Chris Floyd and the Black Milk Blues

Been in somewhat of a funk lately and I can't quite put my finger on its exact cause. I have long learned to internalize the futility of working within our plutocratic political system to effect meaningful change and I had never climbed aboard the Good Ship Obama so his inevitable lurch to the right was not for me the crushing disappointment it has been for the foolish Obamabots. No, for me I suspect it's something a bit deeper, a lingering fear if you will that the current apathy and willful ignorance of many Americans concerning issues of grave importance may in fact be a permanent feature of our landscape. There are flickers of recognition here and there but on the whole I don't get the sense that people are connecting the dots fast enough or even trying to. Maybe I'm reading too much into what are my admittedly limited personal observations and casual research, but it sure seems that despite the rapidly approaching meteor on course to crater the US economy for the foreseeable future and the Bushista's mad designs on Iran, Americans remain largely oblivious. Again, perhaps it's just me.

In any event I happened upon this incredible essay from Chris Floyd the other day and, while it didn't lift my spirits entirely, it put some issues regarding human nature into context for me that were truly revelatory.

please. read. this. carefully.

Economist Michael Hudson breaks down in devastating detail the looming financial crisis facing the nation in this essay originally posted on Counterpunch.org. Ever wonder why this kind of perspective never leads on 60 Minutes or Nightline?

Killing Democracy, Peddling Hope, Kicking Strawmen

I've been watching in wonder and amazement at the level of cognitive dissonance on display among Barack Obama's remarkably resilient supporters. There's apparently no line Obama can cross or previous position on which he reverses himself that effects their unshakable faith in this agent of "change". His cave-in on FISA and its ramifications are neatly summed up by Arthur Silber here and most recently by Chris Floyd here.

What's remarkable about all of this is that the rhetoric of the Obamaniacs is virtually unchanged. No need to lose faith in the Hope Crusade for this minor deviation (in fact a brutal ass-fucking of the Fourth Amendment) is merely tactical you see, things will be put right once Obama is elected. Then the Democrats who've been working so tirelessly to reverse Team Bush's legacy since they gained the majority in November 2006 by counterintuitively supporting Bush's initiatives in Iraq and elsewhere, can go about the business of restoring our constitutional republic.

As far as Jesse Jackson's recent unguarded comments regarding Obama's nether regions at Fox studios are concerned, no one who understands the context of this issue (i.e Obama throwing black males under the bus for political expediency during his Father's Day address at the Apostolic Church of Christ in Chicago) should be surprised in the least at the reverend's anger. For some perspective on this "controversy" I highly recommend this recent essay by Kevin Grey Alexander.