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, September 5, 2011

Stung by the President on Air Quality, Environmentalists Weigh Their Options

Click here to access article by Leslie Kaufman from The NY Times.
In late August, the State Department gave a crucial go-ahead on a controversial pipeline to bring tar sands oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. Then on Friday, leading into the holiday weekend, the Obama administration announced without warning that it was walking away from stricter ozone pollution standards that it had been promising for three years and instead sticking with Bush-era standards. 
These shocked environmentalists are an example of North American progressives refusing to grow up. (See masthead statement) Obama is simply carrying out orders from his employers, the political operatives of the global ruling class of capitalists. If he failed to do so, he would be removed one way or another. But, liberals need not worry because Obama was raised by his white banker grandmother to please powerful white folks and serve their interests. These political operatives knew what they were doing when they groomed him to be President.

See also this and this. 
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