Thursday, April 10, 2008

Obama: "I Will Return To The Foreign Policies of GHW Bush, JFK & Raygun"

We all remember the flack that arose around the BHO campaign when he told the ChiTrib (iirc) that he thought the Party of Raygun was the party of ideas in the '80s, I presume.

Now it appears he was not 'mis-speaking.' And it is interesting to me that these latest remarks haven't gotten a wider discussion among the proponents of "hope" and "fuzzy warmies."

Hope Abandoned: Obama Stands Up for Murder & Plunder, by Chris Floyd, Monday, 31 March 2008
Well, it doesn't really get much plainer than this, does it? From AP:
Obama Aligns Foreign Policy with GOP
Sen. Barack Obama said Friday he would return the country to the more "traditional" foreign policy efforts of past presidents, such as George H.W. Bush, John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan.

At a town hall event at a local high school gymnasium, Obama praised George H.W. Bush — father of the president — for the way he handled the Persian Gulf War: with a large coalition and carefully defined objectives. Obama began a six-day bus tour through Pennsylvania, the largest remaining primary prize in the contest with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton...

"The truth is that my foreign policy is actually a return to the traditional bipartisan realistic policy of George Bush's father, of John F. Kennedy, of, in some ways, Ronald Reagan...." (Emphasis supplied)
Floyd continues:
Obama is doing two things here, reaching out to two very different audiences, on different wavelengths. First, for the hoi polloi, he is simply pandering in the most shameless way imaginable, throwing out talismans for his TV-addled audience to comfort themselves with: "You like JFK? I'll be like him! You like Reagan? I'll be like him too! You like the first George Bush? Hey, I'll be just like him as well!" This is a PR tactic that goes all the way back to St. Paul the spinmeister, who boasted of his ability to massage his message and "become all things to all men." Obama has long proven himself a master of this particular kind of political whoredom -- much like Bill Clinton, in fact, another champion of "bipartisan foreign policy" who for some strange reason got left off Obama's list of role models.

But beyond all the rubes out there, Obama is also signaling to the real masters of the United States, the military-corporate complex, that he is a "safe pair of hands" -- a competent technocrat who won't upset the imperial applecart but will faithfully follow the 60-year post-war paradigm of leaving "all options on the table" and doing "whatever it takes" to keep the great game of geopolitical dominance going strong.

What other conclusion can you draw from Obama's reference to these avatars, and his very pointed identification with them? He is saying, quite clearly, that he will practice foreign policy just as they did. And what they do? Committed, instigated, abetted and countenanced a relentless flood of crimes, murders, atrocities, deceptions, corruptions, mass destruction and state terrorism.

Obama is telling us -- and the war-profiteering powers-that-be -- that he will give us "realistic policies" like those of John Kennedy. These include his steady march into the quagmire of Vietnam, and the backing of a deadly coup in Saigon to replace one brutal junta with another; greenlighting successful coups in Guyana, the Dominican Republic and Iraq, where the CIA helped the Baath Party come to power; greenlighting the spectacularly unsuccessful Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba, not to mention the terrorist operations and assassination attempts there.
No, no! That can't be right, can it? It's all going to be "DIFFERENT!" cuz Barack's gonna "CHANGE!" everything, and we'll all find keys to a NEW CAR under our seats...right? Right?? RIGHT???

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't expect miracles from any single candidate -- well, I don't expect miracles, period. But I'm not sure that lumping JFK GHWB and RR together sends any clear signal to powers that be . . .

The first big test, if he gets in, will be how he approaches Iraq. He's said it'll take two years to get our guys out of there if Bush, as he plans to, leaves the incoming administration with 140,000 troops in.

Succeeding at that with any degree of safety for all concerned is going to going to demand some diplomatic sacrifices (I suggest he sacrifice the Bush admin principles to the Hague).

I like him better than any candidate I've seen in a long time. I'm willing to take up his offer to be part of a voters' voices movement and see what there is to see . . .

Take care out there. I loved seeing the photo of your lane again. Sparkle

Anonymous said...

We have just lived through, (some of us anyway) eighter years of a prez who told us what he was going to do--cut taxes (for the wealthy), get the gov off our backs (off the back of the corporations), help education (at a profit for his family and no child left ahead), and a lot of people liked him too and wanted to have a beer with him.

I don't like any supposed dem who says he wants to be a prez who will bring back Reagan and George H. W. policies, etc., or suggests that he will privatize social security, or will appoint a right wing nutjob for Sec. of Defense, or put republicans in his cabinet. Chimpy at least had the smarts not to put dems in any position of power.

What the hell are you thinking about, Anonymous?

Anonymous said...

Obama or Mccain.

Those are our choices.

Or, we could stop pretending that democracy is anything but a total sham, a form about which there is nothing to admire.

Anonymous said...

blakno, Your statement makes no sense.

Anonymous said...

Um, it actually makes perfect sense. Either live with the choices you have or stop pretending that American democracy is anything but total bullshit. Try actually reading next time.

Anonymous said...

At least you are now saying there is more than one to choose from.