On Independence Day, George Bush managed
to read the following, out loud, and on his own:
"The world still echoes with the
ideals of America's Declaration. Our ideals have been accepted
in many countries, and bitterly opposed by tyrants. They
are the mighty rock on which we have built our nation. They
are the hope of all who are oppressed. They are the standard
to which we hold others, and the standard by which we measure
ourselves."
Well read, but hold up George. Does
he really comprehend what he has read? Has America really
shaped the globe to the extent he's suggesting... wouldn't
the Greeks, Chinese or Romans, or dare I say, us Brits have
a few things to say on that?
Fair enough they may have planted McDonalds
logos all across the globe, but in terms of the civilisations
longevity, the US is only just out of it's historical nappies...
they are the international version of a .com start-up. So
is America's global status just over-inflated marketing
hype before the inevitable crash?
This is the nation that still
possesses an electoral system that is based upon the
premise that the ordinary people
aren't intelligent enough to choose a leader and
so must elect a small group of qualified electors who will
do the job for them.
But at least the Americans can still fall back upon the
reassurance of the constitution, the fundamental rights
that ensure that the government is never more powerful
than the people (no sniggering please.) One of the underlying
parts of this is the basic right of the individual to possess
firearms; the idea being not only for personal protection
but also to maintain a situation where the American public
could oust the government, should they choose to. This,
of course, relies on the US public reacting as one man
in complete unison without any factions and divisions.
Though this should render the whole thing as a complete
utopian fantasy, we have to face facts that the Florida
re-count was so close that the president probably was chosen
by just one man.
But with this kind of 'ethic' permeating
the American social fabric, could we not argue that Lee
Harvey Oswald* was merely exercising his constitutional
rights when he un-elected JFK in Dallas all those years
ago? Is it any wonder that marginalised school kids who
don't fit into the acceptable jock/cheerleader mould see
the gun as their only 'level of service' feedback form?
But whilst the internal happenings of the US make up the
biggest sitcom going, their international role is critical
to world peace and harmony...
This is not to say that it is effective in the goals it
sets out to achieve in any way, but in it's sheer ineffectiveness,
it brings a stability that is worth hanging onto.
The United States is the world's self-appointed
police force. Now before we think about how effective they
are in this role, let's not start getting all pernickity
and spiteful about it... there's no need to mention
V*etnam, the B*y of P*gs etc. It would be completely unnecessary
to dwell on the war on drugs for any length of time. There
is no need to begin congratulating the US military on their
overthrow of Fidel Castro and Saddam Hussein.
It was the Yugoslav people that
removed Milosevic, there were no historic first amendment
rights to quote to radio
DJs during a phone in - the people rose up and removed
the problem. A Yugoslavian problem needed a Yugoslavian
answer.
Up to then the US 'police force' had
relentlessly carpet-bombed the deserted Kosovo whilst
the atrocities
and refugee floods carried on regardless. The top brass
standing proud like cardboard weathermen pointing at the
grainy videos of yet another bridge blowing up.
"Look, here's a bridge.. and now
it blows up. That's a good thing. "
"Wasn't that a civilian bus in that scene?"
"Erm? Moving on quickly to this touching photo of a
soldier hugging an orphan..."
Yes, we need international security but international
situations require international answers, with all responsible
countries giving whatever support they can. All the jobs
that actually need doing are currently handled by competent
organisations (UN, amnesty etc).
But the US in position as world police
force is actually a positive thing, if a job exists that
shouldn't be done then far better that someone who can't
do it gets the job than someone who might achieve it. Policing
the world is not a job that really needs doing by anyone,
but as long as the US are accepted in this self-appointed
role it dissuades anyone else from coming along and actually
doing it.
The trouble is that the US is growing weary and not getting
any job satisfaction playing the international clown and
so they are no longer portraying the part so convincingly.
It's becoming embarrassingly obvious to the point where
someone might actually do the stupid thing and point out
that the king has no clothes.
Once the myth is destroyed it will be irretrievable.
It's a bit like Mickey Mouse. We opt
to accept that the bloke in the suit at Disneyland is Mickey
Mouse as it's easy. But If the bloke pulled the head off
and started shouting, "look at me, I'm bleeding Mickey
Mouse don't you know," then it would only be a matter
of time before someone said something.
It's not that before we were fooled
into believing there was an actual 7ft smarmy rodent hanging
around the gaff but it was far more convenient just to go
with the idea. With the non-mouse reality shoved in your
face you're forced to acknowledge the underlying truth and
alter your behaviour.
And so it is with Bush in the US. Everyone
knows that the president is just the puppet that mouths
the words of the 'powers that be' behind the scenes but
we need to have a credible pretence in order to believe
it. It was bad enough when America used a blatant retired
actor to play the part of president but with bush as chief
of world police, the sham becomes too obvious; a man who
has hardly stepped outside of Crawford (and is threatening
to run back there if he doesn't get his way), let alone
the US. A man whose international diplomacy leads to Greeks
being called 'Grecians' -- a blunder that even Prince Philip
would be unlikely to blunder into. It gets to the point
where someone has to say something out of sheer embarrassment.
The new US administration have already shown their inability
at dealing with genuine global threats with their attitude
to the Kyoto agreement. It is good to see EU showing some
backbone for once going ahead with it alone.
The world police force is a completely invented, self-appointed,
unnecessary role but one that is here to stay. Despite
their odd tantrums, we should give the US all the space
and encouragement it needs to continue to 'police' the
world, or else we run the risk or someone new applying
for the job, someone over qualified.
[*Regarding Lee Harvey Oswald
shooting JFK -- yes I know there was world and dog on the
grassy knoll with rocket launchers and that Oswald was seen
by 6,000 people skiing in Tibet on that day but there wasn't
the room to elaborate.]
