Jack Ross writes:
In this past decade, my politics evolved from committed Green, which
had so much invested in the narrative of the founding of the Republican Party on the slavery question, to jaded classical liberal, with at least a couple of stops in hardcore paleo-libertarian land, but with enough rounded perspective now.
In
all that time I have remained committed to the proposition that the
crisis of empire, which came into relief following 9/11, is analogous
in its significance in American history to the crisis of slavery. Let
it be clear on this note – it is a mistake to reduce the question
solely to Israel/Palestine – yes, no question. It is much at the center
of the crisis of the American Empire both on the political and moral planes, but we must still not lose sight of the bigger picture.
I
have no reason to believe that Lincoln was not personally indifferent
to slavery, as reflected by his statement that if he could preserve the
Union without freeing a single slave he would and that if he preserve
the Union by freeing all the slaves he would. But Lincoln did
recognize the power of the slavery issue to galvanize a political base
when no one else was willing, just as Obama recognized, however
cynically, the power of the issue of empire to galvanize a political
base when no one else in the mainstream was willing.
What Lincoln was really committed too was the vindication of the "American system" of Henry Clay,
which naturally translated into preserving the Union at the highest
human cost. Likewise Obama seems really committed to the vindication
of the historic American left as he understands it, an understanding
which as yet remains quite elusive. He likely feels just as Lincoln
about the empire, if he could enact his program and preserve the empire
in total he would do it, and if he could enact his program and
dismantle the empire he would do it.
And yes, likewise, if he could do it by supporting Israel to the hilt he would do it, and if he could do it by pulling the rug out from under them he would do it.
As the force of events more than acts by a heroic individual brought slavery to an end through the Civil War, so too the force of events will bring down the American empire and the ghastly legacy of Zionism. We should not delude ourselves into attributing these things to mythic individuals.
