A Breath of Fresh Air
By: Daniel Olson
Recently, I had the pleasure of dining with two students who live or have lived in another country for a significant period of time; one in Pakistan, and the other in Ukraine. As we discussed the corruption that is rampant in the governments of third world countries, one of my new friends aptly pointed out that there is corruption in the United States as well. It is not as visible to us, he reasoned, because it occurs in the higher echelons of government circles, where we are not at liberty to witness it. At the time, I was confused as to what he was talking about – what with our checks and balances between the branches of government. In the days since our conversation, I have spent a good deal of time thinking about the effects of lobbying before legislation, and the temptation of lobbyists to use more convincing measures than spreadsheets and pie charts. Whether or not that is what my friend meant by his comment, we would still be naive to think that corruption is not possible in a developed country like our own. After eight years of an administration that strove to make the federal government less transparent and, at the same time, more powerful, it is no wonder that many Americans are questioning what exactly our leaders have been doing behind closed doors.
It is my contention, however, that we should not stop at questioning. And luckily, we don’t have to. We can do something about it. We have a candidate in the running who also feels that this country has been headed in the wrong direction, and has promised to turn things around: to make the government transparent, and to take lobbyists out of the equation. In fact, that is the very platform that Barack Obama is campaigning on. I also do not think the importance of it can be overstated. In the past, lobbyists have had a very strong effect on legislation that was put before Congress, and if we continue in the direction our country is headed, we could see America being run by big business and various advocacy groups instead of the elected officials whom we thought we voted for. While complete eradication of lobbying is probably impossible and would also be a violation of the first amendment, Senator Obama has stated that he would “close the revolving door between the executive branch and K-Street lobbying shops.” This would restore the power of the checks and balances that were put in place by our founding fathers. Anyone who would doubt the sincerity of his platform should note that his entire campaign has been funded without a single dollar from lobbying groups or other politicians.
Another reason I support Senator Obama is his policy regarding the war we are waging with Iraq. He has been opposed to the war since the time it was first suggested, saying that our occupation of Iraq would be “an occupation of undetermined length, with undetermined costs, and undetermined consequences.” Senator, I applaud your foresight. As a nation, we have watched the Bush administration’s claims unravel; the war has dragged on, the budget threatens to dismantle our economy, and the death toll rises almost daily. Despite all this, troops continue to be sent overseas to fight against Iraqis. At this stage in the game, I am at a loss for why. It feels like every other day someone says to me, “Yes, the war was a mistake, but now that we’re there, we have to finish the job.” Well, what constitutes finishing the job? When every Iraqi insurgent is dead? When we have restored “peace” between two groups, whose motives we can neither relate to nor understand? When we have shoved democracy down the throats of people who may abhor it? Are we so arrogant as to march around the world telling countries that we can govern them better than they can govern themselves? Whether or not democracy is the “best” form of government in our experience, we have no basis for – or right to – parade across the globe installing it everywhere. The conclusion to my digression is that there is no good answer for what constitutes “finishing the job”, and we should, therefore, be mournful of the damage we have already caused, but cause no more. Senator Obama has promised to systematically remove troops at a rate of “one to two combat brigades each month, and have all of our combat brigades out of Iraq within 16 months.” While he has asserted that there will be no permanent base in Iraq, he would leave enough troops to protect our embassy and diplomats.
Senator McCain, I think, would spend a lot more time in Iraq – perhaps his entire tenure – if elected. Let me say before going on that McCain is a strong candidate and has some admirable policies (especially on immigration). The only problem is that he would take office as George Bush III. He and the president are nearly identical: in speech, in policy, and in attitude towards the war. It is as if Bush Jr. split his soul and implanted a piece of it in the proverbial Horcrux of McCain to preserve his administration’s life in the oval office (I sincerely apologize to anyone reading this who is not a Harry Potter fan). Back to the muggle world – er – reality. If, after the past 8 years, you can still find cause to support the current administration, then, by all means, vote for McCain. Surely, if four more years of Bush is what you want, you won’t be disappointed. On the other hand, if you mistrust the claims coming from the White House; if you are questioning whether or not Washington is really as uncorrupted as you once thought; if the lobbying of big business and advocacy groups is causing those around you to lose jobs, or you have become disenfranchised by your representatives’ votes cast for various legislation; if you are tired of a war that never seems to end; if you think “finishing the job” might just not be the right thing to do after all; if you think foreign policy could be handled a lot better by a new administration; or if for any other reason you think this country could use a breath of fresh air in the form of a changing of the guard: cast your vote for Barack Obama on November 4.
