows it’s only a matter of time.

Wedged between Obama and the nomination are the Clinton political machine, including the Democratic Leadership Conference, and most of the 400 or so super-delegates made up of party officials, office holders and other establishment loyalists vested in the status quo. Together they form a firewall that Obama must break through to get the nomination.

If, by some twist of fate, he succeeds and go on to beat McCain (a thicker firewall) in the general election, President Obama will run up against an entrenched system -- with or without Democratic majorities in Congress. Interest groups, unfortunately, don’t get voted out. His appointments to key positions will have to be vetted by globalization romantics, die-hard Israeli supporters and minions of the military-industrial-congressional complex. They will give their blessing only to those with the “right stuff.” Sadly, we have reached the point where defenders of the empire hate change more than they love democracy.

All the hoopla around Obamarama brings to mind George Bernard Shaw’s axiom that second marriages are an example of “hope triumphing over experience.” Corporate-controlled America is beyond reform. It is too corrupt, too self-satisfied, and too benighted to do anything but dig in its heels. The young voter quoted above is fated to have her hopes dashed on the hard reality of “the system.” If Obama gets uppity and strays beyond acceptable boundaries -- as defined by the political establishment -- he will be penalized and benched. The country’s first black president could end up setting a record for being the longest-serving lame duck in history.

Nonetheless, change is the mantra and hope the operative emotion as the super spectacle rolls toward November. Excuse us cynics over 60, but we’ve been down this road before and found it to be a dead end. We take no pleasure in saying it, but the score is rigged and the game is up. After the inauguration, hope will start to dissipate like a morning fog. Hope, even when laced with audacity, is not an action plan.

If you ain’t got much political clout, you got nothing much to lose by devising a new game plan. And if you can feel good just by hoping, imagine how good you would feel doing an end run around the establishment to restore American democracy. But first know the simple but undeniable fact that electoral politics ain’t where it’s at, children. If the Civil Rights Movement had depended on voting instead of street protests and economic boycotts, we’d still have legal segregation and white primaries.

Those who understand that the system is too corrupt and entrenched to embrace reform efforts -- even minor ones that originate inside the Beltway -- must look for alternative approaches. A non-violent, grass-roots social protest movement with the potential to grow nationwide is the most obvious choice. Before you say “don’t get your hopes up,” remember that it worked for the Suffragettes and for the Civil Rights Movement. It’s as American as apple pie and turnip greens.

For a start, the agenda should be simple and straight-forward. First, demand that corporate interests be reined in, taxed and regulated. Invalidate all court rulings that give corporations the same rights as citizens and forbid future ones. The Constitution gave free speech to individuals, not to corporations. Second, end the war in Iraq, cut the Pentagon budget in half, defuse three-fourths of the nuclear arsenal and initiate other measures to downsize and eventually abolish the military empire. Much more would remain to be done to put the nation firmly on the path toward a real democracy, but these critical steps would justify real hope for the future of the Republic. “Let the work begin,” transcends cliché. It would make a great national slogan.

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Wayne "Ad" Clark is a writer and historian with a special interest in contemporary US politics and society. He holds graduate degrees in 20th Century US History from UNC-Chapel Hill. He has written numerous articles, some of which are re-printed on this blog. He is completing a book on the decline of American politics and culture over the past quarter century. He hopes to engage a broad audience and welcomes civil comments and criticisms from all.

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