plus ca change..

# al loomis Says:
January 15th, 2008 at 6:11 am

people are starting to remark on the fact that obama has so far not stiffened his feel-good rhetoric with any substantive plans. this may be part of his strategy, or more likely that he is only mortal, and a politician, and has no grand plan. if he can’t come up with something significant, there will be disillusionment.

the beneficiaries of that will be clinton, or edwards, if it happens before the nomination, the republicans if it happens during the election campaign. then it could have the result of turning a ‘democrat year’ into a lively race, with a real chance of republican victory.

there can be no real changes to american society as long as politicians rule it, but obama has tapped a deep well of contempt, both for dubya and for politics. he may yet ride it to the whitehouse.

if he gets his bum on the throne, he will discover change is difficult and unrewarding to someone who is enjoying the rewards of supremacy in society.

so we can expect steady as she goes whoever gets in the oval office, just as the ruddster has begun with verbal fervor, but has to be both green and support coal-fired energy. real change can only happen when a nation’s voters support a referendum, which generates a result for the nation uncolored by a politician’s need to be re-elected.

mike gravel’s candidacy was built around his ‘initiative for democracy’ and has been completely ignored. this surprised me, as many american states have a democratic tradition. considering the grass roots guerilla campaign ron paul has generated in support of policies that pauline hanson would be glad to champion, it is doubly amazing that gravel could not at least put structural change in discussion.

if there is any general observation to be drawn, perhaps it is this:

the ship of state is much less agile than a giant oil-tanker at full speed, the crew is ignorant, the officers greedy, the captain a vain megalomaniac, and the approaching environmental reef unavoidable. if there is a god, get busy mate, for your children are incompetent to save themselves.

the horse race

with one each, obama and clinton have both demonstrated that it's going to be a protracted contest, with time to search out weaknesses. this is bad news for obama, whose record is small, and undistinguished. clinton has nothing new to offer, is not a good speaker, but can reasonably claim to represent a return to the clinton era, which in retrospect was the golden age of the american empire. or so democrats feel. she has connections and experience, and many voters will feel they know what they are going to get if she wins.

obama might still win, simply by being a new face and claiming a new style of politics. a lot of voters are tired of the old style. he is a good speaker, with a bit of mlk sound and phraseology, and would win easily if he thinks of something substantive to say. so far, he hasn't. it's very hard to say "i am going to do things differently", when you're on record as being part of the system. still, he's fresh air, compared to hillary.

edwards is the real agent of change, within the limits of the system. that is probably why he gets so little exposure and discussion. i can see him hanging around long enough to be a king/queen maker, and inserting himself into the vp's spot if he wants it. he might prefer to be secretary of commerce.

whatever the outcome, the american empire will roll on toward world domination and self-destruction. the real agents of change were kucinich and gravel. that's why they were completely ignored. not many people want real change, even if they see that present comfort will lead to distant disaster.

benazir bhutto rip, middle east not so.

i wonder what the middle east ...

would be like if america had not sponsored the zionist invasion of palestine, the assassination of mossadegh and overthrow of parliamentary government in iran, had not supported the violently repressive dictatorships in iraq, iran, and arabia.

america has sown that garden with poison seeds, and flowers of death spring up everywhere, even down-town manhattan.

perhaps the notion of karma deserves more thought, or even the simple judaeo-christian precept: "as ye sow, so shall ye reap."

"look on my works, ye mighty, and despair"

reputed to be an inscription on a block of stone, in middle of an african dessert. in fact, the author of the poem was commenting on the tendency of societies, no matter how puissant, to decay and die in time.

the course of the american empire is well advanced, the accoutrements of the republic are less able to disguise the imperial policies and internal repression than was once the case. the power and resources of the republic have been hollowed-out by over-use, the arrogance of the political class is less concerned to hide itself from the plebs, the citizen army of defense has become the aggressive army of colonial occupation. all that remains to do is the neutering of the election process through electronic counting.

one hopes that the american people will wake up, seize control of their nation from the grandees, and institute democracy. what a wonderful world that would be. but it won't happen.

america is leading the human race toward some mixture of 'brave new world' and '1984'. i expect the worst elements of each.

our good friends, the yanks

here's a link to a survey of american foreign policy that doesn't get enough publicity.

http://salon.com/opinion/

(you may have to press the 'enter salon' button on upper left corner)

in brief, the cia has been in the torture and murder business since the 50's. anyone who opposes american policy in south or central america, in south east asia, or now in the middle east, was/is liable to be connected to electrical implements, or beaten, or shot, or thrown from helicopters. many just 'disappeared'.

it's going on today. it is the cause of anti-american terrorism. terrorists are people recruited to a cause which even the simplest can understand: resistance to foreign murderers.

nothing to do with us? if you hold his coat while some serial torturer and murderer amuses himself, you will suffer his fate when he is caught. less abstractly, the new 'anti-terrorist' laws which curtail civil freedoms are a penalty for holding america's coat. worse penalties will come, for america has stored up hatred that will not go away, and will spill over onto coat-holders.

the american alliance is not necessary, and has become a source of shame and danger.

Posted by DEMOS, Sunday, 16 December 2007 6:11:57 AM

mike gravel and democracy

here's a link to m g explaining about why he's running for president.

http://youtube: 2 mikes

he understands the problems that are facing any parliamentary society, and proposes a solution based on 'democratizing' the federal government of the usa. these problems are even more evident in australia, but i pointed out that the solution is even easier for us in an earlier post, "revolution to democracy."

stop laughing, this is serious

global warming is on the agenda, finally. perhaps too late to prevent disaster, but maybe not too late to prevent extinction of the human race. plenty of americans are much more worried than their politicians, here's a post with a useful survey of personal actions to take:

"Solutions

What can you do?

Politically: Tell politicians to remove subsidies for oil and gas companies and increase investment in solar and wind energy. Support ballot initiatives like those recently passed in Washington and other states, requiring utilities to get at least x% of their energy from renewable resources. Support carbon taxes and/or cap-and-trade policies on business. Push for new building codes requiring greener building practices.

In your community: Write letters to the editor of your local paper; ask your local paper to do a series on climate change and conservation; ask the mayor of your town to join the green-cities initiative; ask your local transit company to consider biodiesel in the buses; ask your local government to provide more public transportation and/or carpool programs.

Personally: Eat less meat, drive less, turn off your computer and your lights every day, update your appliances to the most efficient available, install solar and/or tankless water heaters in your house, install a wind turbine in your backyard, move from the suburbs to the city, invest in green technology companies.

Obviously, we aren't all going to do all of these things. But if all of us did some of them, we would start to make a difference."
-- Sally M
[Read Sally M's other letters]

but personal action is not enough. national action is required. that's where 'sally' is much better off than ozzies: she can participate in citizen initiative and direct elections. ozzians can't, now.