This morning Robert Perschmann wrote this in reply to “Next Up: IRAN” (posted here yesterday) and “The House We Live In” (posted on Monday). He gave permission to publish it here. Robert is a student of history. His reflection is thoughtfully provocative.
Gordon, I visualize the reading of the riot act to new American presidents. I can hear the part about how dependent the economy is on war. I can hear the argument about needing decades to prepare the economy for no war. What a serious view of the future is needed if we hope to change this. I think that Obama is closer to visualizing the change than any previous president. A few things that come to mind:
2008
It is natural to want to forget what we have been through… the massive financial devastation by white collar pirates and the unspeakable suffering, death, destruction, and black-hole waste, caused by the invasion and occupation of Iraq. We must understand, in detail, exactly what happened so that we can be sure that we will never again be led blindly into the dark cave of the extreme right wing. No threat has ever done more harm to us and to the whole world than these fanatic American citizens who now smirk and wish failure upon us.
No we are not dealing with a crisis… it is a catastrophe. I like a president who wants to look ahead, rather than back. No one will interfere with that. However, it is not a one person government. We must and will have hearings to document and publicize what caused the catastrophe.
I want President Obama to get out of Iraq and Afghanistan. If those countries must have foreign interference… let it be the United Nations, with the support of the US. I want the US out of the greatest and grandest, largest and most expensive embassy building in the world… the one constructed at US taxpayer expense in Bagdad. Let that building be whatever Iraqis want it to be.
Get out of Afghanistan. It ruined the Russians and we can not help. If interference is in order… it must be the UN. While we are withdrawing… let’s get out of Germany and generally recall the outposts of our empire. We can not afford it. Those days should be as over as the British empire is over.
No I don’t suggest that the US is the number one international villain of all time. Most countries have their own list of misdeeds. But we who think that we are so above it all… do have a list… and we have really, really blown it this time. And, yes we citizens are responsible for the actions of our presidents and our government. We probably can not help other countries very much right now. We have to pull out of our nose dive and begin a recovery that can serve as the beginning of a world wide recovery. I think that the People’s Republic of China has gained the most from massive world wide blunders. They should, and I think that they will… try to contribute to worldwide recovery.
Part of the US recovery will be the understanding that we can never rely on foreign nations to to make everything that we use. We will understand that from pharmaceuticals to electronics, from cars to appliances, from food to clothing… the US and every country that hopes for success… must produce things. I suggest that every American check the country of origin for every dollar spent. It takes extra time, but I want to attract attention to the issue. Look at the eye glass frames that you think are expensive. Ask where the lenses are made. Ask your pharmacist where the medicine comes from. Check the labels on the produce. Ask about the seafood. To save you a little effort… I can tell you that China makes most of what you buy and they aim to make more and more. I feel better when I can buy a product from Mexico, or Canada, or
Madagascar, or Italy. I think it is better to send money somewhere in addition to China.
I think that the People’s Republic of China is headed to become the new American-style success that we have imagined ourselves to be. I am hoping that they will avoid many of our blunders… but am sure they will not avoid them all. I have smiled at the thought of the red flag flying over the land of the manufacturer to the world. That happened thanks to the quest for the cheapest labor. We gave away the store. But… enough. I think that we should tax the pants off of imports, including those of American companies thought to be all-American… like Apple Computer. Do this until it pays off to make things here again. I think that offshore customer support should be taxed, as well as foreign airlines and shippers that transport to our country. After we have established some American production and restored our economy, …at that point we can study trade agreements with other countries. Yes products will cost more. The answer to that problem is higher pay for American workers. So, why does this issue remain anyway? It is because of the belief that unhindered wealth is okay. It’s not okay. I think that the president’s definition of wealth is generous. A quarter of a million dollars is wealth. It is appropriate for people who exceed that income to pay a great premium in tax. There is no point in having wealth if there is not a society to be wealthy in. American workers made this country possible. If we want less socialism, the wealthy must be happy to pay more taxes to support our society. And the rest of us should be more conscious of what a great privilege it is to be an American tax payer.
PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENT OR QUESTION TO PROMOTE DISCUSSION..
Thanks for visiting,
Gordon
Views from the Edge 
Pardon me for engaging in “one more thing” discussion. So true to name Geithner and Sommers, and yes Robert Reich. Reich would agree that presidents have only as much power as they can bring together. A sudden fix, a sudden correction is not going to happen. There is a very important reason that President Ford pardoned Nixon. (And I only use Nixon as a landmark). President Ford was convinced by teams of analysts that that the country could crash and burn if we did not move on from Watergate. This is why I visualize a “reading of the riot act” to new presidents. They get the details about the many ways that the country can fall apart… soon. The president can’t just barge in and do a few great things. How’s this? If an army of bad guys is pouring gasoline on the burning city… can we pause to get rid of the fire chief and the police chief? Everything is in motion. Examine the FDR presidency. He demanded the people to “make me” do it. We the people can not rest. Right you are that we need a third party and a fourth. The clinker… rather the fireball, is that we don’t have time now. This is a catastrophe… right now. We don’t have time for a tune-up. What historic example do we have of a nation making a great come-back? Maybe Germany. The Germans thank us for de-nazification in 1945. Americans on the ground in Germany insisted… on de-nazification, and it happened. Germany is a pretty big success today. They patiently waited for the end of the two Germanys. My opinion is that Germany is successful today because the extreme right wing was surgically removed in the years after the war. The American right wing has been strong, healthy, and growing. Stopping it is up to us. Obama will do all that is possible if we make him do it. He can’t do it without our support. And, I think it helps to remember that one year, two years, three years are but a blink in the life of this baby country of ours.
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Robert and Tony, What can I say? What can I add. Nothing. Keep writing. Keep offering your reflections. We are in crisis, a critical turning point in every way. Thanks for honoring this blog as a place to engage the issues and each other. That’s what it’s for.
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“What a serious view of the future is needed if we hope to change this. I think that Obama is closer to visualizing the change than any previous president.”
Oh, how I wish I could still believe this…but it would mean ignoring most of the last three years…
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So much disappointment, right? I often have scratched my head wondering…. Whether we believe it or not, we are called to work for it, to insist that those elected to office in our names and those who are in positions of private power move into the changes needed to move the world forward.
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Oh how we wish the last three years had gone better, not to mention the thirty years prior to that. Remember the political vandalism used against President Clinton? The days when two parties worked together in good citizenship dates back some decades. Who would have guessed that someone like me would remember President Nixon with fondness? Nixon’s party evolved into something completely different today, and they are extremely good at what they have become. Here is something that I wrote during the recent ocean liner disaster off the coast of Italy:
Sinking ships bring to mind the United States ship of state and Captain Obama. He boarded the ship as it was sinking after a long and reckless voyage, devastated by pirates and led by the worst captain and crew imaginable. Task number one was bailing and repair. Members of the former crew remained aboard continuing their horrid citizenship in a plot with the sole directive to replace Captain Obama. Captain Obama needs good citizens supporting his leadership. We have to give him a worthy crew for a few years, as in the House, Senate, and Supreme Court. And, please… how about a restoration of that Party of Nixon? Some call the direction of that Party as corporative. Fascist is the only word that works for me.
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I like the piece you wrote. The ship was going down in the ways that you say. And it will take years to repair the damage. My disappointments lie in the President’s appointment of Larry Sommers and the Secretary of the Treasury to be his chief economic advisors. I believe perhaps he had to do that to stabilize the ship. Otherwise he might not have had support from the financial and corporate leadership. But, yes, I do believe this President is decent to the core and that he “gets it” – it will take patience and perserverance. He has both those qualities. And he is blessed with a brilliant mind and compassionate heart.I just finished reading President Obama’s speech at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast in which he spoke very clearly about Jesus’ courage in the face of doubts. Lots of laughter there.
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I agree with Pastor Stewart about Mr. Obama’s economic team – dominated by neoliberals and Wall Street insiders, just ones who happen to have a “D” after their names. Yes to Larry Summers and Tim Geithner, but no to Robert Reich and Paul Krugman? I mean, what the…? Sorry, that’s not “change.”
Then there’s the failure to close Gitmo, the relentless prosecution of leakers and others perceived to be “disloyal,” the escalation of cowardly drone attacks, the claimed authority to assassinate US citizens without even the pretense of due process…oy vey…no, I’m not ready to sail on with this captain. I’m going back to third parties. “Not as bad as the other guy” isn’t enough for me any more.
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Tony, It’s hard, very hard. What we’ve had and still have is a national security state that has gotten us into military adventures and occupations that boggle the mind and are eating away at us morally, spiritually, and financially. Sadly, it will not change overnight. What Eisenhower feared most – the military-industrial complex – is entrenches, INSTITUTIONALLY entrenched. And entrenches institutions and systems have staying power that defies short-term remedies. How in the world it gets turn around I don’t know. All I know is that persistence, continuing calling for change, and realistic readiness to accept the consequences here at home are required. The President, I believe, does understand this. I also believe he’s a lot more patient than I am. And I hope, and do believe, that he’s a whole lot smarter. If he goes to far, he and you and I know what would happen. It happened in 1963. It must never happen again. Third party is always an option. The alternative to the President is so horrendous, I can’t go that way. Thanks for thinking so clearly and for sharing your thoughts here.
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His vision would be a dream come true. Thank God there are those who see and believe in the possibilities.
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What a dream come true is described here — the America I naively believed in as a kid, decorating my bike in red white and blue to celebrate the 4th of July.
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With clothes pins in the spokes.
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