( – promoted by buhdydharma )
A hearty and sincere congratulations to Barack Obama and all of his supporters. The only other thing I have to say about that is to ask you to please reach out to our brothers and sisters in the HRC camp, many of whom have been abused in this process. We are all Democrats, we are all progressives, and we all have a lot of work to do in fixing our sadly and badly broken country.
Even after Obama becomes our first black President (hallelujah!), there are certain overarching circumstances that will not have changed. The right wing dimwits, though weakened, will still be with us plotting against the Constitution. The Military Industrial Complex will still dominate our entire society, foisting their evil brand of insanity upon us all and twisting our democracy into unrecognizable shapes. The media will remain firmly in the hands of those who seek only to brainwash us. Our tax system will still be grossly unfair. Our economy will still be in a shambles. Our response to global warming and the energy crises will still be woefully inadequate at best. Our educational system will still be limping and mortally wounded from the Republican ‘Dumb Down America’ campaign. Our response to the needy will still be underwhelming. Our treatment of veterans will still be shameful. Our children and grandchildren’s futures will still be mortgaged to the hilt. Our streets will still be filled with the homeless. The rich will still be getting richer and the poor will still be getting screwed.
The idiotic and self-destructive ‘drug war’ will still be ruining American lives. Humanity will continue to rot in our prisons, secret and otherwise. Unrestrained greed and capitalism gone wild will continue to run roughshod over us all. Empty-headed superficiality will still be our highest social value. The CIA will still be doing great evil all around the world in your names and mine. People will still be getting tortured – whether it be official or unofficial. We will still be overrun with war profiteers and all the other greed-besotted pigs at the trough. We will still outspend every other nation in the world on our military. We will still be the biggest arms dealers and merchants of death in the world. We will still be the biggest bully on the planet.
I know, I know – electing Barack Obama is a fine start on changing these regrettable circumstances, but it is hardly enough. If that’s all we do, the changes will be (ultimately) superficial – a kinder, gentler machinegun hand as Neil Young might say. That’s not a slam on Barack, that’s a slam on our fucked up system and all of those who stubbornly and stupidly continue to support it.
There will still be feet to be held to the fire. There will still be traitors and war criminals to be prosecuted. There will still be gutless and evil politicians to be admonished, revealed, shamed and banned. There will still be horrible laws to be changed. There will still be horrific weapons to be banned. There will still be people being murdered in our names. There will still be mercenaries employed by our government. Our government will still be spying on us all. There will still be great and grievous wrongs to be made right. Fascism will continue to be a very real and grave threat to democracy.
There will still be much hell to be raised.
There will still be execrable bastards in positions of power and trust who will continue to smile in our faces as they shamelessly tell us damnable lies. There will still be Republicans posing as Democrats and there will still be Democrats in power who have enabled everything that progressives deplore.
May we hold the criminals in our government to account. May we rid ourselves of the traitors, thieves and gutless wonders. May they all get what they so richly deserve.
And may they all choke on their own evil.
Thank you Neil Young.
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Elect Obama; elect Democrats to Congres, and then get out in the streets and push them to do what is right.
Unless there is a strong progressive, populist wing of the Democratic Party, and people willing to fight to push the agenda leftward, we will not go very far. yes, we’ll stop the bleeding, but I want to save the patient: us.
May our country never see the likes of you again!
A hopeful but realistic view.
How fuckin’ true. We have a ton of work to do even after we get the good guys elected.
Glad you started out with reaching out to Hill folks. Its time to come together for peace.
Totally realistic and right on target!
Penetrating and deconstructing the many complexes that have been created will be a daunting task. Accountability first and foremost would help lead the way in that monumental task Rescinding the laws Bush has put in place will also help in that cause. And, on and on and on!
… we’re going to need a thousand gallons of disinfectant to clean out the White House …
… clean out the DOJ … purge all the civil service jobs gained by Bush/Cheney cronies …
lots of work to do.
Great essay, OPOL. That second picture (the montage) really stunned me — it is a perfect portrait of evil.
I really don’t understand your point….
Barak Obama is a conservative supporter of Israel, and his first stop after being nominated is AIPAC…
You won’t hold anyone’s feet to the fire.
The democrats are a party of fascists just like the Republicans…they vote to keep the military machine going. More money is spent on the military in the US than all the other nations in the world spend on their militaries combined.
You people need to admit this is a fascist nation. A nation that exports fascism and is deeply preparing itself for a technological variety….
It’s slowly creeping up on you and yet you support these faux democratic candidates…..
You have to become more “radical” in your think and support ANTI WAR candidates not PRO WAR candidates.
I realize the gist of your diary is that Obama isn’t going to change everything….but the idea that Obama is a sign of movement to the left is an illusion….what is happening is the movement is toward the right and Obama is a little slower moving in that direction than McCain. But the movement is to the right toward fascism….
Were’ in a fascist nation now….we have the videos and the lack of interest in them to prove it.
Also you betray a unwilligness to see things as they are with the statement
“When Obama Wins”
Luckily for Obama…McCain makes a lot of mistakes….otherwise I believe he’s a shoe in….
The media hasn’t even begun to dissect OBama….
I think the odds are he will lose after being turned into a radical, muslim loving, heroin shooting, crack dealing street thug who hates America…
The ammunition is all there for them to create this picture.
They are going to use it and keep calling him “Osama” by mistake….what do you think the dumbest people in the world…the American people are going to do with that…?
They will vote for McCain.
Can you wake me up when sanity returns to America? Every time I open my eyes this surreal movie is playing and really bad people are running the country.
As buhdy says, we need to yell louder.
there are qualities that I see in him that make me hopeful. He has an ability to rally disparate groups of people together; many, like myself, who have been frustrated, cynical political misfits who’ve been waiting for someone to come along to inspire us. The comparison to JFK is a good one. He seems to bring out the “better angels of our nature”, at least in some. Now if Hillary (and WJC) can truly get behind him & support this movement & bring on board the majority of her disaffected supporters, then perhaps we can begin to take the steps necessary to take back our government.
All I know is that I’m much more hopeful with Barack Obama than I’ve been in the last 7+ years. 75,000 people in Portland during a PRIMARY rally???? That’s what I’m talking about. Could any other politician do that?? Now if only we can be assured of a fair accounting of the ballots in November…..
Expand your history to a time frame longer than the 30 second or even daily sound bytes. I am after all your worst case senario consultant.
Pelosi had much better things to accomplish rather than getting bogged down in “useless” and “unproductive” impeachment proceedings. There was that and the immediate nod to the military-industrial complex of business as usual with HR 1, the Homeboy Security Bill.
No doubt the Bush years have been devastating but political history appears to swing wildly right to left. It is the swing that will further the damage. The PNAC website may be gone but the Universities offering degrees in Homeboy Stasi style security are not. The surveillance Orwell grid is up and the company you work for will hold you legally liable for the damage done to THEM should you ship something on a list of prohibited items to a country on the prohibited items list. Ya, you got the money for an internationally trained specialized legal team don’t you.
Like it or not here it comes.
We are going to feed the world, even if we can’t feed ourselves.
Best buy a remote wooded lot now and a wood stove. The carbon trading emporium will commence with rationed oil to follow. China and India need it for their gold rush industrial revolution.
Global “small arms” bans, not the big stuff mind you just things those pesky peasants might use.
I half expect pictures of McCain doing a twelve year old boy to come out in mainstream press as the globalists have managed this entire affair brilliantly so far.
Do I hope I am wrong? Ya, but 2006 and lot’s of youtube videos of retired LA cops like Mike Ruppert or the tons of fine people who have discovered life here ain’t what it should or could be stick in my mind. I want not politics and PC I want honesty and I want truth. I don’t see it in Obama.
as always
(^.^)♥~
essay. Ihave many friends and neighbors who supported HRC. I am trying my best to bring them around. Pessimism about the whole political process seems to be the reason for their worries about Obama. I keep telling them that it’s up to us. These are good folks who just don’t yet believe in people power.
Thanks OPAL for keeping my flame of optimism alive for these years. We do make a difference, this is just the start of our journey! Foot in the door is better then outside in the cold. One of Obama’s theme’s is faith in the people, and that movements are about people not politicians and leaders. I will keep trying to banish the fear I sense in these voters. I can relate as the road our country has pursued for the last decade was built on fear and hopelessness.