After being introduced by President Tony Marx, Klein began the talk by using one of politics' prevailing clichés-the declaration that America is at a "crossroads." Describing the current mood in American politics, Klein admitted, "I now believe we are at a crossroads of something."
Klein then gave a rundown of how "we" came to be at this crossroads in American politics. "The world changed for me on September 11, 2001," Klein said. It demonstrated what "tremendous citizen potential we have out there." For two months, he recalled, the women in his town set up a schedule to provide food for the victims' families. People rallied together. This showed Americans at their finest hour.
However, Klein was discouraged by our invasion of Iraq. "We made a very big mistake in our preemptive invasion of Iraq," Klein said.
Yet over the course of four years, Klein noted, moods changed in politics. Reflecting on his attitude towards the 2004 presidential elections, Klein thought, "Perhaps those changes would be reflected in the 2004 elections. I went into the election expecting big things."
Unfortunately, the election did not live up to Klein's expectations. According to Klein, Bush won because of two statements: John Kerry's statement, "I voted for it before I voted against it," and President Bush's statement, "You may not agree with me but you know where I stand."
After the disappointing showing by the Democrats in the 2004 elections, Klein said he came to a disturbing realization. Politicians, he found, had "lost their faith in us, and more important, they [had] lost their faith in themselves."
Following the main argument of his latest book, "Politics Lost" (2006), Klein then outlined, campaign by campaign, how politics has become less and less about courage, statesmanship and spontaneity, and more about the latest opinion poll, and how a certain phrase might work better in a rural Illinois town than on the inner-city streets of L.A. He argued that the last courageous act by an American politician occurred in 1968, on the day of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s assassination. Against the advice of his political advisers, Robert Kennedy gave a spontaneous and deeply moving speech in the black neighborhood of Indianapolis, causing Indianapolis to be one of the few major cities that did not go up in flames.
Ever since Bobby Kennedy's speech in 1968, Klein says we have been trivializing politics. During the period between then and now, Americans-specifically his own generation of baby boomers-have lost the "habit of citizenship." "We've left you a mess of a world right now," he admitted, "and you're going to be left to support us in our retirements." Our generation, Klein concluded, must be ready for the challenge.
With the current president, Klein said "war has been used as a political event, the Bush administration being 'more interested in spinning the war than fighting it.' The new Internet age, however, will open up a "different set of politics." Television ads, Klein stated, will not have as large an effect.
Klein shared mixed emotions, but said he remained slightly optimistic about the future of American politics. The war in Iraq, he stated, is heading toward a Shiite-controlled state versus alliances among Sunni states to counter the growing power in Iran. The American army, Klein argued, needs to change its definitions of a "soldier." "I'm in favor of a universal draft," Klein said, which would make the members of all social classes serve their country.
In terms of the upcoming 2008 elections, Klein said Barack Obama certainly has the brains, the moral standing and the personality to be president. The election proper, Klein warned, won't begin until next Januray, and then, "it'll be over before we know it."
First-year blogger Dave Ullman thought that Klein had elaborated on both intriguing and convincing points. "It was good, albeit unfocused," Ullman wrote on his blog. Referencing the last question to which Klein responded on the potential invasion of Iran, Ullman commented, "If Bush attempts to attack Iran, there will be a large, bipartisan movement to impeach him. Klein says that he has [heard] this from a very, very prominent Republican senator. I believe him."
Derek O'Leary '09 also found the lecture very good overall. Commenting on Klein's disheartening comment on the loss of citizenship, O'Leary stated, "I found the idea that our nation has forgotten how to be citizens very interesting and troubling: that ours and our predecessors' generations have had no great wars, no true purpose-that our existence has always been ensured and that we have grown lazy and indolent in our complacency."
"It seems unfortunate that during this time in which America as a physical entity has been secure, that the American values that are at the origin of this entity have eroded rather than strengthened," he added. "I think a national, mandatory service requirement, whether military or otherwise, would be a fantastic idea. […] everyone from top to bottom would be grounded in a shared experience of citizenship and consideration for our country. It would go a long way."