With the Bush Administration's assault on Social Security and nomination of a vehement anti-internationalist to the United Nations, it is likely that Franklin Delano Roosevelt will soon rise from his grave to exact revenge upon those dismantling his powerful legacy. Today, in the face of pundits who declare that the Democratic Party is devoid of ideas that capture the American imagination, Democrats need to remember their longstanding tradition of bold ideas and action on both the domestic and global stage. The same grand vision needs to be rekindled today.
Many critics claim that the Democrats are destined to minority status due to their weak stance on defense in the security-conscious post-September 11th world. On the contrary, Democrats have proudly led the United States against America's enemies for decades. Two Democratic presidents, Woodrow Wilson and FDR, rallied both the nation and the world in the First and Second World Wars, respectively, to ensure the defeat of forces of tyranny. In the immediate ashes of WWII, the Truman Administration crafted the policies of containment that prevented a Communist takeover of Western Europe. President Harry Truman led the United Nations in standing up to the blatant Communist aggression on the Korean peninsula in 1950 while President John F. Kennedy responded to the Communist antagonism in Vietnam. Still today, Democrats have exhibited the same leadership in protecting the United States. Senator Joseph Lieberman, not the White House, was the first to envision the creation of the Department of Homeland Security. In the 2004 presidential race, Senator John Kerry, not President Bush, called for increasing the size of the U.S. military, including doubling the size of the Special Forces essential to the war on terrorism. Neither political party has a monopoly on national security.
In embracing global democratization and the democratic peace theory, President Bush pursues a foreign policy of which many liberal international theorists would only dream. His foreign policy speeches regarding democracy abroad embody the gallant rhetoric of Kennedy more than that of Reagan. Responding to the social challenges in the 1930s and later in the 1960s, the Democratic leadership made the national promise of a "New Deal" and the vision of the "Great Society" respectively. Now, Democrats should lead the nation with the same visionary leadership on one of today's most pressing issues -- America's dependence on foreign oil. It is not the problem of tomorrow that can be managed today. Rather, America's energy problem is the problem of today that needs to be solved today.
As the Chinese and Indian economies industrialize and develop a voracious appetite for oil, the forces of supply and demand have driven global oil prices into the atmosphere. The days of $1.50 per gallon gasoline are over as specialists predict oil prices to rise to $75 per barrel. The other causes for the spike in oil prices, such as Middle Eastern instability, low oil inventories and market speculation, illustrate that drilling for energy solutions, such as in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, is not a solution at all. America's love affair with gas guzzling SUVs will become increasingly expensive to maintain.
Weaning America off oil, especially foreign oil from despotic Middle Eastern regimes, is essential to securing both economic and national security. The dual promise of "guns and butter" can be achieved. Gallup reports that a record-high 58 percent of Americans claim the increased fuel prices have caused them "financial hardship," leading about 48 percent to intentionally curtail driving. All Americans feel the impact of higher oil prices, whether at the pump, airport or supermarket. After recently remaining dormant, the "specter of inflation" has reemerged due to the increasing cost of oil and forced Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan to subsequently voice concerns. Through our dependence on oil from despotic Middle Eastern nations, America finances "both sides of the war on terrorism," in the words of Thomas Friedman. Oil profits in authoritarian regimes have allowed their governments to maintain power and indoctrinate their subjects with illiberal values. Only after severing the duplicitous symbiotic relationships with Saudi Arabia and Iran can President Bush's call to "end tyranny" seem less hypocritical.
Only weeks after America's first jaunt into space, Kennedy made the unthinkable pledge to land an American on the moon by the end of the 1960s. Similarly today, the challenge of energy independence should be tackled with the same vigor and determination. Given his relationship with "Bandar Bush" and the oil industry, President Bush is unable to provide the necessary leadership to solve this economic and national security quagmire. Once again, Democrats need to pick up the torch and become bold visionary leaders in America's most pressing problems.
