(l NP ) great speech Mr Obama

Ian Livingston igrlivingston at gmail.com
Sat Sep 4 11:54:43 CDT 2010


> It's foolish to think that President Moore, Kucinich or Sharpton could
> have gotten better healthcare reform or financial reform through
> Congress.  No matter who the President is, it takes 60 votes in the
> Senate now.  Elect 60 populists to the Senate and you will see more
> genuine populist legislation. One can talk about what's deep in Obama
> heart and head until the cows come home, but it doesn't change the
> Congress.

I haven't heard O's speech(es), but I think you're right, Robert. No
president is going to change things, and no Congress will allow things
to change--unless the people get involved. No romance, no yearning for
a past, present or future, and no condemnation of the same three
tenses can ever change anything until the people speak out loud. As it
is, the press is the voice of the american people, and that voice is
the voice of the plutes. Government troops will, as Neil Young said 30
years ago, have to start "cutting us down" in the streets again before
anything substantial happens. It is not leaders we are lacking, but
courage. People willing to say those things that caused them to be
outlawed and branded as criminal by a criminal government showed a lot
of people how to act in the 60's and 70's, and it is that kind of
courage our country needs more than anything. Without the voice and
backing of the people, any leader is publicly hamstrung. So long as we
listen to what the press tells us and leave it to the elected to lead
us, we are repeating the historical trends that led to the rise of
Alexander, Augustus, Napoleon, and Hitler. And we the people are the
only ones we can blame. The framers of the Declaration of Independence
cautioned that it is the role of the people to change government, not
the role of government to change the people. I blame myself for our
political morass, and I claim that blame. It is my fault alone that I
am not fomenting intolerance of plutocratic rule in the U.S. I hope I
can do better in the future. I hope we can all do better in the
future. Seditious henchmen like Bush and Cheney still ride high under
government protection because we allow it. And only because WE allow
it--you and me. In a better time, they would have been hung as the
traitors they are, because the people were still brave enough to be
bigger than the government. I voted for Obama and I stand behind him.
I think he is doing the best we will let him do. When we say what we
want and stand in the streets until our government delivers it, we can
call ourselves citizens. Until then we are only subjects, which means
our leaders are merely showmen and showgirls.

If we are satisfied with network news, tevo and microbrews, our
complaints amount merely to telling on ourselves for the choices we
make. They are not legitimate complaints. The revolution has fallen on
dark times, as Laurie Anderson says, but it ain't dead. People are
doing things for others no matter what the fucking government lawyers
say. The revolution starts with caring for others, then it comes round
to caring for the well-being of all. Whining about what the elected
haven't done accomplishes nothing. Only doing change changes things.

I surrender the pulpit to my betters:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ljxpyH4dnA


On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 12:09 PM, Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com> wrote:
> It's foolish to think that President Moore, Kucinich or Sharpton could
> have gotten better healthcare reform or financial reform through
> Congress.  No matter who the President is, it takes 60 votes in the
> Senate now.  Elect 60 populists to the Senate and you will see more
> genuine populist legislation. One can talk about what's deep in Obama
> heart and head until the cows come home, but it doesn't change the
> Congress.
>
> On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 10:46 AM,  <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>> Healthcare reform? Financial reform?  The stock market soared after both these "reforms" were enacted. Whew, close one!
>>
>> Obama seems to have a deep-seated need for Republican approval.  Now, even he must realize how badly he's bungled everything.  Propping up the insurance companies and banks, sending troops to Afghanistan, speaking in favor of offshore drilling (he was called on that one!), and, even worse, presiding over the rise of a right-wing, racist faux-populist movement and being unwilling to counter it with a shred of genuine populist legislation.  Sure, he's got a lovely family and looks good in a suit.  I'd rather have Michael Moore or Dennis Kucinich or Al Sharpton.
>>
>> LK
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>>>From: Robert Mahnke <rpmahnke at gmail.com>
>>>Sent: Sep 3, 2010 12:58 PM
>>>To: "Carvill, John" <john.carvill at sap.com>, P-list <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>>>Subject: Re: (l NP ) great speech Mr Obama
>>>
>>>I've been disappointed by him, and can go on about it, but I also
>>>think he deserves a lot of credit for what he's accomplished, starting
>>>with health care and financial reforms.  The prime constraint on him
>>>is Congress.  That's reality, not an excuse.  I think he is a
>>>pragmatist who will take what he can get from Congress and move on.
>>>This frustrates me, because the Congress's disfunction is a huge
>>>problem and Obama doesn't seem to want to tackle it.  But to reduce
>>>everything to Obama's personal failings or successes, and to ignore
>>>the role of Congress, seems myopic to me.
>>>
>>>There are also areas where he hasn't pushed enough, like in nominating
>>>judges or people to the FRB.  And then there's Afghanistan (re which,
>>>this is truly excellent and depressing:
>>>http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2010/08/impressions-of-afghanistan/62236/1/).
>>> So I don't mean to absolve him.
>>>
>>>On Fri, Sep 3, 2010 at 12:44 AM, Carvill, John <john.carvill at sap.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> > If the economy were in better shape, he would be able to do more, but it isn't.
>>>>
>>>> There is always some excuse. I remember people telling me - in *total* seriousness - "just wait until Clinton's Second Term, then you'll see. He has to be careful now, so he can secure a Second Term. Then he'll get really radical". Whereas of course, people like Bush and Cheney get really radical from the get go.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>>
>



-- 
"liber enim librum aperit."



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