Inspiring Unique Quadrennial
American Presidential Election Source of Pride
1952
was a time of another divisive war, the Korean police action, even as the
United States was engaged in another political campaign. Now it is the
head of the U.S. Central Command, Admiral William "Fox" Fallon,
taking a decidedly diplomatic posture in the looming nuclear confrontation
with Iran, who is resigning. In the March 11 Esquire article, by Thomas
P.M. Barnet, he speaks soberly and in stark contrast with the
neoconservatives who still influence foreign policy, who have never served
in the military or combat, but who nonetheless prefer to rattle their
sabers.
In
the earlier conflict, more than half a century ago, it was a gun-ho
General Douglas MacArthur, who wished to expand the Korea operations,
perhaps beyond the Yalu River and into Communist China, who was relieved
of his command by President Harry S. Truman. His unpopular decision upheld
the limited United Nations mandate, and dramatically confirmed the
supremacy of elected civilian leadership over any popular and high-ranking
officer in the armed forces!
The
controversy made President Truman temporarily politically radioactive,
forcing his withdrawal from the looming Presidential race. Both Democrats
and Republicans had a chance to field new pairs candidates: Illinois
Governor Adlai E. Stevenson and Alabama US Senator John Sparkman for the
former, and retired General Dwight D. Eisenhower and California US
Senator Richard M. Nixon.
Not since that fateful year, has there been another election where both
major political parties are giving us completely new faces to vote to fill
the highest office of the land; that is, there is neither a President
seeking re-election (Ike, Johnson, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Clinton), or a
Vice President vying for the top position (Nixon, Humphrey, H.W. Bush,
Gore)! Our prospective next President --- US Senators Clinton, McCain,
Obama --- will come directly from the national legislative branch, absent
any executive experience, frequently acquired serving as state chief
executives, before leaping to the White House. Of course, McCain has been
through the crucible of combat in Vietnam, acquitting himself with
admirable courage, loyalty, and perseverance, incarcerated as a
prisoner-of-war, well-earning the respect and honor meted to him by a
grateful nation.
There are other amazing tidbits that we garner as the primary season
forges ahead for the Democrats, while Arizonan John McCain has engineered
a stunning comeback with a string of primary victories to become the
presumptive GOP nominee by securing more than the required number of
convention delegates. Were he to be successful in November, he will
become, at 72, the oldest elected President (Ronald W. Reagan was 78 after
his two terms.) Under the circumstances, his choice of a running mate will
weigh heavily, his judgment critically scrutinized.
It is, however, the trail-blazing Democratic contest between Hillary
Clinton and Barack Obama that our nation, and the world, remains riveted.
Never in the annals of American history have we woman and an
African-American be genuine contenders, beyond symbolism, to have a
realistic chance to win the top prize --- first of their party, then, the
last popular referendum on November 4, the first Tuesday, after the first
Monday of that month!
For some perspective, in 1972 US Representative Shirley Chisholm became
both the first woman and African-American to seek the Democratic
presidential nomination; in both 1984 and 1988, the Rev. Jesse Jackson, an
African-American civil rights leader, also tried, winning several state
primaries (the subject of former President Bill Clinton's comments after
this year's South Carolina primary, won decidedly by Barack Obama, in a
graceless attempt to marginalize the Illinois senator's remarkable
achievement among varied voter groups, including Clinton's apparent base.)
Then, we have the example of former US Representative Geraldine Ferraro,
picked in 1984 by Democratic Presidential candidate Walter Mondale for
vice president. The ticket went down to an inglorious defeat. Recently,
the distaff member of that Democratic effort, Ferraro, and a Clinton
supporter, made an incendiary statement, repeated in television news
shows, senselessly, heartlessly, narrow-minded
In
a highly-charged racial environment, with stakes never higher, here's the
gist of this, now-relieved of her advisory position aide: "If
Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position," (leading in
delegates and popular votes). "And if he was a woman (of any color)
he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he
is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
Quite
apart from the assault on the judgment of millions of voters, including
our young who have been electrified by the energy and message of this
latter-day JFK, who had less substance when running in 1960, Ferraro's
comment is insulting, exhibiting patent ignorance of the lot of
African-Americans over a four-hundred year history. The irony is that when
Obama embarked on his audacious journey, the black community dismissed him
for not being enough of a "brother." Meanwhile, his fortunes
have increasingly brightened among whites, seeing a hopeful man who would
unite our diverse society, perhaps even transcend the racial divide as he
is the offspring of a Kenyan father and a white American woman!
Faux
pas abound this season: insidious whispers, and e-mails contending that
Obama is an Arab fifth columnist, even a crypto-terrorist with a most
proper middle name, Hussein. Hillary Clinton had the temerity to give a
tentative response in a 60 Minutes interview,
coyly and disingenuously planting doubt, as she stated that Barack Obama
"is not a Muslim, as far as I know." This from a former First
Lady who claims she is prepared, on Day One, to step into the Oval Office,
and, if the occasion demands it, answer the telephone with equanimity were
it to chime at 3:00 AM!
Throughout,
the issues addressed in numerous debates remain: the need to give medical
health coverage to 47 million Americans while revamping the entire system;
check our economic slide into recession (yes, we have actually slipped in
the recent Bush years from our overwhelming financial dominance to witness
the erosion of our mighty dollar); make our tax structure more fair;
continue to resist the Lou Dobbs baiting of the immigrant issue; restore
our Constitutional rights as free citizens (the Bill of Rights must not be
compromised again); and begin to repair our frayed international
relationships by adopting a robust multilateral foreign policy as we
reassess our misguided messianic initiative in Iraq, begun under false
pretenses, and this week entering its fifth year of armed operations,
longer than our involvement in WW II.
Enormous
hope is attached to this election; the built-in ability of our vibrant
democracy to correct any misguided policy via rigorous discussion and the
application of remedies through legislative consensus, including the
insistence of our Founding Fathers that only Congress may declare war. Our
stable political system elicits justifiable pride in us, and envy
throughout the world, the reason so many foreign correspondents are
credentialed to cover the balloting in primaries and caucuses. No wonder
that the people of the earth, so dependent for their fates on the
electoral decision made here, clamor to influence it; clearly, as the
current economic crisis makes manifest, as America goes, so goes the
world. With considerable justice, it is said, when the U.S. sneezes, the
world catches pneumonia.
Thus,
collectively we stand to win, whomever Americans ultimately choose as our
and the world's leader. Most certainly, Barack Obama, as the first
African-American elected stands to be a mighty agent for change and
reform, bringing along a new generation of policy-makers shorn of the
baggage of the earlier Vietnam War, and opposed to the recent Iraq War.
Were Hillary Clinton victorious, her ascend would be fraught with the
novel implications of returning to the White House corridors an
undisciplined former President whose personal behavior scandalized his
tenure in office.
As
for John McCain, his victory will rectify in the eyes of many observers a
historic wrong, who saw in George W. Bush a shallow, entitled, dynastic
candidate who was catapulted to stardom through nefarious legalistic
machinations, including a 5-4 US Supreme Court ruling, all the while
keeping a distance from the underhanded tactics of "his brain"
--- the former White House deputy chief of staff, Karl Rove.
Let
us look forward with confidence to a new Administration to lift us from
our present morass, posing for us all the challenge to remain as engaged
as we have been in record numbers this winter, for, ultimately, we, the
people of the United States are truly the masters of our national fate.
Sincerely,
and with fraternal affection,
Asher
Prof.
Asher J. Matathias
312 Longacre Avenue, Woodmere, NY 11598-2530
516-374-2958
Mobile: 369-5799 AsherJmat@Aol.com
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