A Right-Wing Apologist in Sheep's Clothing
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www.peoplesworld.org June 989, 2012 A right-wing apologist in sheep’s clothing By Sam Webb he ideological battle over the role of government promises to figure large in the current election campaign. So much so that it commands nearly daily atten- Ttion in the mass media. Hardly a news cycle goes by without some reference to it. Earlier this week David Brooks, a regular con- ernment assumed functions and established rights tributor to the oped pages of the New York Times (unemployment relief, jobs, Social Security, Medi- and frequent guest on television news shows, care, food stamps, Medicaid, welfare, education, jumped into the battle with both feet. Brooks po- environmental protection, civil rights, etc.) that sitions himself as an above-the-fray “moderate,” went beyond Hamilton’s vision. but the reality is otherwise. Now it may be true that the evolution of the Brooks writes that his vision of government federal government’s role in the 20th century and its role can be traced to Alexander Hamilton, eclipsed what Hamilton had in mind in the late one of the nation’s founding fathers and its first 18th century, but it is also true that it was a neces- secretary of the Treasury. According to Brooks, sary evolution given the crises, contradictions, and Hamilton believed that the federal government unfulfilled promises of developing capitalism. should be an active force that focuses on “long The particular configuration and functions of term structural development, not on providing the government and state are not set in stone. They jobs right now,” and “on dynamism and opportu- nity more than security, equality, and comfort.” Thus, a Hamiltonian government, Brooks THIS WEEK: tells us, would be “energetic without ever becom- • A right-wing apologist in sheep’s clothing ing gigantic.” • Editorial: Traveling the road away from war But this vision of an active but narrowly circumscribed role for the federal government, • Spanish Civil War vets’ legacy continues Brooks says, has been largely abandoned over • Protesters force retreat on plan to dismantle schools the past century. The abandonment came during • Censo de 2010 no contó a 1,5 millones de minorías three eras of progressive reform - the Progressive era (in the first decade and a half of the last cen- rEAd morE nEWS And oPinion dAily at WWW.PEoPlESWorld.org tury), the New Deal, and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society. In each of these eras, Brooks claims, “a good change under the impact of capitalist development impulse was taken to excess” as the federal gov- and class struggles. Hamilton were he alive would Page 1 probably understand this better than Brooks, who wrought. blanches at the very thought of a broadly activist He may not want to admit it but Brooks’ posi- government animated by people’s needs. tion is not that much different from the right-wing In fact, if Brooks could have his way, he firebrands. On the one hand, he like them, would would like to freeze the role of the federal govern- drastically and immediately scale back those gov- ment to a time when it created favorable condi- ernmental functions and those democratic rights if there are tions for capitalist expansion and accumulation, (won in the course of hard struggle) that expand differences while at the same time largely ignoring questions the life possibilities of tens of millions of working between Brooks of economic security and equality for working and and oppressed people. and his fellow oppressed people. On the other hand, he, again like them, would Think about it - even now when the country tender to the needs of the rich and wealthy. He travelers on the is reeling and tens of millions are suffering from and his counterparts on the right don’t even mind right, they are the impact of the longest economic crisis since deficits as long as the deficits serve the needs of differences of style the Great Depression - a crisis that leaves poverty the 1 percent. and manner, not rates at record levels, wages stagnant, cities and If there are differences between Brooks and of substance and communities near collapse, public services un- his fellow travelers on the right, they are differ- strategic outlook. derfunded, and inequality, and especially racial ences of style and manner, not of substance and inequality, growing - our good “friend” Brooks strategic outlook. is more worried about government “excess” than David Brooks isn’t Rush Limbaugh. But don’t what positive actions (moratorium on home fore- mistake his lack of shrillness and soft demeanor closures, public works jobs, a second stimulus, for some “third way” when it comes to the role of green development, funds for education and in- government in a modern capitalist society. frastructure) the federal government could take to address the economic mess that capitalism has Sam Webb is chair of the Communist Party USA. Traveling the road away from war By PW Editorial Board ATO’s pledge, to turn over the lead in Jones, R-N.C., would require President Obama to combat operations to the Afghan Na- stick to his pledge to end all military and security tional Security Forces by the middle operations by the end of 2014. of next year, and end the alliance’s The vote the Republican leadership sched- Ncombat mission by the close of 2014, sets up a uled held its own drama. The amendment first new signpost on the road to ending our country’s introduced two years ago by Rep. Barbara Lee, D- longest war. Calif., to limit spending on the war to that needed What NATO’s But NATO’s stated commitment to “enduring for the safe and orderly withdrawal of all U.S. commitment does partnership” with Afghanistan, and the new U.S.- troops and contractors, predictably failed. But reflect is the Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement which for the first time a majority of House Democrats continued and could stretch out U.S. military involvement long voted for it, by a margin of 101-79. growing opposition after 2014, should dampen any optimism that the As the enormous costs in money and lives to the war among war is really coming to an end. continue to soar, it is more urgent than ever to people in the NATO What NATO’s commitment does reflect is end a war which is only making conditions worse countries. the continued and growing opposition to the war for the Afghan people. among people in the NATO countries, symbolized The only way forward lies in bringing all the by new French President Francois Hollande’s de- U.S. troops and contractors home, negotiations cision to withdraw French combat troops. involving all parties to the conflict and all coun- And, the ever-growing opposition here at tries in the region, and international aid to help home, with over two-thirds of the U.S. people Afghans rebuild their country and achieve a vi- now saying it’spast time to leave. able economy. A fascinating drama took place in the U.S. It’s now the job of everyone among the two- House of Representatives recently as the Repub- thirds of the American people opposed to the Af- lican leadership refused to allow a vote on an ghanistan war, to roll up our sleeves for a com- amendment to the 2013 Defense Authorization plete end to the conflict. Act. The determination and commitment to end- The bipartisan amendment, introduced ing the war that’s being shown by the demonstra- by Rep. James McGovern, D-Mass. and Walter tors in Chicago recently points the way. www.peoplesworld.org Page 2 Spanish Civil War vets’ legacy continues By Marilyn Bechtel he Spanish Civil War ended over 70 years ago. But families and supporters of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade - Amer- icans who fought alongside Spanish pa- Ttriots and thousands of international volunteers before finally losing to Spanish fascists in 1939 - have never stopped their fight to end wars and crimes against humanity. The May 27 celebration of the Brigade’s 76th anniversary, by the Abraham Lincoln Brigades Ar- chives (ALBA), honored Delmer Berg of Columbia, Calif., one of the four “Lincoln vets” who remain from some 2,800 who went to Spain. Also honored was Kate Doyle, the National “leading the process of turning evidence into trials Security Archive’s senior analyst of U.S. policy in and convictions.” Latin America and co-recipient of the second an- Among the results, she cited the 2011 convic- nual Award for Human Rights Activism, conferred tion of five soldiers in the massacre of 201 people by ALBA and the Puffin Foundation. at Dos Erres in December 1982, with each sen- She shares the $100,000 award with Fredy tenced to over 6,000 years in prison. Peccerelli, who heads the Guatemalan Forensic Doyle also cited the indictment earlier this doyle told the Anthropology Foundation. year of Gen. José Efraín Rios Montt, who ruled crowd the award The two have worked together for 20 years to Guatemala for nine months in 1982, the year dur- will be used to expose the evidence of human rights violations in ing which nearly half the conflict’s human rights further their work. Guatemala during the 1960-1996 “internal con- violations occurred. Among other crimes, she flict,” during which an estimated 200,000 people said, Rios Montt is linked to orders to massacre were killed and 40-50,000 people “disappeared”. Mayan Quiché farmers northwest of Guatemala Doyle told the crowd the award will be used to City, the capital. further their work. For over seven decades, Abraham Lincoln Bri- Doyle has researched formerly secret docu- gade members, their families and supporters have ments from the Pentagon and other national se- kept up their struggle, from protesting Franco’s curity agencies under the Freedom of Information Spain and serving in World War II to participat- Act, while Peccerelli has exhumed over a thousand ing in all the peace and civil rights struggles that bodies, working to identify victims buried as “XX” have followed.