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First time tragedy, second time farce

By Jack M. Balkin

By many historical accounts, FDR was deeply worried at the beginning of 1935 by the possibility of a challenge from Huey Long, the extraordinary Democratic senator from Louisiana (who was simultaneously serving as governor of that state) who was a leading critic of the New Deal from the left. Long, of course, was a remarkable orator who was speaking to many genuine realities of life, including corporate oppression, in Louisiana and elsewhere. He was also a fascistic, dictatorial demagogue (think, perhaps, of Mussolini). For better or worse, FDR could relax in 1936 not because the New Deal had suddenly started working so much better (indeed, the Supreme Court was busy invalidating much of it) , but, rather, because Long had been assassinated in Baton Rouge. Long is an endlessly fascinating figure who inspired a fine (albeit, like Long himself, over the top) novel by Robert Penn Warren that has been filmed at least twice, as well as recurrent biographies that make the reader at once realize Long's genuine appeal and his menace. He might well rise to the level of a tragic figure, and not only because of the way he died.

Then there's Sarah Palin, who is clearly attempting to fill the Long role for our own time. (Or is it George Corley Wallace who is the proper analogue, given his disdain for "pointy-headed bureaucrats"? It is fascinating to read a forthcoming book by Laura Kalman, Right Star Rising, about the rise of the right wing in the 1970s and to discover that Richard Viguerie, a leading figure in the contemporary far right, dreamed of a Reagan-Wallace ticket and was disappointed when Reagan chose to remain in the Republican Party and (unsuccessfully, of course) challenge Gerald Ford for the nomination in 1976. I wonder what his dreams are now ) But, of course, there is not one ounce of grandeur in Ms. Palin. Unlike Long, who had a real vision of where he wanted to take Louisiana and in fact transformed the state, for good and for ill, her visions come out of comic books. Nor, obviously, is she willing to do any hard work, by, for example, even filling out her term of office as Alaska's Governor. Did she leave any enduring impact on her own state? Yet Barack Obama, the most potentially-transformative President since FDR, must be fearful of her candidacy, with consequences yet unknown (though they do seem to include giving up any real commitment to traditional norms of criminal justice and a hesitancy/unwillingness to name any judicial appointees who might actually be genuinely appalled by the direction of the Supreme Court over the period of conservative Republican hegemony). Unfortunately, I think this demonstrates less the tragedy than the truly farcical nature of contemporary American politics at present (though perhaps it does demonstrate a tragic flaw in the otherwise remarkable President).

Full post as published by Balkinization on February 17, 2010 (boomark / email).