Saturday, October 22, 2011
Monday, April 18, 2011
WHEN HOPE SEEKS RE-ELECTION
First of all let me make it clear: this isn’t some sort of anti-American rant. At least I hope it doesn’t come off as one. These days I don’t write as much as I used to on account of me working on other stuff, mostly music, but every now and then something gets my attention to put finger to keyboard. This past week or so depending on when you read this, President Hope a.k.a Barack Obama announced his bid to seek re-election. You might not have noticed what with the war in Libya (it’s amazing how it quickly became a war) to Lauren Gbago facing his 11th hour to Japan to all the other stuff more important than Obama’s bid.
It’s hard not to be critical of President Obama. It’s even hard to be critical of him without coming off somewhat anti-American against U.S foreign policy. Let’s face it, Obama’s audacity has failed us. Back when Obama first decided to seek for the highest office in the land of the United States, not many outside of America gave him a chance. I did! I remember having a conversation with my older brother, either while watching a democratic presidential debate, back when there were like 12 of them or when it was just McCain and Obama during the final debates. My brother said there was no way America would vote for a black man. I told him he was wrong, not because I thought America had finally decided to see beyond colour, but because the hype around Barack was unavoidable, it was like no other. Corporate America was all over him like big corporations over an athlete to endorse their product. He couldn’t lose! He had practically won. All that was left was for him to take the oath.
I however did not fall for the hype that he was the savior that America and the world had been waiting for. My first refusal to fall into the hype was when I noticed how the American media was quick to vilify McCain whilst putting Obama on a pedestal. Rolling Stone magazine even did a cover where they exposed McCain as a sellout during the Vietnam war, when he was captured by the VietCong. That was before or after a Rolling Stone cover of Obama as America’s big hope. It was like the media had decided who they not only preferred, but who they wanted in office, rather than being fair and balanced. And no, FOX News does not count as balance.
My second refusal was when I read the separate agendas that Obama and his main democratic rival, Clinton had. Anyone who knows the history of America’s health issues in the ‘90s, will know that Hillary Clinton was the Pharmaceutical companies’ biggest nightmare when her husband was president. As First Lady, she had tried to push for free health care in America. The big companies eventually bought her over. Watch Michael Moore’s “Sicko” for more on that. Also Hillary had the better economic and health plans than Obama did. A fact that was more or less revealed after Obama clinched the democratic ticket.
I admit I was ecstatic when Obama won, but that was because on the surface America had gotten rid of one of its most negative images; that of years of internal racism. My excitement died the next day when I sat to watch Obama pick his cabinet. He was basically recycling Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Surely this wasn’t change we could rely on, was it? To add injury to his polished international image as a peace maker, especially in the Arab world, his very first meeting as president elect was with the Israeli lobby group AIPAC. This was not good. What was worse, this was shown on live TV to the world as if to say, “Make no mistake… this is where his allegiance lies”.
My final acceptance that Obama was not the chocolate Superman the media made him out to be was from my favourite blogger Byron Crawford a.k.a Bol, who interviewed Chicago based lawyer TPAR (These Posts Are Racists as he’s simply known). The interview touched on a few things, but more importantly on what TPAR who was an election lawyer (if you felt your vote wasn’t counted, they’d represent you) thought of Obama when the then candidate had dinner with their organization before the election and why he (TPAR) refused to vote for him (Obama). The full interview is here: http://www.xxlmag.com/bloggers/2008/11/interview-with-a-tpar/. It’s amazing how it seems to speak to the present situation of who Obama is and has been from the beginning.
Not that America and the world would’ve been in better hands if McCain and his sexy nanny, Sarah Palin had won, but it seems the former Alaskan governor was having the last laugh when she was quoted as saying, “So how’s that hopey-dopey changey stuff working out for ya?” Not so well! As one American clearly said, “I no longer hope for audacity”, a clear pun on Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope. Dr. Cornell West said it best on the Russian news channel RT, Obama has aligned himself with the elite rather than the people who voted him in. It’s no excuse for conspiracy theorists to say it was truly Corporate America that voted him in, because regular people too stuck their neck out (and voted) for chocolate superman… and were eventually hoodwinked. Too bad he really couldn’t save anyone.
Will Obama win 2012? At this point he has become like his predecessor, George Bush Jr., where Americans have gotten used to him that he just might win again. With four wars in hand (cause let’s face it, Wisconsin is now a Middle-Eastern state), the American public might still rely on him more than anyone else.
It’s hard not to be critical of President Obama. It’s even hard to be critical of him without coming off somewhat anti-American against U.S foreign policy. Let’s face it, Obama’s audacity has failed us. Back when Obama first decided to seek for the highest office in the land of the United States, not many outside of America gave him a chance. I did! I remember having a conversation with my older brother, either while watching a democratic presidential debate, back when there were like 12 of them or when it was just McCain and Obama during the final debates. My brother said there was no way America would vote for a black man. I told him he was wrong, not because I thought America had finally decided to see beyond colour, but because the hype around Barack was unavoidable, it was like no other. Corporate America was all over him like big corporations over an athlete to endorse their product. He couldn’t lose! He had practically won. All that was left was for him to take the oath.
I however did not fall for the hype that he was the savior that America and the world had been waiting for. My first refusal to fall into the hype was when I noticed how the American media was quick to vilify McCain whilst putting Obama on a pedestal. Rolling Stone magazine even did a cover where they exposed McCain as a sellout during the Vietnam war, when he was captured by the VietCong. That was before or after a Rolling Stone cover of Obama as America’s big hope. It was like the media had decided who they not only preferred, but who they wanted in office, rather than being fair and balanced. And no, FOX News does not count as balance.
My second refusal was when I read the separate agendas that Obama and his main democratic rival, Clinton had. Anyone who knows the history of America’s health issues in the ‘90s, will know that Hillary Clinton was the Pharmaceutical companies’ biggest nightmare when her husband was president. As First Lady, she had tried to push for free health care in America. The big companies eventually bought her over. Watch Michael Moore’s “Sicko” for more on that. Also Hillary had the better economic and health plans than Obama did. A fact that was more or less revealed after Obama clinched the democratic ticket.
I admit I was ecstatic when Obama won, but that was because on the surface America had gotten rid of one of its most negative images; that of years of internal racism. My excitement died the next day when I sat to watch Obama pick his cabinet. He was basically recycling Bill Clinton’s cabinet. Surely this wasn’t change we could rely on, was it? To add injury to his polished international image as a peace maker, especially in the Arab world, his very first meeting as president elect was with the Israeli lobby group AIPAC. This was not good. What was worse, this was shown on live TV to the world as if to say, “Make no mistake… this is where his allegiance lies”.
My final acceptance that Obama was not the chocolate Superman the media made him out to be was from my favourite blogger Byron Crawford a.k.a Bol, who interviewed Chicago based lawyer TPAR (These Posts Are Racists as he’s simply known). The interview touched on a few things, but more importantly on what TPAR who was an election lawyer (if you felt your vote wasn’t counted, they’d represent you) thought of Obama when the then candidate had dinner with their organization before the election and why he (TPAR) refused to vote for him (Obama). The full interview is here: http://www.xxlmag.com/bloggers/2008/11/interview-with-a-tpar/. It’s amazing how it seems to speak to the present situation of who Obama is and has been from the beginning.
Not that America and the world would’ve been in better hands if McCain and his sexy nanny, Sarah Palin had won, but it seems the former Alaskan governor was having the last laugh when she was quoted as saying, “So how’s that hopey-dopey changey stuff working out for ya?” Not so well! As one American clearly said, “I no longer hope for audacity”, a clear pun on Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope. Dr. Cornell West said it best on the Russian news channel RT, Obama has aligned himself with the elite rather than the people who voted him in. It’s no excuse for conspiracy theorists to say it was truly Corporate America that voted him in, because regular people too stuck their neck out (and voted) for chocolate superman… and were eventually hoodwinked. Too bad he really couldn’t save anyone.
Will Obama win 2012? At this point he has become like his predecessor, George Bush Jr., where Americans have gotten used to him that he just might win again. With four wars in hand (cause let’s face it, Wisconsin is now a Middle-Eastern state), the American public might still rely on him more than anyone else.
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