This double destructiveness opened the door to the
likes of Nixon, Reagan, and the Bushes.
The Occupy movement is wonderful, said Kazin, but in
equating Obama with the Republicans they fail to take advantage of real
opportunities.
*****
The first part of Alterman's book focuses on the
liberal political giants Henry Wallace, FDR, and Harry Truman. Wallace, the
most radical of the three, was brave enough to travel South to speak out
against racism, as did Rev. Billy Graham.
Here Cazin injected FDR, though the book begins with
his death, who gave the greatest speeches on the subject of the economy; the
one on the Four Freedoms is considered the best exstant statement on
liberalism. FDR was nothing if not a pragmatist, doing what worked, said
Alterman; no ideology buttressed the New Deal, which he called "the greatest
advance of civilization." Compromise was
key.
Said Alterman, Truman's anticommunism dictated the
rest of his policies, planting the seeds of the Vietnam war that would so
destroy liberalism's hold on the government, along with the Keynesianism that
had prevailed from the New Deal to the 1960s and 1970s, the era when we
"couldn't even beat an fifth-rate nation," Kazin said, quoting LBJ.
Alterman's favorite liberals are not politicians.
Eleanor Roosevelt tops his list, along with Bill Moyers, Cornel West, and Bruce
Springsteen. Among politicians, Alterman favors Jerry Brown [I think that's the
"Brown" he was referring to], the late Paul Wellstone, and Barney Frank.
In retrospect, said Kazin, the rich were taxed fairly
in the 1960s and 1970s, which kept the economy stable.
In the early 1960s, one milestone was the March on
Washington, DC, supported by Walter Reuther of the United Auto Workers' Union
(UAW), who also funded the civil rights movement. The Kennedys kept baby brother
Teddy from marching, but he espoused the cause. This great liberal, elected to
Congress soon after, had the guts to support bussing of students to different
public schools to attain more educational equality throughout Boston, standing
up to the blustering opposition of some of his strongest supporters.
Meanwhile, the War on Poverty did not defeat that
beast and people began to lose faith in the government, said Kazin.
Alterman located the fall of liberalism in LBJ's fear
of debating, despite his rough and tough faà §ade. Cognizant of the futile
destructiveness of the war with that "fifth-rate nation," he allowed it to run
its course. The liberals took on too much. The notorious riot in Watts (Los
Angeles) took place days after the Voting Rights Act was passed.
Liberals got into a box, the author continued, and
their economic foundations crumbled. Jobs went overseas. The benign moderates
were attacked from within and without. Their self-confidence plunged. They lost
their voice. They no longer knew how to solve their problems. He said that in
this country, to acquire respect, one must stand for something. The Republicans
were united, while the Democrats represented a coalition.
At this point, Halpin noted that liberalism is strong
at the social and cultural levels, but economically weak. Alterman added that
regaining their self-confidence is the biggest issue that they face.
How is this possible for a movement grounded in the
Enlightenment up against a dumbed-down public, Cheney, Rove, and their ilk
smirking as the super-rich executives of the bailed-out Wall Street banks bask
in record profits?
Today 17 percent of the American public trust
government, said Alterman (despite Obama's nailing of bin Laden last year),
stymying the liberal agenda. The conservatives have taken over, letting their
money talk where ideology fails.
*****
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