We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, May 24, 2010

The absence of debate over war

by Glenn Greenwald from Salon. 
...one of the most consequential aspects of the Obama presidency thus far:  the conversion of numerous Bush/Cheney policies from what they once were (controversial, divisive, right-wing extremism) into what they have become (uncontroversial bipartisan consensus).  One sees this dynamic most clearly in the Terrorism/civil-liberties realm, but it is quite glaring in the realm of war as well.
This is why I have previously argued that Obama is the perfect presidential puppet for the US ruling class. He masquerades as an outsider (an African-American), a change agent, a nice, eloquent guy who always purports to do the right thing, but somehow things never change. Well, he can't help it--it's the Republicans, corporations, the Tea Partyers, etc. (sarcasm)

This is why the ruling class used Democratic Clinton to pull the globalization rug over our eyes. Remember how free trade was a win-win for everybody? And it is why they used "war on poverty" and "guns and butter" Lyndon Johnson to expand the war in Indochina. It is why they used joke-cracking, smooth talking, former GE salesman and actor Ronald Reagan to "get the government off our backs" (remove all restraints and regulations on corporations).

Jesus Christ, people--wake up!
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