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Guest Post: What Writing A Book Taught Me About Obama And Those Who Followed Him
Submitted by Brad Schaeffer
What Writing A Book Taught Me About Obama And Those Who Followed Him
My novel Hummel’s Cross takes place in pre-war (and wartime) Nazi Germany. In the course of writing the book I became fascinated by how a nation of such highly sophisticated and astute people as the Germans—who gave us Bach, Beethoven, Luther, Goethe, Schweitzer, Einstein, Handel, Nietzsche, Kant, Wagner, (and thrown in a few Austrians like Mozart. Strauss, and Haydn) etc. could be so easily led to their own destruction – taking much of the Western World with them – by a charismatic if empty man. I remember in the film Gladiator the observation is made that the Roman mob is fickle and easily led. Well, we have seen that in the case of this country in these times the mob is the intelligentsia in the media, the college campus, entertainment and some corners of high finance to name a few groups. In 2008, they looked to Barack Obama and like past societies feeling the need for guidance from on high projected upon him the their own needs, desires and (let’s be honest here) need to cleanse the sense of self-flagellating white guilt they continue to carry over a perceived racism in the country that is now more prevalent as a topic of media round-tables than it is a fact in day-to-day American life.
What gets me nervous is that they could project on him because this man Obama was and remains a mirage. An illusion. Someone whose greatness exists only in the minds of those who adore him for reasons they cannot even articulate because it is simply not rational.
Never has so much power been invested in a man about whom so little was known, over whose nefarious past associations was made or even questioned, and who presented so few real-world accomplishments as to not even have a resume worth note. But he possessed two key skills that come in handy during times of economic and social upheaval: 1) His ability to speak forcefully while offering little but platitudes to whip up an audience eager to be led; and 2) a ruthless pragmatism that would compel him to say and do whatever it took to present an image that would best gain him the levers of power. But that’s ok because Obama, knew what was best, even if the average Joe (except a certain plumber) did not, you see. A new golden age of top-down management of our daily ives radiating out of the central state in Washington D.C. for which we would eventually be grateful. All the people had to do was submit and get in line with the program. Many did willingly. Blindly. Fooled by a personality cult whose statist tendencies remained hidden by a fawning state media/propaganda complex.
By referencing Hummel’s Cross am I calling Obama “Hitler”? Oh stop. I understand the difference between an American president and a Nazi dictator so please do not belittle my concerns with such a knee-jerk accusation as you would be completely missing my point. We still have a long way to go down the slippery slope to hitting the sandbox at the bottom of the slide as Germany eventually did. It’s the lesson on mob psychology I’m talking about here. What I am saying is that a nation's collective intelligence and level of sophistication is by no means no stop-gap to demagogues and dangerous men of all political stripes when the times are right for 'hope and change.'
In the America of 2008, the times were right. I know a lot of bright, successful people whose opinions and expertise on so many matters I deeply respect who were passionately in the Obama tank even wearing his buttons everywhere they went—yet I noticed that they could never quite explain to me why, beyond uttering vague touchy-feely slogans or the deflective “he isn’t Bush.” Wow. As an independent-minded voter who grew up in Chicago and thus am aware of just what kind of pragmatic, even ruthless, ambition it takes to ascend the political ladder so rapidly there as did Obama, I needed more convincing than a cool campaign “O” emblem and Dave Matthews’ endorsement to earn my vote. Yet I found nothing but a paper thin image as the talking points. This vacuum of reasoning left me scratching my head. And the more I did my own research on this smooth-talking Cook County machine politician (as I would eventually conclude he was) the more anxious for my country I became. I realized that, for all too many, Barack Obama's appeal to them was purely emotional. Nothing more. An exercise in collective self-actualization that may have had its place in a 1920's München brauhaus, a plaza in 1940's Buenos Aires or 1960's Havana, but certainly no place in what I once thought was the most developed and wary of Republics.
We are a nation that should be skeptical of leaders. It has been a part of the American character for over two centuries. The Constitution codifies this suspicion of those who seek power with checks and balances that reveal a deeper distrust in human nature…one that is justified if the history of our species is any guide. As an American, it fills me with the greatest dread when I see
throngs of my countrymen searching for meaning to life and self-actualization not from within themselves but from a mere politician about whose biography they know far less than they do their favorite pop star’s.
In a way, having little enthusiasm for the McCain ticket, I found myself in 2008 observing in fascination from the sidelines as the two campaigns developed. And although he had his faults, no one could question who John McCain even was, or whether he had had served his country with honor. Obama, however, was a mystery…and in many ways still is. One who I saw protected by a praetorian guard in a media unable or unwilling to ask even the most basic of questions about what made him tick. That frightened me to no end. It still does.
In writing Hummel’s Cross I tried to throw myself into the mindset of an intelligent if detached German watching almost like a spectator as his country, indeed a member of his own family, slowly falls under the spell of a politician who says the right things at the right time and thus is given a pass on most everything else. A man upon whom the hopes and dreams of a people are mass-projected to the point where they lose themselves. And if it taught me one thing, it is that any people in the right circumstances can follow the wrong leaders to their own destruction—either through fiery cataclysm or, more insidious, slow economic and social decay too subtle for a populace to even realize what has taken place until it is too late to turn back.
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As Obama lacks a primary quality to be a Hitler figure in the US, wrong conclusion to draw. Only somebody who can be a Hitler figure in the US could have that effect.
Then you aren't paying close enough attention, becuase the MSM continues to fall all over themselves to spin the regime in a positive light while at the same time going to all lengths to take out actual threats to a second term. If they are getting behind someone like Romney or Huntsman, it is their attempt to pre-select a GOP candidate that Obama can beat rather than a real conservative who would surely win.
Big O does not need the "American public" behind him. He only needs his core 20% or so to go out and whip the masses into ensuring that all levers of politcal power are pulled to ensure that the proper number of electoral votes are caputured in key locaitons like the cities. With despair in the cities reaching new heights, it is becoming easier and easier for the Hopey-Changey message to hold sway with the mob who will decide our fate.
If you think an Obama defeat in 2012 is a foregone conclusion, you are sadly mistaken.
I give BO a 25% chance @ re-election at this point. At best.
And considering the deterioration of virtually every indicator (economic, social, etc.) it becomes very difficult to see his odds improving as Nov. 2012 approaches.
Obama is toast.
Sadly, I think you are right. They did it in 2008, they'll do it again. And the $$ are going to be just as big, if not bigger, for them(MSM) this time around. Now stop it, you're scaring me...
The Fed can ensure Obama's out if they think there's someone better around. All they have to do is let the economy tank hard and righteous, and Obama's done. Put a sack of potatoes up in the Republican slot and it'll beat Obama if the S&Ps at 666 and inflation is running 9%.
(Unemployment's not going anywhere, or else I'd mention that specifically too.)
You're kidding right? There is an election coming up in a year and a half and I bet you a dollar to a donut they use the same old scams they always use.
The incompetent, paper pushing Petraeus fits the bill. The idiot Amerikan public will wave little flags and cheer for the midget junta leader with fruit salad all over his chest...
Note: "junta leader with fruit salad all over his chest"... Pentagon ridicule of Central Amerikan dictators...
Hey Pentagon! Look at yourselves, bitchez...
I agree on Petraeus, a rear-echelon training expert. Time and Newspeak were pumping this guy out there long before 9/11. He is the bankster's man.
Perhaps the end of the internet will get people off of their asses and keyboards to do what needs to be done. It is safe to corral the bitching and moaning into areas that have no importance.
This might be accomplished with these so-called FEMA camps.
One might even call them "resettlement camps".
That visual is so wrong!
I agree, to a point.
They don't need to end the internet, they just need to make it into a tool to suit their purposes. When the internet can no longer provide access to the viewpoints of anyone and everyone, then we "end."
The American male needs to be re-emancipated.
The American ladies, should start looking deeper into the souls of men rather than their looks and stop following what's "de rigueur."
There you have it.
so you're saying i do have a shot after all?
When men were men...
Sheep generally can not transmit human STDs. And men made that choice even when the typical young woman had less than 5 partners before marriage.
yOU SICK PUPPY. Just kidding, After all we wear "Sheep Love Gloves".
1) TheRapist: How does that make you feel?
2) ...
3) Prophalactics industry: Ah yes, people no longer get that burning sensation because our products protect against that. Time for the products to re-introduce the sensation!
http://www.trojancondoms.com/Product/ProductDetails.aspx?ProductId=55
4) Get a tax loophole from some congress critter. I mean heck, they give a tax credit for wooden arrow manufactures so people will never forget how important the longbow was to warfare. People also need to remember the sensations that occured after such medeval battles.
5) And/or If we are lucky, get the school districts to pay for these premium brands.
6) Profit x 3. Every good MBA knows you must grow or die.
I love the old days.
http://www.artesmagazine.com/2011/02/the-american-frontier-native-american-identity-and-western-expansionism-through-artists-eyes/
It's demographics really. Throughout history there were bloody wars and mostly young able-bodied men killed. The men that survived were in high demand and therefore called all of the shots in the romance dynamic. And the women worshiped them. That is why societies have mostly been male-dominated down through time. The Ukrainians lost one in four people during WWll, most being marraige aged men. In today's wars (for US), we kill a lot of people but not many US soldiers die.
...so you may get your wish in the near future.
You bring up a good point. Everywhere in the USA culture, with some noted, scattered exceptions, the exterior, the appearance is celebrated. This leaves no room to contemplate a different sort of functionality, or even a deeper spiritual meaning. I see something simular happening with China's television, and other regions where american cultural influence is rife. The one dimensional culture of an empire.
IMO Director Paul Verhoeven nailed it, when he made "Starship Troopers".
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120201/
Fix fukishima, then we talk!
That's "de rigueur" Mortis. Manliness has about expired and all we have left are these prancing pussies like Braack, Rahnm and Wiener boy. Bawney Fwank is the new Progressive Hero.
Real manliness is about, as an adult, doing away with the need for mommy and daddy in the first place.
Time to grow up.
"One who I saw protected by a praetorian guard in a media unable or unwilling to ask even the most basic of questions about what made him tick."
But you know things have gotten a lot better. We now know which candidates prefer Coke over Pepsi or thin crust over thick crust. Now that i know which candidates prefer Conan over Leno the choice is clear.
Of course the Germans thought they would sweep the table. They didn't think they were being led to destruction. Had they realized Hitler was so incompetent that he would send their army into Russia without winter clothes they would have done away with him. And in any case they were not destroyed. Many more Soviets died than Germans. And they did get to wreak their Wagnerian vengeance on the Einsteins of the world, if you catch my drift.
But I generally agree w your points about Obama.
seems like they missed einstein but he didn't miss their ally the japanese. and maybe them if they could have held on for a few more months.
My understanding was that the Siege of St. Petersburg (Leningrad) resulted in instances of canalibism, the consumption of rats and other vermin, and the mixing of sawdust into ground grain when baking bread.
Yeah, those Germans were real pleasant folks on the battlefield.
I need a new EYE doctor!
The leader just gives the people what they want. Hitler/Germany -- were desperate to feel strong, powerful, and relevant. He just fed their own desires to them.
This country is full of brain dead liberals. They vote for a black guy because it makes them feel good to vote for a minority. Empty promises of green tech etc. Boy doesn't that sound good! Remember - he was going to do everything perfect. Transparency! Thoughtfullness! Intelligence! Empty slogans.
It's sad about the average intelligence and thought ability in this country. The United States of braindead morons!
It's amazing to me that in our screwed up society -- the stock market is supposed to pay for everything. Pay for our retirements, pay for pension obligations. Pretty much pay for everything long term. Yet, common stock has very little real value. Most stocks pay a pittance in dividends. So what does stock ownership "get you". Not any real voting rights. Not much for dividend payments to compensate you for your ownership. Basically, a stock certificate shows you've got some "honorary" ownership. Doesn't matter how profitable a company is...common stockholders get nothing. AAPL at $320 "gets you" the same as AAPL at $220, $120, or $20 per share. A certificate showing honorary ownership. Why anyone pays any real money for an honorary certificate stupifies. It's just a cultural thing. Invest in stocks, it's what people do. I have a feeling it's going to end up just like investments in beanie babies. People will ask "What was i thinking". They weren't thinking. Just herding a cultural trend.
This is a country begging to be fleeced! Absolutely begging for it!!
you make good points. however, hard as this may be to believe, stocks historically paid more in dividends than did bonds in interest (because stocks were "riskier"). that may say something for the relative valuation of the stock market.
As best as I an see, their prayers have been answered. Milestones
You must be a DDM kool-aid drinker ... If you believed in DCF, only then would you understand.
Seems like a homogenous society is what leads to a lasting culture. The Chinese, Japanese etc. All have homogenous societies and arent too welcoming to diversity.
Intellectual is another name for clueless fucking moron that needs to die in fire.
This is the best quote of the month.
I'd hate to imagine what your IQ could add up to...
How ironic. I'm tipping it was the intellectual of the ol' caveman tribe that discovered fire...
what you say is largely true of obama.
as it is true of his predecessors g.w. bush and clinton.
while having a longer track record, the quality of governance of g. h. w. bush and reagan was little better. then you have carter and ford. next nixon whose crimes for which he resigned rather than be impeached are now "legal". then johnson who certainly greatly escalated the criminal war in vietnam (on a false flag attack) and may have actually helped kill his predecessor kennedy who remains a bit of a randy, smooth talking cypher upon whom many pin their unrequited dreams.
for my money the last decent president this country had was ike (and he picked nixon for his v.p. and john foster dulles for his secretary of state).
Eisenhower was one of the worst war criminals of WW II.
http://www.ihr.org/jhr/v10/v10p161_Brech.html
http://www.rense.com/general46/germ.htm
http://www.saveyourheritage.com/eisenhowers_death_camps.htm
Jackson.
you can't be critical of Nazis without examining Zionists and Bolsheviks as well - hate bred hate
Excuse me Dark Pools,
Hate breeds hate.
Even now most of the elite don't "hate" us. Revulsion? Sure. They just see us "resources", movable type, cattle, etc. There are personalities that specialize in exploitation. They tend to gravitate to positions of power and, for these pyschopaths, collusion is as natural as anything else in life. Why would they do it any other way?
Sometimes this collusion becomes a cultural identity...
"Hate" is oversimplified.
That Dark pool thing is an issue "oldman" Thanks for the reminder!
I was speaking of a past occurance - are you just a slogan monkey?
Astute observations.
The main cause of any and all US misery, is the general lack of a broad classical education, laxk of extensive knowledge, and lack of interest in the perspectives of other nations all pared with a peculiar, vulgar obsession with power, in all its forms, which is projected onto US Hegemony.
It is ignorance, which makes for good obedient citizens of empire, because it translates so easily into vicarious lving through the symbols of the empire, and this combination of provincialism and arrogance, is neither particualrly left or right or even American - it is however particular to the circumstances, which anable empire to be built by the elite, who needs no greta intelligence of its own, but only the ruthless desire to dominate - and this symbiosis between the ignorance of the uneducated and the ruthlessness of the ivy Ilk, depends not any other circumstance.
The gap between those who have knowledge and power, and those who have neither, is the receipe - and the leaders are incidental, not noteworthy, not charismatic, not particularly smart, not "great men of history", rather a chain of mediocre personas, who fit the recipe of empire: inequality, status-gaps, provincialism and arrogance.
US individualism is a myth. US citizens are collectivists, united by negative uniting fact0ors: namely external "enemies" and personal ambition to climb the material ladder provided by US/globalist corporations. Forget your idea of the great leader individual; isn't it kind of un-American to begin with?
post of the decade.
Thank you.
My stupid wish is that we can be like Belgium for a breather from dear Leaders. Can't we just take a break for a couple of presidential election cycles to get our shit together?
Even dirt needs a break from excessive production without a chance for regeneration.
Why do we need leaders? Why do we need this goomint?
Agreed. It is called "putting down the shovel" Or in our case, the real reason "shovel ready" did not bring us out of the mess.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/jun/17/barack-obama-solar-power-white-house
Yeah, but something will happen and someone will be voted in with extra power to sort out the problems. I saw star wars, I know how things roll.
Yes... Yes, yes, yes.
Good post.But since what passes for "education" in this country has devolved into voc tech/socialisation the odds are stacked against us.
Except for the Internet....that is proving to be a major pain in the ass for them....hence the much touted kill-switch.
Today, the truth is truly subversive.And rapidly becoming criminal.
But it still sets you free.
provincialism and arrogance
Agree, good post.
Nice post post. It must be kind of lonely for you. When you have that kind of insight, who can you talk to? There must be some comfort in knowing your reading audience can follow and identify with you. That is, unless you are a college professor or something.
Nice post. It must be kind of lonely for you. When you have that kind of insight, who can you talk to? There must be some comfort in knowing your reading audience can follow and identify with you. That is, unless you are a college professor or something.
Like the comment. It is high-minded and relevant with the caveat that it is also just as pie-in-the-sky as the main article's criticism of Obama and the social milieu which spawned him.
Every person is not cut out to be intellectually able to absorb a classical education, and the rest won't be able to afford it. Travel is the best educator but there will always be those genetically predisposed to stay at home and keep the hearth warm, awaiting the return of the weary traveler to regale them with stories of foreign lands.
You see, we will always have this situation -- and have always had. Somehow believing that all the wildebeests will lead the herd is ridiculous. Some will lag so far behind as to become a meal, some will get trampled, but the majority will run in the middle of the herd seeing only the backside of the one in front.
As an aside, you might consider using the spell-check function. Credibility begins with the very image of erudition and careful crafting.
your diamond rocks r shining like "wildebeests"...
Wildebeest : Facts, Pictures, Video : Animal PlanetThe Business of America Is War...Anti War/Obama Slogans ...
http://seenoevilspeaknoevilhearnoevil.blogspot.com/2011/06/anti-waranti-...
Amazing how an advert to join the Obama Zombie Cult pops up to coincide with the same webpage as this article.
Google, take your stinkin' paws off me, you damned dirty ape.
Actually, this post is rather ridiculous.
Have we so soon forgotten the cult of Bush, Clinton, Reagan, JFK, Roosevelt (Franklin and Teddy), Lincoln, and even the father of our country, George Washington?
"Fooled by a personality cult whose statist tendencies remained hidden by a fawning state media/propaganda complex."
All these men were statists, while Washington was instrumental in the creation of the central government.
A study of history shows that the masses are easily swayed by the power of suggestion and the cult of personality.
From Rome to Russia, Nazi Germany to Mao's Communist China, American politics to American football.
When Stalin died the people in the Soviet Union wept uncontrollably even though he was as ruthless a dictator as they come.
His cult of personality was so pervasive since he ruled from 1922 to 1953 the Russian people felt as if they had lost their father.
Political prisoners held in Lubyanka prison would write Stalin hoping he would intervene in their situation even though he was the one that ordered their arrest and imprisonment.
In my opinion, Obummer is a lightweight. He spends too much time on vacation and the golf couse to be much of the demi-god you portray him to be.
+1
I think its far more interesting that our last 3 presidents all have MAJOR father-identity issues. Pretty amusing for leaders and what it might suggest of the voting populace's own complexes.
Dead on. Baby boomers are letting go of thier fathers and want it to be the same for thier children. But the stage is now being set to finish out the 1st chapter of feminism by surfacing "mommy issues" and putting advocates of that permutation in leadership.
In all of these popular men behaving badly exploits of our leaders, there is an army of overeducated phsychatrists coming to the aid of people like weiner. Check out huffington post and other MSM avenues. Most of these experts are women saying that Weiner, Arnold, Clinton, etc are not really rapists/pedophiles/bigamists. But Charlie Sheen, Mel Gibson, are disfunctional.
The major difference? Charlie/Mel went straight out after prostitutes, porn stars, and gold diggers. The psuedo scientists can not make any money from these types as direct customers (15 minute therapy sessions) or indirect income via research grants. Everybody knew Kennedy was hiring escorts. Investigating those discretions would have taken congress exactly 3 supeonas and two days. The Clinton impeachment took months, cause he did not use money and pros, he used power to manage his star stuck hareem.
I maybe beating a dead horse here, but putting people like Hillary Clinton (stand by your man) and Bachmann (I was an IRS agent, then I quit to raise 5 kids and 35 foster kids, then I got right back to congress and kept writing tax code) to aquire the populouses' "Mommy Issues" will advance central planning further than any man, even Mao himself could do.
Men don't need all these thought processes researched ad nauseum. They fully understand that power and money are interchangable. Women are not quite there yet, or maybe they are, but just want it presented in a pretty academic package. Happy mothers day folks!
+1 You are wise, wisefool.
All the world's a stage
And all the men and women merely players;
They have their exits and their entrances,
And one man in his time plays many parts.
- As You Like It
Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage
And then is heard no more: it is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing.
- Macbeth
berliners didnt like hitler, saw him as a flashing fad. he didnt like them either thought them decadent. thats why he wanted a new capitol city
Berliners or Herzl's Zionists?
just to show how ignorant everyone is forced to be on this history, look at the reaction to a simple gaming thread of country creation mixed with history.. the red warning at the end says it all
http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?537218-Why-is-Berlin-the-capital-of-Israel/page2
SORO's (Humping everything) That Rubbles can buy, on -------Earth!
W was a figurehead chosen by the powers that be in an effort to undo 50 years of progress..... He rebelled at the end, resisting the string pulling which is the only reason the US didn't go to war with Iran (despite Cheney's unending efforts in pushing that conflict - we're STILL hearing those efforts with Obama....). W's Presidency - using a dumb as rocks 'name' to front for the powers that be didn't turn out so well...... Iraq was a clusterf**k nd the economy blew up earlier than expected.
The Repubs were not going to get the nod in 2008, so the Dem race was controlled to make sure no real progressive (read "CHANGE') would get the nomination. I expect that Hillary was believed to have a lock on things but she was losing her grip... better Obama - a fully known and controlled entity - than someone like Dennis K.
Obama is clearly not what was promised - he provided the ILLUSION of change but the reality was something else.....
Change?!?!?! (where?) and despite his villification as uber-socialiist, the reality is that Obama has done little that a Repub would not have done - same people running things in Iraq and Afghanistan - and now we're in Libya - no difference in economic policy (same Goldman people running things). Just a little better PR with a few bones thrown to the masses (and if you think business doesn't REALLY want national health care - unloading this cost onto government - you're delusional). Note: NOBODY was ever held accountable for the very real violations of law under Bush - illegal war, torture, financial fraud, no-bid looting of the Treasury in Govt' contracts, never mind the clear war profiteering and BILLIONS unaccounted for in Iraq.....
The tin hat crowd pointing out Obama's mother's family involvement with the CIA and his father's 'Ford Fondation' sponsorship may be on to something. the ILLUSION of change and choice while providing a fully vetted candidate that will do as told........ you don't REALLY think that the two parties represent any real difference, do you? BOTH are owned by their largest contributors.... we have the ILLUSION of a republic - while reality is an oligarchic run empire in full melt-down, funnelling billions to the powers that be while dumping life time debt on ahe average taxpayer.......
Red, Blue, Left, Right - these are all distractions and illusions to keep you from seeing the reality that exists.....
Depends on what business you're talking about. The insurance and pharmaceutical industries certainly don't want it, and they are able to weild considerable influence.
"and if you think business doesn't REALLY want national health care - unloading this cost onto government - you're delusional"
Huh? Insurance and Pharma do not want to have forced customers like the auto insurance industry ???
If there was a government option sure, but there isnt so obamacare is a cash cow for Insurance and Pharma
Under Obamacare of course, its the reverse. But cynicalskeptic's comment saying businesses really want it because they can unload the cost to government didn't sound like Obamacare to me.
you'll need some type of healthcare to keep navigating through cynicalskeptics posts.. i couldn't get through it so I missed your point
dark pools, I assumed that "national health care" meant universal health care/medicare for all. There would be no need for insurance companies in such a plan, and pharmaceutical and medical device companies would lose pricing power when they have to negotiate with the government.
"Depends on what business you're talking about. The insurance and pharmaceutical industries certainly don't want it, and they are able to weild considerable influence." I looked contributions from the health industry up some time ago. Huge majority of them were going to the Dems and the timing correlated well with the introduction of Obamacare. I don't think the industry would be funneling money to someone who wasn't doing what it wanted. The main point of the health care bill is to force the working/middle class to do business with the health industry - while they get taxpayer money for the servicing the rest. The bill is the monopolist wet dream.
That was my point. I was responding to the original post:
"and if you think business doesn't REALLY want national health care - unloading this cost onto government - you're delusional"
and responded that the only businesses that wanted Obamacare are Big Pharm and Insurance, since it represented a big pay day to them. To me "national health care" is public option, and those contributions you refer to made sure that was not included in the package. No free lunch for the sheeple. Only profits for the special interests.
right on brother.......
Speaking of Red-Blue, isn't it masterful how the MSM took Red, which used to be the ultimate pejorative for the Left in American politics, and stuck it to the Right and actually got it to stick such that the Right doesn't even object to it?
It's all over but for the fat lady to sing, and the only reason she has not sung yet is because somehow the Big O machinery got enough dirt on Hil to keep her quiet.
I was reading a book on propaganda and the writer made the point that the most intelligent were also the most likely to fall for progaganda due to the need to be seen as part of the clique that "gets it" so to speak. Further, here is a post about the difference between having strong verbal skills and strong math skills, and how people perceive their intelligence. Strong implications for those that hate Palin and love Obama.
http://infoproc.blogspot.com/2011/06/high-v-low-m.html
Your writer must not have been very intelligent.
The truly intelligent do not fall for this crap and rebel, or they are part of promoting this crap.
Only the fools will fall for this crap and believe it.
As for your link, you need strong V and M to be intelligent. Without strong V, you are merely educated. Strong M takes intelligence that most (especially females... like Palin) don't possess, but strong M without V makes you just a savant.
PS: Before you judge, what was the male-female ratio in your Diff-Eq class? Mine was "undefined".
"or they are part of promoting this crap."
Yes, as I said. They are politically correct in a herdlike manner in their desire to be part of the "brights".
"Without strong V, you are merely educated. " This makes no sense. Many people are strong V PRECISELY because they are "educated". That is to say, trained in a way of speaking, without understanding of the nuts and bolts. Obama is a perfect example of one that is trained by the right people in the right places, but can't or won't grasp simple concepts like accounting, profit etc. People that run small businesses have a stronger grasp of M than he does.
In modern Amerika delusion is worshipped, truth eschewed.
Hallmarks of the narcissistic - and we have a culture of it.
"intelligentsia in the media" - similar to this guy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WMSFqrUcw0
I am sure I would not enjoy this book.
Fuck O'bama! They're so scared, the NSA now has to get actively involved with enforcing their agenda. LOL
Matrix's Ending
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YvOWY81Zuzw&NR=1
Unfortunately that scene represents, in Fight Club terminology, "premature enlightenment".
America is ripe for a Fascist regime. After being told for decades how exceptional you are, a fall to a lesser status in power and in lifestyle will not be an acceptable outcome for the national psyche.
At that point, a choice will come along between accepting and dealing with the situation, or believing a 'man of conviction and action' who will promise magic; to restore the glory of the republic, no matter the cost. Which one do you think people will choose?
In terms of putting the right laws and powers in place, I think America is already further along than what Hitler started out with. No shortage of exploitable scapegoats. It'll be nationalism and violence all around.
how do you know that it isn't already a fascist regime? I don't see that it is anything but fascist
If a candidate could emerge as the anti-bankster, anti-globalist candidate, he might have a chance to overcome partisan politics. I believe a lot of people would be very responsive to that message at this point. What baggage came along with those policies would be the worry. Whether such a candidate could ever make it into office without being assassinated is another question.
His name is Ron Paul, but we are too charisma obsessed to partake of his wisdom and guidance.
Obama Bin Lyin'
Barry Soetoro
We Know Who Barry Soetoto Is
A classic Alan Dulles CIA = Wall Street puppet and asset with a deliberate obscure background. Soetoro's background is so compromised by CIA affiliations and possible constitutional ineligibility issues, that Soetoro is the perfect controlled, blackmailed politician to do the Financial ruling elite's bidding as well as following the marching orders of the US military-industrial-security complex.
Trained to Deceive
Soetoro's teleprompter trained, neural linguistic programming speech cadence, have all the earmarks of CIA covert training in mass mind control.
CIA Mind Control Puppet
Soetoro himself through several episodes shows signs of MK-Ultra mind control and programming. Without the teleprompter observers have confirmed Soetoro is an inarticulate hack (see Youtube video when the teleprompter went off).
In the above context, it is easy to explain every Obama Bin Lyin' "decision" (Read: order from the elite) that otherwise confuses the Amerikan fools still believing in the phony left right paradigm.
Worse Than Bush
Soetoro's record is worse than Bush on almost every issue of substance: warmonger, torturer, illegal assassinations, war crimes, war escalations, No Banker Left Behind massive bailouts, complete capitulation to Wall Street, financial destruction of the real, productive US economy, refuses to prosecute Wall Street fraudsters and CIA torturers...
Eject This Treasonous Fraudster
This bitch is CIA-Wall Street Puppet all the way...
Obama Bin Lyin'... Worse than Bush...
I don't know about all the generational Obama CIA stuff, it would be a relief at this point if he actually had connections to acronyms that were familiar. But I like your avatar, EraserHead, by David Lynch -- weirdest movie ever, you either walk out or can't turn away.
Jesse at Cafe Americain took Eraserhead and plopped Timmay Jeethner's mug on it back in March 2009...
How astute of Jesse... I have been a big fan of his blog ever since...
Read:
"The Unauthorized Biography of Barak H. Obama" by Webster Tarpley...
"The Story of Obama: All in the Company"
"Obama’s CIA “Mommy Dearest” — identifying Indonesians for assassination"
"Stanley Ann Dunham Obama Soetoro's CIA colleagues"
All by Wayne Madsen, former naval officer, NSA consultant.
This is like that "Your brain on drugs" poster.
Any questions?
Great post. Excellent.
+1,000
'Big O' is Obama's handle at the CIA, of which he is their total creation. It's from one of those Matt Helm spy novels by Donald Hamilton.
The agency believed they needed a black man with a Muslim middle name to show the Arab world America was not the racist puppet of those dirty, low-down circumcised Jews in Israel (even though 'Big O' was brought along by some Chicago Jews, go figure).
Also, Bill Clinton was their creation, via his step-uncle Raymond "Buddy" Clinton, godfather of the Dixie Mafia, operating out of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Bill Blythe hated his step-father, Roger Clinton Sr. (Raymond's brother), but mysteriously changed his surname to 'Clinton' (at age 16!!) after Roger Sr. died in an auto-accident (a.k.a. "arkancide"). Raymond 'took the young Bill under his wing' and helped him make his way in the world, etc, etc. Raymond was the "cooler" for the heavily-CIA-connected Carlos Marcellos crime family that controlled New Orleans. And folks, that's how Bill Clinton got to Georgetown, Yale, & Oxford.
When I read the 'conspiracy' posts on this thread I feel that the USA was already ripe for "manchurian candidates" as of early post war days, and that this never stopped!
'Cos saying both Clinton and Obammy are CIA/NWO stooges makes this a profoundly deep recurrent game. I guess the same people thought that GW, the original, and Ben Fr and all the rest were Illuminati plants! And that Lincoln was the original communist who had read the Communist manifesto before Marx had even published 'Das Kapital'! Makes the KGB look like amateurs...
+1 Shows how easily led and lacking in critical thinking the sheeple are.
Correction to your number 5. I see this one all the time. I researched it using state department memos from back then. US Citizens were not 'barred from travel'. There was a serious travel advisory recommending US Citizens not travel to "POKIstan" as O'bama would say. That does not equal US Citizens barred from travel.
Thanks for the tip Moe... I will look into that. I like accurate facts...
"accurate facts" is redundant.. just sayin'
Steve Allen
Just sayin'...
Obama been smoking lack of (Debt Ceiling)!
Triumph of the Shill
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/01/AR200703...
Don't hate the puppet. Hate the theater.
I knew from the jump exactly who Obama was, all it took was a 20 minute internet search in 2007.
Obama is a marxist/socialist and the MSM doesn't dare let anyone say it out loud because they're on board with the commie-lite agenda. So the MSM is dark on Obama's past and know exactly what's there because they have a vested interest and hope to get $60 billion/yr in government subsidies to be the American Pravda if they can continue to prop up his agenda. Stomping on the internet is part of his homage to his MSM support.
Little wonder the MSM sent legions to AK to create a frenzy turning over every rock in Wasilla for dirt on Palin so they would never have to focus on Obama and vet him.
-father marxist, bigamist
-mother in HI to study Russian -- at the height of the Cold War
-childhood mentor in HI was Frank Marshall Davis, member of the Communist Party of America and very active writer for their anti-America newspaper; and also was a friend to a Chicago socialist -- Valerie Jarret's father -- that's how 'Bam knows Valerie, they go way back
-marxist in college, even told then campus marxist leader (Dr. John Drew, now former marxist dishing on Bam to those who will listen, which is nobody in MSM) that he "wasn't marxist enough"
-only president in the history of all the Ivy leagues, not just Harvard, who never wrote a single paper. Unheard of, they're supposed to leave a large legacy that adds to the debate and literature. It's like having a lead singer in a band who then refuses to sing when you're already on the road.
-was turned down after his first job interview at University of Chicago-- "didn't know anything". Later, after a phone call from adminstration brass said "put him on the payroll", he was hired 2 weeks later as a part time lecturer.
-part-time lectured on marxist Saul Alinsky community organizing at the U of C, and while there, told a colleague (Dr. John Lott ) that all guns should be banned.
-after he was president, Obama joined Hugo Chavez in supporting the attempted marxist takeover of Honduras in Spring 2009 by Manuel Zalaya.
We all know the rest since he was president...
My friends in Central America are totally stupified and amused that Americans don't seem to know that Obama is a marxist --- they saw it even before the election from thousands of miles away. They see them down there every day.
So far, everything Obama is doing is just a slow motion version of a Latin-style marxist takeover. People here just scratch their heads over this guy and wonder why he isn't content to just play between the forty yard lines like they always do. He never will, because he is a marxist in plain sight.
Yeah, see, but the reason no one recognizes what's so "obvious" is because you're an idiot who wouldn't recognize Marxism if it kicked you in the ass.
Why don't you demonstrate your great knowledge of the subject by sketching the broad outlines of Obama's massive Marxist takeover plot? Keep it simple. Not the history--the current events and our collective "Marxist" future as envisioned by Obama.
Obama is a piece of shit worthless empty suit without a single principled bone in his brain who'd just as soon back an ethnic-cleansing campaign as he would start shipping people to farming collectives.
If you think you can perceive some core to his belief-system, it should be a fascinating study in what makes your mind work.
Biggest fucking idiot on the planet!
In the land of the blind, the truth tellers still get killed.
sheesh. I wish Obama WAS a Marxist. At least SOMEBODY would be trying to take on the oligarchs that are calling the shots in this country.
Then you haven't really paid much attention to the actual iterations of marxism that have already been tried on this planet. Every one of them had their own little power-elite who were defacto oligarchs sucking up the little remaining wealth that was still being created by the efforts of the workers.
Capitalism, at least when it is honestly tried, is the honest, free and fair exchange of capital (including labour, which is a product the application of an individual's human capital) for the benefit of all who make a good faith effort to participate. I am not against a safety net for those who cannot participate for reasons not of their own fault, but it is a mistake to think that an all powerful central elite can make life better for all by making it "fairer" for all by impoverishing the majority.
Right. Then who, in the corporatist structure that is running the show now, stands to GAIN from this secret Marxist takeover? They'd all be strung up! I don't see Obama standing up against ANY corporate interests. Where is the revolution? All I see is more corporate power, no encroachment on it whatsoever. As the sheeple are happy to score the McDonalds job and watch reality TV. Too bad for those losers that even McDonalds turned away. Typical twisted conspiracy theory
Nothing mutually exclusive at all about being a marxist and working for the banks.
Why would those with wealth and power be interested in Marxist redistribution of wealth? Not saying there aren't some well meaning progressives that happen to work for banks, but you are WAY off.
TPTB will support anybody that is compliant. They don't have any ideology, they just have a plan.
They'll support marxist/socialist elites because they're all frauds anyway, their wealth and power doesn't get redistributed (George Soros). They prefer them because it's about more government control. They get to accumulate more by using control of government to eliminate threats and drive competitors out of business.
Sure, there's are tons of well meaning true believers of marxism/progressivism/socialism but serious persons and TPTB know it's a discredited economic model and the vast majority are only dupes recruited to help the real agenda which is plunder.
To wit: You get to bear witness, in real time, how the communist/socialist Greek leaders sold out their "ideology" and their people to TPTB long ago. Right now, they are still dragging their feet as hard as they can to help TPTB. The Greeks are in the streets because they finally see they were dupes all along. It was all a lie. The politicians were a lie and their economy was a lie.
(Sorry for the multiple posts, have a seriously bad Wi-Fi connection)
There doesn't appear to be any model that doesn't lead to gaming, but I still contend that what we have in this country has no similarity to Marxism or socialism, only corporatism.
You must have just fell off a turnip truck. Corporations get favored status and monopolies in exchange for $$ and other support of the marxist, and those that don't get stomped on. Ever seen a poor marxist dictator who didn't live like a king?
The Marxist bullshit is all just talk so TPTB can get down to some serious plundering. The biggest gaps in rich and poor are in marxist countries like Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela. The dicktators like rolling in it so much they're not about to give it up -- marxism is just a Utopian Mysticism cult for the masses that requires regular sacrifices of free-market scapegoats to blame for the endemic misery. Marxism defies the laws of economics and could never work anyway, even if it were run by Angels.
But when TPTB in the central banks indicate that the marxist train is about to leave the station, all the other oligarchs better hop on board or get stomped on. And so they are, examples: MSM, GE, GM, Google, Facebook, Big Pharma, Insurance Co's, Energy companies, etc.
Communism is just another flavour of plutocratic mercantilism poised against Corporatist Fascism in the same false 'left-right' dialectic owned, operated and manipulated by aristocratic banking cultists that have spread poisonous religion and hate to foster war, death and destruction in as a sociopathic blueprint to achieve their generational plan for global feudalism.
All your rebuttal points in this thread are excellent.
You must have just fell off a turnip truck. Corporations get favored status and monopolies in exchange for $$ and other support of the marxist, and those that don't get stomped on. Ever seen a poor marxist dictator who didn't live like a king?
The Marxist bullshit is all just talk so TPTB can get down to some serious plundering. The biggest gaps in rich and poor are in marxist countries like Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela. The dicktators like rolling in it so much they're not about to give it up -- marxism is just a Utopian Mysticism cult for the masses that requires regular sacrifices of free-market scapegoats to blame for the endemic misery. Marxism defies the laws of economics and could never work anyway, even if it were run by Angels.
But when TPTB in the central banks indicate that the marxist train is about to leave the station, all the other oligarchs better hop on board or get stomped on. And so they are, examples: MSM, GE, GM, Google, Facebook, Big Pharma, Insurance Co's, Energy companies, etc.
You must have just fell off a turnip truck. Corporations get favored status and monopolies in exchange for $$ and other support of the marxist, and those that don't get stomped on. Ever seen a poor marxist dictator who didn't live like a king?
The Marxist bullshit is all just talk so TPTB can get down to some serious plundering. The biggest gaps in rich and poor are in marxist countries like Cuba, North Korea, and Venezuela. The dicktators like rolling in it so much they're not about to give it up -- marxism is just a Utopian Mysticism cult for the masses that requires regular sacrifices of free-market scapegoats to blame for the endemic misery. Marxism defies the laws of economics and could never work anyway, even if it were run by Angels.
But when TPTB in the central banks indicate that the marxist train is about to leave the station, all the other oligarchs better hop on board or get stomped on. And so they are, examples: MSM, GE, GM, Google, Facebook, Big Pharma, Insurance Co's, Energy companies, etc.
Well said.
I give you five trolls. My best rating.
BTW, there is nothing mutually exclusive about marxists working for TPTB, they make the perfect bedfellows. George Soros much? The Stalins and Obamaos don't even believe their own marxist crap, it's just a tool to get them into power. Some of Obama's biggest donors were JPM, GS, Citi.
Comrade Obama is already running for President of the UN just as the TPTB are consolidating a UN global government to facade their IMF global banking. To wit: Obama is pandering to the UN Islamic block by coddling Sharia and through his actions in MENA; is trying to ban guns in the US using the UN; started an illegal war in Libya claiming "authority" from the UN; and has pandered to the sheeple in Europe by compaigning there in his election for US presidency.
As senator, his only significant piece of legislation (failed) was the "Global Poverty Act" which was a yearly tax on America for 2.5% of GDP (then, about $250 billion per year) to be paid to the IMF, through the UN --- which was a nice way for Obama to show he belonged to TPTB and was applying for higher office.
Gawds, you're a crazy fucker. First you say (a few hundred times) that Obama's a Marxist. Then you say he doesn't even believe it.
What makes him a Marxist? It can't be his beliefs, because you seem to understand that he has none. So it must be his actions. So what are all these "Marxist" actions he's promoting?
One world government through banking. Trying to ban guns. Starting an illegal war in Libya.
You're all over the map, and none of it makes a lick of sense.
being a lifelong democrat i did not vote for Obama. people said why not? i said because he will be worse than Bush. how can that be, they ask me? i had seen the failure of the Congressional sweep of the 2006 midterm elections, sound and fury, signifying nothing. it was clear they wanted nothing but to hold the reins of power, and if Bush had made sitting on the throne seem that much more appealing, so be it. they didn't care how or why.
i am not disappointed in Obama because i had no expectations. that he brought along his Chicago gangster friends, that he appointed everyone from Goldman Sachs. None of it bothers me. He is no worse than I thought he would be, and the next one will be worse, unless of course you reelect Obama.and that will only give you another four years before the next bastard takes office.
there will be a moment, when there is nothing left to save, when the American people will demand control of their country. by then there will be nothing left to save.
and really you cannot be sure if Al Gore would have been better than Bush, though people hated him. he had image problems. haha. he took money from the Buddhists, (for what, world peace, freedom from suppression in Tibet?) people really get their underpants in a knot over the wrong things. Obama stands for all kinds of wonderful progressive ideals, to which he gives lip service, when in fact he is a gangster.
the next election is a hopeless exercise in futility. history awaits us. One prediction, fifty years from now the range of Presidents from Reagan to Obama will be demeaned in the history books as corrupt, antipopulist, corporate shills for Wall Street. for the moment we can only live in the belly of the beast.
Has you voted in the past for democrat candidates? If yes, it will mean that you will no longer vote, for any candidate possible.
not likely i will vote for a Democratic candidate again. I'm looking at the NPA. but there is a lot of reasoning in voting for third party candidates, which i could explain in a book. but in American politics if you don't vote for the winner you somehow feel inadaquete. its possible to lose and lose badly, and still make a positive contribution. that goes for the voters sense of angst as well
There are words that deserve never to have been written.
Yes, Mr. Obama is a pretty zero sum, has misguided ideas and misguided supporters.
But, Mr. Schaeffer, stop with the modern Zionist historical view on the German people and a misinformed school student’s view of what happened 80 years ago. 80 years ago!
Are you trying to smear the actions of the German people by referencing Obama?
By the way, I read every word you’ve written here…and let me tell you, it was mighty hard.
I never thought a president would make me long for the days of George W. Bush. But Obama makes him look like a savant.
+5... How true... George Bush... give the new guy your dunce cap...
there is no discernible difference imo.
= ) nice work buzz.
Minus that junk!
Agreed. They are all the same beast.
Obama has no power. It doesn't matter who is president they will all turn into bush-obama ten seconds after swearing in. Obama made sense before he became president, immediately after he turned into W.
It's easy to make sense if you are trained in the Hegelian dialectic, as Obama most certainly was. Just say "whatever it takes" and, voilà!, electorate duped...mission accomplished.
There were many who saw through it beforehand, but nobody took any notice of their warnings.
+5... Correct analysis...
I hereby <UNJUNK> you buzz...
Learn to love the antichrist. He will solve all our problems. We just have to believe and hope for change.
"The Change" is in your pocket...
McCain served his country with honor?
baaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahahahaha
wow.....what a bunch of delusions
every post from here on in from Tyler is now suspect. it seems the only mirage that's been exposed from this posting is YOU.
thanks for exposing just how delusional YOU are.
errrrm...this wasn't written by Tyler, numbskull.
Look up 'byline' in a dictionary, then go back to your bedroom until mommy calls you for dinner. ("Guest Post:" should have been a giveaway for you, but.....).
You bring up an interesting point which I've been meaning to address. I wish that the main page (http://www.zerohedge.com/) would list the actual article author rather than the simple fact that TD posted the article. My favorites get overlooked sometimes and the ones I would avoid get clicked inadvertently. Just a pet peeve...
My comment below shows that I agree with you 100% about the guest poster's major fail in calling McCain a man of honor. Yet I'm not sorry that Tyler posted this rather weak essay. Why? One of the largest problems with the internet, particularly in terms of political sites, is the "James Jones Effect:" the proliferation of isolated sites with an editorial perspective seeking "regulars" of an identical, sometimes cultish, mindset. These sites do nothing to foster free thinking or critical analysis, but exist to reenforce preconceived notions.
This essay's comments reveal the diversity (and at times perversity) of the Zero Hedge regulars. Disagreements, and merciless attacks on the essayist and each other, here and in other political articles, is a good thing.
I can still recall how shocked I was at how easy it was for Bush to stir up support for a totally bogus war in Iraq. In a very short time he had people believing that Saddam had to be stopped before he became another Hitler. I even knew someone who, even thought he was born in Italy in 1942, said he could recall Hitler's rise to power.
An amazingly precocious young man – 3 years old at Hitler’s death and still he had the presence of mind to witness Hitler’s rise to power.
The only mystery we’re left with… is how did he do it?
So 90's but I like it!
shiffy shaff, that you?