tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post3858227574975094445..comments2024-03-28T16:08:29.578-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Obama's Magical Thumb Karen Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-34917315235131500802019-12-04T15:03:43.407-05:002019-12-04T15:03:43.407-05:00@ Annie
Thanks for the link to Current Affairs. ...<br />@ Annie<br /><br />Thanks for the link to Current Affairs. The interview with Adolph Reed is instructive. He stresses a few broad points about what is and is not real politics. Monuments vs Movements. <br /><br />Politics is about accomplishments, nailing something down that is real and beneficial. Holding a one-day march or giving a black the keys to the White House is purely symbolic. <br /><br />Obama was a pretty gift-wrapped box (the symbol), which turned out to be empty inside (the politics). Here's Reed on Obama mania:<br /><br />"Tariq Ali of Verso approached me right after the election. I didn’t want to do an Obama book, but I thought, “okay, I can do a book on Obama mania,” because one of the head-scratching moments of this phenomenon, was seeing how many people, who you would think, based on their histories and practices, would know better, got swept up in this ridiculous hype about this guy."<br /><br />Reed says more: Don't wait for a "spark" who will ignite a revolution; better to organize a movement, which is lots more work over a long time. Involve yourself in the endless detail of urging locals to work towards meaningful goals. Instead of confining oneself to a narrow interest group, work towards concrete goals that will benefit the whole society. <br /><br />Whipping up as much candidate mania as possible my be an unavoidable first step in a US political campaign. Gotta have "name recognition." But then try to see beyond Bernie mania, Tulsi mania, etc., etc. What is the likelihood this character will get something meaningful accomplished for the whole country? Alone with only admiration and applause for his or her story, none of them will accomplish anything. With a movement behind the good guys and gals in office they can roll over the entrenched opposition.<br /><br />There's the rub. There is no scary groundswell in the US along the lines Reed speaks of as a movement. The elite rest secure in their towers. Their praetorian guard on the street or sitting in front of all those surveillance screens is putting on more muscle every day. Enablers of the elite are not on the defensive, not infiltrated, not divided. To the side the MSM will continue to subdue the public through propaganda and blackouts. Short-sided interest groups will proudly mark their borders and miss the big picture. <br /><br />Solidarity? Ah yes, first Gdansk then all of Poland, a generation ago. Lately, it's just a call oft repeated by Jimmy Hoffa in "The Irishman" as he reminded the Teamsters of their power. As a consequence, no matter who gets elected in 2020, no matter how sincere now or dedicated once on the job, if he or she has no broad, supporting movement howling at the gates 24/7/365, nothing will change. Except the symbols of course, just as in 2008.<br />Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-85031612365587446572019-12-03T10:03:10.554-05:002019-12-03T10:03:10.554-05:00Adolph Reed, the academic who had Obama's numb...Adolph Reed, the academic who had Obama's number in 1995 Chicago has an article in current affairs - 'Adolph Reed on Movements and Monuments'. Regarding Bernie's movement in 2016: <br /><br />"But there were a number of really good people who I knew, mainly academics, who just couldn’t understand why we were averse to trying to get coverage in the New York Times, or whatever. And my reaction was, because we’re a working class initiative, they’re never going to give us good coverage— the only thing they’ll ever try to do is smear us, and that’s not where we’re going to build our base. We’re not going to build our base by wooing Krugman and the editorial board of the New York Times. We’re going to build a base, and it’s just like something Sanders said in the first debate: The only way we’re going to make any of this stuff that we want happen is to build a popular movement out of there that’s big enough, and strong enough to assert its will in a way that can change the terms of the political debate." <br /><br />And for those of you who missed Reed's scathing takedown of Obama in 1995, here it is:<br /><br />"In Chicago, for instance, we’ve gotten a foretaste of the new breed of foundation-hatched black communitarian voices; one of them, a smooth Harvard lawyer with impeccable do-good credentials and vacuous-to-repressive neoliberal politics, has won a state senate seat on a base mainly in the liberal foundation and development worlds. His fundamentally bootstrap line was softened by a patina of the rhetoric of authentic community, talk about meeting in kitchens, small-scale solutions to social problems, and the predictable elevation of process over program — the point where identity politics converges with old-fashioned middle-class reform in favoring form over substance. I suspect that his ilk is the wave of the future in U.S. black politics, as in Haiti and wherever else the International Monetary Fund has sway. So far, the black activist response hasn’t been up to the challenge. We have to do better. "<br /><br />https://www.currentaffairs.org/2019/12/adolph-reed-on-movements-and-monumentsAnniehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10019116172905596936noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-91737785271805806802019-12-03T02:33:49.710-05:002019-12-03T02:33:49.710-05:00Allow me to channel a Greek chorus in the wings of...<br />Allow me to channel a Greek chorus in the wings of this campaign.<br /><br />As already implied above, Obama's thumb is as useless as his legacy. His thumbs and all his other magical powers only seem to work for him to make him more admired and connected and rich. Everything he touches turns to gold, which ends up in his pockets and his alone.<br /><br />Meanwhile, I find the enduring trust in Bernie touching. Like Obama, he usually gets the benefit of the doubt from his large following. <br /><br />There are low-information voters, and there are short-memory voters. Bernie bears a big share of responsibility for Trump's becoming President in 2016. He swallowed all the DNC's dirty tricks without a murmur, shushed his followers when they began to revolt against Hillary at the convention, then he soldiered on to campaign hard for Hillary. Canine loyalty comes naturally to sheepdogs. <br /><br />Thanks to Bernie, what was left of the Left in the Democratic Party was scattered among all the parties or sulking with the stay-at-homes.<br /><br />Obama has begun throwing cold water on Bernie's fire. In light of Obama's badmouthing isn't Bernie is entitled to blast Obama the way Tulsi Gabbard blasted Hillary for her personal attack? I wish in Bernie's next packed auditorium we might hear him rattle off the list of Obama's betrayals. But Bernie won't do that. Why not?<br /><br />Yes, memory! And I can also count. Bernie is the oldest contender ever for the presidency. A long campaign is physically and mentally and emotionally taxing. A man of Bernie's age could suffer a heart attack at anytime. Oh wait....<br /><br />Out of pity, Obama has embarked on a good deed. He merely wants to sideline Bernie to save the old boy the trouble of jousting in futility against capitalist windmills (assuming Bernie's for real), or working too hard as an Independent for a party he does not belong to and which doesn't like him. <br /><br />In the process Obama will advance any old DNC middle-of-the-road lesser-of-two-evils corporate hack who may, or may not, yank Trump out of the White House. The winner will be the Obama-inspired DNC; it can't lose no matter who gets elected.<br />Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-73564585510808222062019-12-02T17:58:03.309-05:002019-12-02T17:58:03.309-05:00He's got his thumb and fingers up the rear end...He's got his thumb and fingers up the rear ends of quite a few of the "Media/Political Complex" who will say and write whatever voice he throws their way and he doesn't even need to keep his lips from moving.Charlie McCarthynoreply@blogger.com