A Long View Of History

Book review

Imperial America – Reflections on the United States of Amnesia

by Gore Vidal

A Long View Of History

JOHN KERRY is doing his best to lose the US Presidential election but
can George Bush steal it as he did the one in 2000? Gore Vidal, in a
collection of brilliant essays on the history and contemporary situation
in the USA, warns that he could! Far fetched? Not if you read this book.

Peter Taaffe

Florida’s infamous ‘hanging chads’ may have gone – Republican
gerrymandering in that state has not – but in their place in some key
states have been installed "direct recording electronic (DRE)
systems" like touch screens. Vidal comments: "There [is] only
one flaw: DREs are less accurate than punch cards."

In Georgia, when touch screens were used last year, a Democratic
candidate was ahead in an election according to polls but then there was a
"sudden swing of 9 to 12 points". Californian authorities are so
worried about the danger of electoral malpractice that they have mandated
a "paper trail" as proof to the voters and the ballot counters
that each touch screen was actually registered and totalled properly.
However, even these safeguards will not come into effect until 2005, after
this year’s elections.

The US, or to be more precise, the rich who have controlled the
‘republic’ almost from the outset, have a history of stealing elections
when they don’t like the outcome, as in the election of 1876. Vidal also
quotes Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of US President Franklin Roosevelt; after
canvassing for the Democrats in New York, she rushed home and declared:
"Franklin, there are people buying votes right here in Dutchess
County. I have seen them." Roosevelt’s response was: "Don’t
worry, dear, the Republicans are buying them, too"!

"Trade secrets"

Shamefully, there is no procedure for checking the accuracy of voting
machines because the private companies that run them will not allow them
to be examined in defence of "trade secrets". Vidal quotes an
expert in this field: "Whereas vote-rigging has always required
physical access before, modems and wireless communication devices now open
up possibilities for remote rigging that no one can observe."

This is just one theme of Vidal’s book, which is a fascinating
excursion into the history of the US and the role of the elite which has
historically controlled its destiny. We read here about how the US
‘Empire’ was built upon the massacre of 200,000 Filipinos and the
annexation of Mexican territory in a war with that country, which the
famous US General Ulysses S Grant said he was "ashamed of".

In most of his writings, Gore Vidal has explored the theme of the
corruption of the original ideals of the "US republic". The
famous "separation of powers" enshrined in the US Constitution
from the outset was loosely based upon the British system of monarchy
(read president), Parliament (House of Representatives and the Senate) and
independent judiciary.

Vidal vividly demonstrates, however, how this system has been
superseded by the establishment of virtual dictatorial powers of US
presidents. No vote was taken by Congress over the wars in Korea or
Vietnam and only ex post facto, after Bush had decided to go to war, was
Congress consulted over the recent war in Iraq.

In a series of memorable, pithy phrases he underlines the inanity of
Bush’s policies and statements and relates them to the current political
situation. On Bush and terrorism, for instance, he writes: "All on
his own he has declared a war on terrorism, a nonsensical notion like a
war on dandruff."

On electoral choice in the US he is to the point: "We have only
one political party in the US, the Property Party, with two right wings,
Republican and Democrat."

Keynote

Zell Miller, a Democratic senator, underlined Vidal’s claim when he
gave a keynote address lauding Bush at the recent Republican National
Convention in New York. In 1992, however, as Governor of Georgia he spoke
at the Democrats’ Convention attacking Bush’s father, George senior!

Writing in a clear, simple style the substance of the class realities
of the US is laid bare: "Those with large amounts of property control
the parties which control the state which takes through taxes the people’s
money and gives a certain amount of it back in order to keep the populace
docile while reserving a sizable part of tax revenue for the oligarchy’s
use in the form of ‘purchases’, for the defense department, which is the
unnumbered, as it were, bank account of the rulers."

The contempt with which the rich view the mass of the American working
class is illustrated by the comment of a movie mogul: "When the
American public walks, its knuckles graze the ground." Interestingly,
while Vidal incorrectly says the US has never had a "left wing"
he mentions the idea of a "labor party" but adds that there is
"no chance" of it being established in the US. Yet, everything
in this book points to an inevitable revolt of the majority of the US
population, leading to the formation of their own distinct party. Vidal
demonstrates that the working class is completely locked out of the
present electoral system.

His quote from an old American Tory sums up brutally the attitude of
the capitalists: "The rich will strive to establish their dominion
and enslave the rest. They always did. They always will." But given
the scenario, which is traced out, of a US economic collapse, of an
electoral system based on a shrinking minority, of mass poverty, then a
revolt of the mass of the population is inevitable.

There are some faults and deficiencies in the book. Vidal attempts to
devise a more "perfect" constitution and electoral system for
the US within the framework of capitalism, which is utopian. Some of his
well-known polemical exaggerations are also on view. Nevertheless, this
book takes you onto a higher plane. Vidal always gives you a long view of
history, as well as vital insights on the situation in the US today.

Imperial America – Reflections on the United States of Amnesia by
Gore Vidal,
published by Clairview Books, £9.95.

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