Welcome to America 2016
By Mowahid Hussain Shah
So the wife of an ex-President and the brother of an ex-President are poised to race for the US Presidency. It is déjà vu ’92. Welcome to America 2016.
One of America’s founding principles was the renunciation of nobility, inherited privileges of monarchy, and the cashing in on dynastic entitlement. This has now turned upside down.
Expect the 2016 race to be even more Islamophobic. A dozen Presidential aspirants have swelled the Republican ranks. Those who cannot make it would then, because of high visibility, try to pursue book deals and lucrative contracts.
Hillary already has been coronated as the Democratic front-runner. Her tenure as Secretary of State was marked by endless high profile flying hours but little else. She is more the face of the 20 th century than the new face of the 21 st century. The Washington Post/ABC News poll of June 2 depicts that a strong majority of Americans don’t find her trustworthy.
Thus, the crown is being passed around and rotated within an enclosed family circle. Yet, the electorate is conned into believing that theirs is a free choice in an increasingly rigged pro-oligarchy setup.
This was cemented five years ago by no less than the US Supreme Court through its ruling in the Citizens United case, which ensured the uncontrolled flow of money in election campaigns. Campaign 2016 shall be a $5 billion race, according to NBC News. The New York Times/CBS News conducted the most detailed survey of its impact on American attitudes toward the role of super-money in politics. The NYT story of June 3 found deep disquiet in more than four out of five Americans on the oversize role of money in political campaigns. They see it as an “obscene thing”, finding politics “as a province of the wealthy”, with “elected officials not listening to them” and their own disbelief that “they can overcome the political clout of people and organizations with money.”
The grip of special interests has gridlocked the system. It translates into autocracy of the privileged few.
America’s capacity to lead abroad has been hobbled. Ex-Nixon aide, Pat Buchanan, poses a pertinent question and answers it: “What are the causes of American decline? Hubris, ideology, bellicosity, and stupidity.”
Mideast is in shambles. Yesteryear’s Cold War is resurfacing. Policy-making is in the lap of the too young, too raw and, often, too smart. They may think they know what they are doing, but evidence reveals otherwise. They may have aced good grades in good schools. But cumulatively that doesn’t equal good sense. The result: the same approach to the same problem.
It sets the stage to capitulate to the comfort zone of convenience. There is an irrational dread of rocking the boat by shying away from burning issues and not appearing controversial. Simultaneously, diversity is being lauded while there is worship at the altar of conformity.
What does this disarray all add up to? The answer is easy and straightforward: crippling confusion and strategic incoherence. Harper’s Magazine cover story of June 2015, “What Went Wrong?” is a searching examination of Obama’s missteps.
The American dream may be slipping away.
