USA Elections 2012
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
11 years after 9/11, with the Party Conventions over, Mitt Romney and Barack Obama will now vie head-to-head for the White House come Election Day on November 6.
Three 90-minute Presidential debates for October have been set. On October 3, it shall be at the University of Denver focusing on domestic policy. The second debate is scheduled to take place October 16 at Hofstra University in New York. The final October 22 debate on foreign policy shall be at Lynn University in Florida.
The Republican Party today bears scarce resemblance to the party of either Lincoln, who proclaimed emancipation for the slaves 150 years ago, or of Richard Nixon, who enacted considerable progressive measures during his Presidency.
The Afro-Muslim roots of an American President have sparked a backlash of vitriol and hate. The face of America is changing from white to brown. It has stirred a malicious mix of race, xenophobia, and religious bigotry into the volatile cocktail of American politics. A reverse gear back to the past may no longer be plausible. The Muslim community is prone to bear the brunt of xenophobic frustration and fury.
Pertinent to it is an emerging development. The dysfunctionality within the Muslim community has left a gaping space, which is being filled by the Indian American community. They are likely to be no less Islamophobic and, arguably, perhaps even more pro-Israel and more pragmatic in positioning itself.
The overwhelming reach of moneyed special interests is capable of paralyzing the power of the Presidency. Both the poor and the rich are equally prone to be subdued by monetary considerations.
A landmark decision of the US Supreme Court in 2010, Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission has, according to the New York Times editorial of January 21, 2010, “paved the way of corporations to use their vast treasuries to overwhelm elections and intimidate elected officials to do their bidding” and has reverted the United States “back to the robber-baron era of the 19th century.” This, in effect, permits unlimited secret funding without disclosure of its source. In its practical implications, the Supreme Court ruling validates the crushing weight of big money and acts to distort and corrupt the democratic process.
During the Democratic Party Convention at Charlotte, under tremendous pressure, a clause was inserted in the party platform to assert support for Jerusalem as the capital of Israel – a position at variance with existing US official policy as well as with established international law, which has never validated the illicit Israeli occupation.
The ascent of movements fueling aspirations of social equity and dignity is paralleled with the descent of American weightage and leverage.
The foreign policy Presidential debate between Romney and Obama on October 22 is unlikely to emit enlightening rays. Great powers decline because of decay within.
There are signposts to it on the domestic front, too. A telling sign is a perceptible rise of mean-spirited resentment against aiding the truly needy.
Nations flourish when they change gears to drive forward. To try to become a great country is the easier path. To strive to do good is the harder path – the path of salvation.
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