Walter Karp and the Political

  

Walter Karp and the Political

Peter Schultz

 

                  It is interesting that both JFK and Nixon, and also LBJ, waged war in Vietnam in ways that were intended to guarantee their re-elections, JFK in 1964 and Nixon in 1972, A question is: What does this teach us about American politics and politics in general?

 

                  Walter Karp wrote several interesting books on American politics, one of them being Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America. In that book, he focuses on party politics and the established wisdom that the primary purpose of political parties is to win elections. Looking at the facts that throughout the United States there are many places where one party constantly wins while the other party constantly loses. Karp argues this phenomenon ultimately proves that political parties are not driven primarily by the desire to win elections. Rather, they are driven by the desire of their leading members to control the party and to do so even it requires losing elections.

 

                  “Insofar as a state party is controlled at all, the sole abiding purpose, the sole overriding interest of those who control it, is to maintain control. This, not election victory, is the fundamental, unswerving principle of party politics in America….” [19]

 

                  “The prevailing doctrine of the parties thus describes what party organizations are perpetually striving to avoid.” [19]

 

                  The parties and those who control them fear most of all loss of control over nominations and loss of political power. Loss of control over nominations means loss of political power. Insofar as the loss of political power is the goal, then controlling nominations is more important than winning elections. Winning elections with uncontrollable, that is, insurgent candidates is to be avoided at all costs, including losing elections. So, in 2024, the leading Democrats’ goal was not to defeat Trump but to continue in control of the party. Nominating a likely loser like Kamala Harris was the result.

 

                  This political phenomenon effects politics generally, that is, beyond elections. In the normal course of American politics these days, the leading Democrats’ actions are intended not to defeat Trump and his policies but to enable the party’s big wigs to retain control of the party. Because maintaining control of the party is the most important goal, more important than defeating Trump’s policies, the result is compromise and collusion between the Democrats and Trump and the Republicans, collusion which allows the leading Democrats to retain control of the party.

 

                  Now, return to examples this essay started with, how JFK and Richard Nixon waged war in Vietnam. JFK is reputed to have told people that his policies in Vietnam, particularly his desire to pull out of Vietnam were dictated by his goal of being re-elected in 1964, so he could retain control of the Democratic party, increase his chances of successfully disengaging from Vietnam, and protect himself and the party from an assault by rabid anti-communists. Nixon followed the same path in his first term, waging war in Vietnam in ways that would best guarantee his re-election in 1972. So, when Nixon went to China, he conveyed to the Chinese that he was would accept defeat in Vietnam provided it occurred after “a decent interval” after the United States pulled out. So, for the sake of re-election and party cohesion, Nixon “sold out” South Vietnam, after extending the war for almost four years in order to achieve a “peace with honor” he could have achieved earlier in his first term.

 

In these examples, winning elections in order to retain power personally as well as politically took precedence over ending the Vietnam war. So, winning elections, like losing elections, is done to enable party organizations “to maintain control, [which] is the fundamental and unswerving principle of party politics in America….” Thus, the deaths, both Vietnamese and American, that occurred during Nixon’s first term and those that occurred during JFK’s only term were in the service of that “fundamental and unswerving principle of American politics.”

 

So, both JFK and Nixon were not only principled but shared the same principle. Which might lead one to conclude that this principle is intrinsic not just to American politics but to politics generally. And to further conclude hat that principle and its consequent behaviors are, to use a now discarded language, “natural.”

 

 

Lost Crusader: William Colby, DCI

  

Lost Crusader: William Colby, DCI

Peter Schultz

 

                  The following are some reflections on passages from John Prados’s book on William Colby, Lost Crusader, in the context of Colby’s nomination as Director of the CIA.

 

                  “A related aspect of this … is the degree of comity that … existed at that time. In not exhibiting much interest in the CIA’s Family Jewels, [Senators] Stennis, Symington, [and Representative] Hebert followed norms long established: {Representative] Nedzi’s inspection was the exception. Intelligence oversight in 1973 was exercised with a light hand, if at all.” [264, emphasis added]

 

                  Now, “intelligence oversight” meant accountability. So, what does this tell us about government? That it functions best when there is little or no accountability. “Functions best” means acting freely; it does not mean achieving the desired results, because without accountability the results cannot be known or evaluated. Demanding  little or no accountability means that those “investigating,” say, the CIA, are not interested in knowing or evaluating the agency’s results. Whether the CIA achieved its goals are of no interest to the “investigators.” Perhaps that is because they know it is highly unlikely that the CIA did achieve its goals. Duplicity is essential to maintaining the illusion that government works.

 

                  “Nedzi also confronted Colby with the question [that was the] hardest of all: Why not make public the report? Colby argued that such an action might cripple the CIA, and Nedzi accepted the argument.” [263]

 

                  Take note that duplicity and/or secrecy is absolutely essential for the government, here the CIA, to function. Why is that? Because without duplicity and secrecy the illusion that the government works or that it reflects the popular will would be shattered. Governments must deal in delusions, meaning politics and politicians are and must be delusional. And insofar as politics is intrinsically delusional then it is fair to say that politics is the problem. That is, the political, meaning every particular form politics takes, is problematical. Affirming the political in order to solve political problems is delusional, it is madness. Politics is a madhouse and, very often, it becomes a mad slaughterhouse. Which explains why Plato Is reputed to have said: “Only the dead have seen the end of war.”

Party Politics

  

Party Politics

Peter Schultz

 

                  Both American political parties compete by acting as if and even believing that their differences are significant, when they are not. Why this duplicity?

 

                  Because without it, the political would be revealed as delusional and our politicians, our elites would be revealed as delusional. As political animals, humans cannot, will not accept such a revelation. That is, they cannot accept that politics, all politics is delusional, is madness and that the political arena is a madhouse. To make sense of their actions, to make their actions seem sensible, duplicity is absolutely essential. In the United States this means that people must believe and act as if there are two political parties with significant political differences and that each party offers solutions to our problems.

 

                  But there are no political solutions to our problems because, at the most basic level, the problem is politics. Hence, embracing or affirming the political in any imaginable way, capitalistically, communistically, socialistically, democratically, or oligarchically, is intrinsically flawed. The best that can be done is to minimize the flaws. So, the best regime is simply the least bad or unhealthy regime, the order or arrangement with the least flaws. As an old saying has it, democracy is preferable to the alternatives only because it is less bad.

 

                  Political parties blind us to what is actually going, viz., the constant and continuing pursuit of power, by presenting themselves and their politicians as being concerned with justice or the common good. Without such duplicitous behavior, it would be impossible for people, both in and out of government, to affirm the political, to take politics seriously. So, political behavior is intrinsically duplicitous, which helps explain why the most duplicitous humans thrive in the political arena. Seriously.

Bill Colby and Political Madness

  

Bill Colby and Political Madness

Peter Schultz

 

Two reflections inspired by John Prados’s excellent biography of William Colby, Lost Crusader: The Secret Wars of CIA Director William Colby.

 

Here are two sentences from John Prados’s biography of William Colby referring to his sending people into North Vietnam under Project Tiger, even though they disappeared or were “doubled”, I.e., captured and used by the North Vietnamese unbeknownst to Colby, et. al. “From one point of view,  Colby’s stance could be considered one of steadfast determination. From another it could be seen as ignorant and naive.” (81) 

Sounds like a dichotomy: Colby as virtuous or Colby as ignorant/naive. But why should we think of “steadfast determination” as a virtue? Or, put differently: why not recognize that being morally virtuous in this way, being steadfastly determined, leads to what were deadly or cruel results? 

Most assume that being morally virtuous always leads to proper results. But Aristotle argued that being morally virtuous leads to being magnanimous, with results that seem less than desirable, viz., haughtiness, vanity, injustice even. By being “steadfastly determined,” i.e., by being morally virtuous, Colby in fact was sending men to their deaths, to torture, or to captivity. Being morally virtuous doesn’t always lead to proper or humane results. Sometimes, e.g., in Vietnam or the war on terror, it leads to inhuman cruelty. 

 

 

 

 

 

“Frustration drove Bill Colby after the Diem assassination. He…and the CIA might have lost the policy battle in Washington, but Colby emerged determined to effect change directly…in Vietnam. This became the subtext of his post-coup swing through Southeast Asia. That trip [led] to new CIA initiatives, greatly increasing the agency’s role in the Vietnam war….Colby created some of these projects while energizing or becoming instrumental in others. In a way he…submerged his loss of friends in the Ngo family with frantic activity that might avenge them by winning the Vietnam war.” (132 Lost Crusader) 

 

Madness through and through. It wasn’t frustration that drove Colby; he was delusional. As if doing more of what he had been doing would have different results. Definition of insanity: keep doing the same things while expecting different results. As if “frantic activity” is a virtue. As if “determining to effect change” is a virtue. As if “steadfast determination” is a virtue. As if “avenging loss” is a virtue. 

 

We can’t see the madness because its elements are taken to be moral virtue. And, so, because we can’t see it, we don’t question moral virtue, its ambiguous value as reflected by its often untoward results.

 

 [What would have happened if Darcy had dealt with Lydia and Wickham moralistically, rather than mercifully? What might have transpired – or not transpired – in Vietnam if the US had treated the Vietnamese mercifully rather than moralistically?] 

 

Politics: The Seduction of Crime

  

Politics: The Seduction of Crime

Peter Schultz

 

“Beyond the specific individuals involved, the Epstein scandal reveals the character of a social class. The American oligarchy has amassed its wealth through parasitism, speculation and fraud. It is, in its social being, in its mode of acquisition, a criminal class at the summit of American politics. Its fortunes are the product of financial manipulation, corporate swindling, war profiteering and the exploitation of billions of people.

 

“The oligarchy feels itself above the law. Trump is the personification of this class—brazenly criminal, contemptuous of democratic norms, openly inciting fascist violence and plotting war. His administration views the Constitution as a worthless piece of paper, international law as irrelevant. It declares the right to murder individuals, citizen or non-citizen, with, in the words of Vice President JD Vance, “absolute immunity.”

 

“The American ruling class is wallowing in political, social, legal and moral degradation. The Epstein scandal holds up a mirror to itself.”

 

https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2026/02/02/wepr-f02.html

 

The statement above does not go far enough, because not only does “the Epstein scandal reveal the character of a social class,” it also reveals the character of the political. Criminality is intrinsic to politics. In fact, politics may be said to involve, always and everywhere, socially approved criminality. For example, consider what is called “the war on terror” which has revolved around “targeted assassinations.” Certainly, these “targeted assassinations” would be crimes, would be “murders,” if committed by, say, Tony Soprano or any other mafioso. It is, in brief, impossible to imagine politics devoid of such socially approved criminality, or to imagine that politicians aren’t attracted to politics, to a political life because it involves, revolves around socially approved criminality. You may even say that politics involves, intrinsically, the seduction of crime.

 

So, yes, “the oligarchy feels itself above the law” and, yes, “Trump is the personification of this class.” The oligarchy feels itself above the law because it is above the law or outside of the law, and Trump is its personification because he proudly asserts, over and over, that he is not bound by law, that he engages in socially approved criminality. So too did Ollie North, when he became a national hero during Iran-Contra. And, of course, Dick Cheney embraced lawlessness when he took the United States to “the dark side” after the attacks on 9/11. But it is a mistake to think that “The American ruling class is wallowing in political, social, legal and moral degradation.” They are not “wallowing” in anything, nor are they experiencing any kind of “degradation.” Their criminality is socially approved. Expose it as much as you like, but do not expect that that exposure will lead to their demise. In fact, expect that it will not only maintain but that it will fortify their power.

 

So it goes.

 

House of Imperialism

  

House of Imperialism

Peter Schultz

 

                  Katheryn Bigelow’s movie House of Dynamite created quite a stir, and rightfully so. And this led me to think about a similar, yet very different movie on the same theme but that might be called House of Imperialism. The following passages are from a book, How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States, by Daniel Immerwahr.

 

                  “The Japanese [after WW II] were right to be nervous. Despite all the duck and cover warnings about Soviet strikes on Cincinnati and Dubuque, the real lines of nuclear confrontation were the overseas bases and territories. Hundreds of nuclear weapons, we now know, were placed in South Korea, the Philippines, Guam, and Puerto Rico. Throughout most the sixties, there were more than a thousand on Okinawa. Johnston Island, one of the guano islands Ernest Gruening had recolonized, bristled with nuclear armed Thor missiles. An unknown number of nuclear weapons were stored in Hawai’I, Alaska (including on the Aleutian Islands), and Midway.

 

                  “Yet while the nukes on bases protected the mainland, they imperiled the territories and host nations. Flying nuclear weapons around the bases – something the military did routinely – risked catastrophic accident. Even when the weapons stayed put, their presence turned the bases into tempting targets, especially since overseas bases were easier to Moscow to hit than the mainland was. Arming the bases was essentially painting bright red bull’s-eye on them.

 

                  “A sense of the risk can be gained by considering the Arctic base at Thule in Greenland…. The virtue of Thule was that it was close enough to the Soviet Union that from there, the United States could lob missiles over the North Pole at Moscow. The drawback was that the Soviets could fire missiles back. The Soviet premier warned Denmark that to allow the United States to house its arsenal at Thule – or anywhere on Danish soil – would be ‘tantamount to suicide.’ Nervous Danish politicians incorporated a ‘no nuclear’ principle into the platform of their governing coalition: the United States could have its base, but no nukes.

 

                  “… Washington pressed the issue. When the Danish prime minister didn’t explicitly object, U.S. officials took his silence for winking consent and secretly moved nuclear weapons to Thule. Soon the air force began covertly flying nuclear armed B-52s over Greenland daily. This was part of airborne alert program to keep armed planes aloft and ready to strike the Soviet Union at all times – the subject of Stanley Kubrick’s Doctor Strangelove….

 

                  “The general responsible for the program readily conceded how much danger this placed Greenland in. Thule, he told Congress, would be ‘one of the first ones to go’ if war came. Even without war, it faced peril. In 1967, three planes carrying hydrogen bombs made emergency landings in Greenland. The next year, a B-52 flying near Thule with four Mark 28 hydrogen bombs crashed, hard….

 

                  “The accident at Thule didn’t set off a nuclear explosion. It did, however, spew plutonium all over the crash site. The air force scrambled to clean up the mess before the ice thawed and carried radioactive debris into the ocean. The recovered waste filled seventy-five tankers. Had an accident of that scale happened over a city, it would have been mayhem.

 

                  “Could that have happened? Yes…. Two years before the Thule accident, a B-52 crashed over the Spanish village of Palomares while carrying four hydrogen bombs, each seventy-five times as powerful as the Hiroshima bomb. Part of the plane landed 80 yards from an elementary school, another chunk hit the earth 150 yards from a chapel. The conventional explosives went off in two of the bombs, sowing plutonium dust into the tomato fields for miles.”

 

                  It isn’t inaccurate to say, as a character in Bigelow’s movie does say, that we’ve created a house of dynamite. But it should be noted that what makes that house of dynamite so bloody dangerous, even makes it a madhouse, is that the United States has created a house of imperialism, one that requires it to subject other nations to the possibility of nuclear catastrophes.

Politics and Justice

  

Politics and Justice

Peter Schultz

 

                  If, as many believe, politics is about justice, why are the results so very often injustice? Could it be that injustice is more firmly established in the political arena than justice? Ruminate on the following passages from the book, No Good Men Among the Living, and see what you can see regarding justice, injustice and the political.

 

                  “Across the country … the story repeated itself. In a way…, retribution should have been expected. After all, the Taliban’s human rights record … inspired no sympathy. The problem was not so much that the Taliban were targeted but that they were uniquely targeted: the men allied with the US [had] similarly deplorable records…, yet their crimes went unpunished. A true reconciliation process would have required bringing justice to people from across the political spectrum, or pardoning them all. To the Taliban, justice unequally applied felt like no justice at all.

 

                  “For the top Taliban leadership, the apparent inequity of a ‘war forced on us’ … was so great that there seemed no choice but to organize resistance…. In late 2002, the leadership met … and voted in favor of a last-ditch effort to come to accord with Kabul. Emissaries were sent … but with reconciliation still a toxic idea in Washington and in Northern Alliance circles, the effort fizzled.

 

                  “The course now seemed set. Mullah Omar organized … a dozen top Talibs … [in] a new leadership body…. Mullah Obaidullah took on the task of resurrecting dormant Taliban networks in Afghanistan. He and others reached out to communities … where the resentment was steadily building over the killings, the night raids, the abductions, the torture, the broken alliance, and the fractured hopes. In these communities, the American presence was … seen as an occupation, and Karzai’s government … as Washington’s venal and vicious puppet.

 

                  “From this point on, there would be no turning back.” [195-96]

 

                  Where did the pursuit of justice lead? Retribution is a kind of justice, but it led to injustice. The pursuit of justice short-changed any possibility of reconciliation, ultimately leading to a rebirth of the Taliban and, hence, renewed violence and further injustices. Could it be that despite the claims of many, injustice is intrinsic to politics and what’s required for human decency is to turn away from seeking justice and a turn toward caring and/or reconciliation? Human life is more humane to the extent that caring supplements or displaces justice.

 

                  Machiavelli taught that political greatness, the peak of political virtue, rested on inhuman cruelty. Empires, that is, the greatest political achievements, rest on cruelty, as has been illustrated time and again throughout human history. The greatest political actions, the greatest human actions are the cruelest and bloodiest of wars. Their victors are celebrated with fame, a kind of immortality. When Socrates went in search of justice in the Republic, he ended up recommending the banning of the poets and the exiling of everyone over the age of ten. When Aristotle went in search of the best regime, he ended up with slavery joined with a powerful warrior mentality. As Rousseau said: “Man is born free but everywhere he is chains.” And Huck Finn had to flee “sivilization” in order to be happy, while Tom Sawyer had to manipulate and obfuscate in order to displace and become “the model boy of the village.”

 

                  The line between being president and being criminal is a fine line indeed – as we are witnessing today. In fact, being criminal seems intrinsic to being great politically. Politics may be defined as socially acceptable criminality. And isn’t that one thing that draws people to organizations like the CIA or the FBI? It certainly draws people into the military, as socially approved killing offers fame and glory for those who are most proficient at it, e.g., Chris Kyle, “the most lethal sniper in U.S. history.”

 

                  So, ironically, the pursuit of justice has ambiguous consequences, including the encouragement or production of injustice. As is emphasized in No Good Men Among the Living, Americans engaged in combating the Taliban in Afghanistan were led, again and again, to embrace cruelty. “… the political has a way of making a virtue of necessity, [which meant] that soon suicide bombers became the outgunned Taliban’s answer to B-52s and up-armored Humvees.” [208] Politics also has a way of making a virtue out of injustice, and even of cruelty.