The agony of August
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PORTSMOUTH, N.H.
April is not the cruelest month, August is.
It was August when the military machinery of two world wars cranked into gear, August when Germany and Soviet Russia signed their pact of cynicism and militarism, August when the bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, when the Tonkin Gulf resolution was passed, when the tanks moved into Czechoslovakia, when Iraq invaded Kuwait, when President Bill Clinton faced the nation with an awful truth he thought he had hidden.
And so we began this month with the follies in Washington and continue this week with the follies of Ames.
The debt-ceiling episode in Washington, unworthy of the American people, is one of those historical markers whose meaning will become clear only as the years pass. Both sides turned a debate about nothing into a debate about everything and, in the course of doing so, alienated everybody.
The result is that the 2012 election, 15 months away, is now seen as the crucible of decision, and it is sadly fitting that its first test is Saturday in Ames, Iowa, where Republicans are holding a straw poll which also means nothing but somehow will be interpreted to mean something, if not everything.
The Iowa straw poll, held on the baking plains in the oven-heat of summer, is even less democratic than the Iowa caucuses, which usually occur on the coldest night of the year. It is an event where issues are barely spoken but displays of political power -- none of which has anything to do with the budget deficit, the debate about taxes, the future of entitlements, the role of American power in the world or the fate of democracy around the globe -- are rewarded.
If you doubt the lack of soundness and sense inherent in this event, let me remind you that the Rev. Pat Robertson won this spectacle in 1987 and that Sen. Phil Gramm tied for the lead in 1995. Such worthy figures as Sen. Lamar Alexander and Sen. Elizabeth H. Dole dropped out of the GOP race after poor showings in this event, which is a tractor pull for policy wonks.
This year's straw poll comes amid an especially silly season -- but a soberly serious juncture -- in the Republican presidential race. It has begun to heat up in Iowa, which likely will hold its caucuses in early February, and here in New Hampshire, which likely will hold the first primaries eight days later.
First Published August 7, 2011 12:00 am
