I am worried that this is not going to be the change we hoped for... Is Obama a trojan Horse?
Check out this article by Jeremy Scahill:
As Barack Obama's opus, Team of Rivals, continues its rolling debut, the early reviews are in and the "critics" are full of praise for the cast:
"[T]he new administration is off to a good start."-- Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell.
"[S]uperb ... the best of the Washington insiders ... this will be a valedictocracy -- rule by those who graduate first in their high school classes."-- David Brooks, conservative New York Times columnist
"[V]irtually perfect ... "-- Senator Joe Lieberman, former Democrat and John McCain's top surrogate in the 2008 campaign.
"[R]eassuring."-- Karl Rove, "Bush's brain."
"I am gobsmacked by these appointments, most of which could just as easily have come from a President McCain ... this all but puts an end to the 16-month timetable for withdrawal from Iraq, the unconditional summits with dictators, and other foolishness that once emanated from the Obama campaign ... [Hillary] Clinton and [James] Steinberg at State should be powerful voices for 'neo-liberalism' which is not so different in many respects from 'neo-conservativism.'"-- Max Boot, neoconservative activist, former McCain staffer.
"I see them as being sort of center-right of the Democratic party."-- James Baker, former Secretary of State and the man who led the theft of the 2000 election.
"[S]urprising continuity on foreign policy between President Bush's second term and the incoming administration ... certainly nothing that represents a drastic change in how Washington does business. The expectation is that Obama is set to continue the course set by Bush ... "-- Michael Goldfarb of the neoconservative Weekly Standard.
"I certainly applaud many of the appointments ... "-- Senator John McCain
"So far, so good."-- Senator Lamar Alexander, senior Republican Congressional leader.
Hillary Clinton will be "outstanding" as Secretary of State-- Henry Kissinger, war criminal
Rahm Emanuel is "a wise choice" in the role of Chief of Staff-- Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, John McCain's best friend.
Obama's team shows "Our foreign policy is non-partisan."-- Ed Rollins, top Republican strategist and Mike Huckabee's 2008 campaign manager
"The country will be in good hands."-- Condoleezza Rice, George W. Bush's Secretary of State
**Team of Rivals will be playing all day, every day for at least the next four years**
Jeremy Scahill pledges to be the same journalist under an Obama administration that he was during Bill Clinton and George Bush's presidencies. He is the author of Blackwater: The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army and is a frequent contributor to The Nation and Democracy Now! He is a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellow at the Nation Institute.
Last night on CNN I watched "Obama Revealed" and "McCain Revealed." The two documentaries were supposed to "reveal who the candidates are in terms of their history and character. As a scholar who analyzes ideology in media content, I immediately was aware of the very different approaches to narrative, language, visuals, music, choice of speakers, editing and overall tone afforded Obama versus McCain. McCain was depicted with respect, even when "touching" (ever so gently) on his incompetence as a soldier (which was translated into being a rebel, a maverick, and/or a martyr), his continuous cheating on his wife (translated into `maverick lady's man'), his Keating 5 scandal (inadequately explained and effectively neutralized) and his impulsive temper tantrums and flip-floping (more endearing maverick stuff). Overall he was portrayed as a war hero and seasoned, yet human, independent.
Obama, on the other hand, was constructed as a troubled black youth from a broken inter-racial family who became, alternately, a childishly naive idealist and/or a cynical political egotist. When charges are raised about him knocking a political rival out of the race (demonstrating his "cut-throat nature", an characterization emphasized at least twice), or being involved with a shady slum-lord, etc. these characterizations were not immediately challenged by allies or by Obama himself (as occurred consistently in the McCain piece); they were basically allowed to stand and were typically given emphasis through the choice of speakers, the sound bites selected, the editing, and the lead-ins and -outs to the commercials. The Mc Cain piece emphasized the positive and the Obama piece emphasized the negative--- McCain is interviewed in a presidential looking office with natural light, whereas Obama looks like he is in some cramped studio box with un-natural lighting. McCain's piece looks like a PBS documentary while Obama's piece looks and feels like an E True Hollywood Story (just not as sympathetic)-- and NONE of this is an accident. Every aspect of both productions involved choices that the producers made at every step: how will we construct the overall emphasis/storyline, what will we include and what will we exclude, what will be emphasized and what will be marginalized, how are we going to language this...?
Obama is falling in the polls exactly because of this kind of media bias. "Obama Revealed" characterized Obama in the exact same bogus and negative way that the Clinton/McCain camps have from the beginning. The media get away with this against liberals and democrats because, unlike conservatives, we don't literally CALL THEM on their bias and let them know there will be CONSEQUENCES (to their reputations, in their ratings, to their sponsors, to their careers). EMAIL, FAX, and/or CALL CNN TODAY ((404) 827-2600) TO COMPLAIN ABOUT THEIR BIAS/DISRESPECT AGAINST OBAMA, AND THE FREE PASS THEY ARE GIVING MCCAIN.
I am a professor who specializes in the study of culture, ideology and the media. My particular interest and expertise is in the study of "race" and racism as ideological phenomena. I have some advise for Mr. Obama:
You won't be able to "bring people together" around the "race" issue without acknowledging the validity of the experiences of both/all sides- including the side that knows about and can relate to what your Pastor was saying. I'd say this is a defining moment for you... If you choose well you really could help to heal this nation and this world. Isn't that the real reason why you are running for president?
You may or may not win the nomination, but whether you speak your truth and WIN the nomination will depend on your message's level of Divine Truth, which Gandhi defined as the deepeth truth of existence... which is that all Life is One. Gandhi said "To see the universal and all pervasive Spirit of Truth face to face, one must be able to love the meanest of creation as oneself." This is the consciousness that heals and brings people together. Gandhi also said that this kind of true Love and `non-violence' is an impossibility without the possession of unadulterated fearlessness. I am "half black half white" too. We embody people coming together despite the illusion of "race"/separation so central to the history and culture of the US. Do not underestimate the capacity of so-called "white" people to be able to empathize, or their longing for reconciliation. Do not be afraid to express love for ALL people (even, and especially, the ones that the `right wing' claims are not allowed to be truly identified with). Do not let the right wing lead on this. MLK said "I am not going to let my oppressor dictate which path I must choose."
Your destiny is calling: )
