Saturday, October 04, 2008

No White Flags

Four years ago, many leftists waved a white flag of surrender by abandoning their political principles and embracing Sen. John Kerry’s campaign for president. The Nobody But Kerry crowd lectured disgruntled leftists and anti-imperialists to vote for the Democratic nominee because, even though Kerry was a despicable candidate, his policies would be slightly less fascist and imperialist than George Bush’s. This fraction of a difference between the Democratic and Republican candidates, the Nobody But Kerry supporters argued, perhaps would result in a few more lives spared in foreign countries under attack by the American war machine. It would be irresponsible, they argued, not to take into account the possibility that a Kerry regime would kill a few less Iraqis each year in its occupation of that country and would harass a few less Americans in the so-called war on terrorism.

Here we are four years later and many Democrats are once again claiming this is the most important presidential election of our lifetimes and perhaps the most important one since 1932. While their candidate runs a campaign promoting policy positions eerily indistinguishable from Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Democrats tell us things will be different if Obama is elected in November.

This time around, though, I’m not seeing as many leftists waving the white flag of surrender in support of Obama. Maybe that’s because I’m just not seeking out these voices as I was four years ago.

Sure, Michael Moore appeared on Larry King Live a few weeks ago to sing Barack Obama’s praises. Michael Moore, who supported and campaigned for Ralph Nader in 2000, was joined by a group of white men in a bowling alley in his home state of Michigan. Larry King, who was in his Los Angeles studio, interviewed Michael Moore remotely, with the viewers able to see the bowlers in the background. The purpose of the political event was to show that middle-aged white guys with mustaches and beer bellies aren’t all racists or Republicans. I hope the Obama campaign paid CNN a hefty fee for letting Michael Moore appear on the show, because it was a one-hour advertisement for the Democratic presidential nominee.

But Michael Moore is not a leftist or a radical, he only markets himself as one. For example, Michael Moore favors socialized health care. But less than a year after he released his film Sicko, he endorsed the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, who does not support socialized medicine. That’s a major contradiction and is emblematic of Michael Moore’s preferred strategies and tactics that result in very little real political and social change.

Some liberals and leftists will argue that no Democratic candidate can be perfect. But for people who want real change in U.S. foreign policy, economic policy and environmental policy, as well as the protection of our civil liberties, Barack Obama is a complete disaster. A Barack Obama presidency would not change the policies of the Bush administration in any meaningful way.

So, it’s heartening to see that leftists aren’t out in droves this presidential election season lecturing us about how we must hold our noses and vote for the Democratic nominee. If you are a leftist, radical or antiwar conservative and choose to vote for Obama, fine. But if you want to vote for Cynthia McKinney, Bob Barr, Ralph Nader, William Blum or the one-eyed bunny because these people’s policies more closely reflect your positions, that’s also fine. And if you choose not to participate in voting at the presidential or any other level (and instead engage in other actions for real change) because you believe it won’t make a difference based on the way our political systems are currently constructed, then that probably makes the most sense.

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