Sleep and I are no longer acquainted (Started pulling this together at 3:30am yesterday. Ugh!). And so continues my prolific quoting of other people. Entries pertaining to the election which I really enjoyed:
Black Looks >> Cynthia McKinney & Rosa Clemente represent the kind of politics we all need to see in our own countries
I read the other day that Toni Morrison will be voting for Obama. A couple of weeks ago it was Alice Walker writing what I described as “driveling bullshit.” and one more example of the mainstreaming of the progressives – Rosa Clemente has a more definitive list here. Obama talks about bringing “fundamental change” but the only fundamental change is his colour and when one looks more closely even his colour is not that fundamental afterall. Obama is intrinsically tied to the mainstream, pro-Zionist war mongering American superstructure. Though disappointing it is not so surprising that so many millions all over the world have been drawn in by Obama who panders to black and white notions of a “post racial” America and world. An imaginary world of convenience particularly for the millions of white people who will vote him into the White House.
These are not truths. Nor do I think it is an accident that the first Black president of the USA will be a Black man who is not historically tied to slavery and the Black American experience. Facts like these are what makes the Obama’s presidency so dangerous because the establishment will use his Blackness to press the notion of a post racial society, of a fairer society, a more just society – all of which are big white lies. He will be held up as a pure example of the lie that is called the American dream along with Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell at the expense of the people in most need. This is already happening as we watch the so called progressives launch a double edged sword of complicity by jumping on the cultist bandwagon of unquestioning worship along with the likes of Powell and Hitchins. Whilst on the other hand silencing the voices of two women of colour who represent the real fundamental change.
A couple of days ago I wrote about the need to put people, all people before profit – Obama will not even come near to meeting that need. What will Obama do for the DRC – will he be calling for the prosecution of corporations buying the “blood soaked” minerals? Obama supported the bail out of the Wall Street gamblers and thieves. He like all the other candidates and Western politicians conveniently avoid making any connection between the financial crisis, increasing global hunger and the trillions of dollars being spent on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Dark Daughta >> You do realize that by defending him or any single candidate however “perfect”
You are defending an outmoded, ineffectual, nonrepresentational system of government that rose to prominence during times when there were far fewer people on the planet?
None of our governmental systems are actually equipped to deal with the reality of over 6 billion people on this planet, many of whom have interests that can’t possibly be represented by nationalistic, zenophobic, hierarchical, elitist governments run by powerful cabals headed by figureheads so distanced from the true needs of the people that all they can do is craft lying, manipulative, surface speeches that present them as able to deal effectively with the needs of the many, when in actuality all they are capable of doing in controlling the masses by telling them that voting this charlatan candidate or that charlatan candidate into power will make them happy or sad, bring back the good ole times or stave off the reality of an unavoidable future.
Toban Black >> Is Obama a radical superhero?
Pulling out my favorites from here but there are a number of them accompanied with links to their articles and an awesome political cartoon.
Andrew Gebhardt:
“But ’support’ until now has not translated into organizing, into changing the institutions we currently tolerate, or starting new ones.”
“Waking up to the possibilities of real hope and change means challenging leaders, and daily, difficult local work that some, but not yet enough of us do. The most hopeful aspect of Obama’s “hope and change” message might be that people see those words for what they are, and demand that whoever assumes office, some real policies justify those fragile, necessary emotions so many of us cling to.”
Joshua Frank:
“What will happen to the movements that have been sidelined in order to help get the Democrats elected? What will become of the environmental movement after January 20? Will it step up to oppose Obama’s quest for nuclear power and clean coal? Will the antiwar movement work to force Obama to take a softer approach toward Iran? Will they stop the troop increase in Afghanistan?”
“[Some 'progressives' seem] to believe he’ll magically move left once inaugurated and is only running to the right in order to win the election. That position is a non sequitur and not worthy of real discussion as it’s based on wishful thinking.”
“We deserve more than lofty rhetoric about ‘action’ and ‘hope.’ ”
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A bit of good news before the bad – I chose Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine as my staff pick at the book store but we can’t get any more copies at the moment because it’s sold out!! It is in the process of being reprinted. This made me so happy to hear!! I haven’t seen it get on the bestseller list as a paperback yet. (I may be wrong about that though.)
But now, a number of things I’ve come across recently that I’ve wanted to call attention to -
Army Unit to Deploy in October for Domestic Operations – Hat tip to dark daughta for calling my attention to this. Police state, anyone?
Beginning in October, the Army plans to station an active unit inside the United States for the first time to serve as an on-call federal response in times of emergency. The 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team has spent thirty-five of the last sixty months in Iraq, but now the unit is training for domestic operations. The unit will soon be under the day-to-day control of US Army North, the Army service component of Northern Command. The Army Times reports this new mission marks the first time an active unit has been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. The paper says the Army unit may be called upon to help with civil unrest and crowd control. The soldiers are learning to use so-called nonlethal weapons designed to subdue unruly or dangerous individuals and crowds.
That the nomination of Obama is the result of rampant fraud. Hat tip to Dr. Socks at Reclusive Leftist on this, who has also been challenging my line of thinking concerning Palin. (That’s not to say I’m suddenly supporting a McCain/Palin ticket – but it’s certainly helping me to sort out how internalized misogyny may be skewing my views towards her.)
I don’t know what to think about this, but I’m feeling incredibly dismayed. From Lynette Long’s CaucusAnalysis, dedicated to studying the possibility of fraud:
As I write this, the Democratic Party is poised to formally nominate Barack Obama as its candidate for President of the United States.
It’s the triumph of fraud.
I’ve spent the past two months immersed in data from the 2008 Democratic caucuses. After studying the procedures and results from all fourteen caucus states, interviewing dozens of witnesses, and reviewing hundreds of personal stories, my conclusion is that the Obama campaign willfully and intentionally defrauded the American public by systematically undermining the caucus process.
I’m surprised about how little people I talked to today know about this one – that the McCain campaign got the style of tonight’s VP debate changed.
From the New York Times:
At the insistence of the McCain campaign, the Oct. 2 debate between the Republican nominee for vice president, Gov. Sarah Palin, and her Democratic rival, Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr., will have shorter question-and-answer segments than those for the presidential nominees, the advisers said. There will also be much less opportunity for free-wheeling, direct exchanges between the running mates.
McCain advisers said they had been concerned that a loose format could leave Ms. Palin, a relatively inexperienced debater, at a disadvantage and largely on the defensive.
——
McCain advisers said they were only somewhat concerned about Ms. Palin’s debating skills compared with those of Mr. Biden, who has served six terms in the Senate, or about his chances of tripping her up. Instead, they say, they wanted Ms. Palin to have opportunities to present Mr. McCain’s positions, rather than spending time talking about her experience or playing defense
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I’ve barely been following the elections or researching the candidates because I feel that none of them are going to offer anything in the way of real change. It’s particularly saddening considering that we have the potential to elect the first black (man) or (white) woman president.
According to talk around the dinner table, the latest tawdry gossip (compliments of conservative talk radio) is that the Clinton campaign will have a “bomb to drop about Obama.” For me, the dynamics of this election have brought the stark reality of our political system, hell, the way things work on a larger level even, to light. Things are getting ugly. There’s no building of alliances, no effort to see eye to eye or keep the peace.
A black man and a white woman (Both are classically used to represent black people and women as a whole – bell hooks has a lot to say about the sexism and racism of that in Ain’t I a Woman.) are pitted against each other in typical divide and conquer fashion. Whether it’s just being played up by the media or it’s truth, what seems to be an escalating animosity between them pains me.
And yeah… I’ll admit that I am happy Clinton won New Hampshire tonight. Although I know that ultimately I could never vote for her in the primary, (as a lesser of two evils I would) I didn’t want to see her defeated so quickly. People are all too gleeful at the prospect of her loss and it really does get on my nerves. As well, I guess I want to hold on to the idea of a woman president for just a little longer. I don’t want her to win, but dammit, I don’t want her to lose either!
I’m having trouble fleshing out the divide and conquer point and how this connects to other events historically.
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