"The wealthy, not only by private fraud but also by common laws, do every day pluck and snatch away from the people some part of their daily living. Therefore, when I consider and weigh in my mind these commonwealths which nowadays do flourish, I perceive nothing but a certain conspiracy of rich men in procuring their own commodities under the name and authority of the commonwealth.

They invent and devise all means and crafts, first how to keep safely without fear of losing that which they have unjustly gathered together, and next how to hire and abuse the work and labor of the people for as little money and effort as possible."

Thomas More, Utopia

Friday, September 05, 2008

The Irresistible Centrifugal Force of Power

Yes, there can be little doubt that Obama and the powerful elite sector which supports and funds his campaign are feeling good about their chances this November. Why shouldn't they? Hasn't McCain foolishly staked his run on the thoroughly discredited Team Bush agenda of aggressive militarism abroad and rapacious, winner-take-all, the devil gets the hindmost, "free-market" capitalism at home that has embarrassingly revealed itself in our cratering financial sector and imploding housing market? Of course Team Barack Obama (hereafter, Team B.O.) has no serious fundamental or moral objection to this agenda per se, however, they do raise tactical objections about its execution by the outgoing team. It is here where Team B.O. has sought to distinguish itself from the Bushistas. So, you'll hear nothing from Obama's camp that seriously addresses the desire of perhaps 90% of Iraqis that US occupying forces and accompanying mercenaries leave their decimated lands. Team B.O. has every intention of maintaining the 14 massive mega-bases and the Vatican City-sized "embassy" that garrison this illegally occupied country. Furthermore, Obama has been explicit in his determination to expand the war in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Is there anyone who seriously thinks that Team B.O., filled to the brim with free-market true believers, will work to rescind NAFTA and the other investor rights agreements that have decimated the labor movement (and the worker protections and living wages that went with it) both here and abroad? Let's grow up people.

Even knowing all of this It's still gratifying when one is surreptitiously given a peek inside the citadel of power by an insider. What follows is an important essay by a contributer to Joe Bageant's wonderful blog. This political insider wisely chooses to remain anonymous (and thus employable):

By an anonymous political consultant

Over the last many weeks we have all been subjected to endless news stories about Senator Obama's campaign "Move to the Center". Leaving aside the political illiteracy which underlines this phrase, the use of it reveals important clues about the rhetoric of electoral campaigns, whom they target and what they are trying to communicate.
Put simply, what "Moving to the Center," means is: moving towards power and money...

The rest

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow, good stuff.

Anonymous said...

Yep, very good stuff.

Seems some of the few folks who won't drink the Obama Kool Aid are folks like Colide and me. It is funny when our pal Rue-y always brings up the "liberal" Obama. I guess compared to Rue-y, Long-y and "the other" police blog guy he is liberal.

To me he is a tad left of center and like Coldie puts it so well, a move to the center means more money and power. Heck, he probably was invited to the last Bilderberg meeting.

"leftisthebest"

Coldtype said...

I can't wait to hear his thoughts regarding the Freddie/Fannie boondoggle. How much do you want to bet that his solution won't include any challenge to the "free market" capitalist doctrine of socialized cost, privatized gain?

Anonymous said...

well one thing is for sure he has pandered to zionist aipac. I've just finished reading overthrow by Stephen Kizer and nemisis by chalmers johnson.what an eye opener!! When are the people going to wake up!
--informed