My take on Friedman’s take on Republicans, China and America’s 1 party democracy

A friend sent me this article in Tuesday’s NYTimes and it really rang a chord with me.  I encourage you to read the comments as they are especially telling.  I was writing a response to my friend but then figured I may as well turn this into a blog entry.  Let me know what you think

—

Great article.  I take issue with his comment that China meets even reasonable standards of enlightenment particularly in light of their human rights record and habitual suppression of free speech, etc.

His analysis of the Republican Party is spot on.  I can’t help wondering if the Republican propensity to want Obama to fail has to do with the fact of him being black.  This is the US after all.  A country with a history of racial discrimination of the worst kind which still informs all sorts of decisions that American citizens – black, white or other -  and their government make consciously and subconsciously about their public and private lives.  Having a black man as president has not made the US a post-racial society, it simply shows we are doing better.  But how much better and who is doing the measuring? When I look at certain of the challenges Obama faces, that few, if any, other presidents have had to face I must wonder if race is an underlying cause.

Back to the article, Friedman’s description of the US as a one party democracy is accurate unfortunately because there exists no real political balance in the US.  Ok ay, yes we do have a system of checks and balances but do the Democratic and Republican parties sufficiently address the concerns and issues of all sections of American society?  I am not so sure and I know a lot of American citizens who feel the same.

For the most part, the party of the President is the most powerful and with this presidency it just so happened, and unsurprisingly so, that the Democrats won a sweeping majority much like during Clinton’s 1st term  when Newt Gingrich led the Republican Revolution and Republicans won a sweeping majority in Congress.  My European experience has impressed upon me the merits of coalition government which is not always synonymous with inefficient decision making, centralized planning and government interference. Friedman’s article would be even more salient if he was suggesting a paradigm change for the framework of American government.  In this case he is simply stating the obvious to the well-read progressive minded reader and Obama is attempting to fix the obvious cracks in the foundation.  I think however, that maybe the whole damn house needs to be refurbished.

Filed under: Social Commentary, politics , America, democrats, Obama, op-ed nytimes, tell 'em how you really feel