Change and political challenge in America

NEW YORK, NY: Returning to New York City after an interregnum of nearly two years, yours truly was struck by the eyeboggling transformation that the city has undergone – courtesy the Covid-19 pandemic which first hit this megacity with A-bomb ferocity a little more than a year ago.

Usually presenting a picture of a dynamic metropolis pulsating with life and energy, bursting with a bewildering multiplicity of commercial activities, buzzing with the sounds/noises of vehicular and subway traffic – not to mention the jostling throngs of jabbering pedestrians, mostly in a hurry – the new New York this observer confronted appeared to be a mere shell of its former self, a veritable ghost-town, if you will.

Though one was, of course, fully aware that the pandemic had taken a heavy toll across America, including in major cities such as New York, it was still pretty unnerving to sample the enormity of changes on the ground when coldly confronted by them.

Though people are aware that the light at the end of the so-called pandemic tunnel is now faintly visible – with an incredible 4 million vaccines currently being shot into people’s arms every day – there are reports of new virulent strains, on the one hand, and, on the other, of a stubborn segment of the population that behaves as if the pandemic is either over or that it didn’t really exist.

All that is not to say that life has come to a standstill; it has not. Though most people still continue to work from home, public schools have opened here in New York for those who not wish to go in for virtual schooling.

Socializing is practically a thing of the past; so too, sadly, would appear to be the hoary institution of the public library, a favorite refuge of mine while in this great city.

Trains and buses are operating but they only carry a fraction of what they did in the halcyon pre-pandemic days. Other public offices and businesses are open but only cater to a small slice of what they did in the placid days of yore. The same is true for once bustling restaurants, bars and public parks.

Incidentally, the new reality really struck home when I noticed how little impact Easter Sunday seemed to make on the city on that most holy of days in Christiandom, at least in the borough of Queens where yours faithfully is camped.

Even around the bigger churches, one hardly noticed the faithful pouring into or out of their assembly halls, or even just milling around as in the past.

Zooming, now, on to the big political landscape, perhaps the most significant feature is President Joe Biden’s massive $ 2.3 Trillion plan for revamping America’s infrastructure.

His ‘once in a generation’ spending plan, in a nutshell, calls for trillions in spending aimed at re-igniting America’s economic growth by upgrading its crumbling infrastructure and tackling climate change.

His ambitious proposal would involve constructing new roads, railroads, and bridges across the land, besides building masses of re-charging stations for electric vehicles and for eliminating lead water pipes, with spending to be offset by raising taxes on businesses.

These blueprints have understandably raised fierce resistance from the Republican opposition. They have called the proposed raises in taxes “a recipe for stagnation and decline”, while powerful business lobby groups said they supported investments but would oppose tax increases.

This pushback is a clear sign of the tough fight ahead for the plan, which needs approval from Congress. As BBC analyst Antony Zucher put it, that Biden has “opted to push for an infrastructure bill, rather than upping the pressure for gun control, voting rights, immigration, the environment or healthcare reform, suggests that he is looking for a popular, noncontroversial legislative second act” – that is, following his earlier $1.9 Trillion Covid relief and stimulus plan which was finally adopted, not long ago.

Zucher believes that the chances are that the Democrats will again have to go it alone when it comes to passing Biden’s legislative agenda.

The challenge they will face, he says, will be in keeping the Democratic coalition together at a time when a wide number of constituencies, many of whom held their tongues during the pandemic negotiations, line up and ensure their priorities are funded.

Tellingly, while former President Donald Trump had for long campaigned for revamping America’s deteriorating, sub-standard infrastructure as an integral component of his MAGA (Make America Great Again) dream but did nothing about it in his four years in office, Biden seems to be on track to see that ambition fulfilled! According to CNN’s Fareed Zakaria, Biden’s plan “harks back to FDR’s New Deal” of the 1930s. While Zakaria’s talk show guests the other day - eminent

American historian Jon Meacham of Vanderbilt University and equally famous academic Niall Ferguson, senior fellow, Hoover Institution – were broadly in agreement with Zakaria’s thesis, they emphasized that there was a need for Biden to now emulate the enviable implementation record of the New Deal, entrusted to a handful of inspired, dedicated and honest-to-afault FDR advisers, then. Personally speaking, what struck me as most noteworthy is that although there is apparently a broad national consensus on the urgency to bring America’s in-many-ways obsolete infrastructure up to speed, this is being opposed mainly due to the systemic or inbuilt flaw of the party system!

In other words, it seems to operate as a zero-sum game: Republicans will oppose it because if it took off it would enhance Biden’s and the Democrats’ image and influence! It apparently does not matter that it would be entirely in America’s national interest.

FRIGHTENING

The other day – on Good Friday of all days – a police officer guarding the U.S. Capitol died in an attack after a car rammed a security barrier, leaving another officer in hospital with injuries.

When the crazed driver - Noah Green, a 25-year old Black American from Indiana - lunged towards the officer with a knife, he was shot dead, shattering

D.C’s recent calm. He had posted on social media about fears of the FBI and the CIA in the weeks before the attack.

What was amazing is that less than three months after the infamous 1/6 insurrection and assault on the U.S. Capitol such an incident could happen, bearing in mind that an increased security presence remains around the Capitol.

Quite apart from the sobering fact that such an attack could happen less than three months after 1/6, when conjoined with a recent splurge of mass shootings, including in Atlanta and Boulder, and not forgetting the uptick in hate crimes against Asian Americans, in New York as elsewhere, the message that wafts across, loud and clear, is that American society is deeply divided, troubled and on razor’s edge.

Apart from the sheer negativity that is inherent in such a situation, it would – to my mind, at least – militate against America taking on an unduly aggressive posture across multiple foreign policy and national security fronts, whether it relates to China, Russia, Iran or even North Korea. Before that, America needs to heal and come together, pronto, as one integrated political whole.

I now wish to share some excerpts from Michael D’Ambrosio’s recent writeup, entitled: “How much further will fame, spectacle and controversy get Donald Trump?”

D’Ambrosio, author of “Never Enough: Donald Trump and the Pursuit of Success”, posits, inter alia: “Was there anyone in the world who believed that the attention-grabbing machine of Donald Trump would suddenly stop when he left the White House? “Of course, some of the sprockets and springs are loose and broken. But the sputtering spectacle continues as Trump, along with his allies and enablers, fashion a post-presidency unlike any other. All you have to do is turn on the TV or check the news feed and there he and his minions are.

“Trump is blazing his own trail. He shows no interest in charitable activities associated with former presidents. He hasn’t taken to a hammer like Jimmy Carter or a paint brush like George W. Bush, and no one expects him to follow the path that Richard Nixon forged from disgrace to eminence by writing a series of foreign policy tomes. No plan has been announced for a Trump presidential library, which makes sense given his aversion to reading.

“What Trump has demonstrated, however, is a penchant for banking on his fame (and even in infamy). He has already set up a website - 45office. com - that offers visitors an option to fill out forms to request personalized greeting or to attend an event. While it is unclear whether he is charging a fee, many reality TV stars here cashed in on personalized greeting and former presidents get big bucks for speaking and appearances. By soliciting offers on the website, Trump could be cutting out the middle man – along with any agent fees or commissions.

“In the meantime, he and his allies enjoy occasional moments in the spotlight that remind us of what once was. The future, it seems, will be much like their disgrace-filled past…”

Once again, it appears, Nepal is on the cusp of political change – or is it? While there seems to be a lot of excitement in the ranks of the NC and - even the Janata Samajbad Party - that Prime Minister Oli’s glory days are now definitely numbered, this political analyst is not at all sure.

Oli has, after all, not only pulled out numerous rabbits from his hat when many believed that he was a history; besides, one simply doesn’t know for sure what the turbid, everchurning waters of Nepali republican politics conceal. Also, while I note that some media wizards back home are cock-sure that Oli has the backing of India – or the ‘South’ as some like to put it delicately – others are equally sanguine that it is Prachanda who today is New Delhi’s poster boy in Nepal!

I have in fact been attracted very much more to the intriguing comments by the elusive but knowledgeable blogger, Maila Baje.

Here’s a sampling from his latest blog, ‘Go Your Own Ways for the Good of All’: “There are apprehensions that a full-blown crisis could sweep away the system. The ground has shifted significantly since the 12-point agreement was signed in India, laying the foundation of the existing order…

“New Delhi, Washington and Beijing came to a quiet understanding in early 2006 that would facilitate the implementation of the 12-point agreement. Still, they somehow seemed to let events on the ground define the specifics…

“All forces across our political spectrum have been tried and tested for their purported decency or depravity. Now that Nepalis have recognized the expanse between these two extremes, we must learn to make do with what we have. Friends can be better friends – but they will never be one of us. As for enemies, we better start looking within and without.”

Translation? The Monarchy may be staging a comeback. With whose backing? Annoyingly, that’s not disclosed.

Time, as usual, will tell us. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed: nothing, but nothing, is a sure thing in Nepal!