Dime's Worth of Difference : Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils (Counterpunch)

Rating:
Summary: "Something was very rotten"
Review: "A Dime's Worth of Difference: Beyond the Lesser of Two Evils" edited by Counterpunch writers Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St Clair is an excellent collection of 23 essays focusing on "the decay of the American political system." With such topics as the presidential elections, Clinton, Karl Rove, John McCain, Jesse Jackson, the defense budget, and the so-called 'War on Drugs', the essays systematically strip away the notions that there's much to choose from between the two political parties--the Democrats and the Republicans. Editor and essay contributor, Alexander Cockburn wonders exactly why there's so much fuss over the elections, and why elections "rouse expectations far in excess of what they actually deserve."

"A Dime's Worth of Difference" was published prior to the November election, and some Americans still imagined that John Kerry had a snowball's chance in Hades to win the presidency. But according to the authors, "on the calendar of standard-issue American politics" there's a "relentlessly shrinking menu." The 2004 election came down to the selection of a "lesser of two evils", and this is more a sad comment on the political process in the country than the glittering ratification the 'winning' administration seems to imagine it deserves.

There's something to offend just about everyone in this collection--the right, the left, and the stuck-in-the-middles. Here we read about the candidates for the 2004 election--Bush, the man whose "genes and education turned into a Mendelian stew of all that's worst and most vulgar" and Kerry "who offers himself up mainly as a more competent manager of the Bush agenda." Other essays examine Clinton's presidency, the relationship between the government and the oil industry, & poverty in America. One fascinating section of a co-written essay "War on the Poor" from Cockburn and St Clair examines the role of Dick Morris and the ratings mania during Clinton's presidency emanating from the "neuro-psychological profile" of the typical American voter. Another essay tackles the formidable Karl Rove. One of Rove's nicknames may be "turdblossom", but it's clear he's a fierce adversary with "the intuitive facility for adducing that single, simple idea that would win the most people to your side."

Contributor Josh Frank's essay, "The Slick Swindler: Senator Max Baucus"(D-Montana) is a very personal account of the gradual disillusionment experienced by the author, a Montana resident. Other essays explore the friendships between odd couples, such as Senator John McCain and S&L "fraudster" Charles Keating, and DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe and IBEW pension fund (or 'How to Invest $100 and make 2.45 Million'). In addition, Marc Racicot (R-former gov. of Montana), Paul Wellstone (D-Minnesota), Rick Santorum (R-Pennsylvania), Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) are all subjects of scrutiny and analysis.

Special mention for Cockburn and St Clair's illuminating essay, "Bipartisan Origins of the War on Drugs." This essay examines the government's attitude and policies since the 50s towards the trade of illegal narcotics. The authors cite the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act which passed 29 new minimum mandatory sentences, creating a minimum sentence of 5 years in the federal pen for possession of 5 grams of crack--while there is no mandatory sentence for powdered cocaine under 500 grams. This, according to the authors, creates a "100:1 sentencing ratio" between crack and cocaine. Well so much for the 'war' on drugs. The essay finishes with a nice statistical breakdown of the racial breakdown of those in prison for drugs. There's a lot of information packed into slightly less than 300 pages, and an index in the back helps keep track of it all. For those seeking enlightenment, this essay collection is recommended--displacedhuman