American Oligarchy

Hillary Rodham Clinton must not be president. Hillary Rodham is more than intelligent and capable enough to be considered a serious candidate for president, but Hillary Rodham Clinton must not be president. A second Clinton presidency would further the insidious trend of American oligarchy that is quietly coming to dominate our politics.

Since 1948, there has been exactly one presidential election in which Richard Nixon, Robert Dole, George Bush, or George W. Bush was not on the ballot. If national politics were dominated for a half century by four men, including a father and son, in any country to the south of us, it would rightly be tarred as a banana republic. Americans are so concerned with the democracy of others that we have allowed our own to deteriorate even as the members of our government have become the most powerful men on earth.

Oligarchy is a threat, and so is the dynastic sub-trend that is manifesting itself in American politics. It is not new, of course; America has it Adamses, its Harrisons, its Roosevelts and its Kennedys. But never before has the imperial presidency been dominated by so insular a group. If Hillary Rodham Clinton becomes President, a disastrous precedent will become firmly established.

George W. Bush was, in my mind, a less legitimate candidate than Hillary Rodham Clinton. Hillary Rodham would have been a leader regardless of who she married, but the only, the only reason that George W. Bush was in a position to almost win the election of 2000 was because of who his father was. George W. Bush is the purest example of inherited power in American history.

A second Clinton presidency would carry many of the same dangers as the second Bush presidency. Various officials from Bill Clinton’s presidency, and various fundraisers from his campaigns, will be the powerbrokers once more. Indeed, President Clinton himself will reside in the seat of power once more, privy to daily CIA reports as all ex-presidents are. Does anyone really want to live in a country where the first couple will be announced at state dinners as President and President Clinton?

As an aside, I trust Bill Clinton much more than George W. Bush. I believe that Bill Clinton is a liar and a scumbag, but also an abnormally intelligent person who is firmly rooted in the practice of amassing as much quantitative evidence as possible before making important decisions. I also trust Bill Clinton because he was born poor, which most leaders would ideally be, since they understand reality in a way that the George W. Bushes of the world never could, despite the noblest of intentions.

But trust must not lie in individuals if this is to be anything resembling a democracy. Trust must instead be invested in the institutions and offices themselves. This is all terribly unfair to Hillary Clinton, of course, but we can’t lose sleep over that. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. Or the one. And what we need now is to avoid a thirty-six year era of having a Bush or a Clinton in the White House.

The ideal candidate for president in 2008 is Al Gore. Gore was the only establishment figure in the country in 2002 and 2003 who argued publicly and passionately against going to war in Iraq on the grounds that the aftermath to the invasion as it was then being contemplated would fall somewhere between chaos and catastrophe. In the ultimate indication that he was not running for office, Al Gore was wearing a beard during this time. He also raised his voice frequently. And while the American elite were falling over themselves to appear as martial as possible, Al Gore was called a traitor and a sore loser. But Al Gore was right. From day one.

In a further indication of how free Al Gore found himself, he produced a documentary that focuses on what is by definition the most important issue in the world. Global warming is the ultimate issue-to-be-avoided in a democracy, since global catastrophe is always farther off that the next election cycle. Al Gore is using his influence to educate as many people as possible about the most fundamental challenge facing the entire human race. That is leadership.

Also, Al Gore has the virtue of actually having been elected president in 2000. Most Americans know, by virtue of intuition, mathematics, and common sense that Al Gore was elected president in 2000. By conceding that election, an election that he knew very well had been stolen from him, Gore displayed leadership beyond measure. In my opinion, the inauguration of George W. Bush was a coup detat. Pure and simple. Gore knew, however, that the alternative to concession would be a crisis that would inevitably be worse than a George W. Bush presidency. If he only knew then…

Gore’s campaign is simple. “Imagine what this country, and the world, and America’s place in it, would be if George W. Bush had never been president”.