Enough of 'Barbituate' Left Cynicism, Obama Is a Victory over White Supremacy

I'm sorry if I am not responding to the main thesis of the article, but at the point where the author reached to gross generalizations, I stopped reading.

I find many things in the incipient Obama Administration that I approve of. And I find several tendencies in the incipient Obama Administration that I disapprove of.

After several months of being told "Silence, this is the best you can get!" I'm a little wary of being told "Silence you're spoiling the fun!".

There's still a hellava lot of work to be done kids. Those that are skeptical should be convinced by EXAMPLE not rhetoric.

-matti.

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One simple fact from an Englishman educated in America who loves the place because it's ahead of the game on internal self-criticism - even during the stone years. I can again hear a raised American voice across a crowded room in some European city and not want to stroll over (never did of course) and ask them to keep it down. Earlier this year I was in our other village in Greece and some elderly US tourists in a camper van came through and asked me the way and we chatted. I said how much I loved their country but...These old boys in forage caps looked a might forlorn and then one of their ladies said 'but don't worry, it'll soon be over' I felt such a burst of hope then, and now it's realised.
No-one can donate the labour of democracy to one leader. Obama's there because so many *did* labour, because 1000s didn't play the non-politics of 'everything sucks'. This man says the problems you (and we, in Europe) face are enormous. He tells it like it is but intelligently, not conjuring monsters. You are so right. He spreads hope and its possibilities - and not just in the USA. Look after this man for us, Americans. The name of that street where I met those old yanks in the camper van is 'Odos Dimokratias'.

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Some people can only feel and some can only think. We have a president-elect who seems comfortable doing both.

It's up to us to support moves which are progressive. In fact, we should make it clear that what we want is constitutional fundamentalism!

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After years of labouring in the U.S. Peace and Justice Movement under the Bush regime, we are now hyper vigilant about our civil rights. We know what smells fishy - and a cabinet out of neo-liberal free trade champions is very disturbing. I admit....

I love seeing a black man walking up to a place of power. That is a beautiful dream come true. But to celebrate 'victory' without doing...something!...is civil dereliction.

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Then what would be on Alternet?




Blank pages.

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It is not to say that we on the left should be silent or passive. But lets take stock in what has happened ! We have a responsibility to make the consituency heard. Barack has to balance all of these powers (old and new, lefrt and right). Lets strengthen his hand on progressive causes...and accept what the final compromize will be. I do believe that Web 2 is democracy for the 21st century. Lets make that work (He is counting on that)

http://change.gov/

This is our chance. Back seat quarterbacks? PLEASE....Get in there an DO something. Yes there will be people we dont agree with (Democracy is messy)

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Obama is mixed-race and won the presidency.

Yay!

Now - What kind of president is he going to be?

It's not looking not so good, progressive-change-wise.

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You can't be pro-NAFTA and pro-environment and pro-labor. One does not fit in with the others. So far, the economic team consist of rabid pro-NAFTA advocates.

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I think there's a profound difference between Obama and the "movement" that supported him. Was it ever reall a movement at all? Let's put that aside for a while shall we?

Now, instead of mobilizing millions for real change, Obama is doing the opposite. His supporters are being de-mobilized, calmed down, told to return to their homes and leave the streets to those who own them. That's what his appoinments signify. The return of the Democratic Party's establishment to power, after the party's grass roots and the electorate regected them and voted for hope and change. Didn't happen.

The king is dead, long live the king.

What does that phrase really mean? It means that the king may change. They come and they go, but the role/office/position remains the same, the system continues, stability remains, there is continuity of purpose. This isn't cynicism. It's a fact. A realistic assessment of how the political machine functions.

The campaign ritual is full of ritualised fighting, almost like professional wrestling. The passionate rhetoric almost never gains traction in the real world once the election is over. The promisses are rarely kept. This is harsh, but true.

The most one can hope for in relation to Obama is that he's as "good" a president as Bill Clinton was, is that asking for too little or too much? After all he's surrounded by Clinton's people, even though the Democratic Party's activists and supporters regected them in favour of Obama, seems a bit strange to me though.

Let's just hope for change in one crucial area; that Obama doesn't escalate in Afghanistan and send an even bigger army to a lost war; and more importantly, that he doesn't start a new war with Iran. If he manages to avoid these bear traps, he'll be doing well and should be supported.

Not really asking much, am I? And then there was the little detail of stopping the economy sliding into a second Great Depression.

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--working full time to elect Obama, is it OK is I gripe that his economic picks so far are the same assholes who got us into our curent financial meltdowm?

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for finally letting at least one discerning adult out of the closet, to write a hopeful article, with a lot of wit.
"...the political equivalent of Quaaludes". That's priceless, and so true.

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... is to marginalize the power elite that has been running humankind into the wall.

For me the key sentence in this piece is "At some point, the left will have to relinquish its love affair with marginalization."

As long as (we) the (fuzzy) left remain intent on being marginal for reasons of purity, those who have been in command of things with the support of majorities and of defaulting marginals, we are cooked.

No one gets to be president (and therefore in a position of significant power) anywhere by being a pure ideologue. So if we insist on purity and cop out, "they" will be defining who lives and who dies in "their" world (no matter that they are destroying the livelihood of human beings).

It's high time for us to take the chance and jump into what might become majority thinking, i.e., which itself can only survive if it preserves its biodiversity.

If intention counts (and quantum physics says it does), then Obama's consensus-building intention (until proven otherwise) is a good bet in that direction.

Thank you for this contribution, well put.

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This is some new talking point from Obama's new army? Stifle those who have objections by attacking the objectors? That's what I saw from the right and the DLC. Typical tactic: "No Negativity" goes up the cry. It's getting old.

Those who object to what Obama has done so far are to be compared to Stalinists (or 'Stalinoids' -- what that's supposed to mean). "Barbituate lefties"? Hmmm... I guess we can expect to see a new ad hominem attacks now that the Limbaughs are receeding a bit. And who is this "we on the left" -- did I miss something -- that I had to join a union or get a membership card or something? Oh -- maybe it's that I forgot to sign up in Obama's army. Funny -- somehow it feels like *I'm* being marginalized for not waving the Obama banner (and by proxie the Clinton banner -- nothing new there, either -- just more progressive bashing: it's a recurring nuisance, like fleas in the Summer and raccoons in the Autumn).

Progress is not made by everyone joining some new fad and reveling in loyality; it's made by forming coalitions over specific principles, goals and policies -- and so far Obama is falling short. Not unexpected, of course, but people had better understand what the situation is: we have a bit more political space to work in, not a 'fearless leader' we should follow.

We've taken a step back from the abyss, and there is much more to do, and it will take a lot of time and work to do it. Understanding that is not cynicism or anger, and it's not being a Stalinist (or a Marxist) on barbituates.

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We see a lot of this in the punk scene here at home - elitist squatters in their Wal-Mart clothes attacking people who actually make enough money to buy fair-trade organic coffee, wear clothes made in union shops, and drive fuel-efficient cars.

I was considered persona non grata for becoming a shop steward. After all, the unions are just another way to keep the workers contained, or some s**t like that.

Didn't see a single one of them in the huge effort many radicals, progressives, liberals, centrists, libertarians, fiscal conservatives, and people of no ideology in particular made to turn Virginia Democratic. Of course, that would have soiled their precious ideals. So, they can point to the failures of the Obama administration with glee, secure that they never soiled their hands with it.

Of course, they'll claim credit for any achievements. Or complain that it didn't go far enough. Because compromise is a dirty word.

It's good to see someone else who has noticed these same trends and is just as sick of the BS of it all.

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The people Obama is surrounding himself with are very disconcerting.(If we'd wanted to return to Clinton Era, wouldn't we have nominated HIllary?)
GOOD NEWS: people did NOT shut up about JOHN BRENNAN (an Obama advisor on inteliigence & national security) part of Bush -Cheny "ontelligence" who SUPPORTS TRRTURE & RENDITION. It was announced this morning that Brennan WILL NOT take any positon in Obama Administration--due to outcry about his positions.

Is there a middle path" between just being a (silenced) Obama cheerleader & being seen as the "barbituate Leftist" Wise describes?
Of course, it's a blow against white supremacy that Obama was elected--but, it's also reasonable to ask: Will Obama DO anything for actual people of color--like address the DISPARITIES in EVERY aspect of life from income to health care access to being disproportionatley incarcerated?"
The anti-war movement was vdry significant in getting Obama nominated and then.,elected? Is it too much to ask that he actualy END US OCCUPATION OF IRAQ?(& NOT just re-deploy those soldiers elsewhere)?

No one expects a leftist revolutiona from Obama, but, it would be nice if SOME of his actions matched his campaign rhetoric.
Brennan's exit proves thAT WE MUST RAISE OUR VOICES WITH DEMANDS--not just cheer wildly for Obama as a beautiful symbol. It's NOT "being negative" tomake demands on Obama.
It's the reason FDR pushed the New Deal--people made their voices heard.

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Although I am not going to get into a big argument with folks about this piece (I wrote it two weeks ago, and have since moved on to critiquing Obama from the left, especially on race, which is in keeping with the point I made for the left to hold Obama accountable), I do want to point out that I did not choose this title for the piece. I would never have claimed, and do not believe, that Obama's win is a "victory over white supremacy." White supremacy is a systemic force that limits the opportunities and life chances of people of color, and that force has not been defeated because Obama has won. Not even close. I argue that his victory is historically meaningful, and IF we take up the work and fight for true progressive and radical change (using the energy unleashed by the campaign) then his win may come to mean something substantial. But if we don't do that, absolutely nothing will change. It's up to us, not Obama. This is the argument I am making in my upcoming book on the subject, and I wanted to be very clear that I had not turned into some uncritical cheerleader for Obama, or any other politician. That is not what the piece says, and not what I believe.

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I am a Kucinich Primary voter, but volunteered for the Obama campaign once Dennis dropped out. I saw Obama's '04 convention speech and Knew he was destine for 'greatness'. Bu twhen he began his campaign, he was far more centrist than I, so I voted for Kucinich ( In MI it was ONLY a choice between Hillary,Kucinich & Gravel- Rigged for the start for Hillary).
I have never thought Obama a far left 'Liberal', but certainly farther 'left' then any other 'Top Tier' choice ( Both Hillary & Edwards are DLC....The Blue arm of the Corporationist Party)
Have I been 'thrilled' by some of his Choice for Cabinet memebers ...NO, esp the possiblity of Hillary as Sec of State- She terrifies me as much as Cheney!
But what Obama has done is Proven to these Political Assholes that the People can become a Force to be reckoned with.We have proven that 'Religion' is not the only thing which can invoke participation in our democratic process...So can Hope..Fueled with a good dose of Anger and Outrage regarding How Things SHOULD be.
Having been conned by the Clintons twice, I am a little leary of 'blind faith' when it comes to Obama & his future admin...But I still retain the Hope I won't get 'Fooled Again'.
Frankly I am sick of People trying to convert every one to Christianity as much as I am sick of people trying to convert Humanity to Veganism. Both are Unattainable because they are innately Impossible. People find Inner strength in various ways so getting Us all to agree on Philososphy is ridiculous. Same For the PETA folks, some of Us like meat,dairy,eggs and to make this quest even more ill fated is the fact We are Designed as a species to be Omnivores- both plant & animal. Our forward eyes, opposable thumbs, larger brain and planning abilities and msot notably our digestive systems (we have no cecum,Kiddo's).
what I fear is that the far left will feel they must keep up their never ending descent to prove they're 'intellectual' superiority to the same extent the Relgious 'right' proclaimed their self anointment as 'Spiritually' superiors.
What is 'Fringe' ..that which hangs off either side of the adult negotiation table cloth, but never actually protects the table. ya know the part of the table cloth that gets caught when sit down and pulls the rest of the cloth and the contents on the table off in a disasterous clatter.Ya Know the part of the Table cloth that gets in the way and can cause havoc to an other wise beautiful 'Thanksgiving' Table.
the Far Left should be thankful....We bet McCain and his Puppet masters. Now lets sit down and figure how to enjoy the bountiful feast of possiblities we have before US.
If You are not part of the Solution,Than You are part of the Problem.

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Anything less than a restoration of all rights and freedoms lost since 9-11 will be a sell out no matter what color this man's skin is. The FISA sell out is just the tip of the iceberg. The continuation of occupation and oppression by the United States has been guaranteed by Obama and any fake Liberal diatribe no matter how eloquently written can hide that ugly truth. Reducing people to freak show status for their progressive thinking or in this writers disingenuous description Liberal, is nothing short of cynical snobbery. The truth is that America is not in the sixties but in a far more dangerous time and those who can break out of their hypnotic television induced state to a new information available world know all too well. They also know that optimism is fading quickly with each Obama backtrack and neo-liberal appointment. They also know that either the new century is going to be the age where the old right-left propaganda is given secondary status to the constitution or America ends as a free republic. Those who violate the constitution must be unmasked for what they are; traitors. Without an immediate move toward the restoration of constitutional rights surely means at best more of the same. It is truly a sad day when dissidents are those who believe in the constitution of the United States.

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...Tim Wise aptly described how any movement can become extreme and destructive, if it swings too far off the middle road (the Tao). Far right types don't seem to have much humor either. But the best humor of the times came out of the Democratic party, and got us through the misery of GOP rule.

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If Barack Obama gets us into a war with Afghanistan, that will put an end to my support of him immediately and trigger a call for Impeachment. Is that clear to any one or are we going to mince around daintily like a cat on the Make?

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I remember too many people being ecstatic about Clinton finally getting in after 12 years of Reagan, rightfully so, and then not educating themselves on the disaster Nafta would do to this country. Consequently, too many people gave Clinton the benefit of the doubt on that and it was passed. Same with welfare reform, same with Glass-Steagall etc.
We are going to keep a close eye on Obama and make sure we scream to the high heavens when he mirrors the Bush-neocon agenda. His picks
are fine from a competency standpoint. The only question is whether he will demand they
dance to the tune of a new progressive agenda,
or whether they will fall into the same old patterns which helped get us here.

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Fact is that Mr. Obama is a Liberman clone. Look at Mr. Obama's appointment so far. They are mostly Clinton DLC Democrats.

Many of us saw that Mr. Obama was running as a progressive for change, but his record screamed that he is a DLC conservative Clintonista. Now that his appointments are confirming our pre election knowledge, we are telling you that you have been snookered.

We use strong language, because you are so very hard headed that normal rational discourse does not seem to get through your thick sculls.

Self reflection is something you are not accustomed too; because the truth hurts.

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I am still celebrationg and inspired, but also very concerned about two things: 1) Economists like Ravi Batra are not involved so the old thinking is still in charge of trying to steer the economy; and 2) most of those who voted for Obama now think they don't need to stay active and be the ones who change the world.

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so...good points.......

i do agree....

the question is: what to do about it? We believed that there was hope in audiacity...if we could see it and believe it ... we could make it happen.

It is true...it is hard to reach the silly me's.....even after they feel it -- it is hard for them to see....how can we..who are not silly me's ..but do not have the power....who infact have a great sense of humor..about life...and want to help create a better world......
There are so many more of us...then of them......HOW CAN WE......FIND A PLAN TO INFLUENCE THE GOVERNMENT IN PROTECT OUR BEST INTERESTS?

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Primarily, elections are about government political policies which affect us all.

Tangentially, elections are about social issues which may affect only small subgroups within a society.

Being bi-racial is not one issue which is that very important to most in this society, compared to the big issues facing us all, today.

Remember, polls suggested that people were voting on the economy not, racism in this election.

The world is not all about you.

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If we say we want to DO something about our dilemma we get a one and hit the door bum!

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Not just because I say so but it inherently sucks because it creats a vacume from which nothing can excape! Precicely like drinking beer and smoking dope is like urinating into a gale force wind you get it right back on you.

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. . ."A revolution without dancing is a revolution not worth having."

I have a bit of a problem with much of this discussion. There seems to be a lot of concern over what Barak Obama will do or won't do once he's in office. This view ignores the one truly important lesson we should take from his campaign. Our concern should now be over what we, the people, will do or won't do once the next President is sworn in. It isn't finally up to any President, any administration, any Congress to protect our rights and get the nation back on track. It's up to us and if the effort fails, we can only blame ourselves. Hey, folks, let's avoid setting up Obama, in advance, as a scapegoat for anything that might or can go wrong. It's our collective responsibility to see that things go right.

And we shouldn't be afraid to dance now and then.

With love under will,

Bob, Adastra,
The Wizzard of Jacksonville

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gross generalizations and clueless comments - sorry to put a damper on Obama afterglow but the "left" is not monolithic group of complainers - given the cabinet choices of recent days, not to mention late capitalism's structural problems (a system that requires poverty, growth and environmental degradation) there is still a lot to be worried about - who at alternet decided to run this peice of crap? Who the hell are you Tom Wise???

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you have a good point in saying that hope is more instrumental to change than rage and bitterness. however, you did not need to type cast people who are making genuine criticisms as whacko's who are into enver hoxa's playlist. that's just not what the reality is, and you know that. you reactionary you...

most of the criticisms placed on obama on this site and from the left in general are based on facts and genuine concerns: that underneath a cosmetic surface of "change" there is just more market-based neoliberalism. his early cabinet choices strongly support this concern.
what am i to do? just look the other way?

i'm going back to my pablo neruda LP's now lighting incense and drinking mate...

HASTA LA VICTORIA SIEMPRE!

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Is Obama against the slaughter in Iraq? I have never one heard him say anything about the 1.5 million murdered Iraqi's, nor that invading Iraq is a war crime.

Is Obama against US imperialism? No. Would he use the US military to kill poor people for US power. Yes.

Is Obama against financial capitalist elites raiding the US treasury, leading to declining standards of living for most Americans. No, he supportsit.

Will Obama allow the US to be structurally adjusted like a third world country so the elite can prosper as the mass sits in food lines? Yes.

Geithner, strangled East Asia. Volcker, strangled the US people with double digit interest rates. Summers, brought a violent mafia to power in Russia...

America, we are screwed, and Obama is in on it.

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Way to malign anticonvulsants, Alternet.

Wouldn't "toxic" have worked just as well?

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Oh, what a great summing-up of something I haven't been able to put into words. THIS is why third parties won't build their membership, or work for debate inclusion, or campaign reform. It would wreck a deeply cherished feeling they rely upon (and not all third party members, but certainly 90% of those who post here to let us Obamabots or trons or tons know how duped we are): the feeling of being one of the few enlightened outsiders. Even in this post-election season, many of the Nader supporters here are posting to let us know they still aren't going to join in anything except an aloof disdain.

I didn't realize this about third party supporters until a few months ago. Like the scenario described in the article, someone loving an obscure band until that band makes it big, I think the biggest letdown in the world would be a third party candidate winning. I think it would bring desolation to many who supported that person, and they'd find someone else marginal very quickly.

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HEre is the problem:

Maybe the people Obama took into his cabinet can change. After all, Bobby Kennedy was for the war...until he realized his error. And William F. Buckley Jr supported smoking until he testified that "We should be tried like the Nazi war criminals"

However, the Obama switch from words to action:

1. transparency to oversight...to business as usual
2. giving money to the banks without investigating needs and plans and making iron clad regulatioins...and open information so the we, the people, could atleast try to protect ourselves...True, Bush is still president. However, before Obama's election there was clear condemnation for the Bush decisions that caused the downward spiriling of our economy. After the election...silence.....as the money rolls out. And our Bankers stand before our senators and say: "ofcuase we will give ourselves bonuses...after all we are not using the Taxpayers money...we are using the bank's money."
STill no word....no action...from the Obama group. THese are clear signs..to come down from the high and get serious about what change means...are they not?

ENjoying ones young children is truely a joyous experience that puts happy face on life -- as long as one does not have to face the fear that they will not have food to eat or a homeless shelter to spend the night.

I worked to rid the horizon of the Bush/chenney clan...and elect Obama.....I am wondering..is it possible that Obama is not so much a victory over prejudice as a clean cut, intelligent, Harvard crdentialed, face clocking the closed doors in which our history is decided, as William F Buckley Jr was the face of young conservatives?
Example of a face: the open Martha Steward trial played out before our very eyes, while the ENron trial took place in the back rooms with the doors shut. Oh and did you notice, Martha Stewart is now bigger than ever. What could be funnier?? too bad the jokes on us.

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Purple Girl,

You have no understanding, like many on this site, of the significance of this election.

The significance is that it is the same old game with different puppet masters.

If you would like to "think outside the box" go here and read Mr. Chompsky on Democracy Now.

http://www.democracynow.org
/2008/11/24/noam_chomsky_what_next_the_elections

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At 68 million to 59 million with around a million for the others put together, that's a victory hard to deny. He'd better start taking that seriously and stop letting the monied/military/religious elites screw this country furthermore as if 28 years wasn't bad enough.

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I made a similar argument both on Alternet and my YouTube channel, taking my cue from the most radical Christian progressive I know: Cornell West. Dr. West is a prophet of change for our time. His analysis of the nihilism in politics, his synthesis of a deep democratic vision of better america and world can serve as a lesson for having a radical democratic vision that utilizes Love, compassion, a strong sense of justice and hope for a better tomorrow. That is what is lacking in the cynical left.

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Okay, so "the Left" has this problem of being dour, unfun, constantly negative whiners and losers. The author proves this by telling tales of the various stripes of commies he knew a long time ago. So now, anyone who looks with dismay at the bad signs emating from Obama's picks, and reacts with complaint instead of whistling hopeful tunes, is lumped in with these characters.
I haven't personally known many commies, but I find the characterization apt: you see them handing out their shrill literature at every peace march, and setting up book stalls at events--I noticed at the World Social Forum in Brazil in 2002 that they were always the first to arrive in the morning and the last to leave. A grim and joyless bunch--like any fundamentalists, NOT like any leftists. There were billboards there urging the people (in Portuguese, of course) Use Your Mouth to Fight Fundamentalism. They were talking primarily about market fundamentalism--neoliberalism. I wondered if they realized that there is another kind of financial fundamentalism--communism. Any time you get people determined to protect and advance the Ten True Things, you have fundamentalism and such people have a lot in common regardless of which religion or economic philosophy they're pushing. But these attitudes hardly characterize the entire Left.
These are desperate times, with enormous multiple crises facing the world. We have dithered so long on dealing with climate change (thank you President Harken and VP Halliburton) that now if we are to preserve a planet for our grandchildren fit to love on, we must make extreme, drastic changes immediately. Oil is peaking right about now, adding urgency to the need to transition off fossil fuels. Then there's the financial turmoil resulting from putting bank robbers in charge. Is it even possible for any president to cope with such problems simultaneously?
A leader capable of pulling that off would have to be extremely intelligent, have excellent judgment, be sufficiently articulate to persuade the American people of the necessity of the drastic changes we must begin making, and have the capacity to unite this divided country. Obama shows all of these qualities--which is why it's so frustrating seeing him blowing it with appointments that indicate we will have only cosmetic changes (although he's doing better in the realm of Energy/Environment than either the economy or foreign affairs). I seriously suspect that the Powers That Be have implanted him, his wife and his kids with little chips they can key at any time should he balk at his orders...although I must admit there were signs long ago that he's anything but a progressive.
Still, the movement he ignited, the naive (yes I said it and I'll say it again if I feel like it) young people may become a force to be reckoned with, people who will demand the change he promised. But this will only happen if we don't allow the likes of this author to persuade us we ought to shut up.

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There is incontrovertible evidence now for the power of group mind to affect the field that connects us all---to in fact intangibly influence the facts that we CAN measure. This happens through what we EMANATE, not firstly through what we do. It is crucial for people who are sincerely and intelligently concerned about helping to move the global community in a positive direction that we understand that we are each energetic magnets through what we EMANATE and that what we attract/amplify directly reflects what we EMANATE. Many would translate this to what we feel, although it is not exactly a synonym to EMANATE, as intention is part of the formula. Interestingly, one cannot falsify intention or emanation...
For those few that I haven't yet lost in the reading of this, I recommend you read Lynn McTaggart's book THE INTENTION EXPERIMENT and THE FIELD. And if you want to join the work she is helping to facilitate for factual global change in positive directions, go to the Global Coherence Initiative or type in Lynn McTaggart Intention Experiment and it will get you on the right track. About 15,000 of us recently did an 8 day experiment with our focus on northern Sri Lanka and after painstaking analysis, we apparently made a very significant difference in the intensity of violence there.
POLITICAL steering of group mind is, along with other steerings like religion, using this field constantly, but never talks about it for what it is, and group mind showed factual, measurable power through Obama's campaign and ensuing election. There was factual evidence of global group mind right after 9-11 also---demonstrated through Dean Radin/Roger Nelson's work from Princeton University. Evidence of some huge global group mind focus began hours prior to 9-11 series of happenings...I have yet to see this covered even within the groups trying for as much factual truth as possible about the 9-11 travesties...I find that interesting...

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"Everything sucks" is something I myself haven't actually heard anybody say. People have been both relieved and inspired by Obama's historic election. And now people are being disapointed as it is has become more clear Obama will govern from the center-right so they complain about it. I wonder when will it be OK to criticize Obama and not be accused of cynicism.

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Not a "progressive", which is the new word for "liberal", whatever that means...

Every single one of his economic appointments is a dedicated corporate neoliberal.

Under the neoliberal system, international corporations make the decisions and governments implement them. It's a fundamentally antidemocratic agenda that only benefits entrenched corporate interests, who have no real interest in environmental protections, social justice, fair labor laws, or anything like that - they just want to maximize profits, period.

So far, all indications are that Obama fits the mold - just another Carter, in other words. If he keeps this up, his administration will be a total failure. It's easy to view the economic picks as a repudiation of the entire campaign, isn't it?

"Change we can believe in!"

"Yes, that DOES mean Larry Summers!"

Just say it with confidence and authority, right?

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...Enough of 'Barbituate' Left Cynicism...does that even mean? The bedrock of cleverness is coherence.

Obama was a better candidate, among the two that we effectively get to pick from, because we allow the two machines exclude all other choices first and foremost.

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I would hardly call the election of a half black man whose means of appealing to the masses was to promise he would hunt and kill more people in Afghanistan any sort of triumph over white supremacy. Americans haven’t changed since the days they strung little blacks boys from tree tops. They are still the same hysterical racist blood thirsty nation. The only thing that has changed is the race that would be the target of their perpetual hysterical wrath. Now they use black people to show how great they are while they rape and slaughter Muslims and pillage their nations. Furthermore I don’t see much of a change for ordinary black Americans. All this self congratulating and blathering about your new black president is actually rather insulting to human decency. As if you could pretend that you are now transformed and your past is erased because you have finally, out of your total desperation, allowed a human being of color one shred of faith or dignity.

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First off, there is no organized Left in America that has the power to constrain the Obama administration in any way whatsoever. A criticism of Obama from the Left doesn't even penetrate mainstream media. That means that this article is attacking a phantom, an ideological caricature.

Second, everyone's going to go home and go back to work because that's the only path available to them. There was zero, literally zero, effort to organize the people who worked on the campaign - who supported the campaign with their sweat and dollars - into a real expression of democratic will, a real political power beyond the stage play of electoral politics. Aside from a minuscule number of positions in the government, there's nothing left for the liberal to do. Whose fault is that? Some phantom, marginalized, militant American Left? Some snarky commenters on internet message boards? No, it's the normal run of capitalist liberal democracy.

Finally, if you take equality and freedom as your axioms, as the very principles of your worldview, you reject the world as it is and its absolute injustice. Leftists have, correctly, located the source of that injustice in our managed two-party system of capitalist liberal democracy. If you have an argument to refute that I'd love to hear it.

Why must I refrain from the harshest of criticism? Haven't the Democrats had a majority in congress for two years? Haven't they had the power of the purse? Hasn't President Bush been unpopular for that time? Haven't we seen an escalation of war and a policies of complete disdain for ordinary working people while speculative capitalists are given every concession?

Why must I even wait until Obama gets into office? He's proposing his government's ideas and it's our right to criticize them. When he starts implementing them I'll criticize his government's implementation. In the meantime I'm trying to survive the recession.

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A dictator in the making is a dictator in the making. I dont care what his skin color is.

You are so easily fooled and manipulated. You chose between two of the same. One a crusty old war vet puppet, the other a half black articulate puppet.

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Obama himself is a slave, a slave to Wall Street and General Motors and Big Oil and Big Ethanol, a slave to the War Machine and U.S. Imperialism and Israel, a slave to We're Number One jingoism, avarice, and greed and the American Nightmare, a slave to the free market and free enterprise and free trade and the flimflam of corporate globalization, and most of all, a slave to the Democratic Party puppet masters who now move his strings.

Galeano (and Tim Wise?) doesn't seem to recall that Afro-Americans can be mass murderers too. Condi is a killer and Barack's big booster Colin Powell once obligated the United National Security Council to cover up a reproduction of Picasso's "Gernika" before he could lie that contaminated body in the eye about Saddam's make-believe WMDs and jumpstart a war that has now taken a million Iraqi lives. So far. The bloodletting has hardly abated.

We are in garbage time. The adulatory garbage being spewed about the virtues of Barrack Obama are a toxic trick on the peoples of the earth.

One glaring recent example: 100,000 marched from sea to shining sea in the U.S. last weekend (Nov. 16th) in support of same sex marriage and no one had the moxie to even mention that Barack Obama does not support same sex marriage.

False Messiahs are made to be unmasked. Anyone who aspires to be the maximum capo of the world's most homicidal on-going criminal conspiracy is just that, a criminal. Barack Obama is a war criminal-in-waiting masquerading as a peace candidate on the pretext that he will move the Yanqui troops two wars to the east to massacre civilians who did not vote for him. I am not fooled.

LINK

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*snore*

I'm so tired of people who seek the f*cking 'Great Leader' to do all their work for them...

"everything IS FINE NOW"
you'd better hope that man is all he's cracked up to be.
Just remember, he has to placate the military, the financial powerbrokers & the SIXTEEN INTELLIGENCE SERVICES...

those who don't? find themselves looking at the Kennedys as a Cautionary Tale.

wake up. if the PEOPLE don't establish themselves as a power, then why would anybody CARE about meeting the Human Rights movement if MONEY & POWER are the only ones at the Table?

you gave up ALMOST EVERYTHING because:

"we can't ask for what we want because HILARY might get in!"
"we can't ask for what we want because a Republican might get in..."

well, you got what you asked for... PRECIOUS LITTLE.

Nice job interview process, folks. 'The Apprentice' is more demanding than liberals. BUT THEN, MONEY & POWER KNOW HOW TO GET WHAT THEY WANT, right?

enjoy Afghanistan...

you might want to ask yourself... "did we get what we wanted? or what we were told was 'enough'... Obama didn't have Kucinich's platforms, now is he?

For a nation that likes strutting around telling the Rest of the World, 'how its gonna be, because 'we're Number One!',' you sure don't have two clues to rub together...



Spread Love, not corporate dependence...

BlueBerry Pick'n
can be found @
ThisCanadian
~~~
"... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice..." ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
"Violence can only be concealed by a Lie, & the Lie can only be maintained by Violence." ... "Any man, who has once proclaimed Violence as his Method, is inevitably forced to take the Lie as his Principle" – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
~~~
"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"

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I wasn't crazy about the dismissive tone of the article... but what many leftists don't seem to realize is that it is a long, long road from the pit we're in as a nation back to a CHANCE for a CHANCE to do any progressive reform on a national level. All Obama's win means in the short term is that the worst of the worst have been rejected. Any hope of change will come, has always come, from alternative institution building and advocacy on the local level.
The left, or part of it, understood this in the 70's, and many cooperative businesses and effective advocacy groups were born out of the hard work and commitment of this diverse group of people. A group which, by the way, ranged from secular academics to Jews with a social justice bent to denominational Christians who take the Gospel seriously.
We need to stop arguing so freaking much over who is perfectly right and look around where we are, for allies and for people who need help. Change comes, sometimes almost unnoticed, when people have a choice. A choice for a little more control, a little more freedom, a little more voice, a little more joy.

Look where you are... Washington is not the center of the universe.

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I don't think it is necessary for me to point out how disgustingly anti-Communist Wise's article is, borrowing liberally from the iconography of 1950s Red Scare movies but I would be remiss if I did not call attention to the patently obvious made-up character of the "Albanian Liberation League" whose members only listened to Albanian folk music. If this was an attempt at humor (feeble at best), it might be excused. Sadly, I have learned from email exchanges with Tim Wise that he sticks by this absurd story. In fact if you google "Albanian Liberation League", the only reference to it is in his own article. Since the ultraleft sects are well-documented on the Internet, it is most revealing that nothing turned up except that. Plus, I can assure you as a close observer of the ultraleft in the USA, no such group ever existed except maybe in poor Tim Wise's overactive imagination.

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Overall, I can do without the snarly disparagement of the Left. I think Obama was calling for resistance during his campaign, knowing that he would be forced to make horrid compromises from his DNC handlers. I'm very thankful that the pressure from the Left on John Brennan, particularly by American Psychologists resisting torture, has won out. I hope people continue to complain loudly and often. Those of us who organised and fought for his victory have earned the right to hold his feet to the fire.

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Finally, an article from a progressive that hails the "progress" aspect of this past election, and doesn't knee-jerk to the too-easy, whiny, nit-picking, fault-finding, never-pleased, always-pissed-off tendencies of many of the so-called leftists. These people Mr. Wise talks about exhibit the same narrow-minded, extremist, exclusionary, self-righteous, polarizing, aggressive, militant, condescending behavior, tactics, and language as do those on the fundamentalist far right. I wish we could lock up all these wackos from both sides in a massive warehouse with cases of steak knives stashed in the middle. Leftists on the left side, Right-wingers on the right, on your marks, get set, GO! A 21st century experiment in Social Darwinism, only the fittest will survive.

This part really hits the nail on the head. Stop taking yourselves so freaking seriously already! You know, the far-right feels it's on a mission from God and cannot rationally defend its viewpoints without invoking religious "Manifest Destiny." The far-left invokes the sacred anti-religion of Karl Marx in the same manner. They both lack the "humor" aspect of the ridiculous nature of man in his relationship with other men.

"The humorlessness of the far left -- to which I remain connected ideologically if not organizationally -- has always struck me as one of its greatest weaknesses. People like to laugh, they like to smile, they like to be joyful, and an awful lot of hardened leftists seem almost utterly incapable of doing any of these things. It's as if they have all taken a pledge that there should be no laughter until the revolution, or some such shit. No positivity, no hope, no happiness so long as people are still poor and exploited and being murdered by cops, and victimized by United States militarism, or performing as wage slaves for global capital, or eating meat, or driving cars. And they wonder why the left is so weak?"

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The folks that are feeding us the left's version of 'everything sucks' may not actually be old enough to remember when we were a bit Freeer than we are now and how we lost it.

Yes there are millions of activists,myself included, and public spirited vlounteers looking towards the positive. It's Big O's recent Cabinet choices that have given more than a few us 'Old School Activist's' pause.
We see the 'Republicanizing' of an alledged 'Democratic' President-Elect. We've seen the 'bait and switch' before,so there are also millions of us that are watching very closely what Big O is doing. So far I've seen little in the way of difference,but then again he's not actually 'in office' yet.

I do hold out great hope for all of us to come together and straighten out the ills of the governance and there's a lot of ills to heal. It's up to the Elder Activists and Volunteers to help focus our younger brothers and sisters to be vigilant on making sure the
promises are kept. I've lived through 10 Presodents and not a one of them and the only 'promise' they kept was to send the young off to die somewhere other than at home of old age.

Yes,there are millions of us that are watching. We're willing to act too. We're looking to make sure the 'we' that needs to bring change to DC is really We the People and not a samll circle of 'friends' of Big O.

Yes we've taken a major step,as far as breaking the 'color' shield. It should have been done long ago. But that's not how things get done here. You have to cajole and wrangle your way collecting 'friends' that may or may not actually 'have your back'. So Young Mr. Obama truly needs the protection of all the people because he has fallen into a nest of vipers.

The message from Main St is 'We're sick of Killing of all kinds.' and " Don't bailout the greedy. That's what got them into trouble in the first place.', 'We want total healthcare for all citizens because the lax emission's laws have been slowly killing all of us for generations and most of the ailments we are forced to endure are from man-made pollutants'
and 'If you're going to stimulate my economy then you'd better think a hell of a lot more than $300 bucks!'

We want a governance that thinks about the needs of the People first.not second to industry or finance or the military. We want a governance that will 'Honor the veterans and Troops' by moving hard in the direction of Peace. A Peace that wasn't won by force of arms. We want a governance that would rather have a total disarmament global ideal than the advanceing of global fear through high tech
missle defense shields. We want a governance that is open and Honest, as much it would kill most of the DC'ers to be Honest but that's the best waty to save Democracy and exactly what's needed.

Yes there's millons of us watching. We don't think 'everything sucks' but we do believe the best governance is run by the People. It's the folks that want to convince you that the lefties really believe that,that you've got to look out for.

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Gates has been chosen to stay on as Secretary of Defense - and Obama is saying that this fulfills his campaign pledge to have a Republican on board.

This is hilarious. Bush gave that token pick to Mineta, the transportation secretary. Obama gives it to Gates, the guy in charge of keeping troops in Iraq. The only reason to keep troops in Iraq is to secure the oil deals - the troops are what fuels the insurgency. Just long enough to get a U.S.-friendly version of Saddam back in power - same old thing.

"Change we can believe in!"
I wonder if Obama will be so pleased about the wonderful internet, now that all his campaign promises are a matter of record...

Barack Obama, Feb 5 2008 CHANGE We Can Believe

"They want somebody who is talking straight to them about the choices that are ahead." - Barak Obama, Feb 5 2008

We want out of Iraq, get it? We want an end to trade deals that ship U.S. jobs overseas to slave labor states like China, right? We want an end to the two-faced Democratic hypocrisy exemplified by the Democratic Leadership Council and the Progressive Policy Institute, in which Democrats quietly serve the same corporate agenda that Republicans do, while keeping public discussion focused on things like racism and sexism and "culture wars".

So, that's public opinion - and yet he decides to keep on Bush's Secretary of Defense - the guy responsible for the entire civilian side of the U.S. military decision-making apparatus? Maybe we're all supposed to be grateful he didn't bring Rumsfeld back...

Transparent enough, I guess. I don't see any clean energy or anti-war program here. For that, we'd need Dennis Kucinich and Ron Paul. On energy and environmental issues, all we hear from the Obama team is a curious silence...

Did you know that Warren Buffet, one of Obama's major advisors, is up to his neck in coal and tar sand oil deals? Railroads make a lot of money shipping coal from mines to power plants, and Buffet is a major holder. He also is involved in multiple aspects of tar sand oil development, both at the producing end in Canada and the refining end in the Midwest. Obama is a great admirer of Warren Buffet, who is American's leading robber baron.

Second, one of Obama's major lifetime backers is the biggest electric utility corporation in the U.S., Exelon. Their business plan is heavily reliant on coal-fired power, as well as on nuclear expansion - but solar and wind? Not interested. Here's some background:

"Democrat Barack Obama has come under fire for his ties to Exelon Corp, the largest operator of nuclear reactors in the United States and one of his most generous financial backers. When Exelon failed to disclose radioactive leaks at one of its nuclear plants, Obama tried to push through a bill in the Senate last year that required such plants to notify state and local authorities of such cases, the New York Times reported last week. According to the Times, the final proposal was a watered-down version of the original legislation that "played into the hands of the nuclear power industry." Obama has collected at least $222,000 from Exelon employees for his presidential campaign, making the company his eighth largest contributor last year.

Big Coal and Big Nuclear - that's Obama. A little different from Big International Oil (i.e. the Houston-Saudi-London axis, see Craig Unger on House of Bush, House of Saud). He's less likely to start wars, and he'll give token support to weak domestic programs, rather than gutting them.

This is a disaster in the making - a complete repudiation of all campaign promises.

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Tim Wise describes is a tiny, ineffective micro-fraction of the actual Left. I was also active in the 80s when Central America was a big issue and these dim-witted, alienating "party-builders" were always showing up, storming meetings, demanding representation in proportion to the numbers who stormed the meeting and taking things over then running them into the ground. One of these heedless groups, the RCP, used to run to the front of demonstrations with red banners, burn some flags and taunt the police into cracking heads. Then they'd run into the crowd to hide when the batons started swinging and the cable ties started cutting off people's circulation at the wrists.

The thing Wise doesn't get is that there is a huge difference in numbers, strategy and ideology between the sectarians and the rest of unaffiliated Left. They are cultists with fairly pronounced psychological problems; the rest of us have a radical critique that is subject to regular reflection and refinement. I know. I was a member of a very small and as it turns out, very unimportant revolutionary group in the mid-70s. After too much blather about "Uncle Joe" Stalin I bailed out, but I have held fast to my views, which are probably in line with Noam Chomsky and other systemic critics of empire. This means that while I allowed myself to crow a bit after election day, I have not taken leave of my senses. I view Obama, his hawkish statements, his free-market fundamentalism and pro-bailout position, his re-activation of the Clinton regime, in this context. It all comes down to this:

The purpose of elections in America is to perpetuate the seamless continuity of elite rule.

If anything comes of Obama's victory it won't be because of Obama, it will be in spite of him. It'll be because of the rising expectations of his millions of supporters, whose rosey view of all things Obama is about to get hammered by the reality of the actual Obama regime.

If all that makes me a walking "barbiturate, so be it. I am profoundly relieved that Mad Dog and Miss Perky were not elected and at the same time profoundly disturbed that so many of my neighbors voted for them. Meanwhile Mr. Wise, Obama just used a significant chunk of political capital pushing through a $700 billion bailout, which your daughters will have to pay for.

In WWII, the press sometimes called General George Patton "old Blood and Guts". His soldiers said, "our blood, his guts". They died by the truckload for his greater glory. To paraphrase those poor bastards, about Obama, "our hope, his change".

Pardon my skepticism and stay tuned in. We'll see soon what it all means.

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The left is always so pissed because it is on the bottom and wants to turn the world bottomside up. Then IT can give the people the choice of working freely for the State or going to the camps. After all, that's fair.
And if we all pitch in, we may still turn this place into another North Korean or African wonderland.

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Tim Wise has spent his life working for racial equality. I'm respect and applaud this work and of course when I visible symbol of progess is made in your life's work, of course you feel optimism. Bask in it.

But me, I'm one of The Poor, and I have the W-2s to prove it. Obama talks a lot about helping the middle class but he rarely mentions The Poor. People are selling Hope, we've got Hope, we wouldn't have made it this far without Hope. What we need are a decent jobs. And Barack can't even say our name.

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Reality bites. Your rants won't make any more difference than my disappointments during this wisp of time between the two lame ducks, one who had to vacate his senate seat in anticipation of accessing the oval office in a month, the other one scorching and burning as much as possible with last minute acts of terror against this earth.

I'm hopeful. I, too, was gratified to see an African American make that acceptance speech on the night of November 4, and I cried tears of joy, but that does not change the direction Obama is already taking in preparation for his office, with regard to war, with regard to corporate welfare, with regard to offshore drilling, with regard to many things.

I repeat, I'm hopeful, and I don't spend much time criticizing Obama in my native habitat. Mainly, all day long, wedged between bible thumpers and wingnuts, I listen to people griping about a marxist socialist communist being elected, and there is no convincing them how similar Obama's views are to McCain's. I live in Texas. I have to be hopeful.

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Tim,
Your rant is labeled as an indictment of far leftist cynics but seems to be equally applicable to right wing harpies. Harpies appear to be harpies whenever they meet one another in the ethers of extremism where left joins right in a death grip on unreason. Thus, Barry Goldwater's mantra that extremism in the cause of virtue is no vice is horribly wrong-headed. In fact, my 65-year-old perspective convinces me that extremism in the cause of vice is more likely the virtuous choice.

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I can't agree more with the critical take on the humorless, arid position of the holier than Thou left and beyond. It is a great excuse for not doing anything. Obama is Realpolitik - and reality politics is the real world of getting things done as best you can under the circumstances. Besides, the cynics by marginalizing Obama, seem to be ignoring a basic tenet of mass leadership: charisma. And Obama has that and a message of hope and reform - above and beyond breaking racial barriers. An intelligent President for once! Shouldn't the intelligensia be crowing? If they are not, it is because they are ivory tower purists who are more interested in being RIGHT than in making things right. A leader gets people behind him/her and that helps gets things DONE. In many other countries such an ideological split as we have seen would have meant revolution in the streets - in the U.S. we just grumble and have talk radio - Can't we acknowledge that that mere fact is a sign of democracy's greatness and potential for even grander efforts? Forgive me for quoting a someone not from the left- But as Winston Churchill said - democracy is a terrible system, but all the others are worse. (Not to mention Teddy Roosevelt saying do what you can where you are with what you have....) Let's put our shoulders to the wheel as cheerfully as we can manage...

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(something worth reading)

http://www.truthout.org/112608A

Learning to Lead
Wednesday 26 November 2008
by: Dahr Jamail, t r u t h o u t | Perspective

[...]
We in the United States have grown acclimatized to a system that first dehumanizes us and then inevitably feeds on our dehumanization, sucking away at our resources, our rights, and our resistance while we scamper frantically around in the pursuit of life, liberty, and happiness.
[...]

Making Real the Symbol

But this is not the time to despair, or merely hope.

"The cure for despair is not hope. It's discovering what we want to do about something we care about." - Margaret Wheatley

To underscore the essence of this moment in history, I refer once again to my partner's email from Africa, "We must not forget the tremendous responsibility we have now, to see that Obama maintains his promise of change ... we must not relinquish this moment nor this victory into his hands entirely. As he learns to lead us, so must we learn to lead him."



As for this 'humor' thing, etc., that's just a red herring and more personal smear as we get from the right wing.

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It's not cynicism or leftist to demand Accountability in Government.
Without it as a priority as deems necessary in light of the high crimes of the Bush Administration, any CHANGE we see will be camoflaged in CHAINS on US.

All the Obama and all congressional committees have already done all the investigations.

They all know the war crimes.
100's of thousands of innocent people have died because of a plethora of known reasons.

Livelihoods ruined, destroyed, nations literally in ruins., complete industries bombed to smithereens, 100's of thousands crippled for life. Families completely shattered. Agony, pain, despair. Millions homeless & destitute unfathomable hunger and starvation, whole biological environments uninhabitable and wildlife decimated.
radioactive weapons of mass destruction unleashed upon generations to come.

All this by George W. BUSH

Now what do you all not understand?

They all know how the Constitution has been trashed.

They all know actions implemented under BUSH the "Decider's" watch (or should we say "not watching" have compromised national security. That being the economic stability of the country has purposely neglected in order to maintain and push forth middle east empire building. That alone point to ill qualification to even be in a "management position. Any Corporation in the world would have fired the bastard long ago for destroying the country.
But even as Michael Moore warned the whole nation years ago people refuse to recognize the critics that fore told of the how Bush's policies were bound to lead to these consequences.

Until 911 is opened and reinvestigated, and even brought people accountable whom were negligent on their watch. There can never be any trust in this government again.

NO other President in the history of this nation has ever been allowed to get away with so much.
In comparison to Nixon and not even Clinton, Bush is unparalleled in Impeachable offenses.

But senators and congressmen in collusion with the NeoCon machine and corporate financiers guard their machine at ALL costs.
For them to be dethroned and have a national distrust of the economic system and leadership exposed as corrupt wold destroy their power base. POWER over the flow of all activity on planet earth is theirs. They will blow the world up before they give it up.

The only thing that can turn it around is the people being fully marching in unison, including our boys in uniform to weed out the system. People have the power. But the media and movie industry uses every propaganda blitz at their disposal to keep the sheeple mesmerized and divided. Because people hold on to idealistic and romantic notions that the word United States reflects this continents social continuity, they accept being exploited and accept the "Chains" (not Change) like good "Christian martyrs" belief there is redemption by suffering.
BULL SHIT.

SO Americans are subdued and fully beat each other up, accept the corruption and spin and redefinition of political wordsmithing as they
whine only left wanting more.

There can only be reconciliation and a heart warming trust and true faith in leadership when they are made accountable. Any sense of safety and security people can have in this country is nil until the perpetrators of the actions that have transpired during Bush's office are brought to justice.

IT ALL IS IN THE HANDS OF THE PEOPLE TO REESTABLISH JUSTICE.
Does the french revolution remind you of ideas? That was a time when people had had enough.

You should all Hail the Pirates of Somalia, the only people alive that have any guts (and are pretty smart too!

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I slogged my way through this rant-posing-as-article and it reinforces my experience that some "activists" are so wired for black-or-white binaries that much of what they have to say is rendered void because of that wiring.

I couldn't disagree more with Wise's perceptions because of those little nagging things called FACTS. It is absolutely IRRESPONSIBLE to suggest to critics that they are "barbituates" merely because the critic and do so based on facts.

FACT: Obama promised numerous times to take progressive positions on the economy and for the benefit of working people not the uber classes.
FACT: He's selected economic advisors who were the very ARCHITECTS of the economic disaster we have now.

Sorry, Tim, that you can't seem to notice the facts for your own urge to experience happy-happy joy-joy. You're irresponsible to suggest critics of Obama based on FACTS should remain mute.

We will not and you will have to deal with us, whether you want to or not.

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Made me grin with recognition. I really gave the Left an extended try in my day too, and found it similarly paralyzing. And I have been amazed at how energy-sapping the bulk of AlterNet comments have been ever since Obama won the Presidency -- in general, I've just quit reading them.

The comments to this piece are predictably hilarious. Of course the carpers and quibblers are responding to the suggestion that carping and quibbling are not forward motion with... LOL! a sh*tstorm of carping and quibbling! What's life about, after all? If we don't complain about the pea under the mattress, how will anyone know we're a princess?

People, look at yourselves! You have been slamming doors shut on the basis of the tiniest omens since the morning of Nov. 5! We are still two months away from any official action the guy can take, and you've already written him off! All the lessons of his campaign -- a collection of dubious characters and erstwhile prima donnas that functioned as the tightest ship ever seen in politics and took its guidance exclusively from Obama -- were erased the moment he won, and you all have been looking for loose threads, no matter how minuscule, ever since!

I'm a survivor of DC, and Obama's picks are starting to form a very different pattern for me than for the Purist Brigade. His first hire is a junkyard dog who knows him well. All his subsequent Cabinet decisions, to my eye, need to be viewed in the context of a President with a chessplayer's brain, a clear notion of the direction we need to be moving in, a tremendous capacity for detail and multitasking, and an enforcer to make it happen.

Some of the areas already selected for are labyrinths designed to repel outsiders -- Defense and Wall Street in particular. You can't send a Dennis Kucinich (whom I admire) into those jungles and expect him to make smart moves right away, you have to co-opt someone who already speaks the language and put them on a very short leash, with a shock collar named Emmanuel. (Hillary Clinton is the exception, but I suspect her appointment is designed to rein in both the Senator and her husband -- who has been running wild in the international sphere.)

But no, every pick should be Jesus or the Buddha, and Obama should himself be better than Jahweh ever was. I guess there's no harm in this form of paralysis -- we got Obama nominated despite it, and elected too. The carpers will never give him credit for the good he will do, just like the far right won't, but they'll be happy to live in the better country he'll help create. . . (grinning) Well, maybe "happy" is too strong a word...

Wise's main point -- that change comes from us, and that we've just had a success experience which has reminded us that we are not simply consumers of government, but makers of it -- seems to have been missed by many of the commenters here.

That's fine. While you all argue over how many angels can -- or should -- dance on the head of a pin, the rest of us will be shoveling the garbage out of the streets. You'll never thank us for the clean streets -- but the point of this article was, who cares? The streets will still be cleaner, and lots of us imperfect types will be proud of our part in making it happen.

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The tone of the article is itself, quite negative. It seems to be doing precisely what the author was criticising.

History will determine the extent to which Obama's election is symbolic. But regardless of that ultimate judgement, his election is at the very least, a candle in the darkness that descended when Bush-Cheney-Rumsfeld turned the lights out.

In the meantime, let's keep the faith. Let's continue to know that there IS a way to global equality and opportunity. Let's continue to do, each in our way, whatever we can to help move humanity towards that goal.

Real, permanent change may be generations away. Individually, we may be little more than witnesses at a window as the parade passes by.

In the meantime, let's not diminish anyone's contribution by criticising each other for the size or style of the candles we carry.

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Or about not wanting multi-national corporations controlling the world's economies, our food and water supplies, our education systems, etc., etc. Dennis Kucinich did his part in shifting his supporters into Obama's camp early. It's payback time.

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What apathetic nonsense from Tim of Tennessee, who wants us to wait and see? Hey, Tim, how much evidence do you really need to see that The Democrats work in collusion with the Republican Party, not against it?

I call folk like Tim Wise 'Peace'crats, simply because they are not actually for PEACE so much as they are for voting DP. We in the Movement have a big problem now, and that is keeping people like Tim from braking us yet even more from mobilizing people like they don't, and never much will. The glue of the Democratic Party keeps them tied to the ground, so don't look for folk like Tim to help mobilize folk against their racism of continuing to support US occupation of Iraq, Somalia, and Afghanistan.

I like Tim, having met him once, and he works in a difficult state. However, making folk think that the Northern DP elite is different much from the Southern RP elite is mistaken nonsense. You can do better than this rant against us to the Left of the DP voting crowd you call realists, Tim. Can't you?

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It's Obama's opportunity to take or to blow. But it's my right and my duty to keep his feet to the fire. To give him a pass because of his race is RACIST.

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Americans chose a young, black man named Barack Hussein Obama running on a platform of "change," over an old, white veteran who ran on a platform of fear. People who discount what a huge step forward that was for this country have no concept of reality.

I very much appreciated Wise's essay, "Good, and Now Back to Work: Overcoming Cynicism and Overconfidence in the Age of Obama." This one, I'm not sure I get. Going after Stalinists for their lack of joy? It seems like a straw man used to attack people rightly critiquing Obama's actions since elected.

Obama's candidacy was an important step forward for this country because millions of Americans came together to make it work. Whether Obama's presidency will be important will likewise depend upon millions of Americans coming together to make real demands upon him and upon Congress.

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The founders of our country knew very well optimism and joy. They immortalized this in the Declaration of Independence. To wit, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

We travel on this life journey from ordeal to ordeal. We must pursue happiness. It balances the crap.

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We are being socially engineered by the elite to behave in the self-destructive ways that we are right now. I'm not sure if Mr. Wise realizes this. There is an onslaught of nonstop propaganda to keep us right where we are, immobilized, stagnant and divided. There are only a few things that can change this and one of them is people realizing that the elite cannot run anything if we refuse to work for them, all of us! A few million won't do it. All of us have to stop going to work and bring the world to a ceasing halt. The elite will have to listen to our demands then. The other thing we can do is take control of the media to stop the brainwashing but that will be nearly impossible without billions of dollars. The last thing we can do which I don't believe is feasible is organize locally and build a grassroots movement. We've been talking about that for decades. It just doesn't work because people expect faster results in the land of instant gratification. We simply have to stop working for the elite and their corporations until they give in to our demands.

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The founders of our country knew very well optimism and joy. They immortalized this in the Declaration of Independence. To wit, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."

We travel on this life journey from ordeal to ordeal. We must pursue happiness. It balances the crap.

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"A laugh is a protest scream against death"
Mel Brooks

All matter is really energy condensed to a slow vibration. We are all one consciousness experiencing itself subjectively. There is no such thing as death. Life is only a dream and we are the imagination of ourselves. It's just a ride folks so lighten up"
Bill Hicks

;)

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this thanksgiving day is a shame tyo perpetuyate the memory of those enlgish pirates who came to american shore in early 1600s-did they lose the way to pilgrim>after all jerusalem was and still is east to pymouth not west.
no -they awere english abstrds who were racists and very pirates in essence and were the scum of the earth-their arival in america is celebrated by the americans most of who have no ebnglish or british ancestry-in fact moere than 60% of americans are not of anglosaxon descent but in name of whote e=versues balck and other crap the aenglish derived scum bags have maninted their illgotten power in america so much that amerc=ica celebreates this crap thankgivintg more than the 4th of july.
so called white supremacists are nothing but engliahs scum bags and their agents-they donto like germans irish, frewnch or scandinavions either-who are more white than these english derived scum bags.

===================

How britain got hold on america after american independence-- --- This all started soon after Napoleonic war when in 1816 to 1817 The english again attacked america in her southern flanks and the day was saved only because of some French navy mercenaries and French speaking population of Louisiana and such states along with non-english origin americans. But the english invaders infiltrated among that population of the south of USA which today calls itself bible belt (whose god has always been english royalty and who worship only stolen money).By 1850 to 1860 England attacked erstwhile friend (in Napoleonic war) Russia in Crimea along with erstwhile foe (now controlled by unpopular english stooge) France.-how the same pattern is so predictable in case of this intrusive, cancerous exploitative race called english and anglo saxons. At that very time England was actively supporting the slave exploitation, in fact all the big plantation owners were english derived and they owned loyalty not to flag of United states of america but to England. -in other words they were agents of foreign country who wanted to keep south america occupy as foreign power again. The civil war in america was not only supported with money and arms by england but rather england was the instigator of american civil war in order to keep whole of america enslaved and if not possible at least those parts (South) where it could call upon filial loyalty. It was truly a war of race-not against whites and blacks but against anglo saxons versus blacks, Irish, other European peoples .The same would be repeated in future. The confederacy was a traitor to america-a british agents; but ironically that same confederacy flag today is being propagandised by their descendents as symbol of american independence and patriotism. Having lost the proxy war england resorted to the one thing it specialises-terrorism and misinformation. Abraham Lincoln was murdered by the person very sympathetic to british cause. (against Napoleon england had sent several terrorist squads-that is why Napoleon had to declare Himself an Emperor to maintain the clear line of succession to protect glorious French Revolution). It is very interesting that most of the american presidents assassinated were those whom England did not want being elected. By the end of civil war ,instead of disinfranchasising the british supporters (of southern states) and taking away their land or at least redistributing evenly the stolen land, the american govt. was persuaded by britain to spare them and let those southern traitors keep all the stolen land so that drug (tobacco) and cotton would be of assured supply to england. Of course by that time because of fall of Napoleon (brought about not by military might but by conspiracy to embroil the Europeans among each other( conspiracy hatched in London-that was the only english contribution to napoleons' fall-forget waterloo where Austrians and Prussians had contributed most militarily):consequently

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I sick of seeing and reading of all the commentators from everywhere with their premature, AND BIASED OPINIONS. Even in my own family. I have a religious nut daughter whom I'am about to disown because of all right wing crap she is spreading and all the lies she has bought into. If he is a servant of satan, the antichrist, or Muslim terrorist, we will find out soon enough and do what we have to do. Obama is one of the most intelligent presidents and well spoken persons that I have heard in a long LONG time.
PS..I usually vote Republican. Never again. Have a nice Thanksgiving and pray for everyone

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Obama ran a great ad campaign, no doubt about it. He garnered the whole political spectrum left of center, except for the few "third party" advocates. When the dust settles, what part of that spectrum will he represent? When you look at the Cabinet he is putting together for himself, you don't have to guess as to the kind or degree of "Change" we can expect. Unless a vast majority of Americans make their desires heard (raise hell) the capitalist powers that be will determine our future. Count on it! This is not the time to wait and see(you don't expect them to "roll over" now do you?) it's time to demand what we want to change and to who' end. Call me a downer if you must, but a sucker I'm not.

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I read this piece during my lunch break and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was really glad to see an article that posits that the joy of living is compatible with a desire to improve the human condition. I sometimes wonder how extremists, both on the right and left, can exist in a state of never-ending distress, dissatisfaction, and agitation. Really sad, man.

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Very good, inciteful commentary!

Isn't it interesting how the dourly, deadly serious extreme ends of the political spectrum seem to look and sound alike?

Living as I do in an extremely rural and overwhelmingly conservative area, I've learned that idelogy must often be tempered with pragmatism if anything is to be achieved for the good. A well-developed, self-efacing sense of humor and a thick skin are also essential to survival in such a political climate. But it IS possible to bring people along if you know how to frame your arguments!

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A Vote of Confidence Amendment will give American voters the power to dismiss any elected official, or their appointees, who fail to respond to the public will.

VOCA, Now !!

FREE AMERICA

REVOLUTIONARY (DIRECT) DEMOCRACY

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Abya Yala

Message to the Americas

Continental Confederation of the Eagle and the Condor

"Ese sol ya se acabó, este nuevo ya empezó."



Now the call for change comes at the threshold of a new administration in Washington that is historic for not being defined by the dehumanizing memes of caste and the historical trajectory of Manifest Destiny of the European American colonization on North America. The scars still bleed.


Now is the time for the realization of Integrity, integrating justice and dignity along with all of our fellow "Americans" of this continent Abya Yala a new hemispheric policy of Self Determination and Reciprocity with Respect for the Rights of the Nations of the Indigenous Peoples at a continental level, transcribed in the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples which was adopted by the UN General Assembly on September 13th, 2007.

The time has come to not only change but TRANSFORM our collective continental society of the Americas, breaking the chains of centuries of European-American racism and colonization, expropriation and exploitation by finally and for the first time arriving and discovering the ancient hearth of our global humanity here in the New World: a world under assault since the beginnings of World War One: October the 12th, 1492.


This war, the war against the Nations of Indigenous Peoples of Abya Yala, must also be brought to an end. Can this be the dream of the Americas, as it is the Destiny of Humanity?

Self Respect, Self Sacrifice, and Self Determination: Abya Yala.



NAHUACALLI

Embassy of the Indigenous Peoples

PO Box 24009 Phoenix, AZ 85074

Contact: Tupac Enrique Acosta, Yaotachcauh

Tel: (602) 254-5230 Email: chantlaca@tonatierra.org

www.tonatierra.org

http://www.un.org/esa/socdev/unpfii/en/declaration.html



***********

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So we should check our intelligence at the door and hail everything about Obama? No problem that he voted for FISA, the Patriot Act and war funding? No problem that he’s surrounding himself with hawks and that his economic team is filled with conflict-of-interest cases from the economic meltdown? We should just stop thinking and shut up? You’ve got a strange sense of democracy, Tim.

Yes, it’s great that there’s an African American as president, but we didn’t vote for a figure head, we voted for a leader who should be expected to match his campaign rhetoric with his actions.

So stop trying to quash dissent, Tim. Dissent is what got torture-advocate John Brennan off Obama’s team, and there is a lot more to be done. Our nation’s problems are complicated and are going to require COMMUNICATION to resolve. Get used to it.

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Anti-war or not, we are stuck with this war with Afghanistan. Why? Here is my simple answer: 9-11-01.

I know of almost no families of any of the 9-11-01 victims that are against the war with Afghanistan, and some of these people are even more rabid, anti-war "peacenick" hippies than I am.

The 9-11-01 victims' families want the ultimate in justice, and that is the prosecution (and yes, elmination) of the Seriously Dangerous and Evil Taliban. They will have no closure until the mission is accomplished.

Not convinced? Didn't you hear that members of the Taliban threw acid at girls walking to school the other day?? What did you think happened in Mumbai yesterday, and even that scare in the NYC subway system?? They are sobering reminders that the TALIBAN IS ALIVE, WELL AND READY TO ELIMINATE THE NON-MUSLIM SECTORS OF THE HUMAN RACE. WE CANNOT BE BLIND TO THIS!!)

Blaming Obama for starting that war is cheap pettiness, indicative of the sad sate of the troubling "sore winner/loser" mentality of this country. You cannot have it every way you want!

Some peace activists need to learn some important life lessons on grief. Have some EMPATHY for the 9-11-01 victims' families (including Pat Tillman's family, who will eternally seek TRUE JUSTICE FOR THE UNLAWFUL, BUSH-ADMINISTRATION-TAINTED FRIENDLY FIRE MURDER OF HIM), who must live with their grief for the rest of their lives. The grieving process is ETERNAL.

NEVER, EVER FORGET.

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I wish to speak on behalf of American turkeys. There is a great deal of self congratulatory back slapping on the part of you humans here.

Just stop to think! There is a slaughter of millions! I blame the administration! Yes, and the new one as well!

When are we going to see this change that we all desire?

Yours, a European turkey (Name and address kept secret. They are out to get me!

Gobble, gobble

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As a card carrying member of the socialist left, I was at the election night rally for Obama in Grant Park. I stood with thousands of other people while a black man became president-elect. It was a magical night...one that I will remember as long as I live.

Obama is a moderate cautious Democrat. I am not. But the movement that brought him to power is like nothing I have seen in decades.

If you can't celebrate the moment when the walls of white supremacy crumbled a little more and people across the nation demanded a genuine break from the past, than you should get out of the radical left business and go do something else.

Obama himself made it very clear that night in Grant Park. The Change is us. We have to wrest our nation away from a decrepit ruling class that is not only grossly overpaid, but is grossly incompetent.

We have to make this nation into a place where a U.S. president can preside over the Change we need.

While we're out doing that, Barack Obama has a broken and battered government to run and an economy that is teetering on the abyss.

Does that mean we shouldn't criticize his appointments and dissect his policies? Hell no. He's a grown man. He can take it. If we are smart about about it, he may even take some of our complaints seriously, especially if we have a movement to back them up.

As Saul Alinsky pointed out long ago,"Power goes to two poles: to those who've got money and those who've got people."

The time to hit the ground running is now, just like the abolitionists of Lincoln's time, the labor militants of Roosevelt's time and the civil rights activists of Kennedy's time.

Bob Simpson
The BobboSphere

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Have you ever watched the movie "Tune In Tomorrow?"

Do you really like to laugh?

The novel on which it was based, "Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter," by Mario Vargas Llosa, is great too. But it's set in South America, not New Orleans. And it's entirely devoid of Albanians.

The people who wrote the script for "Tune In Tomorrow" took a lot of liberties with the story, and they wound up creating a comedy classic. Marvelous performances by Peter Falk and Barbara Hershey. Five stars.

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Generally Uninteresting, Inaccurate, Hatred and Racist Blithering Article

This is a poorly written article. It has outdated ideas based on SOCIALISM, COMUNISIM, MARCISM, FACISIM, and RACISM. These concepts never last or ever work … ever …

The above social templates breed ineffective trailing societies that are racist and eventually fail. Look at Cuba, pre WWII Germany, and the USSR as examples. These societies have either failed, killed-off by stronger working societies or are let to fail of their own devices.

They are in collapse or have collapsed; their people suffered the lack of freedom and goods and services that capitalistic democracies or republics offer in their countries.

It is so obvious, lets see; Cuba actually invented the Internet and the USSR developed grocery chain stores, malls, and Rock-n-Roll.

Racists and Race-Baters, both the black version and the white version are living in a
largely by-gone era, especially the R/RBs here in America. SOCIALISM, COMUNISIM, MARCISM, FACISIM, and RACISM breeds stupidity in leaders and people.

I travel to Asia (Korea, Twain, and China) and Europe (Germany, Italy, and France) on business. In Asia I see a very limited number of women in the Asian business office. In Europe (more-so 10 years ago) I see a limited number of people of color in the business office.

I feel sorry for this hatred filled, out-dated, and single minded author.

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Obama didn't really fundamentally change the country, that had already happened over the 50 years + after school desegregations and following generational changes since the 1960's. What he did was show people how they had already changed and brought middle class and regional leaders more in touch with upper middle class and upper class networking societies, which are already socially inclusive. Obama is a businessman, he was able to see how far we'd come and cement change into the national dialog through the megaphone campaigning for president gave him.

Obama did a lot to address some of the more legitimate criticisms of the left by people who are socially moderate. He did a lot to fight the grief industry that focuses more on symptoms of inequality rather then on sound economic policy to fix those problems, a problem as many of the advocates for the poor are not economists. This culling of some of the weaker cultural warriors is healthy for liberals, it leads the rest of the movement more legitimate and stronger, if people don't view them as defending weak arguments from social sanctions. The key to democracy is the center- if we are not able to talk out our policy objectives we won't be able to write good laws.

I would like to note however the difference between an active center and a passive center, if politics isn't discussed by normal people it is easily subverted by those who would use political theory against the nation and people's interest. Lazy democracies become fascist countries quickly because someone has got to ensure that politician's keep their office, and if people won't do it businesses will.

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He gave out food at shelter to 400 people in Chicago with his family while Bush cut funding for food pantries while increasing the military budget. Obama understands how much people are suffering. So lets give him a chance. I cried when I heard this. I cried for all those who are hungry and suffering in this rich nation of ours. Thank God Bush nd Chaney are gone. SHAME ON OUR GOVERNMENT FOR LETTING IT GET SO BAD.

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Of course we have no idea what it is. But he is being way more transparent than any president elect in history. Of course this is the first one with you tube. The far left has displayed it's own extreme unfunctionality in this immediate post-election period. I think this article is sadly right on the money. If people would stop acting like stereotypes, there would be fewer to accuse them of being. Barack is basically trying to redefine the center in american politics. The republicans have been nudging it to the right and the clintons didn't do much. But it went so much more to the right during gwb that going to the left of the clinton years is almost impossible immediately. So if you don't like any particular appointees, maybe they won't stick around so long all the time? Or maybe Obama has some tricks up his sleeve to when it comes to making use of these people's talents and reigning in their drooling hawk behavior. We just don't really know until he is inaugurated because up until then we are in a actual leadership vacuum since Bush is already no longer in real power. But Obama doesn't have any either right now unless he takes bold president-elect action. The weird new boat-based terrorism tactics that the US would be horribly prepared for recently we're seeing in Bombay (the new Mumbai name is associated with hindu fundamentalists so I'll stick with the old one) is a serious one, combined with the Pirates, the fact is that much of the ocean is a security nightmare. Every day Barack is learning just how much worse off we are than he even imagined. It's gotta suck, so go easy on him for a little while. Let him get at least into real power. There's not much you can really do about it anyway. "It is what it is"

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This is a pretty silly article . Also dull and humorless.

Cynical leftists tend to be very fact-based creatures. It seems to me that if one really were genuinely intent on reducing apathy-inducing cynicism, a better approach than a lengthy ad hominem, would be to provide reasons why we should all be cheerful and hopeful in the midst of the ghouls parade that is Obama's cabinet so far.

Perhaps you should present an actual program, Tim. We have been hearing a lot of loose talk about this movement from below that is supposed to save Obama from all the riff-raff he has set about surrounding himself with. But how is this all supposed to play out., exactly, especially when folks like Wise keep enforcing this waiting period on 'negativity' to which Obama is entitled for no reason but his race?

But, of course, Wise is not interested in improving things. Like the guilt-inducing hectoring of his anti-racism blather, what comes across more than anything is preening self-regard in relation to so many flawed others. By the way Tim, I doubt if anyone familiar with your career considers you fun, humorous or particularly effective. And when I think of what I don't like about the official left, I think of people like you.

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Given our country's history, one could say anytime is a good time to get our first black president.

I disagree with that statement, because what America needed to repair the damage from President Bush-Cheney was (1) impeachments and (2) a president who would take a bold turn to the left.

You don't get anything for free in Washington D.C.
There is always a trade-off.
If you want to add a few cents to the federal minimum wage, you also get a tax cut on capital gains or and end to the Estate Tax.
You don't get a black president this early unless you are willing to let go of the dream of someone strong enough to counteract Cheney and Bush.
If you take the safe road and make deals with President Bush-Cheney about getting out of Iraq, you stay until 2012.
No black man could reach the White House this soon without being a Republican or a Republican-lite.
It is a great victory for Barack Obama, but it is a setback for the country.
It's a great victory for equality, exactly like it would have been if Powell had decided to run in the 90s.
When the pendulum swings back after Obama, it will swing further right than it ever has, because Obama will define the New Left (just to the right of Reagan).
Pelosi put impeachment off the table and swore to work with Bush to end the bloody Iraq Occupation. The Democrats presented us with a fascinating multi-ring circus with our choice of the first woman or first black.
The Republicans countered with the first ex-POW and assorted clowns.
Forgotten during this diversionary Reality Show was the fact that the crimes of President Bush-Cheney requires IMPEACHMENT, not waiting years until the next election.
You can't heal a wound without painfully scrubbing it clean first.
Because we took the timid road, there are infected sores that our country will carry for the rest of its life.

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Hello, everyone. Just want to say that I like the multitude of opinions you're expressing. You'd make Obama proud. Why does anyone think that he'd be left-ish, anyway? He went to Columbia University and Harvard Law School. How many radicals graduate or even get into those schools? They're pro-establishment. He's never professed to be anything other than mainstream. But mainstream is a more global term now. If we're not networking with those around us (mainstream process) then we're being marginalized by the mainstream. That's how we have ended up with titles like, "country with the highest infant mortality rate amongst industrialized nations." It's also how we've ended up with a weak dollar. Obama is taking advantage of the best political resources America has to offer and trying to make change with what we've got to choose from. Give them suggestions, not criticisms.

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so I'm not experiencing any unusual disappointment at the moment. I do feel for all of his loyal supporters though. This guy seriously conned them and they are still trying to find excuses to celebrate.

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I am a young, non-drug using black man. Does my cynicism count? White liberals are always enthusiastic about claiming the end of racism - or at least some extraordinary advancement in battling it. Go ahead, but realize that abolition was followed by a century of Jim Crow and racial terrorism. The Civil Rights Movement gave rise to Reaganomics. And the Obama victory will cause both liberals and conservatives to proclaim that racial inequality is just about evaporated.

I was not around to "enjoy" all of the drug abuse that you and your friends engaged in during the 60s. Perhaps if you expanded your own base of colleagues, you would find that a lot of young progressives are underwhelmed by Obama. Many of us are black as well.

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Wise nailed the problem with the crabby left to the wall. Left wingers can't be happy until all the world's problems are completely solved and we can all sing in harmony. Obama wins, McCain loses and all the hard left can do is say, "Yeah, Obama would never hug a whale as hard as we do!" Oh, sorry a tree, he wouldn't hug a tree. Whatever.

Would left wingers be happier if McCain, who is still to the right of Obama won? Would it have given them a sense a smug superiority that yes, they lost, but they voted for the pure candidate, Ralph Nader? How exactly has voting for Ralph Nader changed the world? How? Oh, wait, I'm sure Ralph Nader still isn't the "left-wingiest." How has saying "Fuck Bush" or deciding to move to Canada changed anything? How has behaving like people 30 years ago-so retro-changed anything?

Sure, the hard left may feel the injustice of the oppressed Palestinians, Rwandans, Bosnians, etc, but all it's acquaired pain will not match what those people actually endure. Being ideologically pure doesn't change anything - it polarizes people. Left wingers ruin every chance to win people over by shouting obscenities and behaving like impudent brats.

If people already felt the way left-wingers did, they'd be left-wingers. As it stands, left wingers have plenty of people to be angry at, but little of themselves to be proud of.

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