Newsweek pro-Koizumi propaganda

This week's Newsweek International Edition features two cover stories on Koizumi. The leading article by correspondent Christian Caryl refers to anti-Koizumi LDP members as "rebels" and practicioners of "old-crony politics," the latter label corresponding to Koizumi's legacy of union cronyism quite nicely. The piece attempts to depict Koizumi as a man taking a stand against wasteful public works projects financed by the LDP, and yet he has made no attempt to address these issues directly. Employing hyberbolic (and prevaricating) rhetoric, Caryl describes the Japanese President as a "revolutionary leader," comparing him to Boris Yeltsin. If neoliberalism and globalized capital are revolutionary, then the author is right on point. The only thing Koizumi and Yeltsin have in common is perhaps a tendency towards relative privatization, though in completely incomparable contexts. The author is correct in pointing out that the LDP priveleges an elite group of multinationals and unions (though he could be more explicit), but inaccurately protrays Koizumi as a member of an LDP faction that scorns this cronyism. Imagine Cheney calling for the privatization of social security and giving Republican deals with Kellog, Brown, and Root as the rationale! The privatization of Japan Postal, the world's largest bank, endangers the holdings of the Japanese people and repositions $3 trillion against labor interests. The solution is not to privatize the bank, but to scrutinize and reform LDP-endorsed spending policies.