Like all sane people, I am relieved that that worthless shit-for-brains is leaving office tomorrow. It wasn’t always certain, you know. After he all, he did steal the presidency in the first place.
But I am not likely to be thrilled by Obama, either. Tomorrow, we will no doubt hear an excellent speech, maybe even a great one. We will also read about some presidential executive orders, including one to close Gitmo, that will give cause for optimism to many Americans.
But it shouldn’t.
Pretty words are nice, but the facts belie them. Every indication is that Obama is a DINO–Democrat in name only. His cabinet, which doesn’t contain a single liberal, makes centrist Bill Clinton look like a Marxist in comparison. Conservatives and centrists are not going to be able to deliver the radical solutions needed to solve our many radical problems.
Obama’s economic program only promises to create 4 million jobs by 2011–when we will have lost about 29 million at current projections. By 2011, if Obama gets his way, we will be in a deep, deep Depression. We will be lucky if the country still exists in its present form if that happens.
The Gitmo closing is nice, but Obama doesn’t plan to prosecute those who ordered the torture and other war crimes that occurred there. Moreover, he doesn’t plan to release all the inmates. Gitmo could stay open another year or more. The CIA secret prisons could stay open. CIA torturers won’t be prosecuted. Neither will Bush and Cheney, who ordered it personally.
You get the idea.
Pretty words. Not much meat.
Don’t be taken in. Take it out–to the streets. Now, more than ever, is the time for intelligent Americans to speak out and be heard.
12 Comments.
Cheney's gonna be in a wheelchair so removing him should be easy. Dorme bene…
I understand where you are coming from but I think Obama is just playing politics. He wants to be a champion not of the left but of all Americans. I really think that we need to give him a shot to let things play out. I feel reasonably confident that he will take this country in a progressive direction over the next 8 years. It just may happen more gradually than we may dream of.
The right thing for Obama to do if he wants to stave off economic catastrophe is make the Bush tax cuts permanent. Now is not the time for partisanship, and Obama knows that more than anyone. Since he has not opted to make any changes to the tax code, I'm optimistic the tax cuts will be made permanent.
Ted,
It never fails to amaze me how spot on you usually are in your commentary. However, it also amazes me how you never seem to grasp the whole picture. Obama will continue the same policies as W, only under a friendlier environmental message and a fascist civilian force behind him, furthering the road to engineered depression and certain police state (the concentration camps are active, and with the John Warner Defense Act and PDD 51 it's only a matter of time.) Same as Clinton continued on from Poppy Bush. These presidential-puppets are controlled by the same elite who hide between the labels of liberal and conservative, Republican or Democrat. You now truly have neo-con and neo-liberal which amount to the same thing: corporate "centerists" which create one party with no interest of catering to the welfare of the citizens of this country.
Who are these interests that have this much control? These are the families that control the privately owned Federal Reserve i.e. the Rockefellers, Rothchilds, etc and their cronies in big oil, big pharma, and the military industrial complex. They and their little clubs such as the Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberg Group, Trilateral Commission have infiltrated our government and force globalist garbage down our collective throats. There will be many more wars thanks to these elitist scumbags.
The great thing about the internet is that the information is in front of you. It's up to you if you want to see the whole picture or not. People are realizing that things are not right but don't know why. Education is the tool.
I personally don't see how Obama will be different from his cousin Dick Cheney (google it if you don't believe me, Obama even made a joke about his cousin Dick on the campaign trail) for the reasons stated above. Obama is a carefully crafted lie to pacify liberals, much like Bill Clinton before him. Change is coming in the form of depression, fascism, and police state. Mark my words, the cycle of Bush will continue with the "chosen one."
Dennis
Forecast…
The solution that will be implemented:
close Gitmo, move inmates somewhere else.
Changes nothing, fullfills the promise.
The solution that would have worked the same:
Change gitmo's name. 🙂
After all, that's what oil companies do when they become too impopular, or political parties when they are too deep in scandals (French RPR, anyone?).
Ted,
I have been reading your columns and comics for over a year, and have always been impressed by your outlook and intelligent realism.
I find it difficult to relate to your disappointment and anger towards the outcome of the last election.
With the realistic approach to the world and the U.S. Gov't, I would think that you would have already come to accept that there will never be another pure populist liberal president (without a revolution). The current dynamics of the country, the media, and the corporate stranglehold of government create a situation where only a small margin of politicians are able to become president. This is why Ron Paul failed, and why anyone who is your ideal candidate would fail.
Unless the systems that mediate and control information (and elections) is changed, you will not be able to have the results you would wish for.
Under these circumstances, with a realistic view of this country, I think Obama is a step in the right direction (better than any of the other viable options). We both disagree with him on a number of levels, like Afghanistan, but under the circumstances of this country's elections, no one can become president that is against the military-industrial complex.
I hope your criticisms of the next 4 years can be as intelligent and insightful as I have found many of your columns to be. Unfortunately since Nov. 4th, I sense much more bitterness and anger in your columns, and it is taking away from point you are trying to make. Thanks for the comics, and the columns, I'll still be reading.
Thanks,
Ryan
I think much of what this post says is accurate. However, there is something missing. Democrats tend to be very vulnerable to public pressure. We need to pressure Obama to stop acting like a Clintonian Republican.
None of this is a foregone conclusion. People need to act.
I am so sick of people telling me to give him a chance.
We are on the brink of collapse. We don't need politics we need actual movers.
When we collapse what are those people going to say? Oh well at least I kept Palin out of office. Whatever…
If Obama and our Congress have some crazy-ass plan to correct the past eight years of injustice and boot-up the economy for the working poor, then I hope they do so in one week's time like they did with that $700 billion dollar giveaway.
Anyone know what a Gini coefficient is? Our's now matches Mexico's and USA's during Gilded Age. Sad. I feel like I've immigrated to one of those countries I would not have even visited as a tourist.
Ryan,
I share Ted's bitterness. I'll tell you why I feel it.
Simply because we are on the border of a collapse. The same one the USSR faced in the 80s. Ironically we did the same thing the Soviets did, invaded Afghanistan and we also invaded Iraq. Now we are funneling tons of money to the war and war related activities and our national economy is suffering.
Sadly I think we chose a Gorbachev. Someone inexperienced in running a economy and susceptible to public pressure. At least McCain would not have been as susceptible to the pressure as Obama is. I really don't give a crap about his service in the Senate and his experience before that. We needed a business man in office (not McCain either). Instead we elected another politician.
This economy is going to hell in a ham basket and we will all pay the price for it. That is why I am bitter and afraid. I have a right to be afraid seeing as how economic collapse is around the corner.
So to hell with the lets give him a chance bull. We chose a politician, not a business man or economist.
Speaking of anger at Obama anyone see this latest gem from Rush Limbaugh? He states that he WANTS Obama to fail!
http://www.rushlimbaugh.com/home/daily/site_011609/content/01125113.guest.html
I might not be doing any favors here because Rush wants word to spread about his stance but this really is mindblowing on how big a flip flopper HE is.
I recall Rush yelling about how it is un-American not to support your President in time of "War" and yet he is doing that now. Well I guess all the Oxycotton really must have done a number on his memory.
My point is that all the anger @ Obama that is going on here feels like its about a stones throw away from Rush's rant.
actually it was a mostly crappy speech. I especially liked the thomas friedmanesque "we will not apologize for our way of life," [and if you object to that being at your expense, violently, we'll make you part of the war on terror and that'll justify our clinically insane defense budget for fiscal 2009].