February 9, 2007
Hamiltonian Conservatism
The real fight in America isn't between the right and the left, but between people who want representative democracy and people who prefer corporate control. "What's best for the country" used to be an attitude that one assumed existed in public officials. Now, hidden agendas and bad faith all too often drive honor out of the system. A corrupted politics brazenly exults in its priorities of money and power. So it's refreshing to talk with somebody with whom I may disagree about all sorts of policy choices, who I think has some strange ideas about politics, but who is absolutely sincere and brings good will to the table. And with whom I can, in fact, agree about a lot — and who provides an important reality check. Jim Pinkerton is an experienced political observer with keen insight into the politics of the day and I very much enjoyed talking with him. Jim, and people like him, are indispensable whatever your politics happen to be. As an added bonus (for something a little different) towards the end we get into a good discussion of the need to colonize outer space. Yes! Total runtime here of an hour and twelve minutes. Enjoy.
Comments
This interview was interesting. Jim Pinkerton has a lot of good ideas and some strange ones. I appreciate George's comments at the end about him being sincere and having no hidden agendas.
I think that his somewhat xenophobic nationalistic point of view leads to many of the problems which the world is facing today. I do not find his solution to be realistic, that is to escape to outer space.
George comments at the end, that Pinkerton is too cynical about the torture and violation of constitutional rights issues and states that he (George) thinks Americans can be brought around to agree and perhaps impeach Bush. I'm very skeptical. I'm inclined to agree with Pinkerton that President Bush hasn't lost any support in this area. I also think he's right when he says popular America's desire to leave Iraq is connected to the desire to not be defeated and to have some sort of honorable solution. I think there is very little consciousness that we have already lost by any definition of the term and that most of our conduct there has been dishonorable.
I do think Jim Pinkerton was cynical when he labeled the idea of "principled argument" a la the ACLU as ideology not politics. He was very dismissive of the idea that anyone would pursue anything related to punishing Bush's immoral unconstitutional behavior for any reason or in any other context besides what is good politics. Perhaps this is how things really are, but it is astounding to hear anyone seem to advocate it.
I also think his thinking is confused when he mentions the ideas personified by the TV show "24" — that the world is full of people trying to do "us" (America) in and that we need all the help (torture, violation of constitutional rights, use of violence, etc.) we can get to stop them. I do agree that many, if not most Americans share this view (I don't), but I think it is an inaccurate perception (see Democracy Now! on 2/22/07 for a great discussion) which has been encouraged by media outlets like Fox and of course by the statements of the Bush Administration. All the while, the reality is that the very actions of the Bush Administration have contributed to the over 600% rise in Terrorism since the US invasion of Iraq (see the same episode of DN!). What we need is more discussion about the effects of terrorism, for example see the articles and book (Overblown: How Politicians, the Terrorism Industry and Others Stoke National Security Fears) by Ohio State University professor John Mueller, and less violence directed at civilians (terrorism) by the United States military.
Posted by: John D. Bartram | February 24, 2007 3:11 PM