AmBushed Vol. 105 : The Costs of Machtpolitik

The 2004 re-election of President George W. Bush came as a shock to many politically liberal American citizens and intellectuals who opposed his first administration and its controversial policies and politics. Aimed at this "amBushed" political constituency, AmBushed: The Costs of Machtpolitik, a special issue of SAQ, dares to ask how Bush's re-election took so many by surprise and-through an analysis of the Bush administration and how it garners political strength and executes its policies-examines the way in which the political Left may regain its footing. The diverse perspectives-from respected intellectuals and scholars from the United States and abroad-reflect the variety of democracy itself and are intended to stimulate a constructive debate, fostering the development of new strategies to strengthen and improve the political agenda and efficacy of the Left.One essay argues that the Left has ceded its political vision-forgoing active political organization in favour of simply voicing political criticism of the president-allowing its activist sensibilities and abilities to atrophy. Others explore the Bush administration, its masterful machtpolitik (power politics), its strategic feminization of its opposition, its aggressive expansion of executive-branch powers, and its flirtation with what some have labelled American fascism or totalitarianism; still others reflect on how the Left has insulated itself from both reality and politics. A contributor from South Africa draws parallels between apartheid proponents and their tactics and President Bush-including their shared reliance on the vocabulary of democracy and liberation and the themes of military defence and divine mandate. Others analyze "Bush II" as the "global executioner" as described by French philosopher and theologian Joseph de Maistre; as the leader of the Christian Right, a force mirrored by working-class religious revivalism in India and other countries; as a skilful exploiter and manipulator of the mainstream media; as the chief spokesman for "evangelical capitalism," which links U.S. national security to global economic growth and the fate of foreign governments; and as the world's most powerful lobbyist for corporate interests.