A New Motion for a Two-Party Alabama
March 22nd, 2008And That Elusive Karl Rove
by Glynn Wilson
GULF SHORES, Ala., March 22 - Back in 1984, before George Orwell’s picture of the world had actually come true, I wrote a column in The Baldwin Times newspaper in Bay Minette, Alabama, calling for the emergence of a two-party system in the land of the George Wallace Party.
There were no Republicans in Alabama to speak of in 1984, only wolves in sheep’s clothing like Fob James and Charlie Graddick. You had your conservative, pro-business Democrats. We called them boll weevils, as opposed to yellow dogs.
But with Wallace practically on his death-bed half-way through his fifth and final term as Alabama’s fiery and then feeble governor, it looked like time for a change.
The closet Republicans in Baldwin County heeded the call and led the way in turning the state red over the next few years.
Unfortunately, it is now obvious that the pendulum has swung too hard, with the help of the big three conservative newspapers and the happy news broadcast media in the state.
The people will have to re-learn how to vote for Democrats even with the disasters of Guy Hunt, Fob James the second time, and George Bush now in his second awful term in Washington.
But maybe old yellow dogs can learn new tricks.
Is it time, then, to introduce a motion to get the pendulum swinging back again?
There a group of Democrats in Baldwin County who think so, and the planning is now underway.
There’s no need yet to name names or leak details. There’s more fresh, local shrimp to eat first, and a fair amount of suds to drink. That’s for the next trip.
Meanwhile, we found THE spot in Gulf Shores from where to blog with free Wi-Fi. Hidden away in a small, tasteful shopping development with palm trees and stone walls and shade, the old Coffee Merchants coffee shop, with a New Orleans feel - which started up in Gulf Shores just before I left in 1992 - has a new location and new ownership. And - hint, hint - the wireless router is NOT turned off after hours when the place closes down.
As the afternoon winds down, I’m looking at some interesting black bird photos, perhaps for publication, while sipping peach tea and munching on Apple chips in the soft breeze out of the Southeast, where it should be.
The ivory-billed woodpecker search will just have to wait as well, along with Karl Rove in his beach bungalow at Rosemary Beach.
But just for kicks, check out the latest news on those supposedly lost White House e-mails. Do you think they will ever turn up?
White House: Computer Hard Drives Tossed
Were Karl Rove’s Emails Destroyed?
Tags: Gulf Shores
March 24th, 2008 at 7:15 am
There is a strong argument to be made that even if Alabama Democrats elect some statewide officials soon, and post other electoral gains, nothing will have changed much.
Both Democrats and Republicans in Alabama tend toward Reuben DeKalb variety populism, the Republicans adding in doses of neoconservatism and social conservativism that play well in the Bible Belt. There is not much difference at the end of the day except for which special interests get to feed longer than others at the public trough.
Politics is a direct reflection of culture. The political scene in Alabama will not change until there is a significant change in culture, or put another way, in the values of enough key individuals to enlighten the dominant culture.
Simply changing political leaders is like putting aluminum siding on adobe walls in a wet climate. The aluminum is water-proof, but sooner or later the adobe will absorb enough moisture to disintegrate.
Alabama’s political leaders have over a century or more been pretty much a corrupt and evil bunch, with a few exceptions. But they are not alone. There are other states in which I’ve lived — Illinois springs instantly to mind — that make the Heart of Dixie look like a bastion of good government by comparison.
The change that has to happen is not political in nature, but cultural, and it will be change quite independent of politics and politicians.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:26 am
Well, maybe, but I don’t see how you can get cultural change without political change, a change in media consumption habits and a better education system.
I feel like we make a dent in the dominant religious culture every time another gay gay-bashing preacher or politician is outed. That’s why I cover those stories. It’s also why I cover science on a daily basis on the news page.
My thinking is, if the enlightened minority wants to engage in political action, why not support them by covering them? The Newhouse press will not do it. They are too busy covering religion as news.
Every newspaper in Alabama had a picture of a kid hunting Easter eggs on the front page Sunday, with precious little mention of the 4,000 dead in Iraq or the crumbling economy. They might carry the story about record gas prices at the pump, but they assess no blame. Lest anyone have any doubts, it’s Bush’s fault.
Every newspaper in Alabama endorsed Bush twice, but the people do not hold them accountable. Many people here are still subscribing to those newspapers believing that they can find out what is going on in the world by reading them.
And many of the people who have gotten themselves online still use an AOL dialup connection and do not know how to negotiate the Web without using Google for everything.
The dominant form of information for those who are online and engaged in political and cultural change are still using out of date manual e-mail lists.
I’ve tried and tried and will continue to try educating people about using this site to keep up with what is really going on in the world. One day we will make a difference.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
I agree it’s important for a concerned and informed minority or minorities (tip of the hat toward different viewpoints) to keep up the pressure, as Locust Fork and a precious few others do.
But political change without cultural change is not very long-lived. There are numerous examples of this. Maybe the most instructive is the uber-democratic Weimar constitution of the German Republic, adopted after the end of World War I and the fall of the kaiser.
On paper, it looked very good. In practice, it was easily subverted by right-wing nationalists who paved the road for the Nazis, who came to power, incidentally, quite democratically and constitutionally.
What made the difference? The culture. The dominant German political culture of the decades immediately before and after the turn of the century was still very much authoritarian and anti-Semetic. And, it should be noted, until the Nazis took over and began burning books and sending people off to concentration camps, a significant liberal minority. They kept up the good fight for as long as possible.
For the Germans, it took a major disaster in the form of losing a horrific war (one which they allowed their leaders to start and generally supported for many years) accompanied by the near-total devastation of their country to change the dominant political culture.
While things in America might not play out the same way, it may indeed take some major catastrophe before the dominant political ethos is seriously challenged.
If we had such a catastrophe, there are two possible responses. One would be what I call the “Cincinnatus” response — save the republic and then go back to taking care of your own farm. The other is the “Caesar” response — take over the government and get busy installing a self-perpetuating autocracy.
Given the virtually-unlimited powers now conceded in the public mind to the president and Congress, the dominant culture would likely accept a Caesar.
The change that is most important is bringing around a significant minority to the understanding that Caesars always talk a good social democratic game but their real game is power, as much of it as they can get for as long as they can get it.
Until we have that minority making noise about every abuse of power, no matter who abuses it, and working to institute structural change so that abuse becomes impossible, we will continue to have millions swooning and shouting hallelujah every time we elect a new president. Many, if not most of them, will be ready to ride that same person out of the country on a rail in four or six years.
That happens every time. It happens because the political culture has not changed. It will continue to happen until it does.
March 24th, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Democrats should embrase their past. If the south kept segregation a whole lot of white women would have been saved the pain of rape and all would be safer. George Wallace Bumper Stickers:
http://www.goodoleboybumperstickers.com
March 24th, 2008 at 3:18 pm
If Brad is serious, he’s making the same racist argument for segregation by generations of Klansmen and before for slavery by generations of white plantation owners.
Segregation certainly didn’t save African American women from rape and it didn’t save any white women from it either.
Rape is a crime of violence committed by one human being against another. Government-sponsored apartheid and racism doesn’t save anybody from anything.
And I suggest that Brad visit George Wallace’s later years, when Wallace recanted his racism and apologized to African Americans at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery. It didn’t change the pain he’d caused, but it was the right thing to do.