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Commentary on the 2004 Presidential Election
Results
By Jim Lafferty
(Jim Lafferty is the
Executive Director of the Los Angeles Chapter of the National Lawyers
Guild and a member of the Los Angeles A.N.S.W.E.R. Coalition Steering
Committee. He presented this commentary on the elections on his weekly
radio show--the Lawyers Guild--on KPFK, 90.7 FM on November 4.)
But before turning to tonight’s topic, I
would like to do something I’ve never done on The Lawyers Guild Show
before. I would like to offer these few thoughts of my own tonight to
those of you out there who hunger for peace and social justice and who
are, as a result of Bush’s election, beside yourselves with anger and
despair. Certainly, George Bush’s election is a very sad and alarming
commentary on both the state of mind of the U.S. electorate, and on what
passes for a fair and democratic electoral system in America. But was
Tuesday’s election of George Bush really the disaster so many liberals
and progressive s have pronounced it to be?
My own view is this: whatever else may be said about Bush’s election, it
is not necessarily bad news for the progressive movements in this
country and around the world who, whatever their particular cause, must
also struggle with the most critical, over-arching issue facing our
nation and the world today: That issue, of course, is U.S. imperialism.
After all, Kerry and the Democrats offered nothing more than a kinder
and gentler imperialism..a slicker imperialism...a less open and overtly
rapacious imperialism.
On the other hand, Bush’s imperialism is open, and naked, and on view
for all the world to see. Consider, as a result of what the U.S. did and
is doing in Iraq, the rest of the world...and even half the people in
this country...now understand it was about oil and empire and had
nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction, or bringing democracy to
Iraq.
And so, while extremely dangerous, U.S. imperialism under Bush may well
provide us with a better opportunity for building a stronger movement in
this country, and abroad, to fight it. Of course, all empires from the
Roman to the British to the German to the United States of today,
believe they will last for ever. But in fact all empires, throughout the
ages, be they great or small, one day fall. Because all empires contain
within themselves the seeds of their own destruction. In the case of the
U.S. it’s its venality, its over-reaching greed, its ideological
bankruptcy, its reliance on only its military might and economic
coercion to win the day.
Already, much of the world today is already on the march against U.S.
imperialism. And the overtness of that imperialism under Bush helps to
build both the U.S. and world-wide movement against it, and to hasten
the day when the U.S. empire, like all that have proceeded it, will
crumble. Thus, this overtness makes easier the task of the progressive
anti-war and social justice movements. Easier to build. Easier to
organize. Easier to join with the growing global movement that is
fighting U.S. imperialism and its wars of conquest and economic
exploitation.
John Kerry was not the answer. His election would not have saved us or
contributed to the defeat of U.S. imperialism. And while domestic social
programs may, sadly, in the short run fare even worse under Bush than
they might have under Kerry, the only true, real and lasting answer is
no more to be found in the current electoral system in the United States
than it is in the stars. No, my friends, the only true, real and viable
answer lies, as it always has, with we the people. We the people looking
only to ourselves. We the people marching in ever greater numbers in the
streets of America. We the people marching and organizing until we have
built a movement, not unlike the movements of the 60s, when no matter
who sits in the White House, or on the Supreme Court, the will of an
enlightened and mobilized people can no longer be denied.
Remember, the war in Vietnam ended under president’s Nixon and
Ford...hardly “men of peace.” And it ended when it did because a
national and world-wide peace movement eventually educated and mobilized
millions in the streets, and together with the victories of the
Vietnamese on the battle ground, made it impossible for any president or
any Congress to continue that imperialist war.
And so the most important question we should always be asking ourselves
is not “who is sitting in the White House, or in the Congress, or on the
Supreme Court,” but “who is marching in the streets of America!” And
tonight I can announce that our movement for peace and social justice is
back in the streets again! It was already back in the streets of
Hollywood and West Hollywood last night. It was in the streets of
Westwood and UCLA this afternoon. It will be in the streets again this
Saturday noon at Hollywood and Highland; and again, in bigger numbers,
on December 18th and next January 20th and March 19th.
So sisters and brothers, let’s not despair. Let’s roll up our sleeves.
Let’s get out our marching shoes. The U.S. empire, which looks so strong
and invincible today is not on the ascendency...its on the decline. If
we remember our own history. If we prepare for a sustained and difficult
struggle. If we unite on behalf of that struggle. If we do not lose
hope, we cannot and well not be denied. Because, my friends, history is
on our side! And our day will surely come!
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