by BAR executive editor Glen FordBlack Agenda Report heartily endorses this Saturday’s Emergency Anti-Escalation Rally in front of the White House. Having said that, we turn to the subject of the legions of Obama-smitten activists that abandoned confrontation with Power for the past several years, for fear of harming their hero’s presidential prospects. How wrong they were, as subsequent events have shown.
Will the Last “Progressive for Obama” Please Turn Out the Lights?
by BAR executive editor Glen Ford
“It should now be clear to even the most dense among self-styled ‘progressives’ that Obama was never worth a damn.”
The U.S. peace “movement,” much of which “comes and goes” as often as Boy George’s “Karma Chameleon,” has finally discovered that its presumed perch in Barack Obama’s tree was untenable, if not wholly imaginary. To be sure, “Progressives for Obama” and other assorted delusional groupings were always squatters in the Obama camp – but they were the only ones who didn’t know it. How embarrassing it would have been, back during the campaign, had the lost little lefties realized that Obama’s imperial soul mates were laughing at them from a disdainful distance, knowing full well the path their bought-and-paid-for president would soon be traveling. How would the Obama peacenik groupies have preserved their sense of self-worth – much less their arrogant smugness – had they realized the absolute contempt in which they were held by their hero’s funders and packagers – and no doubt by the Object of Adulation, himself?
With the president’s hearty embrace on December 1 of not only current U.S. aggressions in South Asia but the entirety of the glorious rise of U.S. global hegemony since the end of World War Two, it should now be clear to even the most dense among self-styled “progressives” that Obama was never worth a damn. To Obama, the world-terrorizing nuclear arms race against the Soviets, the savage assaults on countries emerging from colonialism, the death of millions in the quest to make the world safe for corporations, the spread of the global drug trade under management of U.S. intelligence services – all this can be summed up as: “The United States of America has underwritten global security for over six decades, a time that, for all its problems, has seen walls come down, markets open, billions lifted from poverty, unparalleled scientific progress, and advancing frontiers of human liberty.”
“’Progressives for Obama’ and other assorted delusional groupings were always squatters in the Obama camp.”
Obama lives and breathes American Manifest Destiny – which means, as a non-white person, he is profoundly mentally unbalanced. But any lefty worth her/his salt should have known that. Obama’s yearly talks to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the regional equivalent of the Council on Foreign Affairs, were models of imperial-speak, totally consistent with his West Point performance. Beginning years ago, he repeatedly declared that, as president, he would draw a line in the sands (or mountains) of Afghanistan – which is something only militarist, imperialist pigs draw in other people’s countries. He warned everyone that, under the Bin-Ladin-Might-Be-There Doctrine, he would refuse to respect the sovereignty of Pakistan. And he has ceaselessly lied about his actions and intentions in Iraq – a key qualification for the job of imperial U.S. president.
Still, there seems to be a soggy cloud hanging over some self-styled anti-war circles, as if Obama’s most recent display of rabid war mongering, American Manifest Destiny-ism was a tragedy for and betrayal of the “movement.” And I suppose that those confused souls who believed that they were doing “movement” work while engaged in Obama groupy-ism for the last several years, might feel that some kind of tragedy had occurred. And they might be right, in that the absence of an anti-war movement during the campaign years undoubtedly encouraged Obama in his warlike proclivities. As a result, hundreds of thousands will undoubtedly die, because American “progressives” forsook their duty to humanity for reasons no more defensible than those a teenage girl would give for following a shallow but “hot” celebrity around from city to city.
Let’s make it plain: Obama didn’t do anything to the “movement.” Most especially, he did not fool anyone in the “movement.” Rather, people who claimed to be in the “movement” fooled themselves and then proceeded to fool lots of other people into thinking that Obama-work was “movement”-work – when events have shown it was the opposite.
“The absence of an anti-war movement during the campaign years undoubtedly encouraged Obama in his warlike proclivities.”
A huge number of “movement” notables should be deeply humbled and, to varying degrees, ashamed at their lemming-like susceptibility to Obama’s…what? The two-year near-silence in the anti-war “movement” is proof, not of Obama’s Svengali-like powers (his imperialism is actually quite transparent), but of profound weaknesses in the “movement,” itself (which is why I’ve been putting the term in quotes).
I have a hunch that the worst of the paralyzing Obama-effect on “movement” politics is finally over – due mainly to Obama’s insistence on remaining true to the logic of imperialism and refusal to toss his groupies on the Left a straw to cling to, any further.
There is no need to name-the-names of the politically prodigal ones, many of whom are returning to some kind of oppositional activism now that their erstwhile idol is in full-spectrum war mode. Far better to quote Cynthia McKinney, the former Georgia congresswoman and Green Party presidential candidate, whose engagement with struggle is a constant:
“We have now reached the point where those who make and interpret current events think they can make us believe that war is for peace, ignorance is strength, slavery is freedom, and lies are the truth. Well, we know the truth, and we will not rest until every drone is stopped and no more bombs are dropped. We will not rest until peace is won. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said there comes a time when we do what we must because our ultimate measure is not where we stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where we stand at times of challenge and controversy. At this time of challenge, we are clear: we will not give up and we will not stop.”
There are many “movement” notables who, in fact, did try in the recent past to peddle a banker’s best friend as a man of the people, a proponent of “race-neutrality” as an ally of oppressed minorities, and an imperial invader and occupier as something resembling a man of peace.
Hopefully, they will make up for past misconduct and bad judgment through prodigious feats of activist productivity, including plenty of shouting at the White House on Saturday.
BAR executive editor Glen Ford can be contacted at Glen.Ford@BlackAgendaReport.com.
Comments
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Obama's Volteface
Dear Glen;
I wish I had better words to describe my sadness and disgust at this man Obama. Yes if we had read very carefully his campaign speeches on a whole host of issues we may have seen through his BS, but we were all taken aback by his grand entrance into a desperate political scene ravaged by 8 years of Bush. We needed a radical change for bad times and fell for his rhetoricical skills, coached all the way by his financial and political handlers. This has turned out to be a "historical waste" of an opportunity. The man is an opportunist through and through and we have run out of apologies for his clearly turn-coat actions in favor of certain PACS and corporate America. Brothers and sisters, we all got shafted, especially Black America. Unfortunately this seems to be what minority candidates are good for, sooner or later to serving establishment interests, whether they be Black, Latino or Asian. They are lining up to sell themselves. Plus there is the eternal complex to prove their loyalties and worth to the "American White establishment" (Obama's constant use of "my country"). White America knows this and manipulates it well. You cant blame them. There is an endless queue of characters like Cathy Hughes, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, Vernon Jordan etc. The White establishment can "smell" these people out in a crowd. The sad part is how silent Black America is even after they discover the true traits of such "brothers and sisters". In a sense it is racist to look the other way based on skin color. This must stop as brothers and sisters can become your own worst enemies and "executioners". I am happy to note as an Asian minority that some black people have opened their eyes to the "enemy from within" that Barack Obama has become by continuing Bush era policies. You must now openly voice your disgust at this "brother" and "sister" or rather King Obama and Queen Michelle. These are people who have forgotten fast their humble origins and desperate to become members of the elite.
Pro War Congress joins Pro War President
Go figure....
http://www.antiwar.com/blog/2009/12/15/only-12-house-members-vote-agains...
What happened to the “antiwar” members of Congress?
Only 12 voted against new sanctions on Iran, 3 of them Republicans. 412 voted in favor.
Here is the honor roll who voted against:
Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
John Conyers (D-MI)
John Duncan (R-TN)
Jeff Flake (R-AZ)
Maurice Hinchey (D-NY)
Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)
Stephen Lynch (D-MA)
Jim McDermott (D-WA)
Gwen Moore (D-WI)
Ron Paul (R-TX)
Pete Stark (D-CA)
Voting Present: E.B. Johnson (D-TX), Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-MI), Barbara Lee (D-CA), Maxine Waters (D-CA)
One more thing, as Pana Semita has passionately attempted to bring to our attention: (behind the cover of who Tiger is f***king and whether we give a shit or not if he stays married) The Obama Administration is fomenting war in Latin America as well as Africa and Asia Minor.
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5BE03120091215
HAVANA (Reuters) - Former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned on Monday that President Barack Obama's "kindly smile" could not be trusted, saying Washington was plotting against leftist Latin American governments including Venezuela's.
World | Cuba
Castro, 83, who ran Cuba for nearly 50 years before poor health led him to hand the presidency to his younger brother Raul last year, initially welcomed Obama's election but has been increasingly critical.
In a letter read by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez at a gathering of leftist leaders in Havana, Castro said the United States was backing rightist movements in a bid to weaken Chavez and other regional socialist leaders.
"The empire's real intentions are obvious, this time beneath the kindly smile and African American face of Barack Obama," Castro's letter said.
"The empire is mobilizing behind rightist forces in Latin America to strike Venezuela and, in doing so, strike (other leftist) states," the letter said.
Castro, who came to power at the head of the 1959 Cuban revolution, criticized Washington's stance on a June 28 coup in Honduras and a deal to allow U.S. troops more access to Colombian military bases.
The elder Castro has been seen only in occasional photos and videos since having surgery for an undisclosed intestinal ailment in July 2006. He still has a behind-the-scenes role in government and keeps a high profile through his writings.
Last week, he chided Obama for accepting the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize as he steps up the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan by deploying more troops.
Chavez, Washington's most outspoken critic in Latin America, called Obama "the Nobel War Prize" winner on Monday."
When it's all said and done, with the emphasis on "done." Barack Obama, wrapped up in his arrogance, his deference to White people, his American Exceptionalism hubris, his being mesmerized by 4/5 Star Generals, and complete moral twerp and intellectual pygmy will be responsible for more devastion and warfare on this planet than we could ever imagine. He's going to make GWB look serious and restrained by comparison. He's pathological. Obama is the typical Democratic President, or as a commentator below puts, the typical War President, who feels pressed to burnish his "war" bona fides. Perpetual War has been esconced, legitimated by Obama and his Just War trope and lies, aided and abetted by so-called progressives.
The Military Complex will be feed by a constant stream of chronic and habitual unemployed who gladly march along with the "banality of evil" so long as they get a paycheck. No draft necessary. Welcome to the American state of Sparta. Move over Israelis, here come the Yankee version of Sparta.
Whatever happended to Carl Davidson(?)
and "Progressives for Obama?" If memory serves me right, ol Carl had all sorts of grandiose visions and strategies outlined as he took relish in ridiculing us "out-of touch" "Black Nationalists" who, along with BAR, called out the Obama oakey doak.
Glen, in the spirit of Xmas, we implore you to extend a "Guest Column" to "Progressives for Obama," or some similar chump group. I am really interested in their take on a "Nobel War Prize Speech" that not even Geo. W. Bush could trump, ... could muster the arrogance to deliver at West Point or AIE.
Those lowlifes have been quiet since the cornation.. er.. election. Is it because all of their "progressive dreams and goals"have been realized, or is it because their Darling-in-Chief has kicked their sorry asses to the curb and gone Neo-Con on their asses? Rejection is a M.F.r. LOL
Glen, since Obama has rendered them voiceless, won't you kindly extend them an invite? Come on Glen, "there's a reason for the season." Don't be a grinch. LOL
Exhibit "A" proof of America's Regressive Genes
The "Democrats" in Connecticut re-elected Joe "I am a Neo-Con, Republican-in-Sheeps's clothing" Lieberman.
Who now is hell-bent on making a reactionary health care bill even more reactionary. Whom the "Liberal" Democrats cut a deal with to, ostensibly, garner his vote as a bloc, even though he has stabbed them or Pres. Obama, or his so-called "Liberal backers" in the back at every opportunity.
Democrats were significant factors in Ronald Reagan's electoral success (good working class, salt-of-the earth types), ditto for Joe "Traitor" Lieberman, so much for the "Progressive" arc in America that Democrats would reelect a poltroon, Right Wing stooge like Traitor Joe and fall in love with Ronnie Raygun's "Morning in America" which has turned out to be "Nightmare on Main Street."
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/12/14/politics/main5977243.shtml
"Progressives?" Don't make me laugh...or cry.
E.Cynic:Lieberman elected as Indep.by Repubs. in CT -
He lost the Dem.primary and ran on his own party. He is a "piece of work". My question is why are the Dems. giving him whatever he wants? I don't think Obama is passive in this, do you?
The passive/aggressive President
Wasn't Joe "the Traitor" Lieberman one of Obushco's "backers," "mentors," political "daddy," or political kissing cousin before he launched his Presidential bid?
It's all a dog and pony show. The Democrats viz a viz Lieberman, the White House and Obushco viz a viz Lieberman, to make the sheeple think, in the words of the inimitable GWB, "it's hard, it's hard work." The Democrats do what they do because they want to. You have to be not only brain, but spiritually, ethically and morally dead to conclude otherwise.
Same dog and pony w/r/t Obushco and the Banksters. Obushco "publicly" reprimands the banksters, begging them like a lil bitch to lend more (as if FDIC regulators in connection with TARP and myriad other loan/giveaway programs could'nt MANDATE the bastards to do more). What Obushco won't be so "public" amout is all the backroom, super-secret deal cutting he and his minions did with the banks. Even Billionaire Blumberg or Congress has yet to get those goods.
The public is so damn stupid and placating, the "media" such a propaganda tool, it's getting to the point where responding in blogs is meaningless. I guess I do it only to maintain sanity, to have the belief that there is a small % of the planet that aint f***n nuts and to share some commonality with them, to at least be able to say I beared some "witness" before the shit hits the fan. Grant it, small consolation prize to say, "I told you so," as you're dying of radiation poisoning, with no food, shelter or clean water, or running out of ammo in the midst of food riots. We won't even be able to cannibalize the irradiated dead bodies, so much for all those zombie movies. LOL
Thanks for the correction, I forget those details. I still believe he received undue support from Dem registered voters.
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.....Many Times, the CBC are just as Disgraceful as Obama!
http://miikimike.blogtownhall.com/
".....didn't think enough attention was being paid to the economic troubles of minorities."
Mind you, U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their siblings, more so than any other minority are being egregiously violated by a government seriously gone awry without just cause, and here you have Congresswoman Maxine Waters, et al., serving their own selfish interests, blazing the trail to opportunity or speaking up for the rights of every other minority, but truly law abiding U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their siblings.
Competent representation starts at the local level, but unfortunately it is no good leaders such as former 2nd District Supervisor Yvonne "Brentwood" Burke, 2nd District Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Diane Watson, and/or others, have failed to serve their constituency at the local level of government.
Slim chance exists to where any other ethnic minority community, elected leader, is stepping up to the plate to represent the interests of law abiding U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their offspring, egregiously violated by the atrocities of government, nor should they, because it is not their first and primary duty to serve U.S. born Black men, women, and/or their siblings.
Maxine Waters, other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, and/or a deceitful Black middle class, and typically the Congressional Black Caucus are hypocrites, and/or have been corrupt for years.
Neither my parents, and/or any one of the Lofton siblings have ever been proven to be criminal, insane, and/or incompetent in any court jurisdiction.
One of my sisters was in foster care, in Maxine Waters district, in the heart of South Central Los Angeles, from the time that she was a toddler until age eighteen years.
No good unethical Black probation officers, and social workers contributed to the unlawful break-up of the Mr. and Mrs. Leon E. Lofton, Jr. family unit for illicit earned profit.
Many Thanks to Joe Pyne and the sponsors of the Joe Pyne Talk Radio Show, KTTV, Channel 11, and/or the one lone Black woman who made it his, her, and/or their business to help re-unite my immediate family, the exception being one of my sisters, who spent at least eighteen years of her life, from the time that she was a toddler, to be hidden and passed between deceitful Black foster parents to keep the AFDC benefits flowing, in the 35th Congressional District, Congresswoman Maxine "Kerosene" Water's district, in South Central Los Angeles (35th Congressional District map)
Sincerely,
Michael Lofton
Remember these disgraceful
Remember these disgraceful CBCers, their Congressional brethren, and Obama come re-election time. Don't reward them with another term in office.
What progressives?
@Joell - You hit the nail on the head!. The betrayal of Africans in my homeland has been swept under the carpet by the same stooges who support Obama. It has become fashionable to visit "Africa" since Mandela sold our aspirations to the apartheid fascists while he was still incarcerated on Robben Island. I once met a sister from Chicago at the airport in Cape Town. She was with her son who was wearing a t-shirt with the Victoria Falls inscription. Hearing their accent, I knew they were from the US. I approached them and we started chatting. I told them that I was a South African visiting my family. I asked them what they thought of the country. The sister was astounded by its beauty, "modernity" and "friendly people". I told them that I was disappointed at what was going on. She asked why. I told her about the townships (ghettos) of Cape Town. She responded; "Oh yes that!", Oh my!!! but her image of South Africa was so distorted that black as she was, she was not aware that there were millions of suffering black people in South Africa besides the beauty and modernity that had caught her attention. Go figure!
These are supposed to be progressive brothers and sisters who visit the motherland although when they get there, truth be told, they stay away from the "motherland" and prefer the "Europe" which is all the suburbs of the major cities such as Jo'burg, Cape Town or Durban. The condititons under which black South Africans continue to live are avoided like the plague!
Obama was true to his beliefs as he zig-zagged the length and breath of this country during the campaign! There is no excuse for any black person to suddenly say; "I thought he would be true to his word"! Damnit, he was, and continues to be! I dare anyone to tell me what promise he has reneged on that was going to address the specific needs of the underclass, working class and of the millions whose ancestors built this country but still have to enjoy the rights and privileges enjoyed by white America! The fact of the matter is that these so-called progressives have been making excuses for Obama since rumours of his pending run for the office became known.
Obama's supporters share his world-view; if not, they have no business supporting him or even defending him. When two armies are fighting, there are defectors and deserters who may not believe in the cause they fight for. But as long as they are part and parcel of the other army, you keep them at bay and you sure do not assume that they may one day join your cause! Followers of Obama cannot be progressive! Impossible! They may say they are. We may have thought they were. We even may have heard them say so, but that does not make them progressive! Water is not sand, sand is not water; therefore reactionaries are not progressive....
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Cognitive Dissonance at it's finest
It seems the natives are getting restless, as they mire themselves in all sorts of excuses and rationalizations for the HNIC.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091210/ap_on_go_co/us_black_caucus_obama
Black lawmakers grow impatient with White House
WASHINGTON – Black lawmakers who have largely held their tongues during President Barack Obama's first year in office are stepping up their demands that the nation's first black president do more for minority communities hit hardest by the recession.
While still careful about criticizing Obama publicly, they appear to be losing their patience after watching him dedicate more than $1 trillion to prop up banks and corporations and fight wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, while double-digit unemployment among blacks crept even higher.
"Obama has tried desperately to stay away from race, and all of us understand what he's doing," said Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, D-Mo. "But when you have such a disproportionate number of African-Americans unemployed, it would be irresponsible not to direct attention and resources to the people who are receiving the greatest level of pain."
Dating back to Obama's campaign, many black leaders have pressed him to take more of a stand on the challenges facing minorities. Most voiced criticisms privately for fear of jeopardizing his candidacy or undercutting his popularity after his election. They also have tread lightly so as not to be at odds with their own majority-black constituencies, who strongly support Obama.
Obama was a black caucus member in the Senate before winning the White House last year, but he has never had a close relationship with the group. In recent interviews, he has addressed their criticisms by saying he must represent the entire country, not any one population, and the best way to help low-income communities is to improve the overall economy.
"I think it's a mistake to start thinking in terms of particular ethnic segments of the United States rather than to think that we are all in this together and we are all going to get out of this together," he said.
Many blacks in Congress take exception to that view, arguing that decades of neglect and discrimination warrant particular attention to minority concerns."
Read the entire article, it's downright laughable in watching the Obama Apologists/Contortionists go through their paces. "It's not the President, it's his advisors." "Obama has tried desperately to stay away from race and we understand," Treading "lightly" so as not to be at odds with the own Black constitutencies." WTF are we saying here, "That my job security and 401 will prosper if I just STFU and let Obama put the screws to my ass?" What's up with the post-racial society? All of a sudden race has disappeared from the national discussion?
F****king idiots, you should have seen what selling out to this King of Sellouts was going to wrought. Not a damn thing other than feeble, facile projections of his achievements being mine, ours...
This article is a texbook case in African American cognitive dissonance. You must read it slowly to absord the contradictions. "Whisper" your DEMANDS?! He must represent "all" Americans, "n***gas excluded. (You know the same caveats that apply to job hunting). Support a candidate who wasn't feeling your Black asses anyway. I guess if Obama had appointed Ed Gein to be surgeon general it would be Ed's fault and not Obama's that the cadavers in the Smithonsian went missing. Or maybe he could have tapped that other Chicagoan by way of Iowa, John Wayne Gacy, as chief of Head Start? But no, no, no, it's NEVER the Black President's Fault that our Black asses are hung out to dry.
"Suffer little children come unto me, for your's is the Kingdom of Heaven," "In the Sweet Bye and Bye."
I need a Long Island Tea and some Dave Chappelle to cope with this shit. You gotta laugh or get a buzz to keep from crying.
http://crime.about.com/od/murder/p/gein.htm
On Obama's speech accepting the Nobel Peace Prize:audience faces
say it all (not including the family and adminstration members in the audience). www.democracynow.org had an excerpt during the live show. DemocracyNow is broadcasting inside the Copenhagen Bella Center at the UN Climate Change conference. Good interview with new head of Greenpeace, Numi Naidoo, activist from South Africa, who was diplomatic in talking about Obama, the speech, the wars. The Obama speech may be the first prowar speech given as an acceptance speech. Video of show, transcript will be online shortly.
My comments have been going into e-limbo, not posted, all week at the Guardian online news, since I posted the link to Dem.Now and that it's the only independent live global daily news show (quoting Amy Goodman) invited and broadcasting from inside the conference. I also posted BAR's url/link there. I asked Guardian tech dept. why and they suggested the moderators 2 emails, which have not yet been answered.
As of 12/9/09, BAR has
As of 12/9/09, BAR has 1,022 Face Book Fans. If each fan donated 5 bucks to BAR, that's five thousand dollars. Five bucks from 1022 fans for 12 months nets a little over 60k. Add to this the bigger checks from those who can spare such, and, wow!
A little bit from everyone can add up. Let's keep this fact-based indy media site running strong. Remember BAR not just during the holidays but every month.
beverly:yes; I send small checks as can.
No doubt there's a big age span of regular readers. Someone said he had reluctance to pay online from another country, some months ago. There are international money orders that can be used as well.
donations
i'm glad you brought this subject up. my 1st attempt months ago was unsuccessful because there was a problem with the donation link. i'm not a member of FaceBook, but i made a donation. hopefully, others will do the same to help sustain this excellent website.
btw, this is one of the very few sites that i feel is worthy of my hard earned and scarce $$$$ !
Don't forget; if you don't
Don't forget; if you don't want to donate via Paypal, you can send a check or money order to BAR's home address. It's listed above the article.
Is the affliction stupidity or "the banality of evil?"
I fear it is a deadly confluence of both.
Thanks for another excellent written piece.
I can't recall the number of times I've referred to blind supporters of Obama as stupid. Stupid because they exercise cognitive dissonance, stupid because they have more than a clue that what they are saying is bullshit, "wait until he's in office," "he's only been in office 9 mos," "Bush left him this mess," "he can only do what Cong. allows him," "the White people are out to get him," and on, and on, and on...
Stupid in that Black people knew, in the same vein Middle Class Educated Blacks look favorably upon Farrakah's Black Empowerment meme, Black people knew that what Rev. Wright said was the "gospel truth," they've said the same things themselves, most if not all of them, countless times, on countless occassions, in countless contexts. And yet, all in the name of tribalism and partisanship believed that the man who said, "I'm not against all wars, just dumb ones," was not a militarist, status quo, American Exceptionalism dreamer, Manifest Destiny beholder, but a man of peace? Stupid in that they have the audacity to say, "wait and see, we don't know how many troops he'll commit in Afghanistan," rather than simply saying it's wrong and stupid.
Funny how Obama is fighting the "dumb war" he was so forceful about not fighting.
I submit that while stupidity (failure to ascertain one's own self-interest), and tribalism, whether racially or politically, are huge factors in Blacks, "Liberals," or "Progressives" going along with Obama's "Stupid War," another factor is pure evil from the minions of the so-called Christian Nation, I'm talking the banality of evil Arendt described, here are some selective excerpts:
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article7278.htm
"It is the function of defense intellectuals and other experts, and the mainstream media, to normalize the unthinkable for the general public."
Doing terrible things in an organized and systematic way rests on "normalization." This is the process whereby ugly, degrading, murderous, and unspeakable acts become routine and are accepted as "the way things are done." There is usually a division of labor in doing and rationalizing the unthinkable, with the direct brutalizing and killing done by one set of individuals; others keeping the machinery of death (sanitation, food supply) in order; still others producing the implements of killing, or working on improving technology (a better crematory gas, a longer burning and more adhesive napalm, bomb fragments that penetrate flesh in hard-to-trace patterns).
Normalization of the unthinkable comes easily when money, status, power, and jobs are at stake. Companies and workers can always be found to manufacture poison gases, napalm, or instruments of torture, and intellectuals will be dredged up to justify their production and use. The rationalizations are hoary with age: government knows best, ours is a strictly defensive effort, or, if it wasn't me somebody else would do it. There is also the retreat to ignorance, real, cultivated, or feigned. Consumer ignorance of process is important.
One of the effects of high-tech warfare, as well as the exclusive focus on "our" casualties, plus censorship (official and self), is that the public is spared the sight of burning flesh.
Capital intensive warfare in itself makes for distancing the public from the slaughter of mere gooks and Arabs. This is helpful in normalizing the unspeakable and unthinkable."
There are few observations as timely as Arendt's; and it's worth observing that, frankly, an increasing number of Blacks, Liberals and Progressives have bought lock stock and barrel the American Exceptionalism "godhead." They worship at it's feet. I now believe this to be the "Greatest Religious Belief System" in the U.S. Much stronger than Christianity which has been hollowed out. Most Americans firmly believe that we do no wrong and that we will suffer no consequences, that's our God-Given Destiny. There's more than stupidity at work here,-- willful ignorance is the root of evil, notions of "supremacy" spring from evil, not understanding Karma springs from evil. To Americans everyone and everything is a commodity, what counts is not how many people we kill but how it impacts the next election cycle, and whether it will interfere with forays at Wal-Mart.
Were there ever "Progressives for Obama?" More importantly, are there any creatures in the US who are genuinely progressive? Is this polity but a figment of our imagination, an exaggeration? Isn't it a fact that American was founded on reactionary principles and it's part of our DNA? Obama is a "liberal" now that's stupid.
O &
"Stupid in that Black people knew, in the same vein Middle Class Educated Blacks look favorably upon Farrakah's Black Empowerment meme...."
Malcolm X said that "when whites start telling you how great some black "leader" is , its some one they control." it was so obvious that Obama was a front man for corporate america & aipac. no one rises that fast without some powerful whites in the background orchestrating it; the same thing happened with puppet Nelson Mandela. and in both cases, the last thing their backers wanted was "change." Mandela didn't produce in South Africa and many now expect the same with Obama in america. Both were rewarded with the prestigious white mans award, the Noble Peace Prize, for selling out the interests of their own race.
as for Minister Farrakhan, you don't hear ANY praise for him from white america and they definitely don't control him. i believe he's the wisest man in america and the ONLY man in this country i trust not so sell out the interests of blacks.
The Empire is an expert at "rebranding"
As the essay on the New Black Panther Party highlights, "branding" is the name of the game by the power players. And the keepers of the true, original Black Panther Party Legacy are right to be viligant at all times. As soon as the NBPP start's marketing T-shirts with "Che" and Huey Newton and Afro Puffs, the history is drowned in milquetoast. The Empire has already successfully rebranded MLK, Jr., granted with ample help from the fractious and money-driven siblings, lead by Dexter. When "I have a dream" is used in US commercials you know who's controlling the message, and it isn't Kings message, of war on poverty, ending American militarism, and stamping out racism and colonialism here and abroad. It's some feel good, I'm okay, you're okay as a White Person bullshit, because I can "vibe" with MLK.
Now we have the latest Hollywood installment of revisionism, 'Invictus." When all is said and done, Mandela's Legacy of Struggle against Racism and Imperialism will be diluted by Coca Cola and AT&T, Mandela will become the poster child of "compromise," for "the greater good," which, as you note, isn't so good. Not that he too, isn't a willing accomplice. (I wondered if or how much he got paid as a movie consultant?) (No doubt the movie comes out as S. Africa is poised to host the World Cup, but the propagandist won't let you in on that hype factor.)
No, they were never praise Farrakhan, though I guarantee if Blacks were polled his popularity numbers would meet or exceed those of Obushco. Most believe he speaks some truth to power. What's evident is how we compartmentalize things and use intellectual sloth to maintain our schizophrenic existence, our "duality" as African Americans. How quickly we forget, yet our reminded by Obama's policies or non-policies that we remain, "The Invisible Man." If only Blacks would take the stanzas of the poem to heart:
"Out of the night that covers me black as a pit from pole to pole I thank whatever God may be FOR MY UNCONQUERABLE SOUL!!"
"....I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my Soul."
Funny thing, most Black Greek male pledges had to memorize this poem, if only the meaning that reasonated then reasonated now. But most of my Greek brothers were straight up, bona fide, unapologetic Kool-Aid drinkers. Perhaps then they wouldn't have been running around giddy like little children, working for and touting Obushco's presidency, ignoring hundreds of years of history on what the presidency is all out, ignoring the false links from MLK to Obushco. Oh, sorry, I forget, Black Greeks have erased their historical legacy too, the one rooted in Benevolent Socities.
"La de da de dee, the beat goes on...and the beat goes on"
http://www.jstor.org/pss/25088988
E. Cynic:I think it was hope for change - well sold. One reques
t. The use of "blind" in "blind supporters" continues, even if untended, the myths and stereotypes about blind people. Please consider using some other word to say unquestioning, not thinking, etc. (It's called "ableist" language.)
I was once asked by an African-American during the Israel gov't attack on Gaza, what I said to people I know, (he knows I'm an atheist Jew), in my "group". I said what I said (I did protest art immediately and sent it to as many people as I could afford to make/send copies. Ignored by many. Not surprising.) I also said that he would get a chance to find out how it felt.
Right after the drone attacks began by Obama admin. on Jan.23, 2009 on Pakistan, I got art made (on paper, multiples) by Jan. 26 and several mailed. I sent one with a note to the guy who'd asked me the question. I recently heard him on radio on criticizing Obama. Very carefully worded. And by the way, do you know of Les Payne, journalist of many years, who has a blog? (Google, my copy/paste skill is none.) His new blog post is very critical of Obama's expansion of the war in Afghanistan. Les Payne, a seasoned writer, had been editor of, then columnist for a NY area paper. He served in Vietnam. I took the poll:like or dislike the column, and it was half and half. I voted for Obama (as did 78% of Jews in the US). I didn't expect a progressive. I won't do it again. I go more and more left....
Progressives go regressive
Obama is a Quisling to Progressive hopes. He is the Vichy French of economic justice. He is the Charles Manson of world peace.
http://www.circusgiganticus.com/run-with-the-hunted/