Letter from Marianne Dugan
Politics – January 2007 – Colorado Central Magazine
Dear Sir or Madam:
OK, so the Democrats won, more or less. What the public said, loud and clear, is that they don’t like the direction in which we’re going. Some voted on corruption, some on the war in Iraq, a few, we hope, even voted on whether the President of the U.S. can anoint himself king. But on past performance a Democratic congress isn’t likely to come up with new directions.
If the Democrats spend too much time on revenge, on curbing presidential power (absolutely necessary), or on dealing with corruption (not likely), or on battling with Republicans on agenda (gridlock), it will be a short two years before the public turns fickle again.
I don’t share Mr. Sibley’s concern about the U.S.’s “position of disparity.” Seems to me that problem has been overtaken by events. Our desperate grip on disparity is slipping away: the poor are poorer, the middle class is sliding into poverty, and the U.S. as superpower will inevitably become history as we, too, overspend on military might.
Grim picture? Not really. We’ll be forced to turn our attention to our own problems, and we’ll strop being envied and hated when we’re just another nation trying to cope, and can no longer afford to meddle in other countries, a task at which we have proved singularly inept. The world’s best hope is that the U.N., where checks and balances are still in place, will finally be able to function as it was meant to, once the cold hand of superpower has been removed.
The transition in the U.S. will be rough, but we’ll survive; hopefully with our core values intact, and with a better idea of what those core values are. Why not? Germany did, England did, even Russian, apparently still in transition, does not have wholesale killing any more. And yes, I also pin my hopes for the future on a quote from Winston Churchill that “democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others.” Not in my lifetime, but some day….
Marianne Dugan
Tucson
