May 30, 2007
by Stephen Marshall, WolvesBook.com

I got access to a lot of really brilliant thinkers - liberals and conservatives - in the writing of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing. And all of them contributed in their own way to my understanding of how, more than any other force, the transformation of American liberalism has imperiled the country. Yet one of the most interesting analogies came from the daughter of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Alexandra.

We met at a busy cafe in downtown Manhattan to discuss her experiences growing up in the "cult" of the Democratic party. Alexandra had a lot of really fascinating revelations that day. Among them, that in the run-up to the '04 presidential election (which she covered in Diary of a Political Tourist, her follow up to Journeys with George) she couldn't discern any major difference between John Kerry and George Bush. Pretty standard stuff for the politically disaffected, but for the child of one of the Dems most powerful leaders, who was taught to believe that Republicans were "evil," this was a major admission.

But what really got me was her candidness at the end of our talk. One of the recurring themes in Wolves is the old saying that "if you are a conservative before the age of thirty, there's something wrong with your heart and if you're a liberal after 30, there's something wrong with your head." I was first reminded of this cliché by Peter Hitchens (ultra-conservative brother of Christopher) early in the writing of the book and it became a kind of lens through which I could look at the A-list Boomer generation humanist liberals who had undergone a major sea change, ultimately abandoning the revolutionary ideals that were so critical to the Vietnam protest culture.

Here's an excerpt from our conversation. We had started talking about the potential of a third party in US politics. I'll pick it up from there:

Can you imagine this country with a robust third party?

No. I can't even imagine this country with a really good qualified leader. I can't even imagine that because what it takes to get through the process. Any third party candidate is going to have some history. It's impossible to survive the rigors of the campaign trail. The campaign crucible eliminates 99% of the qualified candidates.

And because there are a lot of people on both sides of the aisle who will pay a lot of money to make sure the "radicals" get weeded out.

But I think it's our own fault. Because being in New York, you'd think there's a market for a cool candidate who tells you what you want to hear. But I think that we're a really small proportion of the population and out there they just want a candidate who smiles and looks good and makes you feel warm and fuzzy all over. I don't think anyone likes Nader or Dean or those types of people because they don't like the truth. People don't like the truth. Because - this is why Nightline [got] cancelled. Because people don't want to go to bed sad.

In the 60's people did want this stuff. What is it about this time that makes people feel ambivalent or even oblivious to the state of things?

People want to live in the me-first, me-only, total instant gratification society.

Is that a Republican society?

I don't know if it's a Republican or Democratic society. They don't want to have to talk about social security and whether it's going to be there or not. How many people really care?

Well, even the idea that they're going to be dependent on social security means they failed. They blew the American dream.

It's also true - and I know these are clichés - but I know I'm not going to do as well as my parents did. I'm not going to have the house I grew up in. One day you have to face it: I'm on the downward trajectory. You talk to your friends and you realize we're all admitting to ourselves we're not going to do as well as our parents did. And that is the sign of a world power on the decline. It's pretty scary.

Isn't that also what creates a new generation of, frankly, ultra-conservatives? I mean, some will accept the downward spiral, but the majority will not. They'll fight to keep what they have, or at least what they were promised. And then there are those who never had it and who will fight even harder to taste it for themselves or their kids. Isn't this the environment that creates a society that is willing to go to war to get the things it needs?

Oh, we're going to be so war happy, so bitter once we start to see the rest of the world doing better than we are. It's going to be ugly. I mean think about it. We're going to go to war with Holland.

Or Canada.

Right.

I don't think the average American understands the machinations of those charged with handling US foreign policy and extracting outcomes that are critical to the country's future well being.

And to add an extra layer of grimness. you know we used to think that when we grew up that's when we'd start going to Church, and get spirituality. So what is the American dream? We were sold capitalism: 'work really hard and you can have a house with a picket fence and live happily ever after in your desperate housewives fantasy.' And then on Sundays you go to Church to get some spirituality. Because your daily life is just so spiritually void, cause you're working for the man.

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But now we've lost the dream and Church has become all about radical Republicanism. So what's left, what are we going to become?

You know what the answer is? Go to Union Square Park any Saturday, any weekend you see a park full of godless, politically active freaks, with megaphones, screaming at the top of their lungs. And, remember during the Convention when they had those cops around the perimeter of Union Square? It's like the haves will be surrounding the park with their police force - or they'll just send the police to do it for them, ?get those pesky reformers out of my life.'

Last weekend I was in Union Square park with my friend walking his dog. He bought an apartment on Union Square and Whole Foods moved in. It was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. So now he's like, ?real estate values are going up.' And so now he's starting to get angry about the political protesters in the park because he feels like, ?you are hurting the value of my apartment. If I want to show my apartment at an open house on a Sunday, buyers will see the people in the park.' And it just makes you realize.

He's a Democrat?

He's a Democrat.

[.]

In less than 3 minutes, Pelosi cycled through three of the most important forces that have made America such threat to global security. First, that the decline of American fortunes has created a nation of battle-ready liberators, whether they think it's for national security or the advancement of democracy. Second, that the political system (or crucible as Pelosi so aptly put it) is designed to eliminate any authentic reformist candidate; so that to outsiders there is no existing, internal system of checks and balances to pull the country back from its grabby crusade. Third, that even the young liberals, who have always been crucial to providing the nation with a real political balance, have been bought off by the economic system to the extent that they can only see the last gasp of protest culture as a nuisance.

People wonder why we have such a weak anti-war movement just 40 years after that hallowed (and troubled) era. I have come to believe that most Americans have a very deep, subconscious understanding that the nation's economic hegemony (read: imperial power) is on the decline. And that this has contributed to a kind of political paralysis.

[Yes. there is a strong Democratic surge to bring back the troops. And Speaker Pelosi is one of its chief boosters. But even the plan now being put forward by top Dems like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama seeks to leave Iraqis with a US-trained, US-funded army that will do its bidding in the country. And this is key to recouping on the $300 billion investment Americans have made into the venture.]

So what is the answer? First, I believe that we need to very clearly identify the reality that America is losing its grip on the world and openly discuss the impact this is having on the political system and, more importantly, the American people. Because right now we are just living in denial. Like a dysfunctional family that can't discuss father's third lost job and ever longer nights drinking at the pub, it's the 300 pound elephant in the room. This isn't just a case of what's the matter with Kansas, this shit is happening in New York.

Those who are concerned with the direction of American foreign policy and the state of its domestic politics like to point at the conservatives. But I actually don't think they're the problem. In many ways, they are doing exactly what they are supposed to be doing. "conserving," protecting the national interests from the elitist, patriarchal platform they occupy. That is just what they are programmed to do. and it has its value. But only in an authentically balanced political spectrum. And the fact is that in the wake of 9/11, the American spectrum has been severely shrunken and driven rightward. In this way, it is the liberals who have become the greatest menace to the world. As a Pakistani ISI agent with longstanding ties to America told me in Islamabad:

"I believe that great nations have a resonance. They emit power and integrity and everyone else can see that about them. This is how America used to be. But now - there is this Latin term, argumentum ad baculum, which basically means violence as a form of argument; that everyone should do as you say or they will be punished with force. Well, that is a fallacious argument. And we know that as soon as a country has to use force in order to get others to comply with its will, it has already lost. And this is what has happened to America. But what is worse is that the liberal side has allowed it. They have bought into the argument as well."

Of course, not all of the liberal Boomers have abandoned their principles. But among those that have turned the corner and backed the U.S. bombing of Yugoslavia, the first Gulf War, and post-9/11 invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq are some of the most eloquent and influential liberals in the country. Wolves in Sheep's Clothing is a journey into the heart of the ideological retreat of that generation. It is a quest to discover what drives people to abandon their youthful anti-militarism and sanction the kind of warfare that ultimately destroys and destabilizes entire communities. I hope you enjoy it.

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Stephen Marshall is a writer and award-winning filmmaker. A founder of Guerrilla News Network (www.gnn.tv), he is coauthor of the book True Lies (Plume) with GNN colleague Anthony Lappé. He is the director of the feature film This Revolution, documentary features such as Battleground: 21 Days on the Empire's Edge, and controversial, politicized music videos for the Beastie Boys, Eminem and 50 Cent. Over the span of his career, he has traveled and worked in more than 80 countries. He lives in New York City.  His new book, Wolves in Sheep's Clothing, is available now.  Visit his website at WolvesBook.com