Dreadful Genius

Another recommendation: “The Dreadful Genius of the Obama Moment“

A pretty jarring analysis of the numerous problems left unsolved, and the problems created by the Obama election.  I’m worried that my own focus on the symbolic/rhetorical elements of politics sometimes distracts from the real material facts of US exceptionalism.  We really do have a war on most of the world, with terrifying implications.

I feel very conflicted.  On the one hand, I know that no matter how right you are, you have to be able to effectively communicate and organize people for your voice to matter.  In the current political environment, trying to take ‘hope’ head-on and out and out deny that people should enjoy Obama’s election feels like political suicide.  On the other hand, I know that arguments about ‘effectiveness’ can straight-jacket real dissent, and prevent people from saying what needs to be said about Obama and the violence of the US government.

I guess my real feelings go something like this: I agree with the commenter on the article above that the real alternative is to ask people to hope further.  What did we hope for?  Was it Rahm Emanuel and a return to the Clinton foreign policy?  Or are we really hoping for an end to racism (white supremacy), and something more fundamentally just in the world?

That Giant Sucking Sound

hope

…would be all that hope rushing out of the room.  Rahm Emanuel is a good pick for many reasons, but he’s also a neocon who shepherded NAFTA through congress back in ‘93.  You remember NAFTA right?   It was the first great betrayal of the Clinton Administration, the free trade bill that made moving jobs to Mexico a national past time.  He also engineered the bait-and-switch 2006 midterm campaign for the Democrats, where millions voted for an end to the war, only to see Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid capitulate to Bush and keep the war going.

Now Obama will put him at the head of his legislative machine, showing that he wants to have the type of free reign to do as he pleases, promises be damned, that Clinton had way back in 92.  (not that he made that many promises)  He represents the return of the New World Order with a happy face that Clinton tried to pull over in his two terms, and forecasts an unhappy relationship with the aspirational left that brought Obama to power.

Symbolizing the NYC Mayor

work with this. from Tony the Misfit's flickr

Obama’s campaign ran on a series of wildly effective symbols and phrases that drove the campaign to the electoral and political heights we see today.  Watching returns and his acceptance speech last night, you could see how he drew on an immensely powerful set of tropes and symbols used to define the nation and his role in it.

The next important election I see is the New York City Mayoral campaign.  I think it’s wildly important to get Mayor Bloomberg out of office ASAP, and I want to work to make it happen.

Any opposition to Bloomberg doubtless will try to pivot off of the Obama Hope and Change messages, but it seems like cities lack the same type of empty-ish symbolic tools that made his message possible.  That should be the first task of any mayor going in to this campaign, seeing the changed look and feel of politics: develop new symbols – both visual and rhetorical – that represent a new city, a new sense of hope, and a united front against the narrow interests that have come to control this city

Hope and ‘Message Discipline’

pardon all property crime! from optikal.'s flickr

My greatest concern coming out of the election is how Obama and his supports will respond to criticisms from the left. This was a well-run campaign with a strong unifying central message of hope, that prided itself on ‘message discipline,’ even going so far as to ask that independent left-leaning organizations stay out of the race, and not try any 527-style swiftboatings.

In doing this, Obama effectively eliminated any organized capacity for criticism of his campaign. He shut down independent organizations and funneled all of their energy into his campaign-machine, one of his great success stories. He left very little in his wake that might be able to hold him accountable.

Remember FISA? The losing battle to keep Obama from endorsing the new wiretapping bill worked through My.BarackObama.com, not through a group with an independent voice or support. They failed to leverage any real pressure, because all of their organizing energy funneled into the incredible force of the Obama organizing machine.

Also: Hope. I mentioned before how ‘hope’ and ‘positivity’ can become a straightjacket, and that’s a genuine concern. I’ve already been chastised for trying to introduce criticisms of the police and prisons into discussions about what the election means, largely on the grounds of wanting to remain ‘positive.’ I don’t believe ‘hope’ or ‘change’ is the exclusive domain of someone who ultimately represents the lesser of two evils, and I’m really worried that these words will become the new “Support our troops” of the left. And that’s bullshit.

What Does this Mean?

I want more. from teamstickergiant's flickr

And I ask in the most concrete sense possible: what does this mean for our future? I believe in the importance of rhetoric and symbols, so I’m not going to go so far as to say Obama’s election means nothing – in fact it means a lot, I’m just not sure about what.  It was heartening to see so many people happy – the group of people in Union Square last night was the largest unpermitted public gathering I’ve ever seen in New York, and the atmosphere was great.  Obama did a lot to make people feel a sense of ownership over their government, and I think that matters more than anything – that’s the energy that can and should be translated into what the President-Elect already acknowledges will be a long series of battles to change the world.

I believe the anti-war movement faltered by and large on the question of hope: people stopped thinking they had the power to change the outcome of the war.  The sense of being entitled to control the decisions of government, of being able to overcome ‘the system’ or the GOP machine has changed.

My reservations abound.  Here’s the scene from from outside Downtown Community TV last night immediately after Obama’s acceptance speech.  6 cop cars (12 officers) gathered around to arrest two black men who apparently got into some kind of fight.  As they were putting the second man into the car, a cop told the man “Obama hasn’t even been confirmed yet and you’re fucking up.”  The message was: you got your black man, now shut up and listen to the cops.

Total buzzkill.

That’s why I’m happy, but not overjoyed.  ‘Hope’ can also be a straightjacket for criticism, and we need to avoid shutting down the necessary critiques of our new President in the name of a new day.