Presidential Candidates: What a Let Down

OK. It's true. Obama has told us that it's up to the people to demand change. So, we better start making noise.

The President is a tool of which ever elite faction gains control. When I say "elite" I mean the wealthy and powerful, not intellectuals who ponder big issues.

LibHom recently tallied a sickening number of examples of Obama selling out. They're sickening, because that's the way your stomach will feel when you read them.

I was reminded of the recent interviews I've heard with Andrew Bacevich, author of The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism. Rightly, Bacevich holds both parties accountable for the pending demise of the country:

There’s a lot in the book that tries to hold the Bush administration accountable for recent events, but I would not for a second want to suggest that the crisis in which we find ourselves today ought to be laid simply at the foot of the Bush administration or the Republican Party, because it’s been a long time coming.

[both political parties,] over the last twenty years or so, [have had] an increasing willingness to use military force to cause the world to look the way we want it to look. And I think that that expression of American exceptionalism is one that’s not only utterly false, but is greatly at odds with own interests as a country.

However, it's not at odds with the goals of transnational corporations that make windfall profits from "opening foreign markets." In short, both Republicans and Democrats have used military force to prop up unpopular dictators so that the natural resources and labor of foreign countries can be exploited. They take advantage of the grains of truth in "fighting communism" and now "the war on terrorism," to bully their way into massive profits for a few people, including pay-offs to the political elite in both parties.

It's a scam that no-one has exposed better than Marine Corps Major General Smedley Butler in his essay "War is a Racket."

A sample:

I spent 33 years and 4 months in active service as a member of our country's most agile military force--the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from second lieutenant to Major General. And during that period I spent most of my time being a high-class muscle man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the bankers. In short, I was a racketeer for capitalism. I suspected I was part of a racket all the time. Now I am sure of it. -- S. D. Butler

Sources:

Democracy Now, "The Limits of Power: Andrew Bacevich on the End of American Exceptionalism", August 20, 2008.

Kennebunkport Indictment Resolution

On February 26, 2008 citizens served papers of indictment on George Bush and Dick Cheney to the Town of Kennebunkport, ME More.

Some criticize these actions, and similar actions in Brattleboro, VT, as political stunts, which is not the case. Their actions represent government by the people in the face of failing federal institutions. These actions have a legal basis rooted in the fundamental principles that united independent, sovereign states under the banner people blithely call "USA".

Impunity of Bush et al. would undermine the civil fabric of our nation and the world. The checks and balances of the federal government and corporate media are failing. The citizen's actions represent the assertion of states rights and government by the people as envisioned by our nation's founders. They are patriots in the finest tradition.

The following 3-minue video documents and explains the events of February 26 described above.

US Senate Candidate Laurie Dobson, serves papers on Bush and Cheney

Update:

For a 50-minute video interview with US Senate candidate Laurie Dobson Click Here

Related:

The following 3-min video examines the question of whether the next president will seek criminal prosecution of George Bush and other senior officials: "Prosecute Bush et al. Chapter 1".

Sources:

Laurie Dobson for Senate YouTube Channel

Four Questions for the Candidates on Global Trade

Lori Wallach, a leading voice on matters regarding corporate globalization, has a timely essay entitled, Questions the Democratic Presidential Candidates Need to Answer on Trade & Globalization, which appears on Huffington Post. In it, she poses four tangible questions for the candidates, modified as questions to an individual candidate (for you to cut 'n paste):

1. How will you change existing trade agreements such as NAFTA, CAFTA and the WTO to counter job offshoring and labor arbitrage that have reduced U.S. wages?

2. How will you, as future president, remedy the China trade imbalance?

3. How will you deliver on your promises to ensure imported food and product safety?

4. How will your proposals to create jobs by rebuilding America's infrastructure work in the face of trade agreement bans on "Buy America" and other domestic preference policies?

Maybe journalists should read her article, and begin asking some of these questions. Maybe all of us should pose the questions. Wanna do it? Here are the Clinton and Obama campaign contacts:

Obama Campaign Contact

Clinton Campaign Contact

I've sent these four questions to the candidates. We'll see if I get a response.

Sources: