The Obama Brand And The Betrayal Of The American People

There is always some danger in posting a few Noam Chomsky videos. It's easy for those prone to knee-jerk reactions to say "Oh, it's Chomsky, that's just a bunch of leftist claptrap." I don't see eye to eye with Chomsky on lots of things, but he has always been dead-on when describing American propaganda and how the our political system actually works.

In the last three years we've seen the United States go downhill to an alarming extent. Our politics has devolved into a mostly meaningless power struggle between one corrupt political party and the other. Let's go back to the summer of 2008, before the financial meltdown and the ongoing economic calamity. And that means revisiting the candidate Barack Obama, the Hope and the Change. The first video features Chomsky talking about the Obama Brand before the election. Everything Chomsky said then rings true today.

In the second video Chomsky talks about voting for the lesser of two evils, and tells people to vote for Obama instead of McCain in the swing states because historically, people have fared slightly better under the Democrats and than they have under the Republicans. Chomsky argues (at that time) that there's nothing inherently wrong in choosing the lesser of two evils as long as you know you are doing so.

I urge my readers not to vote because the lesser of two evils is still evil, and it seems to me that events since the 2008 election have significantly bolstered that view. I voted for Obama, but that's very likely the last time I'll vote for anybody who isn't named Bozo The Clown. I am wondering just how much worse things would be under McCain. If Chomsky's view was true in the past, it seems we have moved well beyond the point where being "slightly" better off in choosing the lesser of two evils makes much difference.

Still, it is easy to imagine we would be worse off under McCain, that we would be having a full-blown 1930s-style Depression. One could then further argue that we would have been so ground down under McCain that we might actually be moving toward the real change Obama didn't deliver, moving toward a modern day Franklin Roosevelt. Who knows? It's difficult to think about all this because when you're fucked, you're fucked.

If any thinking person in this country still thought American politics was legitimate in 2008, surely they do not think so today. During Hopey-Changey's presidency we have witnessed an open, unnerving betrayal of what most people thought they were voting for when they voted for him—meaningful change in which most Americans would no longer get the shaft. But they have gotten the shaft once again, and they got it in spades. Of course we easily see now that the Hopey-Changey thing was merely the Obama Brand. There was no substance. The only thing that mattered was the marketing. In the third video Chomsky talks about that betrayal, how people didn't know what they were voting for, how the political system works, and what we're left with.

Obama's extraordinary betrayal of the American people, which we should have expected as Chomsky points out, is an important reason why this blog exists. I hope you will take the time to watch all three videos all the way through. There's about 21 minutes of video altogether.

The Obama Brand

 

The Lesser Of Two Evils

The Betrayal

 

Comments

[Joanne]

The way I see it is if we had voted in McCain the first two years would have killed him and Sarah Palin would now be POTUS. That scared me so much then I voted for what I thought was the lesser of two evils.

[Dave Cohen]

Joanne --

Good point!

I wasn't thinking about Sarah at all when I wrote this post.

-- Dave

[Bill Hicks]

Sadly, the signs were all there leading up to the election in 2008. The most telling was having making hack Joe Biden, the credit card companies' best friend in Washington, his running mate. Then there was his active cheerleading to get the TARP law through Congress. By the time November rolled around, I too had pretty much jumped off the Obama bandwagon, though I still cast what I also expect will be my last serious presidential vote for him.

[joonsae]

The only thing anyone needs to know to understand the 2008 election (and the dynamics of American electoral politics in general) is that Obama and his campaign won Advertising Age's 2008 Marketer of the Year award: http://adage.com/article/moy-2008/obama-wins-ad-age-s-marketer-year/131810/

I voted for the Nader/Gonzalez ticket in 2008 (it was only my second Presidential election) and most likely will not vote at all in 2012. I may vote for local initiatives but I've had my fill of the national circus.

[Mitch]

I like Jesse Ventura's idea, "None of the Above" as an option. Rather than the media presenting lack of voting as pure apathy, its a vote of no confidence in either party. It would be pretty hard to suggest you have a political "mandate" if None of the above garnished the most votes....

[Gail]

If McCain had won, we'd have gone straight to "Bomb, bomb bomb Iran". Remember that? So, maybe we all would have been better off with Sarah the last two years - because she's really, really funny, and we could have all had a few good laughs instead of Hopey Changey bitter tears.

But for the average Iranian, it would have sucked.

[CHilke]

"…Obama has brought in more money from employees of banks, hedge funds and other financial service companies than all of the GOP candidates combined, according to a Washington Post analysis of contribution data. The numbers show that Obama retains a persistent reservoir of support among Democratic financiers who have backed him since he was an underdog presidential candidate four years ago."

Obama also has raised more money from Romney’s former firm, Bain Capital, than has Romney.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-has-more-cash-from-financial-sector-than-gop-hopefuls-combined-data-show/2011/10/18/gIQAX4rAyL_story.html

[Mr. Roboto]

I stopped voting for the Democrats on the national level because I could no longer stomach concocting lame justifications to do so. I still vote for the Democrats on the state level because Democrats in Wisconsin still have some redeeming qualities.

[Unbound]

I became eligible to vote in the mid-seventies and never once did I ever cast a vote for one the the corporate reich's candidates -- republican or democrat. Although I must confess I have voted for individuals associated with those parties on the local level.

Mitch mentioned what should be a ballot option -- None of the Above. That venerated beacon of democracy (TIC), the Russian Federation, does provide that choice for its voters. See the NY Times article Ulyanovsk Journal - Only in Russia: 'None of the Above' Is on Ballot, and Wins.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/23/international/europe/23RUSS.htmlex=1395378000&en=d9906fd85adb90bc&ei=5007&partner=USERLAND

Also see None of the Above: http://prospect.org/csnc/blogs/ezraklein_archive?month=07&year=2007&base_name=none_of_the_above
I don't know whatever became of that effort, but I don't expect to see any initiative of its sort become a ballot choice on the national level.

I happen to agree with Dave, people should stop voting. Participating in the voting process lends one's imprimatur to this corrupt bankrupt system.

The comedian Dick Gregory had it right when he once said, and I paraphrase: "After voting for the lesser of two evils over 200 + years, you've wound up with nothing but the evil of the evils."

A Rasmussen Reports article published on 2/18/2010 stated: "The founding document of the United States, the Declaration of Independence, states that governments derive “their just powers from the consent of the governed.” Today, however, just 21% of voters nationwide believe that the federal government enjoys the consent of the governed." The full article is behind a paywall.
http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/general_politics/february_2010/only_21_say_u_s_government_has_consent_of_the_governed
If that's the case heeding Dave's advice is spot on.

Not to belabor the point but here's some other entries to ponder on the voting:
"Real change comes about not because we vote for it, but because we fight for it, shout for it, work for it. Placing hopes and fears on who holds power, or who will gain power through voting, is wasting time which might be spent in creating alternatives, both for ourselves and for our communities."- Chumbawamba

The spirit was freedom and justice
And it's keepers seem generous and kind
It's leaders were supposed to serve the country
But now they won't pay it no mind
'Cause the people grew fat and got lazy
And now their vote is a meaningless joke
They babble about law and order
But it's all just an echo of what they've been told
Yeah, there's a monster on the loose
It's got our heads into a noose
And it just sits there watchin'
Excerpt from the song Monster, by Steppenwolf

[jc]

Thanks for videos. I like his statement that "I don't know he's [Obama] is probably a nice guy". Obama is cooking us like a slowly boiled frog rather than McCain who would have done it more quickly.

[Ed]

At least I can vote and see my (most of my) thoughts and opinions reflected in a multiparty parliament by people I know (eye to eye) and trust. If not I can start my own party and find likeminded people. You're biparty system is at the root of all evil. It's much to easy to buy influence if you only have to buy two clowns instead of a multitude of clowns. The (mostly) anglosaxon system of stepped elections is just as outdated as the politicians are that it creates. It cements the status quo and makes it o so easy to avoid content and issues in campains. I would not vote if I was living in America or I would vote for Nader.....full well knowing this would be a lost cause protest vote.

Greetings, Ed

[xraymike79]

Ha!Ha! Suckerssss!!! A picture tells a thousand words and this one is all you need to see to know everything about Obama Brand:
http://ravenwild.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/obama_sellout_11x17.pdf

[Andrea Anderson]

Read the Constitution. Become informed on the issues. Check out the CHARACTER of the candidates. That is the key. The clues were there before the 2008 election. Especially if you checked out Obama's history. To not vote is stupid. Then you have nothing to say. Working to inform people, to support candidates that aren't afraid to talk about issues and "stand up" against the elite is very important. Yes, both parties are infected with greed and the lust for power - and might I mention pride...thinking that they know better than the American people. I am sick of it. But, I am redoubling my efforts to effect a change I can believe in.