In many ways they are alike, that is, former President Lyndon Johnson and current President Barack Obama. Not only did both come from similar backgrounds, one from the poor Hill Country of Texas and the other one from the mean streets of Chicago, but for several years they served as Senators in the United States Congress. And whereas Johnson was a school teacher and observed poverty and hunger, Obama was a community organizer helping unemployed workers in job training skills and to find better employment opportunities. At the same time, they went to Washington with their idealism and a desire for change. While Johnson planned to declare a war on poverty and institute his Great Society programs, Obama campaigned on the promises to universalize health care, create jobs, eliminate nuclear weapons, and end ongoing wars around the world.
The only problem was that there was a fatal flaw with "LBJ All The Way" and "Change We Can Believe In." This is no more evident than how Johnson and Obama were/are self-justifiers. It is only natural, especially as human beings, to justify oneself and avoid taking responsibility or any actions that turn out to be harmful, unethical, and down right misguided. But then again, America has a lengthy political tradition of leaders that have sought to either explain away their mistakes, or to make excuses for a particular action even if it is wrong or against the rule of law. Sadly, presidential self-justification does more than minimize mistakes and bad decisions, it blurs the inconsistency between actions and moral convictions. It also distorts one's memory. As president, then, it distorts a nation's history and often redefines what really happened.
In "Mistakes Were Made (but not by me)," Carol Travis and Elliot Aronson write that Johnson was a master of self-justification. When Johnson came to believe in something, he would believe in it "totally, with absolute conviction, regardless of previous beliefs, or of the facts in the matter." A longtime aid to Johnson even commented how he "had a remarkable capacity to convince himself that he held the principles he should hold at any given time, and there was something charming about the air of injured innocence with which he would treat anyone who brought forth evidence that he had held other views in the past." Furthermore, Johnson had a fantastic capacity to persuade himself that the "truth" which was convenient for the present was the truth. Anything that conflicted with it was the prevarication or fabrication of enemies.
While Johnson went about always trying to self-justify the Vietnam War, still after finding out about the Herrick After Action Report revealing the Gulf of Tonkin Incident probably never occurred, and when he continued to delude himself that his Great Society programs could be properly funded by fighting a major war in Vietnam and ordering other military interventions like the Dominican Republic; it is very suggestive of how Obama is currently trying to justify the assassination of Osama bin Laden, defend his military campaign against Libya, and excuse Israel's right to exist at the expense of Palestinians and their right to self-determination. But what is extremely dangerous about a U.S. president literally willing what is in his mind to become reality, is that such a course of action has often led to thousands of deaths, even several million as was the case in Vietnam.
The same Obama that campaigned in the presidential race, promising to use moral forces of peace and negotiation and to help establish a transparent government and to follow international laws-unlike his predecessor, is now claiming he would order another covert military attack like the one that killed bin Laden. Meanwhile, Pakistan remains at odds with Obama, specifically since he sent U.S. military forces into Pakistan's territory without consulting authorities. Obama's excuse for this kind of military action, clearly against international law, was that he was very respectful of the sovereignty of Pakistan but his job was to secure the United States and protect American lives. Much like his predecessor, Obama touted a doctrine of armed preemption. He stated he could not allow active plans to come to fruition without him taking some action, and that he would send more troops again if senior Taliban leaders were found in Pakistan.
While trumpeting his "calculated risk" as a triumphant victory-at least this time-and showing the world that American lives are much more valuable than the lives of those living in other nations, Obama is faced with another self-justifying conundrum. This one being his military intervention and campaign against Libya. Just as problematic is his skirting of constitutional law, the 1973 War Powers Act, and Clark Amendment, all of which severely limits presidential use of force. In fact, Obama just wrote a letter notifying congressional leaders that America's military role is so "limited" against Libyan forces, that he does not need to seek congressional approval or funding. Despite large sums of monies already spent and thousands of military personnel used in suppressing and destroying Libya's air defense and naval forces and ground forces, and regardless of the rule of law in seeking a declaration of war from Congress within 60 days of military action; it is obvious that Obama is self-justifying his actions and the subversion of law.
In the midst of belittling the U.S. Constitution in favor of a "remarkable" international military intervention, the mainstream press is abuzz over Obama's remarks last week that Israel-Palestinian negotiations should start from pre-1967 borders. But already, and in speaking to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), Obama has revised his Arab Spring Speech by reassuring the U.S. Jewish lobby that he is committed to Israel's security and that the bonds between Israel and the U.S. are "ironclad." He also said he meant that the parties themselves, Israelis and Palestinians, will have to "mutually agree" upon land swaps. But again, self-justifying behavior and memory leads to an incorrect interpretation of history. It also tries to remake the realities and injustices of the past, especially when such realities and injustices took place with U.S. political, economic and military support. Obama is deceiving himself if he believes peace and security can be achieved through years of decreasing and eliminating a Palestinian State with stolen lands.
In Johnson's situation, to err was human and to admit mistakes would have been divine. But instead, he refused to pursue such a course. A course that would cause the deaths of seven million people. Obama promised to not only end two wars, but the mindset of war. He should have included the mindset of self-justifications. Obama has increased the number of troops in Afghanistan by 30,000. He repeatedly attacked and intensified aerial drone strikes against targets in Pakistan, many of which have killed innocent civilians. It appears too that the U.S. might try and extend its military occupation of Iraq. It remains to be seen if Obama and his "history in the making," his "defining moment," and his "change one can believe in," which according to Obama happens from the bottom up and not from the top down and was frequently mentioned in his campaign speeches, will ever realize and fully understand the futility and dangers of the politics of self-justification.
Dallas Darling (darling@wn.com)
(Dallas Darling is the author of Politics 501: An A-Z Reading on Conscientious Political Thought and Action, Some Nations Above God: 52 Weekly Reflections On Modern-Day Imperialism, Militarism, And Consumerism in the Context of John's Apocalyptic Vision, and The Other Side Of Christianity: Reflections on Faith, Politics, Spirituality, History, and Peace. He is a correspondent for www.worldnews.com. You can read more of Dallas' writings at www.beverlydarling.com and wn.com//dallasdarling.)
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