Democracy In Action?

We all desperately want to believe in the dream of representative democracy, the idea of a majority choosing the right leader with the right policies ,in a peaceful process. It is intoxicating and especially appealing to the lazy man inside us, no organizing, no confrontation or antagonism, no struggle, just a simple X next to a name on a ballot. I went to hear John Edwards speak two days ago and admit to being caught in the spell of the charismatic and good looking national celebrity right there in a room in little ,old Missoula Montana! With his progressive, populist exhortations about closing Guantanamo and universal healthcare and bringing the troops home it is easy to temporarily forget he is a rich, white,Democrat sold on the virtues of capitalism. It is telling though that Missoula Matters.

His "universal healthcare" is actually pooled Healthcare Markets rather than a single-payer,nationalized system. It has some good points and would improve on the status quo but...There is also this quote on his official website: "We must confront terrorism with the full force of our military might." This is problematic. It goes to what will probably be the discussion tonight at our bookclub when we talk about George Lakoffs book, Don't Think of an Elephant. He argues for the need for Progressives to re-gain the upper hand in the "framing" of issues. I will argue that Lakoffs "democracy" is a sham and "progressive" has no real meaning.

I see a big sign has gone up on the corner announcing a soon-to-be-built-mini-storage complex. You know,rows of ugly little metal buildings filled with the surplus commodities people felt compelled to purchase (a patriotic fervor, perhaps) but had no where to put. What a concept, paying rent to store all the crap you have no use for. The Greatest Country in the World.

John Bolton must be fuming about those Evil North Koreans signing deals with Chris Hill. He so wanted to annihilate them and soon we will be sending food and technology. Our Favorite Dictator Musharrif is scrambling to hang onto power and our Nigerian oil interests are looking less and less secure. Bolivia is deep into a constitutional crisis, a fight that goes straight to the soul of the country and will test the strength of the indigenous majority. Margaret Warner has been doing some great reporting for the Leher Newshour, filing stories from Turkey and Pakistan which probe a bit deeper than the norm.