Soft Power

Much has been made of soft power – the promotion of American culture, values and standard of living as tools for advancing our interests, even to the point of perhaps influencing the internal dynamics of rogue regimes. As the argument goes – if our adversaries and the people they control could be exposed to our way of life, they just might change their ways and become like us.

Two recent events speak to the evidence of American soft power in the world. The Disney Corporation just announced that it has reached an agreement with the Chinese to open up a $ 4 billion Disneyland outside of Shanghai. Although there is a Disneyland in Hong Kong, most Chinese cannot travel to see Mickey and Donald and Snow White without travel permits. By placing a new Disneyland in a more centrally located site and easing travel restrictions, the new middle class of China will be able to enter the dream world of American cartoons.

Then there is the new polling data from an outfit called Eurodata TV Worldwide, which asked viewers in 66 countries what were their most popular television shows.  Not surprisingly, the United States led the way – Fox’s quirky medical show House was the top drama, Desperate Housewives from fictional Wisteria Place won in the comedy category and the Bold and the Beautiful topped the soap opera category.

I guess as proud Americans we should all be happy that Disney characters are a big hit in communist China and the world is watching our mindless television shows, but I wonder whether these examples of our popular culture, and therefore our soft power, have the ability to remake authoritarian governments in our image or to advance our way of life around the world?

If we as a nation are about promoting open elections, the rule of law, human rights, personal freedom and equality, then I guess I don’t see a connection between Disney and democracy or how the morally challenged gals on Desperate Housewives advance our most cherished values. If anything Disney and popular television shows reenforce the view that America is really about escaping reality and embracing infidelity.

Disney in China and popular television shows  may help to portray the United States as filled with people who are happy, contented, playful, well-off, and gorgeous, but of course this is pure fantasy ( much like Disneyland). If anything, such images do send a subconscious message to the people of the world that there is something else out there besides abject poverty, brutal control, drab lifestyles and little hope. I guess that may be the real value of our soft power –  not stimulating governmental change, but creating a dream.

So three cheers for American soft power. I am not sure that we are winning over our adversaries or changing governmental power, but the world sure does love our pop culture and our mindless stuff.

Vietnam – A New Found Friend

I had the pleasure of attending a luncheon yesterday for the Vietnamese ambassador to the United States. As I was sitting there and later listening to the ambassador’s remarks, I recalled a different era of U.S.-Vietnam relations. Sad memories of an unwinnable war crossed my mind – the 58,000 U.S. soldiers dead, the massacre of hundreds of innocents at My Lai, the disturbing photo of the naked young Vietnamese girl running away after being burned with naplam, and the desperate residents of Saigon trying to get on the last helicopter out of the city before the Vietcong took control.

Fast forward to the luncheon and the ambassador and I found out that not only does time heal most ( but certainly not all) wounds, but that given time an old enemy can become a new friend. Vietnam resumed diplomatic relations with the United States in 1995 and since that time trade has jumped from over $ 100 million a year to $ 15 billion. The United States is now Vietnam’s largest trading partner and both the Bush and now Obama administrations are pushing for an expansion of ties, especially education ties. And to show how relations have really changed, in the coming weeks the Vietnamese defense minister will arrive in Washington to work out a new military arrangement with the United States.

But as with any war, remants of the conflict remain. There are still over 1000 soldiers who are missing in action in Vietnam; thousands of locals continue to suffer the effects of Agent Orange- the defoliant that we used to clear the jungle hiding places of the Vietcong; and there are many Vietnamese-Americans who continue to pressure our government to end this new push for economic and cultural openings, as they remind our government that Vietnam remains communist and authoritarian.

Listening to the ambassador with all these images running through my head, I could not help but think of Afghanistan – to many the 21st century version of Vietnam. Just like Vietnam, we seem to be heading to the conclusion that more is better as thousands of U.S. soldiers will add to our manpower commitment. Just like Vietnam, the government talks about winning the hearts and minds of the people, even though a tiny minority of the people have given their hearts and minds to the U.S. backed government. And just like Vietnam, we as a people are told that leaving the country or scaling back our commitment will lead to dire consequences, this time in the war on terrorism. Back in the 70’s it was called the domino theory – lose Vietnam and the whole of southeast Asia would turn communist.

If there are any lessons to be learned from the Vietnam War, they are that military assumptions, diplomatic slogans and strategic doctrines can be way off the mark and that fear of failure or defeat is such a powerful motivation that alternative tactics and critical analyses sadly fall by the wayside. The result is the real possibility of a military and political  quagmire.

It is important to remember that after we left Vietnam, southeast Asia did not fall prey to falling dominos of communism. The United States remained active in the region, communism collapsed, China became a market-based powerhouse and a model for economic development, and after twenty years of seeing those helicopters leaving Saigon, Vietnam opened itself to business with America.

So before we go headstrong into Afghanistan and commit thousands of troops to help secure the country and win the hearts and minds of the people, the Obama administration would do well to think about Vietnam, once an enemy and now a new found friend.

Some Signs That Things are Getting Worse

Depending on the news of the day, I sway back and forth as to whether we as a nation are going to reach that vibrant and progressive ” City on a Hill” as promised by John Winthrop or sadly become the 21st century version of England, an international afterthought despised by all those countries we pushed around for so many years.

Today, I am in one of those English moods. Here’s why.

The recovery from the Great Recession has now taken on a new wrinkle – modest economic growth with hardly any job growth.  Too many companies are apparently becoming satisfied that they can squeeze out more from existing employees rather than hire new employees, leaving unemployment perhaps stuck for years at 10%. I shuttered over the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data that in the last two years work-related suicides jumped 28%.

Wall Street and corporate boardrooms are filled with irresponsible bragging that if billions of dollars in bonuses are not paid to the people who brought us the financial meltdown, these patriotic American whiz kids will go somewhere else to make their unjustified Christmas gifts. Where I ask in an economy of 10% unemployment are these guys and gals going to go to rip us off again? If shareholders don’t do something about this awful excess, they deserve to see their retirement nest egg go belly up.

Dick Cheney just won’t go away. He pushed us into a senseless war in Iraq tolerating little contrary opinion and then ” dithered” for years about what to do about the real al Qaeda threat in Afghanistan. Now he has the gall to bash the President for taking his time to fashion a sane and effective strategy to save American lives and get us out of the longest war in American history. Please, Mr. Vice-President, just go to that secret hiding place where you spent so much time during the Bush years.

The recent spate of bombings in Baghdad and elsewhere in Iraq are likely to be a foreshadowing of things to come once the US takes its troops out. Could spending $ 1 trillion and 5000 lives have led to nothing but another civil war?  Most wars are senseless and unnecessary, but the Iraq war fits both of those observations. I am coming around to the view that too many American died for so little.

Barack Obama came into office on a magic carpet of Hope and Change, and after almost a year that magic carpet ride has started to look like a Boston street – full of potholes and detours. The polls are right – Americans have lost a good portion of their hope and change has turned into endless partisan battles. I just wish Obama would use the famous line by Peter Finch in the movie Network, ” I’m mad as hell, and I’m not going to take it anymore.”

Finally, the Red Sox didn’t make the World Series, in fact they barely made the playoffs. Now to some this is no example of the end of America as we know it. But the early exit of the Sox occured because the usual heroes showed signs of age, lack of spirit, and a general team malaise. If, as some say, baseball is a microcosm of what we are as a nation, then the fall of the Sox is the first real sign of America’s decline.

Fortunately, tomorrow is another day and the news may be more upbeat and inspiring. But as of today, we are in trouble.

Capt. Lou, the Stooges, and the American Guy

One of the eternal debates in western civilization is over the real differences between men and women. Thousands of books have been written on the subject along with endless  water cooler arguments and barroom shouting matches. Well I can tell you today with great confidence that I have the answer, or I think I have the answer.

I got a shot of instant genius the other day when I read that Captain Lou Albano had died. For the uninitiated, Captain Lou Albano was perhaps the most famous of the 1970’s and 1980’s wrestling managers who occupied the television screen on those Saturday mornings when I was supposed to be doing something meaningful. Captain Lou was a gigantic, disheveled crazy man who shouted at the cameras as he defended his wrestlers, the likes of Professor Toru Tanaka, the Iron Sheik, and Sgt. Slaughter as they entered the ring against Ivan Putski, Chief Jay Strongbow, and Andre the Giant.

Of course the whole thing was fake, but it sure was entertaining and Captain Lou kept you mesmerized in front of the televison as he went on and on with well written rants defending his stable of bad guys, who always seemed to have a ” foreign object” hidden away to give them that extra edge. Never mind that the outcome of the match was decided in the dressing room.

I tell you about the passing of Capt. Lou because guys just couldn’t resist watching wrestling, even though they knew the whole enterprise was just the equivalent of a male soap opera. Naturally, my wife and millions of wives and girl friends all over America had no idea why we would watch wrestling instead of mowing the lawn or fixing a leaking sink. To women wrestling was stupid and of course fake.

But Captain Lou Albano and his wrestlers of yesteryear were the updated versions of the Three Stooges ( four if you include Shemp). Although the Stooges weren’t wrestlers, they started the whole business of ridiculous physical comedy as they poked each other’s eyes, hit each other’s heads and pulled each other’s hair. It was juvenile, dumb and also fake, but guys loved it and continue to love it, just like wrestling.

What is it about guys that they are drawn to the likes of Captain Lou Albano and the Stooges? With wrestlers  and the Stooges it is likely that men enjoyed the violent escapism mixed with over the top humor and junior high locker room antics that the guys in the ring and Curly, Larry and Moe created. There will always be a little boy inside a grown man who can’t resist enjoying physical comedy, especially if they see it as downright funny and harmless.

Women just don’t get it when it comes to wrestling and the Stooges, and that is the source of the difference between the sexes – men are hard wired to push and shove and bump and pull the other guy; it’s what we are as humans.  Watching the wrestlers and the Stooges allowed us to tap into our inner maleness, no matter how goofy or puerile. So thank you Capt. Lou for making my Saturday’s complete and allowing me to enjoy male humor. And to the Stooges, may you live on forever in reruns and twenty-four hour marathons – nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

Money, Lies, and Death- The Health Care Reform Debate

 

The health reform debate in Congress and in the country has sadly brought out the worst in American politics and laid bare the waste, the greed and the stupidity of our ” system” of providing health care to some Americans, while ignoring many others. Here are a few snapshots of the state of health care reform, which unfortunately can be summed up in three words - money, lies and death:

* The hospital and health insurance sectors gave members of Congress $ 170 million in campaign contributions in 2007 and 2008.

* Senator Max Baucus, the key player on the Senate Finance Committee that is driving the health care debate, received $ 1.5 million in campaign contributions in 2007 and 2008 from the hospital and insurance sectors. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, received $ 2 million in campaign contributions in 2007 and 2008 from the hospital and insurance sectors.

* The Urban Institute reported that 27,000 Americans, usually poor Americans, die each year because they do not have insurance. Congressman Alan Grayson of Florida, in his now famous ” Die Quickly” speech lambasting the Republicans on the absence of a GOP health reform bill, stated that over 44,000 American die each year because they lack health insurance.

* The United States is ranked 17th in the world in access to health care, yet we spend the most per capita of any industrialized country.

* The major trade group representing the insurance industry states that insurance premiums for a family of four will go up by 18% in the coming years even with a health care reform bill. Not only is this an example of shameless scare tactics coming so close to the end game of health care reform, but if such an increase is possible it is proof positive of why this country needs a public option to spur competition and choice.

* Right wing talk show cranks have been saying that a public option included in health care reform would lead to insurance for illegal immigrants and euthanasia for seniors. No only are these claims blatantly false, but they show how conservatives will stop at nothing to stop health care reform.

* A four month old boy in Colorado has become the poster child for what’s wrong with American health care as his parents were denied an insurance policy because the boy, who is in excellent health, is 17 pounds, apparently obese according to the insurance company and thus suffering from a pre-existing condition. After media shaming, the company changed its policy. This is why this country needs health care reform.

All of these little nuggets of financial facts and horror stories give a flavor of why this country has had to wait since the days of Harry Truman to fix a terribly broken health care system. Whenever serious efforts are made to bring about reasonable and cost effective change, the monied interests dump millions into the campaign war chests of members of Congress with a handshake and a wink, lying and fear raise their ugly heads as all sorts of ideologues use an ever complex media to raise doubts and spread confusion, and most importantly the American people fall further and further behind the rest of the industrialized world in quality, cost effective care, while the insurance companies worry about a fourth month old boy’s weight.

It is impossible to stop the force of money in American politics or to silence the liars and the death mongers, but it is possible for the American people to get straight and honest answers about health care reform before more people die and we fall further and further behind the civilized world. Winston Churchill once said that ” Americans eventually do the right thing, after exhausting all other alternatives.” I hope he is right in this case.

She’s Back

All those liberals out there and their cohorts in the fantasy army of socialists who the right wing says are scheming to tranform America into Sweden should not be surprised that Ayn Rand, the goddess of libertarianism, is making a huge comeback. Rand’s two major works, Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, have always been popular books, but these days, amidst all the hysteria from the right, her works are selling over 500,000 copies a year. There is, believe it or not, talk about a movie about her life starring, again believe it or not, the South African beauty Charlize Theron.

For the last ten years or so libertarianism has been creeping up in popularity in American politics as the right and their allies in the corporate world and Wall Street have convinced themselves that not only is greed good, but the epitome of high morality. Of course that means that government intervention and regulation, taxation and the ultimate devil, redistribution of taxpayer money to those at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder, are evil and the height of immorality.

The creed advocated by Rand has now become the mantra of those in America who believe that Obama and his leftist supporters are not only ruining this economy, but are destroying America and its ethic of individualism, self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. The Randites could care less about programs to foster upward mobility or fight social injustice. Quite simply, the Randite view is that if you are facing tough times, well that’s your problem, don’t whine or expect any kind of help.

It is impossible to reason with the libertarians and the devotees of Ayn Rand about the Declaration of Independence reference to ” all men are created equal” or the Preamble to the Constitution’s mission statement about ” providing for the  general welfare ” or the 14th Amendments call for “equal protection of the laws.” It is equally fruitless to talk about altruism, the common good, humanitarianism or the Christian moral view contained in the beautitudes or Christ’s call to “love thy neighbor as thyself.” To the Randites it is all about them, all about their money, all about the evil of government and the goodness of their cause.

It is so easy to see that if this country ever adopted the Atlas Shrugged doctrine that we would live in economic chaos, constant social unrest, and a sad state of evil as we consciously and selfishly ignored the human problems and possibilities around us. Despite its growing popularity, the libertarianism of the followers of Ayn Rand, is not only immoral, it is downright crazy.

How About Some Straight Talk For A Change

There is nothing more disappointing about liberals than their historic unwillingness to fight back when the right wing uses every trick in the book to gain political advantage and despoil legitimate policy reforms. President Obama pledged to “call out ” those Republicans who indeed did lie, but so far neither he nor his surrogates have had the desire to fight back- not with partisan invective but just the facts.

So here is my modest attempt to help the much too kind liberals, ”call out” the far right and set the record straight on an ever growing list of misstatements, commonly called lies.

Death panels are a fiction of the Republican naysayers who claim that the government is intent on speeding the demise of grandma and grandpa; in reality death panels are groups of insurance company executives sitting around a table in corporate headquarters going over the claims of a patient who is in serious trouble or may in the future be in serious trouble, and then denying them coverage. That is a death panel.

Socialism is an economic system in which the government takes over most, if not all, of the major economic assets of the country, provides cradle to grave personal security programs and supports high taxes in order to pay for these generous benefits. Temporarily helping banks and car companies get out of hock with government intervention, providing a public OPTION in health care to those without health care and providing modest tax CUTS to the middle class is not socialism, it is just plain and simple crisis management to help a country avoid another Great Depression.

Deficit Spending and National Debt have become the rallying cries of the right. But you’ll never guess who created mountains and mountains of deficits and debts over the last 30 years; it was the Republicans from Reagan to Bush to Bush. Just in case memories are short, the only surplus to occur in the national budget was in the final years of the Clinton administration. Everyone of these fiscal conservative presidents jacked up the deficits and took this country further and further into national debt. Now all of a sudden when it suits their fancy, the right is concerned about deficits and debts. Just remember, they are the experts on how to get this country into a financial sinkhole.

Tax increase fear mongering has always been the ace in the hole for the right. Give them credit, the Republicans have been masters at scaring the beejesus out of Americans on taxes. Of course, the Republicans conveniently fail to mention that cutting taxes is really about helping the rich and that during their time in power wages and personal wealth for the middle class flatlined. When the right is faced with taxes on the rich, they shout out “class warfare,” but when they stick it to the middle class, it’s all about helping the economy grow at some distant and unnamed future date.

When Congressman Joe Wilson of South Carolina yelled out ” You lie ” at the President, he was rightly admonished by the House of Reprentatives and even some embarrassed members of his own party. But Wilson’s outburst was just one sad episode of bad manners, while everyday the right bends the truth or simply lies to get back into the game. It’s time for liberals to call a lie what it is – a lie.

What’s Wrong With The Pledge of Allegiance?

” I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisable, with liberty and justice for all.”  On the surface the Pledge of  Allegiance seems a pretty straightforward statement of support for our government and a short comment on our patriotism. Well, not necessarily.

In recent years, especially in our schools, the atheists and agnostics adamantly oppose the words ” under God” as a violation of the separation of church and state. Then there are the free speech advocates who want to protect their children from what they view as a subtle form of political indoctrination. Finally, there are those, mostly the students, who just think it is boring and unnecessary to engage in this outward form of civic activity.

I am well aware that I come from a different era and generational mindset, but I fail to see the Pledge of Allegiance as some sinister plot by its advocates, whether in schools or at public meetings. What’s so wrong about pledging allegiance to your country? The Pledge is merely a verbal, and thus open, recognition of what this country is as a governmnent and what it stands for as a nation.  One might think that Americans, who constantly refer to the United States as the world’s greatest democracy and the best country on the planet, would gladly pledge their allegiance and proudly pronounce their patriotism.

I ran this growing controversy over saying the Pledge of Allegiance in our nation’s public schools to my college students, and to my dismay they were part of the boring and unnecessary group who claimed that their patriotism was a personal and internal matter and that there was no need for a daily requirement of saying the Pledge. They also weren’t so keen on singing the National Anthem at the Red Sox games, but were jacked up about yelling out the words to Neil Diamonds Sweet Caroline, the unofficial anthem of the hometown team.

Like too many Americans, these students and perhaps their parents as well just take their country for granted and think that words of patriotism are just that – empty words. But when I dug a little deepr and asked them how they practice or show their patriotism, most just shrugged their shoulders. In effect patriotism – love and respect for one’s country- was a free ride, not worthy of even the simplest of statements of support.

Now whether the Pledge of Allegiance is said in classrooms or elsewhere is not a matter of national crisis; this country faces far more serious challenges. But it seems a bit sad that too many Americans complain about saying the words that remind us all what this country stands for and hopes to become.

It’s Still About Race

Finally the mainstream media and the American public in general are beginning to talk about why all these right wing crackpots are calling President Barack Obama the new Hitler, shielding their kids from listening to his education message, urging states to secede from the Union and of course predicting that this country is just about to become socialist.

The quiet secret behind all this savage vitriol against the President is simply racism, carefully disguised racism, but racism nonetheless. The people who believe the President was born in Kenya, wants to kill grandma and grandpas and lies with impunity can’t bring themselves to the reality that a black man or a half black man is the head of the United States of America.

To mask their racism the right claims to be protecting the constitution, concerned about fiscal responsibility and true patriots intent on returning this country to its former greatness. But where were these people when President Bush was violating the Constitution on a regular basis or was spending money like a lottery winner on tax breaks for the rich, a terrible war and a budget buster drug prescription program? And where were these patriots when this country slid into moral decline under an administration with no soul?

The only logical answer is that these tea bagger psuedo revolutionaries refuse to acknowledge the legitimacy of a person of color in the White House.  I really didn’t want to buy into the race answer as the key to the outlandish opposition to the President but when I saw mothers and fathers claiming that they didn’t want their children to listen to Barack Obama talk about personal responsibility and hard work, I knew in my gut that this was about race. Let’s face it, these parents didn’t want a black man talking to their kids.

Then the outburst by Representative Joe Wilson of South Carolina shouting “You Lie” during the President’s speech on health care clinched it for me. This is the same Joe Wilson who is still a member of the Sons of the Confederacy, which fought to preserve slavery. This is the same Joe Wilson who proudly stated that his hero is the late Senator Strom Thurmond, perhaps the most segregationist senator in the history of this country. This is the same Joe Wilson who fought tooth and nail against the stimulus bill, which would pump money into many poor black communities in his state.

So let’s not kid ourselves – the election of America’s first black president has not solved the race issue; it has only brought it into the open. Maybe the right wing ought to read the Declaration of Independence with its phrase,  “all men are created equal” or the 14th Amendment, which guarantees  “equal protection of the laws.”

Senator Curt Schilling?

There were loads of chuckles when Red Sox pitching legend Curt Schilling made the passing comment on his blog that he had some interest in running for the Senate seat of Ted Kennedy. Most of the critics quickly pointed out that Schilling was a baseball player, in fact an ex-baseball player trying to start a video game company, who had little political experience, except those trips to New Hampshire where he introduced John McCain at election rallies.

Now I take no position on Schilling as a candidate for public office in Massachusetts, but his lack of political experience is one of those traditional roadblocks for holding high office that are often dragged out when someone who doesn’t fit the mold tries to win elective office.

As a result of this ” real people need not apply” rule  what we have now in this state and in this country is government run by lawyers, with a few other professions thrown in just to make it look like our leaders represent the face of Massachusetts or America.

The argument made by supporters of lawyer run government is that what those in the legislature and the executive branch do is write laws and then see that they are faithfully executed. Well let me clue you into a secret- your state representative or US Congressman rarely writes laws and on too many occasions only has a vague idea what the details of the laws are.

Most of these lawyers turned government official rely on their staff and the bevy of legal counselors who are hired to do all the nitty gritty legal work. The lawyer turned government official comes in at the end of this tedious process and either promotes the law or works to kill it.

Now back to Curt Schilling. This state and country could benefit from having people in positions of political leadership that don’t come out of the legal profession. We need more farmers, teachers, social workers, accountants, scientists, architects, and yes more professional athletes representing us in the centers of power.

In short we need a true cross section of our state and country; men and women who don’t necessarily possess a J.D. but rather have intelligence, good judgment, integrity, common sense and most of all a keen ability to compromise.  Now lawyers certainly may possess all these qualities, but they are certainly not alone. Including men and women with far different life experiences and backgrounds at the centers of governmental power just might bring some fresh ideas and different perspectives to a policy process that begs for change.