03 January 2011 By Stephen
Lendman As if on cue, major media reports
hailed "the Comeback Kid." In Obama's December 22
press conference, Reuters' Caren Bohan asked: "You racked up a lot of wins in
the last few weeks that a lot of people thought would
be difficult to come by. Are you ready to call
yourself the 'comeback kid?' " CBS News anchor Katie Couric
gushed about how "the president isn't calling himself
the 'comeback kid,' but some other folks are." From ABC News came Jake Tapper
offering "congratulations," and George Stephanopoulos
saying: "The president takes a victory
lap. How the Christmas season became what he called a
'season of progress.' Will it continue in the new
year?" New York Times writer Michael
Shear added: "But Mr. Obama rejected an
opportunity to gloat about the success of the past
several weeks by declaring himself the 'comeback kid,'
telling a reporter that the results are 'not a victory
for me. It's a victory for the American people." A chorus of other media reports
echoed the same sentiment, including USA Today citing
a "political rebound," the Christian Science Monitor
praising his notable legislative and other victories,
and the Los Angeles Times hailing "image-altering
successes." Even hard-right Washington Post
columnist Charles Krauthammer titled his December 17
article, "The new comeback kid," saying: "Obama had a bad November,"
taking a midterm election "shellack(ing)....Now, with
his stunning tax deal, (he's) back....His comeback is
already a year ahead of Clinton's." On December 21, Nation magazine
writer Ari Berman headlined, "Is Obama Really the New
Comeback Kid," saying: Hold the cheers. "Obama's
presidency didn't end after the midterm election and
it hasn't been revived during the lame duck session of
Congress....Let's hold off, please, from anointing
Obama the comeback kid until we know what the full
extent of that 'comeback' actually entails." Nonetheless, Christmas came early
for Obama, never mind two years delivering lumps of
coal for American workers and promises for worse
ahead, what media hype won't explain. Yet some accounts even compared
his record to Roosevelt's New Deal and Lyndon
Johnson's Great Society. Reality and mythmaking are
farcically at odds, including Nation magazine editor
Katrina vanden Heuvel headlining her December 23
article, "Action, Hope, 2011," saying: "Looking forward to 2011, there
are many ideas....worth fighting for," listing five
worthy ones, but omitting crucial others as well as
exposing Obama's dark side, what for two years she's
been loathe to do, save for occasional criticisms far
less than deserved. In his December 22 article
headlined "The Progressive Honor Roll of 2010," Nation
writer John Nichols named Bernie Sanders "most
valuable senator," distorting his record that
includes: -- rhetorically backing universal
single-payer healthcare, then voting for rationing and
enriching drug companies, insurance giants and large
hospital chains; -- supporting Wall Street
empowering financial reform, institutionalizing
business as usual; -- backing agribusiness-friendly
food safety legislation, harming small farmers and
consumers; and -- supporting the stalled Senate
cap and trade bill to empower polluters, raise energy
prices, and provide a potential $10 trillion
speculative carbon trading derivatives market, among
his other notable "successes," while claiming peoples'
senator credentials, which ones not explained. More often than not, Nation
magazine writers are on the wrong side of issues,
running cover for Democrats indistinguishable from
Republicans. Both parties support privilege over
progressivism, imperial wars, hammering dissent, and
waging war on Islam and Latino immigrants for
political advantage. In its December 22 issue,
self-styled feminist columnist Katha Pollitt added her
own insult, siding with Swedish prosecutors charging
Julian Assange with unlawful coercion, sexual
molestation and rape, no matter his persuasive denial,
calling the accusations politically motivated. Pollitt,
however, assailed WikiLeaks supporters who've
"misrepresented the allegations, attacked the women
and made light of date rape," when, if fact, charges
clearly seem bogus. In a December 29 report,
investigative journalist Wayne Madsen said insider
sources told him that "the CIA used Sweden to launder
the transfer to WikiLeaks of carefully screened and
redacted State Department cables and the subsequent
release of the cables to pre-selected corporate news
media entities. Sweden was chosen (for) its so-called
'press freedom and freedom of expression' traditions"
to give the releases more legitimacy. As for Assange's entrapers, Anna
Ardin left the country for the West Bank, and
apparently no longer is cooperating with authorities.
Sofia Wilen is his other accuser. Swedish sources say:
"both women....were part of a
carefully arranged plot to bring sex charges against
Assange in order to discontinue the WikiLeaks Swedish
asylum operation after the ultimate purpose was
served: a major international news event designed to
provide global support (for) draconian curbs on the
Internet," including in Sweden, Britain and America. On December 21, the FCC siding
with telecom and cable giants against Net Neutrality
corroborates Madsen's view. Ahead, expect two
Internets (fast and slow lanes) and online
discrimination, including possible censorship.
Accusing Assange of sex crimes was a ploy for planned
political harshness. A two-part Obama Year Two assessment explains a record that would make a despot proud, accessed through the following links: http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/obama-year-two-continued-betrayal-and.html http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/12/obama-year-two-continued-betrayal-and_28.html Part I has links to a Year One assessment, a pattern begun straightaway since taking office on January 20, 2009, seamlessly continuing his predecessor's agenda, and in many ways exceeding it destructively. Paul Craig Roberts' December 28 "2011" article is right saying: "The year 2011 will bring Americans a larger and more intrusive police state, more unemployment and home foreclosures, no economic recovery, more disregard (of) US law, international law, the Constitution, and truth, more suspicion and distrust from allies, more hostility from the rest of the world, and new heights of media sycophancy" about a president who should be condemned, impeached, and prosecuted for domestic and imperial high crimes and misdemeanors. Roberts believes 2011 will be American democracy's '"terminal year." In fact, it was stillborn, had rare progressive moments, but in recent decades eroded to today's farcical state, a rhetorical, not real democracy. America is one-party duopoly with two wings. A corrupted judiciary and Congress support power, privilege and capital, not popular interests. Obama is its titular head, but it hardly matters. Systemic power rules. The best democracy money can buy governs. Might over right marauds globally, invents terror threats to enlist support, crushes domestic dissent, spurns rule of law order for brute force, and threatens humanity with repression or possible extinction if not stopped. Roberts calls America's future Winston Smith's world - "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength," but as Orwell explained: "In a time of universal deceit (more relevant than ever in modern America), telling the truth is a revolutionary act." In police state America, it's also a crime. Obama, Congress, and right-wing courts oppose human rights, civil liberties, democratic values, equity and justice, the rule of law, labor rights, equal protections, peace, environmental sanity, regulatory restraints, free thought and expression, and truth. Power for the privileged, marketplace fundamentalism, and super-wealth rule alone matter. So do illusions about the best of all possible worlds, substituting images for a harsh, repressive reality leaving millions of Americans on their own and out of luck because a president promising change spurned them. Hold the cheers. He plans worse in 2011 and 12, hopefully his final ones if enough awareness understands that change comes bottom up, never top down, what only people power can bring. Isn't it long overdue time they tried, but wishing won't make it so or backing America's duopoly on election day. A Final Comment Rarely is there good news to report, but here's some, regardless of the less than honorable motive. An earlier article explained the shocking injustice against Jamie and Gladys Scott, sentenced to life imprisonment in Mississippi, for an $11 crime they didn't commit. The true story can be accessed through the following link: http://sjlendman.blogspot.com/2010/08/scott-sisters-victimized-by-american.html On December 29, Gov. Haley Barbour, with clear political motives, announced the following: "Today, I have issued two orders indefinitely suspending the sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott. In 1994, a Scott County jury convicted the sisters of armed robbery and imposed two life sentences for the crime. Their convictions and their sentences were affirmed by the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1996." "To date, the sisters have served 16 years....and are eligible for parole in 2014....The Mississippi Department of Corrections believes the sisters no longer pose a threat to society. Their incarceration is no longer necessary for public safety or rehabilitation...." Disgracefully, Barbour, a hard-right politician, stopped short of full exoneration for a crime neither sister committed. At least, however, they'll be free, especially Jamie who needs life-saving kidney transplant surgery with one Gladys will provide.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. Also visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour/. Comments 💬 التعليقات |