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Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Barack Obama. Show all posts
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Martin Luther King Jr., Domestic Terrorist: This post is dedicated to Barack Obama
"In 2010 we must all reach the difficult conclusion that the presence of Barack Obama requires the absence of Dr. King and that the former is more a system's protective response to the latter than any kind of continuation."
"...I am in Birmingham because injustice is here."
"Each year we pay tribute to a man who in reality ceased to exist long before he was assassinated.By April of 1968 King had become a national pariah. Moderate civil rights leaders became troubled by his stances against wars of aggression in Vietnam and throughout the continent of Africa and Latin America.
The establishment press depicted him as inspiring 'fear' among White House and Justice Department officials for his continued work against structural inequality which they saw as leanings toward 'communism,' 'Leninism' and as being too friendly to the likes of Stokely Carmichael.
In 2010 we must all reach the difficult conclusion that the presence of Barack Obama requires the absence of Dr. King and that the former is more a system's protective response to the latter than any kind of continuation." --Jared Ball, Professor of communication studies, Morgan State University
If Martin Luther King Jr. were alive today, he wouldn't be talking about 'race', he'd be talking about poverty, and endless war.
Indeed, he was starting to do just that, discussing US IMPERIALISM in places like Vietnam, how it affected ALL Americans, and how the money was being spent on war, not ploughshares.... to the detriment of ALL Americans, and global society, for the benefit of a few.
The "Few" were NOT pleased. Dr. King was "Safe" for the White 'moderates' of America compared to Stokely Carmichael, SNCC, and the Black self defense groups springing up throughout the South threatening to take on the KKK and other racist organizatons. These groups consisted of returned/returning Black veterans of America's Imperial wars of the time (Korea and Vietnam), and they WERE deadly serious (Cf. Simon Wendt's "The Spirit and the Shotgun: Armed Resistance and the Struggle for Civil Rights").
Per Wikipedia:
"Many white southern segregationists vilified King; moreover, this speech ("Beyond Vietnam") soured his relationship with many members of the mainstream media. Life magazine called the speech "demagogic slander that sounded like a script for Radio Hanoi",[80] and The Washington Post declared that King had "diminished his usefulness to his cause, his country, his people."[84]""...his people"... How... RACIST and DIVISIVE.
Then, despite continual FBI surveillance (and harrassment), Reverend King was assassinated by an alleged 'lone gunman', James Earl Ray ("Ray testified that he did not shoot King to the House Select Committee on Assassinations" [src]), who King's family came to believe was NOT responsible for the shooting.
Today Da Buffalo wants to Re-Present an excerpt of a sermon at the Riverside Church on April 4, 1967 which has come to be called "Beyond Vietnam".
Black Forum records, a subsidiary of Berry Gordy's Motown put it on vinyl, and the Reverend's speech won a Grammy in 1970 for the "Best Spoken Word Recording".
Indeed, all one has to do is replace the references to Vietnam with the words "Iraq" and "Afghanistan" in the speech that follows and you can easily see that, for the most part, we HAVE NOT accomplished, or even (as a nation) attempted to achieve the goals spoken of here by Martin Luther King Jr.
Say AMEN!"Peace and Civil Rights don't mix they say, so this morning I speak to you on this issue because I am determined to take the Gospel seriously..."
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"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar... ...it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
Think on that while listening to the Reverend's sermon, as the Obama administration "bails out" the mortgage brokers and financial institutions allowing them to continue paying bonuses to their employees larger than most people in America, or on Earth, earn in their lifetimes, while leaving the mortgage holders, in many cases, homeless, and people who have lost their jobs in the current economic depression with no recourse but soup kitchens and poverty... ...or given an appropriate age, a job in the the US military, as the only available employer, for the Pentagon's DIRTY WARS in Afghanistan, Iraq, and other places not often mentioned in the US media.
[Pop Out Player]
Text of the entire sermon
Real Audio file (.ram) of the entire sermon (41:50 minutes) :
A BIG H/t to Sam Husseini, from whom I gleaned a number of links for this post.
Sam has the last word:
"There is one minor quibble I have with this sermon -- it ends with the lines"And nations will not rise up against nations, neither shall they study war anymore. And I don't know about you, I ain't gonna study war no more."But I think we do need to study war. We need to study war and all its destructiveness in excruciating detail." [src]
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Making the TransAfghanistan Pipeline Safe for Democracy
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Barack Obama: He's not really against the war. Not like you and I are. - William Blum, The Anti-Empire Report
The Anti-Empire Report
December 1st, 2008
by William Blum
www.killinghope.org
Vote First. Ask Questions Later.
Okay, let's get the obvious out of the way. It was historic. I choked up a number of times, tears came to my eyes, even though I didn't vote for him. I voted for Ralph Nader for the fourth time in a row.
During the past eight years when I've listened to news programs on the radio each day I've made sure to be within a few feet of the radio so I could quickly change the station when that preposterous man or one of his disciples came on; I'm not a masochist, I suffer fools very poorly, and I get bored easily.
Sad to say, I'm already turning the radio off sometimes when Obama comes on. He doesn't say anything, or not enough, or not often enough. Platitudes, clichés, promises without substance, "hope and change", almost everything without sufficient substance, "change and hope", without specifics, designed not to offend. What exactly are the man's principles? He never questions the premises of the empire. Never questions the premises of the "War on Terror".
I'm glad he won for two reasons only: John McCain and Sarah Palin, and I deeply resent the fact that the American system forces me to squeeze out a drop of pleasure from something so far removed from my ideals. Obama's votes came at least as much from people desperate for relief from neo-conservative suffocation as from people who genuinely believed in him. It's a form of extortion – Vote for Obama or you get more of the same. Those are your only choices.
Is there reason to be happy that the insufferably religious George W. is soon to be history? "I believe that Christ died for my sins and I am redeemed through him. That is a source of strength and sustenance on a daily basis." That was said by someone named Barack Obama.1 The United States turns out religious fanatics like the Japanese turn out cars. Let's pray for an end to this.
As I've mentioned before, if you're one of those who would like to believe that Obama has to present center-right foreign policy views to be elected, but once he's in the White House we can forget that he misled us repeatedly and the true, progressive man of peace and international law and human rights will emerge ... keep in mind that as a US Senate candidate in 2004 he threatened missile strikes against Iran2, and winning that election apparently did not put him in touch with his inner peacenik. He's been threatening Iran ever since.
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With his popularity Obama could get away with almost anything, but he'll probably continue to play it safe. Or what may be more precise, he'll continue to be himself; which, apparently, is a committed centrist. He's not really against the war. Not like you and I are.
During Obama's first four years in the White House, the United States will not leave Iraq. I doubt that he'd allow a complete withdrawal even in a second term. Has he ever unequivocally called the war illegal and immoral? A crime against humanity? Why is he so close to Colin Powell? Does he not know of Powell's despicable role in the war? And retaining George W Bush's Defense Secretary, Robert Gates, a man against whom it would not be difficult to draw up charges of war crimes?Will he also find a place for Rumsfeld? And Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano, a supporter of the war, to run the Homeland Security department? And General James Jones, a former NATO commander (sic), who wants to "win" in Iraq and Afghanistan, and who backed John McCain, as his National Security Adviser? Jones is on the Board of Directors of the Boeing Corporation and Chevron Oil. Out of what dark corner of Obama's soul does all this come?
As Noam Chomsky recently pointed out, the election of an indigenous person (Evo Morales) in Bolivia and a progressive person (Jean-Bertrand Aristide) in Haiti were more historic than the election of Barack Obama.
He's not really against torture either.
Not like you and I are.
No one will be punished for using or ordering torture...
In full @ The Anti-Empire Report
Saturday, November 8, 2008
Stan Goff, Feral Scholar - "There are some obstacles, the greatest being the attitude that we should give Obama a chance before we start hectoring"
Before everyone gets TOO enthusiastic...
This Viral Video appeared during the election campaign.
It pretty much sums up the problem:
"We have some serious evils in our faces right now; and if we are going to confront them, then we need to list them, organize against them, and make that opposition felt in the principalities and powers.Excerpted from the comments:Big pharma.
Big food.
Big war.
Big oil.
Big banks.
Big prisons.
And the big-dick culture of me-first domination and revenge.
I have a litmus test, if anyone is interested.
Let’s see if Guantanamo is closed in the first month of the new administration."
Susan/catlady:Obama’s transition website, change.gov, is set up for citizens to make suggestions to the new administration.There are several pages under “Agenda,” listing current policy.
A search for “Guantanamo” comes up zilch.
A Look Under the Hood at the (Potential) Obama Administration
7th November 2008, 05:35 am
by Stan
[Hat tip to Lisa… this one merits a post.]
By Joshua Frank
November 06, 2008 — - Tuesday’s celebration hangovers have finally started to wear off, and the pieces are beginning to fall into place. Change will be coming to Washington in January, but it is difficult to decipher what form it will take. Early clues, however, suggest that Barack Obama’s administration will prove unlikely to alter the fundamental political machinery that has led us into war and economic turmoil. Below is a brief summary of Obama’s potential choices for a few key roles in his administration.
Chief of Staff
Obama’s key White House position will go to Rep. Rahm Emanuel of Illinois. While Emanuel knows his way around the corridors of Washington, qualifying him in the traditional sense, this alone doesn’t mean he’s the guy you want drawing up Obama’s policy papers day after day.
For starters, Emanuel is a shameless neoliberal with close ties to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), even co-authoring a strategy book with DLC president Bruce Reed. Without Emanuel, Bill Clinton would not have been able to thrust NAFTA down the throats of environmentalists and labor in the mid-1990s. Over the course of his career, Emanuel’s made it a point to cozy up to big business, making him one of the most effective corporate fundraisers in the Democratic Party. He’s also a staunch advocate of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories.
Emanuel’s shining moment came in 2006 as he helped funnel money and poured ground support into the offices of dozens of conservative Democrats, expanding his party’s control of the House of Representatives. Emanuel, who supports the War…
FULL
Stan: The best analog we have in history here is the administration of FDR, where the president was compelled by the perils of increasing popular discontent to provide the space for popular power. It was a development paradigm, eg, the TVA, so there is an ecological apsect to this that is completely and critically different.
Barring the revolutionary transformation of society in one fell swoop, the system is going to require some duct tape and bailing wire to hold it together for the time being, or folk will literally starve. This will likely require a Keynesian intervention of some kind (or it all goes over a cliff, and Obama’s administration is counted by history as more of the same shit). Key here is a public works jobs program; and if we don’t fight like crazy for one that focuses on reparing biospheric damage, then shame on every one of us.
Just as urgently, however, we have to rebuild an antiwar movement worthy of its name.
There are some obstacles, the greatest being the attitude that we should give Obama a chance before we start hectoring.
That’s dead wrong… immoral in fact.
Every day that these occupations go on is a terrible sin; and our silence and forebearance are forms of complicity.
In Full @ Feral Scholar
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Class War... Because Two Wars Are Not Enough - US escalating covert operations against Iran - Seymour Hersh/New Yorker
Want to stop 'em?
Don't bother voting...
Barack Obama supports war with Iran too!
Here's The Buffalo's suggestion...
Go after their friends...
But note:
"...since Barack Obama has no qualms about “unilaterally” militarily attacking other nations, there is absolutely no reason to believe that he would be self-constrained from ordering that Black, Brown, and Red peoples right here inside of the US be viciously attacked via “police actions;” and quite frankly, lots of white Americans themselves might not be that far behind from being sacrificed, especially if they dare to try and get in the way of Mr. Corporate - “unilaterally” attack them - Barack Obama." Source, Black Commentator
"Clandestine operations against Iran are not new. United States Special Operations Forces have been conducting cross-border operations from southern Iraq, with Presidential authorization, since last year. These have included seizing members of Al Quds, the commando arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, and taking them to Iraq for interrogation and the pursuit of “high-value targets” in the President’s war on terror, who may be captured or killed.
But the scale and the scope of the operations in Iran, which involve the Central Intelligence Agency and the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), have now been significantly expanded, according to the current and former officials.
Many of these activities are not specified in the new Finding, and some congressional leaders have had serious questions about their nature.
Under federal law, a Presidential Finding, which is highly classified, must be issued when a covert intelligence operation gets under way and, at a minimum, must be made known to Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and the Senate and to the ranking members of their respective intelligence committees, the so-called Gang of Eight.Money for the operation can then be reprogrammed from previous appropriations, as needed, by the relevant congressional committees, which also can be briefed.“
The Finding was focussed on undermining Iran’s nuclear ambitions and trying to undermine the government through regime change,” a person familiar with its contents said, and involved “working with opposition groups and passing money.”
The Finding provided for a whole new range of activities in southern Iran and in the areas, in the east, where Baluchi political opposition is strong, he said."
There Have Been
Thanks For Stopping By
Saturday, May 3, 2008
In Anticipation Of The '08 US Presidential Election And It's Outcome (Again)... A Message from John Cleese (Monty Python) to the people of the US
Message from John Cleese to the people of the country formerly known as the "United" States Of America
In light of your failure to elect a competent President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately.Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (excepting Kansas, which she does not fancy).
Your new prime minister, Tony Blair, will appoint a governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded.
A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.
To aid in the transition to a British Crown Dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect: You should look up "revocation" in the Oxford English Dictionary.
1. Then look up aluminium, and check the pronunciation guide. You will be amazed at just how wrongly you have been pronouncing it.
2. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'favour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix ize will be replaced by the suffix ise. Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to Acceptable levels. (look up vocabulary).
3. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as "like" and "you know" is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as US English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take account of the reinstated letter 'u' and the elimination of -ize.
You will relearn your original national anthem, God Save The Queen.
4. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.
5. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not adult enough to be independent. Guns should only be handled by adults. If you're not adult enough to sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist then you're not grown up enough to handle a gun.
6. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. A permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.
7. All American cars are hereby banned. They are crap and this is for your own good. When we show you German cars, you will understand what we mean.
8. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.
9. The Former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) - roughly $6/US gallon. Get used to it.
10. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.
11. The cold tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.
12. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters.
Watching Andie MacDowell attempt English dialogue in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.
13. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).
14. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 21% of you are aware that there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable.
15. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.
16. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
17. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 PM with proper cups, never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; strawberries in season.
Thank you for your co-operation.
Related @ Technorati: Comedy, George W. Bush, Humor, John Cleese, Monty Python, Satire, U.S. Domestic Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy
Thanks For Stopping By
Tags:
2008 Election,
Barack Obama,
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Comedy,
Hillary Clinton,
Humor,
Monty Python,
Sarcasm,
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Sunday, April 6, 2008
Because If You Can't Nervously Laugh About Global Mayhem, What CAN You Laugh About? - Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?
Opening this weekend, an new movie by Morgan Spurlock, creator of "Super Size Me". Tipped by SilentPatriot @ Crooks and Liars
Did he FIND Osama? More Here
But he'd better hurry up if he hasn't !
The Obama Girl is... Hot... on UBL's trail:
“The most important thing is for us to find Osama bin Laden. It is our number one priority and we will not rest until we find him.” - G.W. Bush, 9/13/01
“I want justice…There’s an old poster out West, as I recall, that said, ‘Wanted: Dead or Alive,’” - G.W. Bush, 9/17/01, UPI
“…Secondly, he is not escaping us. This is a guy, who, three months ago, was in control of a county [sic]. Now he’s maybe in control of a cave. He’s on the run. Listen, a while ago I said to the American people, our objective is more than bin Laden. But one of the things for certain is we’re going to get him running and keep him running, and bring him to justice. And that’s what’s happening. He’s on the run, if he’s running at all. So we don’t know whether he’s in cave with the door shut, or a cave with the door open — we just don’t know….” - Bush, in remarks in a Press Availablity with the Press Travel Pool, The Prairie Chapel Ranch, Crawford TX, 12/28/01, as reported on official White House site
“I don’t know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and really don’t care. It’s not that important. It’s not our priority.” - G.W. Bush, 3/13/02
“I am truly not that concerned about him.” - G.W. Bush, repsonding to a question about bin Laden’s whereabouts, 3/13/02 (The New American, 4/8/02)
Monday, March 31, 2008
Enquiring Minds: Where are the Iraqis in the Iraq War? - Ramzy Baroud, Atlantic FreePress
from Atlantic Free Press - Hard Truths for Hard Times
by Ramzy Baroud
March 31 2008
Ramzy Baroud (www.ramzybaroud.net) is an author and editor of PalestineChronicle.com.
Five years after the US invasion and occupation of Iraq, mainstream media is once more making the topic an object of intense scrutiny. The costs and implications of the war are endlessly covered from all possible angles, with one notable exception— the cost to the Iraqi people themselves.
Through all the special coverage and exclusive reports, very little is said about Iraqi casualties, who are either completely overlooked or hastily mentioned and whose numbers can only be guesstimated. Also conveniently ignored are the millions injured, internally and externally displaced, the victims of rape and kidnappings who will carry physical and psychological scars for the rest of their lives.
We find ourselves stuck in a hopeless paradigm, where it feels necessary to empathise with the sensibilities of the aggressor so as not to sound unpatriotic , while remaining blind to the untold anguish of the victims.
Some actually feel the need to go so far as to blame the Iraqis for their own misfortune.
Both Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have expressed their wish for Iraqis to take responsibility for the situation in their country, with the former saying, we cannot win their civil war. There is no military solution.
It would have been helpful if Clinton had reached her astute conclusion before she voted for the Senate's 2002 resolution authorising President Bush to attack Iraq.
For the sake of argument, let's overlook both Clinton's and Obama's repeated assertions that all options, including military ones, are on the table regarding how to deal with Iran's alleged ambition to acquire nuclear weapons.
But to go so far as blaming the ongoing war on the Iraqis' lack of accountability is a new low for these antiwar candidates...
In Full.
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Thanks For Stopping By
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week - McClatchy
"What is eminently clear is the degree to which the black church is still largely misunderstood and routinely caricatured in U.S. popular culture. ... We now realize why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week,"McClatchy Washington Bureau
Sat, Mar. 29, 2008
Black church leaders back Obama's pastor at Texas event
Terry Lee Goodrich | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
DALLAS — In the wake of the controversy over statements by a former pastor of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, leaders of a black church summit took issue with characterizations of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright as racist."What is eminently clear is the degree to which the black church is still largely misunderstood and routinely caricatured in U.S. popular culture. ... We now realize why the 11 o'clock hour on Sunday is the most segregated hour of the week," said Stacey Floyd-Thomas, director of black church studies at Fort Worth's Brite Divinity School, during a news conference Friday at Dallas' Friendship West Baptist Church.
About 20 scholars from the summit stood with Floyd-Thomas, an associate professor of ethics, among them Wright's cousin, the Rev. Dennis Wiley of Covenant Baptist Church in Washington D.C. Wright was to have appeared at the summit Saturday, but canceled.
The summit was moved to Dallas from Texas Christian University in Fort Worth out of security concerns....
Read the full story at Star-Telegram.com
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