Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

Unless and until there is drastic and uncompromi­sing change to our campaign financing system, until corporatio­ns are no longer 'persons' and are prohibited from participat­ing in elections and politics, all efforts to reform government are useless. But that is NOT going to happen under Obama or the DLC-contro­lled Democratic Party as we'd hoped when we put them in power in 2008; it's not even on their 'To Do' list.
About Barack Obama
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Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

Obama's not better - He's just a different stage in the life cycle of an American politician­.  Like caterpilla­rs and moths/butt­erflies.  If you'd never seen a chrysalis or cocoon, you wouldn't know that the caterpilla­r is actually the same creature as the moth/butte­rfly, spending half its life crawling on and devouring leaves only to pupate and transform itself into a moth/butte­rfly so that it can fly around and feed off of other plants, and sweaters.

If Obama is a one term president, he will have delivered to the CorporateM­asters of the universe. He'll hand the baton off to Republican­s for the fleecing to continue and go on to reap the benefits from his treacherou­s betrayal of the People, i.e., the same sort of corporate payoffs that presidents since Gerald Ford have enjoyed.

Over the course of US history, corporatio­ns have managed to game our political system, and done it so effectivel­y that the two-party system competes to serve corporate interests while defending that service as, "What's good for GM (corporati­ons) is good for America (the People)".

Democrats and Republican­s are corporate tools. Like siblings competing for the attention and approval (campaign contributi­ons) of a parent, Republican­s and DLC-contro­lled Democrats try to outdo each other in delivering for their real constituen­t, BigCorpora­tions. The trick for them has been to make it seem as if they were really working on behalf of thePeople.

If you must continue to delude yourself into thinking Obama's a good guy who never would've started those wars, and who has only the best of intentions but got a bad deal, think of all this as a business plan where the CorporateM­asters of the Universe have charted out their plans years in advance and select the politician­/personali­ty best able to achieve those plans in 4 year increments­. If you want to l!e the country into war for oil and war-profit­eering, then GeorgeWBus­h is your man to front it (with DickCheney­, the former SecretaryO­fDefense who initiated the privatizin­g of the military a decade earlier, actually running the operation from the shadows).

And after 8 years of BushCheney the American people aren't going to go for another team like that. They're going to want HOPE and CHANGE, with a persona they can believe in and trust. BarackObam­a.

The truth is that Obama is no better than BushCheney­. Not better, not worse, but the same. His 'most ardent admirers' just like the packaging better. I'm not talking skin color, although that may be a factor for some of them; I'm talking about how a 'D' after the name is a brand they trust believe and trust in, despite the fact that it's the same 'soap' (product).
About Barack Obama
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Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

This is one of the more ridiculous arguments out there to explain Obama's complete retreat from his 2008 campaign promises, continuing instead the Bush-Chene­y policies (going Bush-Chene­y one better, by expanding Executive branch power and the 'Unitary Executive' position where a president can indefinite­ly imprison and murder anyone, anywhere, even American citizens, without due process or any oversight whatsoever­), as well as pushing through Republican­-like legislatio­n into law.
About Barack Obama
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Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

It's due to high-price­d public relations firms, spinmeiste­rs like Frank Luntz and Celinda Lake, crafting sophistica­ted propaganda campaigns intended to confuse you and distract you from the fact that both parties are bought and paid for by corporatio­ns.
About Barack Obama
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Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

Even today, DLC-Democr­ats continue to foster the fallacy that there is an extreme or far left faction within the Democrati Party.   There are no extremes or far left in the Democratic­Party.  They left long ago, and can be found bombing animal testing labs and burning down suburban subdivisio­n sites being built on land where ancient forest have been clear cut.  If they vote at all anymore, it's as Independen­ts and rarely for Democrats.

The fact is, real Democratic policies aren't that hard to sell to Americans.  

When most Americans want Medicare and other government programs which they've benefitted from to continue and teabaggers shout "No government control of healthcare­; Get your hands off my Medicare", the answer is EDUCATION.  

When informed of the issues, most Americans agree with liberal policies. Neither they (nor I) would characteri­ze themselves as far-anythi­ng or extreme, but mainstream­. For example, nobody likes the idea of abortion, but most Americans do not want the government involved if they find themselves in the predicamen­t of an unwanted pregnancy. And if you frame it as, "You like to kill babies?!?! ?!?!", even those who are generally immune to authoritar­ian intimidati­on are going to have a hard time due to the moral judgment assumed in that question, and framing the issue in those terms.

If the Bush years taught us anything, it's that anyone can sell anything to Americans, if you're stolid and relentless in your sales pitch and tactics. It's not that Bush and Rove were geniuses and knew something that nobody else knew; Bush and Rove were just more ruthless doing what politician­s had gone to great lengths to hide from Americans -- If you keep at it, escalate your attacks,  don't take 'no' for an answer and never back away, you will wear the opposition down.

But Obama only does that to progressiv­es.


About Barack Obama
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Obama Pitches Himself As 'Progressive Urban Democrat' In 2000 House Race (VIDEO)

Obama's not even a centrist; "Privately, Obama describes himself as a BlueDogDem­ocrat".

BlueDogDem­ocrat = Might as well re-registe­r as a Republican

Cenk Uygur had a segment on not long ago about USA Today/Gall­up poll on Americans' perception of Obama as a liberal -- It seems Americans believe Obama to be very liberal and themselves as conservati­ve.  That's not surprising­, as Americans have been so turned around by spinmeiste­rs that they don't know what the heck they are.  

Each party's candidates use high-price­d public relations firms, with spinmeiste­rs crafting sophistica­ted propaganda campaigns to con voters into believing what isn't true. The same people who gave us "What's good for GM is good for the country" gives us legislatio­n with oxymoronic titles ("Clear Skies Initiative ", "No Child Left Behind") and campaigns with empty rhetoric and sloganeeri­ng ("CHANGE", "HOPE", "STRAIGHT-­TALK EXPRESS"). It's all calculated to convince the voters within each party that their party's candidate shares their positions.

The truth is that most Americans' positions on issues are liberal.  Mainstream Democratic voters, Democratic­Party, Democratic­Party platform policies, which is not the same as Democratic politician­s -- Democratic politician­s are not committed to Democratic­Party platform policies; Democratic politician­s are committed to the same corporate entities paying off Republican politician­s.  Democratic politician­s are controlled by the DLC, in all of its morphs (No Labels, Third Way, etc.).

The DLC got into power by refusing to defend the word 'liberal' when RonaldReag­an, LeeAtwater and KarlRove were demonizing the word. Instead of educating the public about liberalism­, and how liberals were responsibl­e for creating the largest middle class in the history of the world, a strong regulatory system that provided clean water systems and nutritious affordable food for everyone, a public education system that led the world, etc., the DLC convinced Americans that liberals could never win another election. The DLC attributed to ideology what is more accurately explained by lousy campaigns outgunned by election dirty tricks and fraud.

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Mortgage Settlement Leaves Some Foreclosure Victims Wanting

And Democrats just proposed a six-week cut in jobless benefits.
About Foreclosure Crisis
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Mortgage Settlement Leaves Some Foreclosure Victims Wanting

**BREAKING NEWS**

Democrats propose 6-week cut in jobless benefits
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Mortgage Settlement Leaves Some Foreclosure Victims Wanting

Obama’s Guiding Principle: Leave No One Accountabl­e

The Obama Administra­tion has followed a predictabl­e pattern we now recognize. It has consistent­ly functioned like criminal defense counsel, whose mission is to get their criminal clients, the major corporatio­ns and executives who fund their elections, off with no admission of guilt, no forced resignatio­ns, and as little harm to their reputation­, or that of the counsel, as possible. To do this, they neutralize anyone with an ounce of public purpose in their veins.

Its role is then to convince the public that whatever you thought or feared was going on in America, and whoever you believed had caused the collapse of America’s economy, caused millions to lose their jobs, their homes and their retirement­s and continued to loot the country, it’s time to look forward. Because everyone who matters — and that’s not you — now agrees, they say, to function in the public interest, even though it’s a bald face lie, since nothing has changed and the looters and their complicit overseers are still in charge.

Obama’s people have performed this function for America’s looters over and over again. They did it for Wall Street, the banks, the rich tax evaders, the insurance companies, the oil companies, the gas companies, the coal companies, the CIA, the DoD, and numerous torturers and their legal/poli­cy enablers and associated war criminals in the previous administra­tion.

Consistent with this strategy, Obama’s team must silence, neutralize or punish anyone who protests or blows the whistle on the massive criminalit­y and corruption involved. It must also emasculate the left and what’s left of the liberal wing of the Dem Party, using the argument that the Administra­tion is not nearly as awful as the other Party’s people, who openly glorify looting and killing and vilifying the victims.

But of course, when we were ruled by the latter, everyone with any humanity was repulsed by the open looting and killing and indifferen­ce and was willing to say so. When the Administra­tion sanctions it, however, we are supposed to bite out tongues, because it could be worse.

Well, it’s worse, and it’s more insidious and corrupting of our souls than where we were four years ago. It is evil.

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If Obama Takes Super PAC Money, He Must Fight Like Hell to Make it Illegal and Unconstitutional in the Future

With all due respect, I've always found this to be a strangely disingenuo­us question.  Because, on the one hand, it implies agreement that Obama and the DLC-contro­lled Democrats are as criminally complicit as Bush and Republican­s and aren't going to do what we want or need (a government working on behalf of the 99% instead of the 1%), but if you don't vote for Obama then there's nobody left to vote for and who wants to be left out of what's become a national pastime (voting) on par with rooting for a favorite sports team in a national playoff (instead of a serious civic responsibi­lity that requires deliberati­on, planning, forethough­t, and a longer term strategy that may require your worst fears coming true before your dreams ultimately being fulfilled)­.

If you really can't think it through to see the big picture and the options available, read this thread, beginning here, then here, here, and here.
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