Looking Outward
I walked into the Stanford Bookstore yesterday and immediately saw Dick Cheney standing on a red carpet with eerie lighting, dressed in black and glowering at me. I began to wonder if In My Time's sales and promotional teams recognized the importance of creepy Darth Vader-like imagery in marketing Mr. Cheney's personal brand. Or if Cheney himself was just poking fun at his popular caricature in the media.
Whatever it was, it certainly worked as a draw, and I started skim-reading. Mr. Cheney's memoir, of course, is like its author, terse, un-weepy, and sure of itself. Amidst some genuinely moving passages and clear-headed defense of Bush-era pronouncements (the much maligned "we will be greeted as liberators" line actually turned out to be somewhat true), Cheney's memoir is remarkable in that it is weirdly anachronistic. Cheney almost never mentions the fiscal and economic issues that occupy most of our political discourse today. As a rule, he is partisan but not ideological on such concerns. To read his book is to be transported back to a long-ago time(it was only five years ago!) when America spent most of its time looking outward to its foes, to Iraq, and to the larger issues of the war on terror. Renditions, interrogations, wiretapping, geopolitics, weapons negotiations, pre-emptive strikes, Niger, yellowcake, and other phrases from that era are jarring to see in print again.
The world has changed. We live, now, in a time, where the majority of declared conflicts in the world are internal. Nations around the world are looking inward. European nations enact austerity programs, grapple with internal debt, and combat internal riots. The U.S. is still reeling from internal collapse and continues to re-evaluate itself and to re-orient its pulse towards a more equitable future. Israel and India deal with massive protests against democratically elected governments. In the Middle East, nations have turned from attacking each other to attacking themselves and their own uprisings. And the world notices the Arab Spring and attempts to aid democratic movements, but in a distracted, confused way.
But it is worthwhile to remember that looking outward, always, is essential in America, and the importance of this cannot be exaggerated. The great issues of national security, weapons control, rogue states, terrorism, and geopolitical rivalries never go away. And while we blink, the one large nation that doesn't seem to have had this inward shift is looking outward. To Africa, the Middle East, and the Pacific, and outward. China is not waiting for us to reestablish ourselves. Whether you agree with his arguments or not, Mr. Cheney's memoir is a timely reminder that America's security, America's international presence, and America's standing in the world are constantly evolving external concerns that cannot be put on pause. My sense is that we, as a nation, are attempting to do so, and that we will reap an awful reward. Thoughts?
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Comments:
Re: Looking Outward
Clarify one thing for me, Vasant. Was the Dick Cheney you saw a cardboard cutout, or the real man? I'm thinking the former, but at a place like Stanford, you just never know.
Re: Looking Outward
@Diane it was the cover of his book. the books were stacked up right at the entrance, facing vertically. Unfortunately he has not visited Stanford in recent memory.
Mar '11
Re: Looking Outward
We are and we will. Then in fewer years that have passed since the events of this memoir the entire world shall be reaping the whirlwind.
Jun '10
Re: Looking Outward
I am enjoying Cheney's book. The caricatures of it are silly. I find it honest, straightforward, and totally devoid of PC.
I'm about Cheney's age, have a similar hairline, have lost my lithe figure and have been told many times I look like him. When people say that to me many expect me to deny it. I always tell them I consider it a compliment.
My wife and I also have a close friend who is a big Obama supporter and hater of all things W and Cheney (amazingly it's her only flaw). Whenever my caller ID shows her calling, I always answer "Cheney residence, Dick speaking." For a while she would splutter and rage. Now we just laugh about it.
I think he's a great American. Not without a flaw or two, but then I'll stack him up against Obama any day.
Re: Looking Outward
The one thing that I always liked about Cheney is that he was good on his feet. The debate last night left me appalled in one particular (as usual). Half the time the candidates responded to the question asked with a canned answer to a question not asked. It makes me embarrassed for my country. Cheney never did that.
May '10
Re: Looking Outward
I, too, always liked Cheney's straight-shooting... er, forthright -- demeanor. The Left, of course, puts him, John Yoo, the Koch brothers, etc. at the head of an evil cabal controlling us masses of conservative simpletons through mind control and fistfuls of cash.
May '10
Re: Looking Outward
Vasant, how's his book selling on the Stanford campus? Is this the type of thing you'd prefer to buy inside a brown paper wrapper?
May '10
Re: Looking Outward
The election of Barak Obama has led to the abdication of the United States as a player in The Great Game. This will prove catastrophic for the US and much of the rest of the world for years to come.
When China is calling all the geo-political shots, think of President Obama.
Re: Looking Outward
Vasant, what you've observed is, to me, the most terrifying part of what's happening in America. We can recover from the economic crisis. We may not be able to recover from the isolationism. It characterizes both parties now, and is reflected by the near-complete lack of interest in foreign policy. "I believe in American exceptionalism" is not a foreign policy.
Re: Looking Outward
Interesting question. I doubt it's selling very much on Stanford campus, but I feel obliged to point out defensively that in the entire Ivy and Ivy peer elite institution set, Stanford's the best place for young conservatives. Broadly, students are 1) apolitical due to the heavy concentration of science/engineering/business students who don't care too much about "movements," 2) relatively supportive of the free market--many people dream about starting their own company a la Google, Yahoo, HP 3) geographically removed enough from Washington that if you really were obsessed with acquiring power, you'd probably go somewhere else. Oh and 4) We have the Hoover Institution and some of the best conservative intellectuals in the country.
Edited on September 9, 2011 at 9:07pm