Dancing with the devil..The route many voters choose.

Judge Roy Moore, GOP Senators, and the meaning of a Faustian bargain

From Wikipedia
"Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust is a tragic play in two parts usually known in English as Faust, Part One and Faust, Part Two. Although rarely staged in its entirety, it is the play with the largest audience numbers on German-language stages. Faust is considered by many to be Goethe's magnum opus and the greatest work of German literature.^[1]...."

From Wikipedia:" Mephistopheles makes a bet with God: he says that he can lure God's favourite human being (Faust), who is striving to learn everything that can be known, away from righteous pursuits. The next scene takes place in Faust's study where Faust, despairing at the vanity of scientific, humanitarian and religious learning, turns to magic for the showering of infinite knowledge. He suspects, however, that his attempts are failing. Frustrated, he ponders suicide, but rejects it as he hears the echo of nearby Easter celebrations begin. He goes for a walk with his assistant Wagner and is followed home by a stray poodle (the term then meant a medium-to-big-size dog, similar to a sheep dog).

In Faust's study, the poodle transforms into the devil (Mephistopheles). Faust makes an arrangement with the devil: the devil will do everything that Faust wants while he is here on Earth, and in exchange Faust will serve the devil in Hell. Faust's arrangement is that if he is pleased enough with anything the devil gives him that he wants to stay in that moment forever, then he will die in that moment."

The dilemma faced by voters in the election of Judge Roy Moore are faced with a moral choice. If they believe his accusers that he did commit sexual assault on underage girls or pedophilia, yet would rather vote for a pedophile than a Democrat so they keep their GOP Senate seat red .They are making a moral bargain with the devil worthy of a Faustian drama. Others have refused to make that kind of a decision and stuck with their moral values by hearing no evil and not believing the accusations, claiming they were politically motivated by attention seekers.

There are others who refuse to make a Faustian bargain..
Senators Flake, Corker, McCain advocate many policies I do not support. However, there are matters more important to our democracy than even the details of policies. . The most important point Flake made was that Trump was a danger to democracy. His second point: moral outrage at a lying president and a character that is not a good example to the world and our children. He was unwilling to make the tradeoff, tolerating this just to get his agenda passed. This is the classic tradeoff: make a pact with the devil to achieve ones' goals. Dancing with the devil has in the long run resulted in being consumed by the devil. The reality is even those voters who are willing to ignore Trump's character issues to get their legislative and issue and policy agenda enacted are also dancing with the character/anti democratic (small d) devil. That is the political reality of the condition in the Republican party.now. Republican voters are going down that road and Flake recognized that. While the Democratic party has no message other than they would give middle class voters a better deal and they are not Trump, they at least support policies that poll better than the GOP., they can combine that with moral and character outrage.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/roy-moore-scandal-alabama-might-slow-bannons-insurgency-gop-leaders-hope-223029129.html

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2017/11/what-hillary-knew/546170/

https://www.politico.com/story/2017/11/16/alabama-gop-roy-moore-support-245556

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/roy-moore-accuser-got-him-banned-mall-202603315--abc-news-topstories.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/24/us/politics/jeff-flake-transcript-senate-speech.html?_r=1
http://www.people-press.org/2017/10/24/political-typology-reveals-deep-fissures-on-the-right-and-left/?utm_source=adaptivemailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=17-10-24%20typology&org=982&lvl=100&ite=1874&lea=398584&ctr=0&par=1&trk=

From literature, opera: Goethe's FAUST making a bargain with the devil is a classic theme. In one ending, the message is that there is hope for redemption. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goethe%27s_Faust

Duke Dumont - Ocean Drive lyrics
We're riding down the boulevard
We're riding through the dark night, night
With half the tank and empty heart
Pretending we're in love, but it's never enough, nah
As the sirens fill the lonely air
Oh, how did we get here now, now, now babe
We see a storm is closing in
Pretending we ain't scared

[Chorus: Boy Matthews]
Don't say a word while we dance with the devil (uh)
You brought a fire to a world so cold (uh)
We're out of time on the highway to never
Hold on (hold on), hold on (hold on)
Don't say a word while we dance with the devil (uh)
You brought a fire to a world so cold (uh)
We're out of time on the highway to never
Hold on (hold on), hold on (hold on)

The limits of US leadership. You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink.

President Obama has come under fire for a good part of his presidency from the GOP for “being feckless” and “leading from behind.” I have lost count of the number of times Sen. John McCain has advocated getting militarily involved in this or that conflict. Sen. Lindsey Graham calls Secretary John Kerry “delusional” and the President “King of Indecision,” but ignores reality. There are limits to US ability to lead our allies. The old saying fits:  You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink.

If the leadership’s judgment is wrong or misleads us intentionally, blunders and quagmires make thoughtful, cautious leadership personified by Obama’s approach look good. We have experienced leadership of hawks and neocons before.  In my lifetime, we were led into Vietnam mission creep by fear of a domino effect; and we were fooled into invading Iraq by claims they possessed WMDs. We know how both of those turned out.  No wonder we are gun shy.

A recent Politico poll shows we are a schizophrenic nation with hawkish GOP leaders in Washington urging one thing and a large majority of the public decisively agreeing with the details of Obama’s  policies of getting out or staying out of Aghanistan, Ukraine, and the Middle East. 

Obama himself has recently added to the “feckless” perception with bad optics of not flying to the White House to take up hands on leadership. Of course he can conduct matters anywhere thanks to modern communications.  Reality is what we face; not optical illusions.

The Gaza conflict is fraught with reality, and hope is dimming for a two-state solution. Hamas is still sworn to wipe Israel off the face of the earth, and Israel is using the conflict as an opportunity to cripple Hamas. Those are two horses who do not want to drink the water of permanent peace yet. Bless Secretary John Kerry for trying.

Here is reality:  The Cold War was a dangerous time with only fear of mutually assured destruction keeping it in check.  On the other hand, it was a simple time.  The US was able to lead the Western world because the West had been decimated by World War II. We  controlled their ability to recover, and we protected them with our military.

2014  is not your old Cold War.  Russia has been lifted by oil exports and is in the hunt to restore its former glory and control of its neighbors. The European Union is  nearly equal to the US as economic powers, but 40% of their economy  is tied up in trade with Russia and very little of ours. Some members of the EU are 99% dependent on Russian oil; on the average, 30%.   It is so easy for the US to tell Europe to boycott Russian oil because of the Ukraine. It would be devastating to their economy if they did all some have asked. Economic sanctions are water they might sip, but not gulp down.

A version of this appeared in the www.skyhidailynews.com August 1, 2104

Data sources:

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/politico-poll-ukraine-middle-east-109155.html

http://carnegieeurope.eu/2014/03/18/economics-of-eu-russia-relationship

http://fortune.com/2014/03/18/u-s-russian-trade-relationship-there-really-isnt-one/

http://rt.com/business/174676-mh17-sanctions-eu-russia/

Obama's velvet foreign policy in Syria, Ukraine, and elsewhere

In the wake of the end of the cold war, the rise of radical Islam, and  the Arab Spring, the world and US foreign policy  are still sorting themselves  out.   Voices in the US range from Sen. John McCain’s speak loudly and carry an imaginary big stick to others  who want us to speak loudly and carry a threatening, but small  stick. They criticize Obama’s policy which has become speak softly and carry a  flexible willow switch  wrapped  in diplomatic velvet   that prods and pokes and occasionally stings with economic and drone weaponry.

 The proponents of “loud” need a reality check. Most  US voters  realize  that  bluster can lead to  blunder. After the Iraq invasion and the Afghanistan frustrations, how else could the US public conclude? Wielding big sticks is not popular in a nation weary of war and wanting to turn inward to resolve its own domestic problems . The small stick approach in time  is viewed  by those at whom  it is shaken as  bully  bluster not to be taken seriously.

 President Obama’s    foreign policy has evolved  based on his pledge to end the wars and later shaped  by   experience, while   ignoring charges from the right  that he leads from behind or has weakened US influence.  Besides,  budget deals have not restored the military’s former glory  as both wings of the political parties try to shoehorn their priorities into budgets constrained by fears of bankrupting the country.

After  the Arab Spring, the  uprisings in Egypt and  abortive attempts to establish a western style democracy, Syria and Ukraine are the newest tests of  Obama’s   US foreign  policy.

Military Intervention in Syria risks an outcome  similar to Iraq’s and Afghanistan’s. A diplomatic end  to the deadly civil war will depend upon Russia .  Stepping up aid to  refugees internally and externally is in both Russia’s and US interests since it reduces  pressure  to increase  US intervention  to end a humanitarian disaster, probably explaining Russia’s UN Security Council “yes” vote Saturday. Neither country  wishes to see Syria dominated by militant Islam.  These  common goals could lead to  wider  cooperation.   

Resurrecting cold war emotions on either side is very unhelpful, as much as  US proponents of “loud” promote it  and Russia  views the West as engaged in a power struggle with them.  In spite of that,  the Ukraine resolution contains hope for  beginning  even  better   relations with Russia that could lead to cooperation elsewhere  and will have an impact beyond borders.   Western Europe who brokered the Ukraine compromise and Russia  fear violence  on their doorsteps.     Pres. Obama simply picked up the telephone and called Russia’s President Putin,  peace returned to the square,  Ukraine’s besieged pro Russian president retreated from Kiev to friendlier parts, and the demonstrators took over the national government .  The final solution of how to govern a country split between pro Russian and a pro Western  population is not resolved but  kudos to Obama for getting  the ball rolling in his velvet way.

There are other countries such as Bosnia with significant numbers of their  population  seething in anger at non-responsive,  corrupt, and  ineffective, divided  governments,  who will be watching the  Ukraine situation as a template for a strategy for change.  What happens in the Ukraine will influence how  other  such  conflicts will play out.