Cabal or Vanguard of a Single Party State Established by and for the Wealthy?
Jonathan Schell's article, "Faith and Fraud" in the November 6 issue of The Nation, argues that the goal of the Bush presidency has not been governing but rather acquiring, increasing and consolidating the power of the Republican Party. Schell joins Thomas Hartmann in zeroing in on the precarious state of the American democracy that has resulted from this power grab, per Hartmann's dramatic piece, "They Died So Republicans Could Take the Senate", CommonDreams.org, June 20, 2005.
Seen in an historical perspective, Schell's and Hartmann's analysis, and the recent revelations of Lawrence Wilkerson that a "cabal" appears to be operating out of the office of the American presidency, support the view that the Bush administration's seizure of power is the culmination of three decades of work carried out by a disciplined, multi-generational political vanguard of wealthy elites from the U.S. banking and financial services sector and core members of the military-industrial complex.
One of the vanguard's first objectives was to glom onto a grassroots electoral base that could give it electoral victories. It did this by instigating a culture war between right wing Christian Evangelicals and mainstream Americans, which it used to create a grassroots political organization controlled by the GOP large enough to elect Republican candidates at all levels of government. That goal was achieved at the national level with the election of Ronald Reagon.
The vanguard's second goal was to start transferring even more wealth to the wealthy than they already had, by means of tax cuts and by allowing free market forces to pull the financial rug out from under middle class and working families. By "starving the beast" through severe reductions in tax revenues that could be used for federal, state and local social programs and entitlements, the capacity of governmental authorities to "protect the general welfare" has become a shadow of its former self. The realization of this goal has been so successful that the middle class appears to be sinking rapidly into the ranks of the indebted working poor many of whom are on the verge of destitution themselves.
The vanguard's third goal was to enable the party and its allies to become "the imperial ruler of the globe", to use Schell's words. Their success in globalizing the world's economy via free market forces they control over the past 20 years needs no elaboration. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is the most dramatic first leg of their 21st century journey, and by the vanguard's criteria, things are not going too badly. The most important strategic victory attained by means of the Iraq invasion is that Bush administration's announcement that it was in the offing just before the 2002 Congressional elections enabled the GOP to gain control of both houses of the U.S. Congress and Bush to win re-election despite his previously sagging approval ratings.
The invasion itself allowed the Bush administration to dramatically expand its military presence in the Middle East. More than a dozen permanent military bases have been established in Iraq since the U.S. invasion, the largest U.S. embassy in the world is being constructed inside the "green zone" in Baghdad, and U.S. interests have seized control of the country's economy and oil fields. (The permanence of U.S. installations in Iraq suggests that the reason the "cabal" never bothered to develop an "exit strategy" is that it never intends to leave.) Although the insurgents and terrorists keep blowing up the oil pipelines, the administration has unlimited military resources to back-up its contention that it can eventually wipe them out. By continued detentions, torture and execution of countless numbers of suspects anywhere in the world where they can be apprehended, it apparently believes that it can prevent terrorist attacks from interfering with the global expansion of its military facilities and the deployment of its attack forces abroad.
In the meantime, the Department of Defense has taken center stage inside the U.S. as the only institution that has the manpower and logistical capabilities to protect American citizens who are in harm's way. This is mainly due to the fact that the Defense department had deployed core elements of the National Guard's reserves of manpower and materiel abroad, leaving most states without adequate first responders. After hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and signs of civil disorder appeared, only the Defense Department was able to restore order by sending in its forces, which apparently included private defense contractors transferred from Iraq.
In the aftermath, the Bush administration has sent up several trial balloons apprently testing the waters to see whether there would be any substantial opposition to moves it is said to be anticipating to authorize the deployment of military forces throughout the U.S. to cope with future natural disasters like hurricanes and epidemics like the avian flu. This would represent the ultimate triumph of the vanguard's militarized single-party state.
If the foregoing analysis holds water, what we may be seeing now is the result of a 30 year incremental coup d'etat in which the vanguard of a single-party militarized state has been seizing slowly but surely uncontestable power over the whole country. Falling approval ratings, the indictment of a high-level White House official, skirmishes between the ruling Republicans and minority party Democrats in the U.S. Congress are but ineffectual, rearguard actions. The vanguard and its patrons appear to be in firm control and there are few, if any, signs on the horizon of anything that could dislodge them in the near-term. With the easily corruptible electronic voting machines installed in every state of the union with no verifiable paper trail, even a counter-revolution at the polls could be sabotaged without a trace.
If there is to be any change in the way this single-party regime is conducting itself, it will have to come from the international community and global civil society at large in alliance with internal U.S. oppposition. If there is to be any means of saving innocent civilians from the cross-fires of the Bush administration's and al Qaeda's terrorist conflict, it will have to come from international initiatives, as outlined in Time for multilateral negotiations with the al Qaeda movement .
Seen in an historical perspective, Schell's and Hartmann's analysis, and the recent revelations of Lawrence Wilkerson that a "cabal" appears to be operating out of the office of the American presidency, support the view that the Bush administration's seizure of power is the culmination of three decades of work carried out by a disciplined, multi-generational political vanguard of wealthy elites from the U.S. banking and financial services sector and core members of the military-industrial complex.
One of the vanguard's first objectives was to glom onto a grassroots electoral base that could give it electoral victories. It did this by instigating a culture war between right wing Christian Evangelicals and mainstream Americans, which it used to create a grassroots political organization controlled by the GOP large enough to elect Republican candidates at all levels of government. That goal was achieved at the national level with the election of Ronald Reagon.
The vanguard's second goal was to start transferring even more wealth to the wealthy than they already had, by means of tax cuts and by allowing free market forces to pull the financial rug out from under middle class and working families. By "starving the beast" through severe reductions in tax revenues that could be used for federal, state and local social programs and entitlements, the capacity of governmental authorities to "protect the general welfare" has become a shadow of its former self. The realization of this goal has been so successful that the middle class appears to be sinking rapidly into the ranks of the indebted working poor many of whom are on the verge of destitution themselves.
The vanguard's third goal was to enable the party and its allies to become "the imperial ruler of the globe", to use Schell's words. Their success in globalizing the world's economy via free market forces they control over the past 20 years needs no elaboration. The invasion and occupation of Iraq is the most dramatic first leg of their 21st century journey, and by the vanguard's criteria, things are not going too badly. The most important strategic victory attained by means of the Iraq invasion is that Bush administration's announcement that it was in the offing just before the 2002 Congressional elections enabled the GOP to gain control of both houses of the U.S. Congress and Bush to win re-election despite his previously sagging approval ratings.
The invasion itself allowed the Bush administration to dramatically expand its military presence in the Middle East. More than a dozen permanent military bases have been established in Iraq since the U.S. invasion, the largest U.S. embassy in the world is being constructed inside the "green zone" in Baghdad, and U.S. interests have seized control of the country's economy and oil fields. (The permanence of U.S. installations in Iraq suggests that the reason the "cabal" never bothered to develop an "exit strategy" is that it never intends to leave.) Although the insurgents and terrorists keep blowing up the oil pipelines, the administration has unlimited military resources to back-up its contention that it can eventually wipe them out. By continued detentions, torture and execution of countless numbers of suspects anywhere in the world where they can be apprehended, it apparently believes that it can prevent terrorist attacks from interfering with the global expansion of its military facilities and the deployment of its attack forces abroad.
In the meantime, the Department of Defense has taken center stage inside the U.S. as the only institution that has the manpower and logistical capabilities to protect American citizens who are in harm's way. This is mainly due to the fact that the Defense department had deployed core elements of the National Guard's reserves of manpower and materiel abroad, leaving most states without adequate first responders. After hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and signs of civil disorder appeared, only the Defense Department was able to restore order by sending in its forces, which apparently included private defense contractors transferred from Iraq.
In the aftermath, the Bush administration has sent up several trial balloons apprently testing the waters to see whether there would be any substantial opposition to moves it is said to be anticipating to authorize the deployment of military forces throughout the U.S. to cope with future natural disasters like hurricanes and epidemics like the avian flu. This would represent the ultimate triumph of the vanguard's militarized single-party state.
If the foregoing analysis holds water, what we may be seeing now is the result of a 30 year incremental coup d'etat in which the vanguard of a single-party militarized state has been seizing slowly but surely uncontestable power over the whole country. Falling approval ratings, the indictment of a high-level White House official, skirmishes between the ruling Republicans and minority party Democrats in the U.S. Congress are but ineffectual, rearguard actions. The vanguard and its patrons appear to be in firm control and there are few, if any, signs on the horizon of anything that could dislodge them in the near-term. With the easily corruptible electronic voting machines installed in every state of the union with no verifiable paper trail, even a counter-revolution at the polls could be sabotaged without a trace.
If there is to be any change in the way this single-party regime is conducting itself, it will have to come from the international community and global civil society at large in alliance with internal U.S. oppposition. If there is to be any means of saving innocent civilians from the cross-fires of the Bush administration's and al Qaeda's terrorist conflict, it will have to come from international initiatives, as outlined in Time for multilateral negotiations with the al Qaeda movement .
posted by the Third Force Network at 8:42 AM
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