Ralph Nader's open letter to

Ralph Nader's open letter to Obama

"Change" message a con. See http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/article.asp?ID=9628.

Another take

Obama's Foreign Policy: No Sharp Break From Bush
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=10907

To Vanessa

Your writing suggests that that you're quite young and, thus, haven't lived long enough to see how the Real Politik game is played, which is this: Obama would NOT have been handed the millions needed to run in the final race for office if he hadn't toadied up to the big, status quo, corporate agenda. Time will tell if this is true, or not.

In the coming years, you'll learn to ignore the window dressing of campaigns: charisma, looks, sex, religion, race, clever mottos, and rhetoric - no matter how persuasively "intelligent" the speaker sounds. Many so-called smart and well-educated glib politicians come off as well-meaning and articulate, but if you parse their words, you'll find they're actually spewing out optimistic but meaningless drivel.

What counts, and ONLY counts, are candidates' past records and concretely defined, substantive ideas, words, and facts - all that reveals their true character. (Even then, promises are broken by politicians all the time. Remember "Read my lips?")

What's the answer? Support independents and third party candidates who owe no one but their little-guy supporters and who have nothing to lose by telling, as someone said here, "truth to (I prefer "about") power."

Pro-, Anti-, or Un-

-American ... or -Obama .

A meeting between the US Head of State ( President Obama ) and Canada's Head of State ( Gov Gen Michaelle Jean ) should make an interesting photo op.

Obama's first opportunity to disappoint the non-US world will depend on whether Democrats have learned from Carter's error in not prosecuting Nixon's dogs (including Rumsfield, Cheney, Perle etc ).

Will Obama try the Bush league ?

If not for war crimes ...
http://www.mslaw.edu/MSLMedia/LTV/6.4.pdf

- at the very least for murder :
http://www.prosecutionofbush.com/

Stop it.

Sometimes I think that America is just a foil that we use to pump up our own feelings of self worth. I am very aware of the negative aspects of American culture and, especially, of their foreign policy, and, having lived in both countries, I prefer Canada. But we compare ourselves to the U.S. too much. We obsess about them. We look at the bad things and not the good (like the fact that there are many towns and cities in the U.S. that are more progressive than anything you can find in Canada)

I'm kind of dismayed at the direction Canada is going in. With our Prime Minister and Premiers we have little to feel self-righteous about. If they ever get a national health insurance program in the U.S. I fear that Canadians will have a nervous breakdown trying to figure out what we can feel superior about. Of course, they probably won't get one, so as long as we stop privatizing our own system, we can feel better about ourselves for awhile longer.

I doubt it

I think we'll see a little action toward the end of December with Bush 43 extending a few Mark Rich style pardons to his cronies.

Freed of fear of being prosecuted at least in the USA, Cheney, Rumsfeld and gang will be protected for the duration of their lives - so long as they don't set foot in much of the rest of the world.

And, ironically, Bush would be doing Obama a big favour by removing from his reach the necessity to act upon his predecessor's criminality.

Ah the old self-righteous ploy

Americans, especially many ex-Americans, love to label disgust at examples of American excess as self-righteous superiority, particularly in a Canadian context.

It would appear the notion of American exceptionalism makes it difficult for many, if not most, Americans to emotionally conceive of any criticism as being anything other than unfair. Logically many Americans seem to understand the criticism, but they almost always add this accusation of self-righteousness to act as a denigration of their critics, and as a distraction from dealing with the awareness of their country's horrifying deeds.

Canada, in progressive terms, is a huge disappointment. But Canada and Canadians certainly don't have a problem with being too self-righteous toward Americans. In fact, I would argue there isn't nearly enough of the kind of criticism most Americans would label as self-righteous. I'd like to see a whole hell of a lot more of it. And maybe, just maybe it would spur more Canadians to actually be a better example.

to Booker

I agree with James Burns.

Critiquing American politics has nothing whatsoever to do with wanting to "pump up Canadians' self worth," it has to do with being dismayed with the fact that we don't have full sovereignty over our own resources and government.

Hope and Change

I think the best evidence that the "Hope" and "Change" mantras espoused by gullible millions was nothing more than clever marketing is the result of the states that rejected same sex rights.

Americans were presented with a chance to prove how they are genuinely looking for policies that represent hope and change (not the ambiguous, empathetic definition, but the literal, dictionary definition) was turned down flat. I could not believe the irony and ignorance that was demonstrated by voters last Tuesday who broke down one barrier and built another one up. Don't worry, Vanessa, ignorance is still plentiful down South, it just was cool for a little while to act like it wasn't.

Somewhere else I mentioned

Somewhere else I mentioned that false hope is dangerous. I don't get it. I'm now in my fifties and it's become obvious to me that these elections are farces, marketing campaigns really, that never result in what the people are yearning for ie love and peace. But I have friends in their seventies who are totally sucked in, they think Obama will deliver. Sucked in like the vast majority. It's depressing to see the human race continuing this stupid behaviour. Not to say there aren't hopeful signs of genuine change out there, but definitely not Obama. A lot of people are going to be very disappointed.

Yup, but it's really too early to judge.

Well, I'm more than old enough to be aware of how untrustworthy media hype is, so after reading the postings and the links above, I feel quite sheepish in confessing that I was well and truly taken in by the pro-Obama pre-election hype.

I find some solace in the fact that I was far from being alone on these pages, and that contrasted to the excesses of the Bush tyranny, ANYBODY would look good. And continuous cynicism IS wearing on the psyche, after all.

In the end, I suppose, the best we can hope for is that Obama will display the strength of character he is credited with having, and will carefully thumb his nose at those who wish to continue the profiteering they enjoyed under Bush.

Unless he demonstrates some clear changes in policy directions in the early days of his administration, he will lose support both home and abroad, and the US will resume its slide toward economic collapse
and political disgrace.

For now then, it's wait-and-see.

All empires of history have

All empires of history have been built on energy theft from others, licenced by corrupt religious and pseudo religious theories, until their own corruption starts backfiring on them and they self destruct.

Several within the last century, and this inevitable process of self destruction is well on its way next door

The problem is that these monsters are also causing the destruction of others both on their way up and down.

The question is how to prevent our own self destruction, when our own governments are desperately trying to jump on the bandwagon careening uncontrollably down into the abyss?

Ed Deak.

I wish people would cease

I wish people would cease calling the Yanks "individualists" They are not. It is one of the most conformist societies you can find in the Western world. If you want to find individualists go to England, France, Spain or Italy. Individualism is neither narcissism or dog eat dogism

Anar.... You're correct. The

Anar.... You're correct. The main point and plan of the present capitalist economic system is the destruction of individualism and the concentration of all economic power in the hands of a few multinationals.

Why? Because the biggest profits can be stolen from a colonized and enslaved humanity, dependant on the system for survival.

The family farm is one of the main pillars of individualism, yet governments all over the world have been conspiring to destroy it, forcing everybody into obscene mega city chicken koops.

Ed Deak.

Necessary caution

Ah yes, the post-Obama euphoria. Actually, I was cheering for him as well. Now, of course, I'm going to wait to see what he actually does. Obama is a politician. Therefore, what he says during elections will probably have little to do with what he actually does once in office. So let's wait and see before we sing too many praises. I have to admit there's more hope with him than there was with the newest set of Rove puppets, McCain and Palin.

As for anti-Americanism, it's ok to dislike plundering pirates who, for the last century, have engineered and actively participated in the overthrow of dozens of governments who wouldn't let American corporations operate as they wished. Imperialists who overthrew democratically elected governments whose people-first policies would have impacted the profits of American corporations. Terrorists who replaced many of these governments with brutal, murderous regimes. Plutocrats who wholeheartedly supported these regimes so long as it was profitable. From the annexation of Hawaii without treaty and the Philippine massacres, through the years of assassinations and coups in Central and South America, to its Iraq invasion, there's a lot to dislike.

So I for one will wait and see if Obama is any different from the last score of his predecessors before waxing too lyrical on his behalf.

Another apology

Seems as if American Jews decided Obama was worth the risk after all.

http://www.forward.com/articles/14569/

Take a bow, I guess, Sarah Silverman

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgHHX9R4Qtk

JH Kunstler's view

In his usual colourful delivery, JH Kunstler said it well in his rudely-titled blog [kunstler.com]:

The current occupant of the White House, however, has sedulously prepared for his successor the biggest s**t sandwich the world has ever seen, and there is naturally some concern that Mr. Obama might choke on it.

The night of the election in the USA, I sent out this piece by the CBC's Neil Macdonald [http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/10/30/f-rfa-macdonald.html].

All that said, the outcome of Obama and Biden winning is FAR preferable to McCain and the very underqualified Palin.

Obama for Canadians?? really? get serious...

1. Read some Glen Greenwald on how the 'let's wiretap the GLOBE'-AT&T funded the Denver DNC'08:

"AT&T thanks the Blue Dog Democrats with a lavish party" - Salon

2. "Wanna Work for Obama? Prepare for a Strip Search" - Mother Jones - MoJo Blog

Let's get serious.

Why was Harper's Health Minister in Denver, chatting up Obama?
Exactly what does Canada look like to Americans?

A RESOURCE POOL, with a convenient, "The British Are Coming!" knee-jerk reaction to anything that smacks of 'Canadian communist social programs'.

Obama? Liberal?

as Liberal as HARPER, perhaps...

Spread Love, not corporate dependence...

BlueBerry Pick'n
can be found @
ThisCanadian
~~~
"... tolerance of intolerance is cowardice..." ~ Ayaan Hirsi Ali.
"We, two, form a Multitude" ~ Ovid.
"Violence can only be concealed by a Lie, & the Lie can only be maintained by Violence." ... "Any man, who has once proclaimed Violence as his Method, is inevitably forced to take the Lie as his Principle" – Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities." - Voltaire
~~~
"Silent Freedom is Freedom Silenced"