The ring must be destroyed

I was charmed as hell to hear Jonathan Schwarz's guest appearance last week on Citations Needed for a couple of reasons. For starters, he said the show was "the best political podcast in America," which is exactly the thing I've been saying over and over for a while to anybody I think might need to hear it.

That episode is specifically about former U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power's new memoir, "The Education Of An Idealist." (spoiler. it's not good.)  But more generally it is about the hypocrisies and atrocities baked into U.S. imperial power. And, even more generally it is about the question of power and what to do with it.  People like Samantha Power believe.. or at least they explain themselves by asking us to believe.. that the best way to make a difference in the world is to wedge oneself into the places where power is wielded. Become a small part of the problem in the order to make the problem slightly less bad. Because, of course, you, the power seeking individual have only the best of intentions.

Which brings up the second thing I enjoyed about Schwarz on this show. At about minute 22 or so, Schwarz makes an incredibly nerdy and simple seeming Tolkien reference. I don't even know if I have to reproduce it here. I'm sure it's obvious enough but, okay I'll transcribe a bit. 

I don't know if you remember... if you guys have read Lord of the Rings. There's a section towards the end when Sam, like, has to pick up the ring and carry it, right?  And, in Lord of the Rings it talks about how Sam like everyone who picks up the ring become obsessed with it....  And so there's just a section of the book where it talks about how, like he begins having these wild fantasies.. and he saw Samwise The Strong.. you know Samantha Power goes by Sam.... "Samwise The Strong, hero of the age striding with a flaming sword across the darkened land, and armies flocking to his call" and so.. that's a really interesting passage about how like power doesn't just... like power the concept, not the person doesn't just play on our worst instincts, it also plays on our best instincts. It's like you know he only had to put on the ring and claim it for his own and all this could be.  And it would have been very interesting for her (Power, in her book) to talk about that. About how, like, "yes, I am tempted by power"... "because I would like to do good in the world and I know how dangerous a temptation that is and exactly how that can lead you to extremely dark places." 

But, of course, she hasn't learned that lesson.  Just the same way the entire US foreign policy establishment has not and cannot learn a lesson like that and continue to exist.  Anyway, the reason I wanted to share all of that is because I've been reading and following Schwarz a long time. So I know that if you've been reading or following Schwarz a long time, you'll know that this LOTR bit is not something he just pulled out of the air. This has actually been his take on Sam Power for over a decade.

And it's something I appreciated hearing referenced again here because it's also more or less my take on power and politics in general. This week, as the Louisiana statewide elections move into the early voting period, I've had people ask me a few times who I recommend they vote for.  As always, I tell these people not to vote for anybody. But I'm happy to help them find lists of people to vote against.  Because for poor and working class people like us, politics is not a means toward seizing or wielding power. Power can only derive from and sustain inequality. Wealth, in fact, is power. It concentrates in the hands of the few and acts to deprive the many.  The purpose of politics for us is not to take power for ourselves but to resist it.  The ring must always be destroyed. 

I think people understand on a basic level that politics is corrupt horseshit. But I wonder if they understand how fundamental that is. When I say politics is corrupt horseshit I mean, yes, your candidate, your people, whatever particular organization of professional activists you happen to attach to or agree with... even the ones you very much want to see win... guess what.. also riddled with corrupt horseshit.  It is important to always have this in mind. And sometimes we might forget a little bit so it's a good idea to constantly reassess everything just to make sure we recognize how and where the corrupt horseshit is configured lately and think about where it might move next.

I've been wondering lately what is going to happen after 2020 when no one's super neat theory about "how to win at politics" turns out to have been true and we end up being ruled according to whatever disgusting accident is most acceptable to the money again.  I imagine there could be a lot of disillusioned people by then.  I hope they don't get too discouraged, though.  I'm doing my best to try to head that off now but I'm not sure I know how.  I'm a Saints fan from way back before the Payton/Brees era.  I know how to get up every day ready to lose again. I'd like to help everybody else be ready too.  Because hopelessness is no excuse to give up.

This week the Democrats appear to be finally ready to impeach the President.  This is something they should have done a long time ago, of course. We've written about that a few times. See here, for example. There's a good chance it will not end well. The outlook is even worse now than it could have been because they have waited so long and chosen a less than optimal reason to move. But now that they are at this point they should still do the thing. The fact that doing the thing is going to end badly is no excuse not do the thing anyway. Who cares what McConnell does to jam it up. Who even cares if they actually manage to remove Trump. The "win/lose" outcome is beside the point. 

The "game," as our bloodless pundits are fond of describing politics, is rigged such that only the rich and the powerful can win. Most so-called "bipartisan solutions" are just deals that pave the way for rich and powerful people on "both sides" to win a little something at everyone else's expense. There are ways for rich and powerful Democrats to "win" this scenario even by losing which is what Pelosi et al have been playing at so far by delaying for as long as they have. They might still get away with not having done much.  At the end of the day they are still rich and in power, same as ever.

But they should still do the impeachment, and we should still encourage them to do it. The President is a criminal, has always been a criminal on innumerable counts both large and small. Maybe we can get them to impeach him. It's far less than the full accounting he deserves but he does deserve at least this. All the other questions about conviction or pardon or political backlash are unimportant. Just do the thing because it's what should be done. Because, for us, winning is not the point. All that matters is what side you are on. Don't ever choose a side because it can win. The ring must be destroyed.