Christian Dominionism

American Theocracy – Kevin Phillips, 2006

This book is by a former strategist for the Nixonian Republican Party, who has strayed far from the ranch. I call it Nixonian because Nixon was a veritable realist ‘liberal’ compared to the people Phillips now sees running that party. Phillips initiated the ‘southern strategy’ for Nixon. It is quite appropriate that Phillips is now writing a sort of epitaph for the Republican ‘southern strategy’ after 35 years. He notes that the South is the strongest regional base the Republicans have anywhere, as they have slowly lost their hold on the western, southwestern and some northeastern states recently.

What is happening to the United States, according to Phillips? 3 concepts: fading power technologies, excess religion and overwhelming debt. Phillips unique contribution is to go back into the history of the Spanish, Dutch and English imperialisms to show how the ascendancy of all 3 of these ‘horsemen of the apocalypse’ marked the end of primitive accumulation, mercantilism and colonialist empires in the past. And by association, he suggests that the hegemony of U.S. imperialism is in its last declining stages. Not bad for a former Republican. The whole book for the most part jibes with Marxist thinking, at least in the sense that no stage of human development or any imperialism is eternal, and ‘beyond history.’ Those who declare the end of history are bound to be caught up in it, as even Mr. Fukayama now admits.

The Three Horsemen -

The first part of his book shows how the collapse of wind power for the Dutch, and coal for the English, forecast the decline of their respective powers. Phillips considers oil to be the equivalent source of power in the U.S., and its decline will parallel the decline of the United States. He is doubtful that this country will be able to adapt to a new technology. Oils and American military, economic and political power have been entwined in a death grip from the beginning.

The second part deals with the rise of radical fundamentalist religion in the U.S. Phillips wrote a book prior to this on the Bush dynasty, and how our ‘democratic’ presidency has now started to devolve into an American political aristocracy. He points out that Bush is the most religious president in U.S. history, and his main voting base is primarily fundamentalist Christian. By allowing the Republican Party to be taken over by Southern Baptists and other Pentecostalist groups, the Party has become almost a theocratic party. It no longer believes in the separation of church and state, and has based itself in the South as a consequence of this. He traces the similar rise of rigid, irrational state religion in Spain, the Netherlands and Britain as aspects of their decline, as their state religions blinded them to the objective processes that were going on, and made them unable to adapt. He points out irrationalism is a sign of intellectual decay.

The third part relates to debt. Unlike most traditional Marxist analyses, which see imperialism ‘exporting’ capital all over the world, Phillips sees the U.S. as the largest exporter of debt, ‘importing’ capital from all over the world to float the U.S. economy. We are now the biggest debtor nation in history, and our population has the deepest debt of any in history. Our treasury bills are mostly owned by Chinese, Saudi and some European nations, supplying money to us so that we can continue to buy their products.

At the same time, Phillips sees the U.S. as consciously abandoning the production of products in the last 35 years. Any blue collar worked knows what this has meant. In the place of it, for the first time in U.S. history in 2003, finance is now the largest sector of the U.S. economy, while employing far fewer people than production ever did. This is one reason for the impoverishment of the U.S. working class, and its gradual change in character to that of lowly-paid service workers. This corresponds to Lenin’s analysis of the primacy of finance capital in late imperialism. It also explains why so many blue collar jobs have moved overseas.

Phillips shows this same predilection for finance and debt at the END of the Spanish, Dutch and English regencies. The Spanish ran out of gold from the ‘new’ world and turned to Italian and German bankers to fund their increasingly weak economy and wars. The Dutch ended the production of products, and became the bankers to the world, then had to pay for the expensive 30 Years War with no products. The English involvement in World War One almost bankrupted them, although their productive sector was no where as weak as the U.S. one is now. But finance ruled there too during this period.

The Perfect Storm -

You can see where this is going. The involvement in Iraq is the ‘perfect storm’ for U.S. imperialism, involving all three empire-ending aspects – oil, religion and debt. The ruling elite, from the Carter doctrine that the Middle East is ‘strategic’ to U.S. interests, and the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive war, all support some kind of a fight for unexplored oil in Iraq, and military control of the rest of this region. Hussein was reportedly going to give the concessions for this oil, not to U.S. companies, but to Chinese, Russian and some European ones (the damned French…). British companies were not going to get any either, which explains their participation in the war. This jibes with Greg Palast’s analysis. And it also neatly fits into a Marxist view of inter-imperialist rivalry. Peak oil has made the life-blood of the U.S. system even more important.

Religion plays a largely unexamined role in the Middle East, but for the Bush voter, the re-establishment of the State of Israel (which was supported initially by the British for religious reasons too) and then the subsequent prophecy of the coming of the Messiah play a role in their support for war in Iraq, Iran, Lebanon and elsewhere. Much Rapture and Armageddon theology posits that the anti-Christ is in the Middle East now, and the final battle between “good” and “evil” is upon us. Bush’s own statements play up his theological view of the issue, which is why no amount of facts deter him.

Finally, the war in Iraq is so expensive that the U.S. quite literally cannot afford it. When it is piled on top of our economy built on financial cards, it can create long term economic stress and vast debt. This can lead to recessions that will make the ones in the 70s and 80s, partly produced by the debt from Vietnam, look like tea parties. Washington Tea Parties.

Red Frog, 7/21/2007

----- and I got it at May Day Books!

"All The King's Men"

“All the King's Men” – by Robert Penn Warren – published in 1946

You've probably seen the recent wretched movie with Sean Penn playing Governor Willie Stark, i.e. Huey Long, of Louisiana. It was a dreadful film. If you are a fan of old movies, you might have seen the black and white original starring Broderick Crawford, which was better. Both are based on the novel by Robert Penn Warren. 
Now, basing movies on novels is basic. And basing movies on really good books is even more basic. So what are we missing?

Robert Penn Warren is a great writer. You know it because he has three names. He was of the last generation of heroic novelists who lived in Paris, chummed around with Hemingway, and wrote like the devil. At least he wrote this book like that. The book is the first-person reflections of an aide to Stark, whose name in the book is actually Talos. The aide is an educated cynic named Jack Burden. He carried one, see? Warren writes long looping sentences that start somewhere and finish somewhere else, and say something, and sound good in the way of saying it, making poetic sense along the way. He writes in the colloquial mixed with the beautifully descriptive or startlingly original, and hits you with the images, bang after bang after boom. Great stuff on the aesthetic side.

The topic of this book is politics. Or at least it is ostensibly about politics. And Talos / Long is "King" and Burden is one of his men. But it is really the narrative journey of Mr. Burden as an aide, describing the life and fall/assassination of Talos / Star / Long by a born-wealthy doctor enraged by his own 'goodness.'

Robert Penn Warren is not to blame for what other people’s films are trying to make out of his book. Not wholly anyway. You see, in the book Talos / Long is treated as a manipulative monster - womanizing, pushy, power-mad, and crooked. His followers portrayed as sheep-like, rural bumpkins and ignoramuses. "Hicks." Rednecks you'd call them now if you didn't like white working people. The assassin on the other hand is a self-sacrificing straight-arrow. End of story. This, not coincidentally, is also the real view of the Louisiana ruling families, who hated Huey Long with a passion. The assassin's fictional class background is portrayed as being born out of one of these ruling families. This "King" offended all the real Kings and was dethroned by a son of one of the old Kings. Shakespearean, huh? Or maybe Humpty Dumpty? A populist egg cracked to make a ‘royal’ omelet.

The only view we have of Huey Long, the historical figure, is this tiny reverse telescopic image of the past – i.e. this book and the two movies it spawned. No one really knows anything about the real Huey Long, unless they knew Long or are historians. According to some of the latter, a tired patrician liberal, Franklin D Roosevelt, stole Long's platform to create his own ‘New Deal.’ Could this dreadful monster "King" be the source of the storied and loved New Deal, foundation of social security, unemployment compensation, legal unions, welfare, etc.? The wet dream of every liberal DFLer? And jeez, why isn't some of this in this well-written book?

The NY Times called this book, "The definitive story of American politics." Does that mean that all the leftish populists always get shot?

ROBERT PENN WARREN

Who was Robert Penn Warren? Warren was born in Kentucky, the son of a banker, graduating from Vanderbilt and Berkeley, then became a Rhodes scholar. He wrote novels and poetry, writing ATKM while at the University of Minnesota! In the 20s through the 40s he was a part of the southern ‘Agrarian’ school of writers, who were conservative and embraced segregation, among other things. His attitude changed in the 50s and in the 60s when he attempted to deal with the race question in a progressive way. Most literary critics only focus on his attitude towards skin color, but segregation was part of a full political point of view for him. Very few literary critics notice that Warren, a dyed-in-the wool conservative from an upper-crust Southern background, wrote a book about a left populist in 1946 - and seem to take no notice of how this might shape his novel. While Warren did not intend his book to be a mere depiction of the Long phenomena, much of it is rooted in just that. He actually met Long at LSU. The central character, Burden, is nothing but a kind of alter-ego of Talos / Stark / Long.

Warren was interested in an artistic rendering of an emotional journey, with some familiar social cliché’s larded into poetic language. However, let's just look at one word, the word - "Boss." Guess who's called that that about 700 times in the book? You guessed it, Mr. Stark / Telos / Long. Part of this is the repeated usage by associates of Telos. You know, "hey boss." However, Warren uses it beyond that as a constant descriptor. Not once does Warren call the real 'bosses" who ran Lou-‘sana’ their real names. Reminds me of the times AFL-CIO leaders have been called "union bosses" by the press. Somehow the only time they come up with the name "boss" is when it is about a union "boss" or a populist 'boss' or a communist 'boss.' Making the real rulers of society invisible is the name of the game. They are NEVER called "boss." And yet, in the real world, we all refer to our supervisors as 'boss.' Words are important for writers and this word, of course, is significant in its repeated use.

ADAM STANTON

Someone who kills a leftish populist should be put under the microscope, because there are many people who would pay to have someone like that killed, either the rich of Louisiana or Roosevelt. Was it goodness or jealousy? Or, actually, politics? Who was the real Adam Stanton, the so-called assassin? The real Adam Stanton was named Carl Weiss, the son of a judge whom Long was trying to remove. There are many questions about the assassination of Long.  N real no motive, a missing weapon, wrong slug caliber, missing records, the bullets in Long did not match Weiss’ gun, etc. - which lead some to suspect this was a political assassination, perhaps by someone within Long’s bodyguards, and had nothing to do with the fictional reasons Warren stated in his book. Sound familiar? Killing those who stand up to the system is a time-honored tradition in this ‘democracy.’

HUEY P LONG

Who was Huey Long? Long grew up somewhat poor from a rural background, became a lawyer, defending workers on worker’s compensation cases, then took on Standard Oil (“SO”) for unfair business practices. As governor and senator, Long targeted SO for exploiting Louisiana’s oil and gas. When first elected, he ran on an anti-SO platform, fighting rate increases and pipeline monopolies. He took one case all the way to the Supreme Court. He ran twice for governor, succeeding the second time on the slogan “Every man a king, but no one wears a crown” a phrase he borrowed from William Jennings Bryan.

As Governor, Long got free textbooks for school children, inexpensive gas for New Orleans, and a large system of public works programs in a state with few good roads, hospitals, bridges, schools and universities. A move to impeach him happened after he proposed taxing SO’s refined oil about 5 cents, which was to fund social programs. After being elected Senator (and resigning as Governor), the regular Democratic Organization decided to back some of his plans – instituting a gas tax and building LSU. Reflecting his ascendant power, Long called himself the “Kingfish” after the character in Amos and Andy. He was ruthless with enemies, and sometimes bought his friends. He controlled state government like a fiefdom, from all reports. This latter aspect is the only thing that is remembered about him.

In the Senate in 1932, Long criticized both parties for ignoring the working class and pushed for a redistribution of wealth. Long at first supported Roosevelt, then opposed him when he sold out to business. Roosevelt later compared Long to Hitler and Mussolini. Long opposed U.S. involvement in foreign wars, attributing them to the influence of Wall Street. He unveiled a plan to the left of the first New Deal called “Share our Wealth.” It put a cap on incomes, redistributing wealth through revisions in the tax code, a minimum wage, free college, old age pensions, veterans’ benefits, federal assistance to farmers, works programs and a 30 hour work week. After the Democratic Party ignored him, Long formed “Share the Wealth” clubs outside the party. The organizations had 7.5 million members in 27,000 clubs. Long opposed socialism and communism, and said his program would prevent their success. Roosevelt later adopted many parts of the Long program in the ‘second” New Deal.” None of this is even hinted at in the book or the films. Is it any wonder?

CONCLUSION

A book usually has three significant parts. A good story; well-written words, phrases, sentences and paragraphs; and an actual point. Although Jack Burden is not the world's most interesting character, he narrates a good story. The language is great. The point? Jealousy will make you do dire things? "Justice wins out?" "He deserved it?" Telos was a bad man? The actual 'point' of this book obscured and maligned Huey Long and his supporters, in the interests of the real bosses. Maybe that was not the intention of Warren. But. Writers who write fiction, and in the process greatly fictionalize history, are bound to fall short. But damn, Warren is a good writer. And isn't that what it is all about?

-----The Red Frog

And I might have found it at May Day books!

David Zirin to speak at Mayday Books on June 19

For more information, visit the Haymarket Books web site.

For Zirin's weekly sports column, visit Zirin's Edge of Sports website.

No honor for Card

This is an inspiring anti-war protest at the graduation ceremonies of the University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Andrew Card was presented with an honorary degree from the university, sparking a protest against what he and the Administration represents.

Click here to see highlights of the protest.

Or see it here...

(picture missing....)

Click here for local Massachusetts media coverage.

On capitulating to Bush's oil war...

I was sent via email this Keith Oberman video commentary on the disgraceful Democratic Party decision to fund the war. Not that it is any surprise that the corporate-based Democratic Party would ignore their November 2006 mandate and give Bush a clean bill to fund an unpopular war. I was just happy to see that at least one pundit is saying something in the mainstream press.

Click here for the video feed.

Review of Palast's "Armed Madhouse"

Armed Madhouse, by Greg Palast, Published 2006.



There's nothing like a bald Brit investigator to shiv the power's that be, and show the tame herd of 'journalists' how it is done. And laugh all the way to the intellectual bank.

Palast does that in this series of hilarious investigative essays on Iraq, the Kerry election and more on the Gore debacle, New Orleans and the class war against workers, minorities and poor. Like Michael Moore talking about his new movie as a 'comedy about 60 million people without health insurance" Palast laughs at the grotesque lies and opaque absurdities of this ruling class.

No one uses the phrase 'class war' except the die-hard left, but Palast, who used to work for the unions in Chicago, is not afraid to.


THE WAR IS ABOUT THE OIL, STUPID

The lead piece is on the two plans for Iraq's oil. That, as any sentient person understands, is the reason we went into Iraq. According to Palast, one was the neo-con plan that involved busting OPEC and destroying the oil monopoly on Iraq, and selling it to any bidder. The other plan was a James Baker / oil company plan to continue Iraq's membership in OPEC, and to use the Iraqi state to sell the oil to the 7 sisters. As he put it, though capitalist, the oil companies want to do what is best to keep the oil price up. And that might mean keeping Iraqi oil nominally in the hands of the government. He shows the see-saw battle between these two factions over the years.

Palast points out that for Osama it has always been about the oil too. Bin Laden just wants to take it out of the hands of the 'infidels' and keep it in Arab hands. Palast suggests that the reason the U.S. invaded was because Saddam was playing with oil prices, and creating instability in the oil market. The same thing Chavez is doing today, which Palast covers in a complimentary way. Palast shows Chavez also using his oil wealth to help other countries and his own people.

Palast disagrees with the theory of peak oil because he thinks it interferes with the theory that the oil price rise the war was fought for would then be a consequence of 'shrinking supplies.' He insists it is only a product of the war, which was waged to stop capitalist oil overproduction and control Iraq oil reserves so as not to flood the world with Iraq's oil. However, I think you can uphold the theory of peak oil, and also understand that the 'bell curve" depicted by the peak oil theory does not have to be smooth on both ends. IE it can drop precipitously on the back side, ie pumping can go crazy, or it can be gradual, and pumping can be slow. So the price rise at this time is not an immediate consequence of peak oil. It IS the war.

Palast indicates the massive oil tar sands in Venezuela might make that country the most powerful on earth. He thinks $30 a barrel oil makes their 90% of the world's super-heavy oil tar viable. I have been hearing figures much higher to develop this kind of oil. Not to mention the environmental costs. But most of his analysis and evidence is 'spot on.'



GORE AND KERRY WON

If you thought Nader was to blame for the 2000 defeat, go to the back of the class. Even the NAACP got it.

The second largest part of this book is about Kerry winning the 2004 election. By carefully analyzing election returns and evidence down to the precinct level in some areas, he shows that a combination of tossed away 'provisional' ballots, old voting machines that created spoiled ballots, electronic machines that created spoiled ballots, intentionally missing voting machines in some wards, ballot purges based on felons or addresses, Bush over-votes, mysterious 'no' votes for president in some wards, uncounted absentee ballots and electronic voting that didn't allow recounts gave the election to Bush in Ohio, New Mexico, Colorado and Florida.

Essentially, black, Indian and Chicano people's voting rights were challenged in all these ways, making this the new Jim and "Jose" and "Joe" Crow election. Poor whites and students fared not much better. These were in elections where the Republican party was in control of the voting apparatus. And it was in the poorest areas, with the most transient Democratic populations that this happened in. The final nail in the coffin was the DLC and Democratic Party "pulling their attorneys" and not challenging the voting anywhere, thus acquiescing to the Republican theft of the election. He also revisits some of his work on the 2000 election in Florida, and amplifies it. Palast says the 2008 election can be stolen in the same way, unless people are aware of all the cons. Does our corporate press cover any of this? No.


CLASS WAR ESSAYS

Depressed yet? Don't be. There is more misery to come.

Palast has a chapter on the lynching of CBS' Dan Rather for challenging the president's service record. And the necktie party was organized by Sumner Redstone, chairman of Viacom, who owns CBS, and who supports the Republican Party.

Another chapter is on the class war, covering everything under the sun. It starts with Louisiana's Huey Long, and how he gave the populist program to some tired elitist from the East Coast, Franklin Roosevelt. Palast covers the removal of overtime laws for millions of workers that the Congress supported in 2006. And the price fixing of ADM and Wayne Andreas, a friend of Clinton's. And the legal protection of the entire firearms industry against lawsuits over gun violence. And Ken Lay suggesting who to appoint as the head of the Federal Public Utility Commission and FERC, and was accommodated by Bush. After a meeting with Ken Lay prior to the CA gubernatorial election, Arnold Schwartznegger then later settled with the power companies who raped California for 10-20 cents on the dollar. Enron paid about nothing, of course. Palast also covers the planned destruction of Delco/Delphi auto workers by bankruptcy law. And Gore cluelessly supporting NAFTA in the face of Ross Perot; Hillary on the Board of Directors of Wal-Mart; the destruction of public schooling by privatization and the "No Child Left" law. Whew.

Then we get to New Orleans, where Katrina was seen by the Republicans as a chance to destroy the City of New Orleans as a Democratic power point, with the help of black middle-class mayor Ray Nagin. Every whore crony for the Republican Party crawled out of the woodwork to get a no-bid contract following Katrina. Republican areas especially got the money. The refugees of Katrina still live dispersed all over the country, while their city is rebuilt without them. Class war? You bet.

...and I got it at MAYDAY Books.


--- The Red Frog
5/22/2007

Michael Albert @ Macalester College

An evening talk by a visionary thinking of our time...

Michael Albert
on his new memoir, Remembering Tomorrow: From SDS to Life After Capitalism

Wednesday, May 23rd, 7 PM

Macalester College Student Union
John B. Davis Auditorium
Grand Avenue, one block east of Snelling Avenue, St. Paul

Listen to Michael Albert speaking about experiences from the past and visions for the future.
Sponsored by:
Women Against Military Madness
Merriam Park Neighbors for Peace
Mayday Books
For more information, see our events calendar at our website.

Mayday's New Blog

Mayday Bookstore in the Twin Cities has a new blog! Please feel free to read our announcements, book reviews, and discussion pieces. If you wish to see the Event Calendar for the bookstore, please visit our website at www.maydaybookstore.org.

In solidarity,
Corey Mattson