THERE was a time when party conventions meant something more than mere pageantry. They were the place where arguments were made, platforms thrashed out and delegates wooed with policy. But like British party conferences, conventions are now essentially media events at which the media enjoys neither particular access, information nor, for the most part, insight. The result is two weeks of propaganda rolled out like a well-choreographed marketing campaign and faithfully transmitted by supine outlets.
Like most acts of ceremony, form has long surpassed content. The further they have strayed from the substance the more the symbols matter. Strip away the high-minded commentary and you are left with two patriotic parades steeped in electoral rivalry and masquerading as a celebration of democratic culture.
Conventions do not just mark the beginning of a new presidential cycle but the passing of an old one. The fact that this administration has been criminally incompetent is now the stuff of water-cooler orthodoxy. The fact that it has been plain criminal is not. But it should be. Under George Bush the US has tortured, disenfranchised, lied, spied and, on more than one occasion, flouted its own constitution. Those who would not go along were fired or demoted. Those rulings it could not garner support for it simply classified or hid. Those inquiries it could not prevent it thwarted. When Maj. Gen. Antonio Taguba tried to pursue his investigation of Abu Ghraib up the chain of command he was stopped. “I was legally prevented from further investigation into higher authority,” he told the New Yorker.
Its violation of international law is ultimately a matter for the international community. But its violation of American laws is a matter for the American public. However, it is now clear that the political consequences of these transgressions will range from negligible to nonexistent. The Bush administration should be led away in handcuffs — either indicted or impeached. Instead it is about to leave the scene of the crime in broad daylight while those tasked to police this democracy — notably politicians and the press — blind themselves with confetti.
Those who regard impeachment as merely a vindictive attempt to adjudicate the past display a chronic lack of imagination. True, it is not going to happen. But that makes it no less morally compelling or politically relevant to argue that it should. Trying to look ahead without acknowledging how you got to where you are is a sure-fire way to end up wandering around in circles. And the last place the Democrats want to be is where they were.
Take voter registration. Around this time last year the attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, was forced to resign amid allegations of perjury before Congress over his role in the politically motivated firing of seven attorneys. They were replaced by what his then chief of staff referred to as “loyal Bushies” on the advice of the White House. Five of the fired attorneys were in battleground states. They had irritated local Republicans by refusing to bring voter fraud cases targeted at loyal Democratic groups because of lack of evidence.
The congressional hearings were a farce. Gonzales said he “could not recall” more than 71 times in one day. Clearly he hoped we would forget too.
But in a year when voter rolls are swelling with the expectation of an unprecedented turnout it is crucial that we remember. A few weeks ago John McCain’s campaign attorneys attended a national training session for Republican lawyers on election law, which included a session on identifying and responding to instances of voter fraud. Despite the Justice Department’s own studies showing that voter fraud is extremely rare, Republicans are gearing up for mass intimidation in minority areas on election day. If the election is close expect to see Florida 2000 replayed from Virginia to Nevada. And if the challenges go to court, Gonzales’s “loyal Bushies” will be there to hear the cases.
Such are the lasting consequences of Bush’s crooked tenure. Casting him as inept and unethical is not difficult. He is the most unpopular president for six decades. Some have been loathed more — but none by so many for so long. But understanding how he managed to do it demands a wider lens.
For he could not do it alone. The US is not an elected dictatorship. The president is supposed to stand at the helm of a system of checks and balances. The reason there was no balance was because there were no checks. The real problem with the Bush years is not so much that he did what he did, but that he managed to gain the consent of America’s political class in enabling him to do it. His political estrangement is not because he tried, only because he failed.
Asked to explain the administration’s use of torture, the director of the 9/11 commission, Philip Zelikow, said: “Fear and anxiety exploited by zealots and fools.” But there is, it seems, no price to pay for being a zealot or a fool in power. America will no doubt be anxious and fearful again some day. And for all the ceremonial hyperbole of this convention season, there is little to suggest that when that day comes the fools and zealots won’t once again come out on top.
