[lbo-talk] Tariq Ali (stems from RE: Nader and His Detractors)

John Bizwas bizwas at lycos.com
Wed Oct 13 18:31:16 PDT 2004


DH:
>>Yesterday afternoon, I recorded an interview with Tariq Ali, who was
visiting NYC, which I'll broadcast during the WBAI fundraiser, Oct 28. He reiterated his emphasis on the importance of defeating Bush (which means electing Kerry) - and dismissed Ralph in the harshest terms, using words like "juvenile" and "narcissistic."He said he got lots of emails responding to his last appearance on my show, in which he emphasized the importance of defeating Bush (which means electing Kerry). The only hostile ones came from the U.S. Supportive ones came from Latin America, Africa, and Europe. He said American leftists should stop emulating the Bush administration and think not so much of their preferences, but those of the outside world instead.>>

How does he know that the people calling in from the US were 'leftists'? This guy apparently has a lot of credibility with leftists outside the US, so he should be listened to. However, I'm not sure I follow the reasoning as to how electing Kerry is going to make it safer for the rest of the world. Elite Europeans, Africans and Latin Americans can be as naive and misinformed about the US federal government as, well, Canadians, Australians, Japanese, Koreans, etc.

It's an American conceit that since the US is the 'superpower', educated people everywhere take the time to learn more about the country (You speak English so well, we share universal values, etc. etc. blah blah blah). They don't.

I have to laugh (bitterly) at the idea of an elite line of humane, caring Democrats saving the US and the free world from the rapaciousness of an anamolous Bush. Afterall, he's the world's anti-terror DADDY thanks to all that support from the ruling elites of the US Democratic Party, Europe, Africa, Asia, Latin America, etc.

Also, isn't it TA who keeps seeing a string of defeats for Bush and Co. , such as what happened in Spain? I think the only defeat they've suffered is Shia-Sunni unity and the insurgency which really kicked off April this year.

As for intra-establishment defeats (US system of alliances, NATO, bilateral alliances, etc.) , I'm not so sure at all. No sooner had Spain announced the withdrawal of its troops from Iraq, and it then announced an even larger deployment of troops to Afghanistan.

So we are back to the same old questions: Why is the 'left' responsible for defeating Bush? Why is the world going to be a safer place once Kerry takes office? Once Bush is defeated (if he's defeated), is this going to usher in a new era of real political participation from the left in the US? Is it going to revive socialist parties in Europe or Asia? One thing is for sure, the current government of Spain is set for warm relations with a Kerry administration--but then again, it's set for 'warming' relations with a Bush administration, too.

OK, back to the Nader portion of this thread. I've got my absentee ballot before me (once again efforts to vote using 'overseas voter' status failed, but at least the overseas wing of the Dems got me a ballot to vote with). And I'm going to vote straight Democrat, if I can muster up the effort to buy postage and take it to the post office box for mailing. Reasons include: Nader isn't even on the ballot (though the Libertarian, Constitution, and Green Parties have some candidates right down to the state level). Next, I think a Kerry presidency could be even more dangerous for the people of Iraq, but that is something I can't really know for sure (if he appoints Sen McCain to advise him on things like this, we'll know for sure). Third, it would be personally, emotionally satisfying to see still yet another Bush turd gone after one term. Fourth, the transition from the Bush regime to a Kerry one is bound to be disruptive of the whole Dem-Repug system, so perhaps it could help bring that whole system down. Fifth, I don't see my vote as very important at all, so if I can get around the issue of paying the postage to send it, I don't see how voting Democrat excludes me from anything in my real political life overseas (which I admit, not being a citizen of the country in which I live, is mostly imaginary, though now at last I can belong to a union and can support a real Communist Party). Finally, I'm going to justify the postage paid as being offset by the health benefits of a lunchtime walk. Then it's back to the Ignazio Silone novel.

F

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