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Vice presidential ventriloquists
By Br. Bede Vincent
The deluge of commentary, reporting and criticism about the immanent danger presented by the governor of Alaska is most striking because almost no attention has been given to the senator from Delaware who stands in line for the Oval Office if Barack Obama is elected. Part of the reason for this imbalance is the preoccupation of much of the Left with religious fundamentalism. One could even call this an obsession. Much of the women's movement sees the anti-abortion, so-called Pro-Lifers, marching to end those conditions held sacred since Roe v. Wade. Left and liberal media see the hoards of moralising evangelicals imposing censorship and dress codes. The identity activists fear a backlash against all the efforts to make sexual preference or gender orientation free from discriminatory legislation and government practices. However, dangerous these fundamentalists may appear, they have never by themselves been as coherent and powerful as the organisations of business which indirectly or directly support them. It is not the faiths-- as arcane as they may be-- which pose the problem but the business of religion of which they are a part-- or better said of the religion of business. The fact is that the USA was created on the Plymouth Rock of religious fanaticism. Most states were created with colonial laws that privileged one form of religion or another. Massachusetts was founded as a theocracy. Maryland which was founded by Lord Baltimore as a refuge for Roman Catholics actually had a period in which Roman Catholics were barred from holding public office. African religions were suppressed as part of the country's slave economy. Even as recently as the presidential primaries one candidate was forced to distance himself from a church and pastor who are strongly rooted in the African-American religious tradition-- something almost entirely opaque to whites, even on the Left. It is true that much religious fanaticism has generated violence. Over the past eight years though even the murder of physicians and bombing of women's clinics in the US has been occluded by obsession with supposed Islamic fundamentalist terrorism. Let us consider the most recent threat: Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska and member of the Assembly of God. She has been criticised for asserting that God is on her side in politics. This is in fact mainstream. Sarah Palin's statements are perfectly consistent with the prevailing attitude in the US that the country is somehow annointed by the deity. The Pledge of Allegiance was modified to reflect this particular national fanaticism in the 1950s. Sarah Palin has been accused of association with the militia movement and Alaska Independence Party. I have to confess that no one has yet shown why Alaska could not be independent from the US, a country most of whose territories were stolen from some tribe or other nation. Alaska was only made a state in 1959. One can reasonably expect for the same reasons as Hawa'i was made a state after having been annexed for commercial reasons. Nevertheless this is no reason to treat Palin as a threat. The best argument brought against Palin is that she could actually become President due to John McCain's age or health. For this reason there is a lot of discussion about how little experience, esp. foreign policy experience she has. This is actually a ridiculous charge. There is no "training ground" for the office of President and foreign policy is not a science like physics or chemistry. The only foreign policy experience a US President has ever required is arrogance, a certain amount of ruthlessness, the usual American contempt for the interests of other countries and their cultures, and the ability to respond to corporate agendas with military or economic force. This is something anyone who is a "true American politician" can do or learn to do fast. Harry Truman had no foreign policy experience but he was able to order the annihilation of two Japanese cities and prevent Douglas MacArthur from starting a nuclear war with China and Russia. The details of overthrowing governments and imposing unjust trade deals is done by the permanent foreign service and the CIA, it is better if Presidents retain deniability there. In short, Palin is probably the lesser of two evils when it comes to choosing in November. Let's take a look at the other side. Start with the fact that leading African-American political leaders have had a historically high mortality rate. Even if the shouts of people at Palin rallies that Obama should be killed are exaggerated, there was a serious coup attempt against FDR and JFK was assassinated. Even if colour were not the main focus, the very few populist-leaning presidents have had their problems in the US-- not least of which has been staying alive. Franklin Roosevelt's biggest populist competitor, Huey Long, was assassinated. So a future President Obama may well have to avoid open cars, theatres and the handshakes of strangers in public. But what about Obama's backup? While the current financial crisis forces Obama to straddle the fence between populist aid to homeowners and loyalty to his Wall Street donors, his VP-candidate remains unfettered. Senator Biden has been a consistent supporter of the predatory banking and financial regime that drive those who lose their homes into debt peonage. He is the acknowledged pilot who got the draconian Bankruptcy Abuse and Consumer Protection Act of 2005 passed which will make that likely. He has no particular beliefs but the religion of business and there he is a proven stalwart. If one of the main opportunities for a new government were to demobilise and withdraw troops from the Middle East and Central Asia, then Biden's fealty to the Israel lobby, to the feudal lords of Delaware and to the corporate America offer even less hope they would be taken. Some may compare Obama with Kennedy. Does that mean they should compare Biden with Johnson? Since Ronald Reagan was elected in 1980, more than a few legacies of the Nixon era have held high office, including the office of the Vice President. It may be asked whether Richard Cheney does not represent the culmination of a shift in the locus of power. George Bush Sr. may well have been the ventriloquist for Ronald Reagan-- at least in his second term. Then he managed to get himself elected for one term. Bill Clinton is elected with Al Gore then goes on to stand for President. Gore wins the election but refrains from pursuing the allegations of electoral fraud by which Bush II is elected. To many George Bush appears to be the front man for his Vice President Richard Cheney. Cheney who was even unpopular when he worked for Nixon and Ford, has kept out of the public eye. However it is clear that he and his CIA attorney Addington have been instrumental in shaping the policy of the "unitary presidency". Although the US Constitution provides not specific authority for the Vice President aside from substituting for the President in the case of disability or succession upon death, the past eight years have seen intensified involvement by the occupant of Naval Observatory Circle. This precedent should cause more attention to be devoted to the Vice Presidential candidate that has previously been the case. That means less focus on Sarah Palin than on who might be here VP if she succeeds a McCain presidency. However, that is quite abstract. On the other hand the chance that Senator Joe Biden was nominated Vice President to succeed Richard Cheney is anything but a consoling thought, esp. for those who expect debt relief in the coming year. The next Vice President of the United States may in fact be the President. Brother Bede Vincent, a former teacher, educated in the US, Brazil and Europe, is working in a project the working title of which is "An Ecclesiastical History of the United States". He is affiliated with the Institute for Advanced Cultural Studies ( www.maisonneuvepress.com) in College Park, MD and can be reached at bede[at]maisonneuvepress.com.
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