|
If
I Were A Democrat Again, this is What I’d Tell Obama
By Timothy
V. Gatto
22/08/08 "ICH"
-- - I would be utterly confounded, confused, upset,
hopeless and most of all, hurting like hell. Even though I’m not
a Democrat, I still feel all of these particular emotions. It
feels as if the end of the world is coming and there is not a
thing I can do about it, and unfortunately, nobody seems to
care, especially the Democrats.
I can’t help
but be the eternal optimist. Somehow, someway, we are all going
to understand what’s happening to this country and we will
demand that the corporate politicians and the corporate media
stop this march towards fascism and imperialism, and give this
nation back to its people. There are some that believe in a
second coming of a political messiah that will right all the
wrongs and make the government represent the people. This is a
pipedream. There is no single person, no political party and no
movement that can, or will, do this. We must do it ourselves if
we want to see it done.
The Democrats are wondering why
their candidate’s numbers are slowly circling the drain. How
stupid is that? Could it be that the man chosen by the
mainstream corporate media and the corporate political party is
behaving like a corporatist? This entire drama between the two
political parties has got to be the most expensive con job that
this world has ever seen. Barack Obama is either incredibly
naive, or the worst straw man that has ever appeared on the
American political scene. If there was any chance in hell of
America voting in a Republican after two terms of George W.
Bush, the Democrats have found that chance in the hell that are
the neo-con theories of war and corporate rape of America.
If Obama is
not a plant, if he is really trying to win this election (and I
have my doubts about that), than he has to stop listening to his
“advisers”, this practice of reaching out to dissatisfied
Republicans and vying for their votes must cease. Why elect a
make-believe neo-con when you can have the real thing? Democrats
must realize that they have completely lost the support of
anyone that thinks. This can be turned around in a flash if the
Democrats will do but a few simple things.
First of all,
stop competing with the Republicans for the right wing polemic.
It’s just not going to work. Obama must demand that Congress
restore the Constitution. Demand the rescission of the Patriot
Acts, the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the John Warner
Defense Bill (the revamped Insurrection Act that eliminated
Posse Comitatus and allows the government to use Federal troops
for law enforcement on the whim of the president) close
Guantanamo, denounce torture in any form, and join the
International Community. He must state his intention of limiting
the powers of the Executive Branch that Bush instituted with the
“Unitary Executive” theory. This must be done before the
elections so that he will not use these powers for his own
administration.
The prospect
of that much power in the hands of one man is too inviting to
ignore.
The next thing
he must do is to denounce these wars of aggression against the
Muslims in the Middle-East. Moving the war from Iraq to
Afghanistan is not the way to peace in that region. This Afghan
adventure could easily spill into Pakistan, and even if it is
contained in Afghanistan, it is a war that will never be won. It
will require an endless supply of dollars we don’t have, and an
infinite amount of time that we also can ill-afford. The war in
Afghanistan is a trap that will bleed the life from the United
States, and killing members of the Taliban will not solve
anything. Hamid Karzi,
a former Unocal executive that built the Afghan oil
pipeline is but one example of America’s war for resources.
Obama must
also disengage this nation from the right wing government of
Israel. Genuflecting to AIPAC is horrifying to every liberal or
moderate voter in this country. Most American Jews do not
support AIPAC, in fact, 60 to 80% of them (depending on the
source) despise the lobby. Obama must demand that Israel
seriously engage its neighbors in peace negotiations or risk the
cut-off of US aid. The siege of Gaza must end and Israel must
drop its demands that the Palestinians’ surrender their right of
return and the payment of reparations for seized property for
Hamas to recognize the Israeli State.
The Senator
from Illinois must also revamp his foreign policy team of
Richard Holbrooke,
Madeleine Albright and Zbigniew
Brzezinski.
Democratic neo-cons of the first order, they may be
smarter than the Republican neo-cons, but that makes them
infinitely more dangerous. Barack must declare his intention to
abrogate the missile defense shield treaty with Poland.
Inserting nuclear warheads into Poland is as provocative as
putting them in Cuba in 1963 and will lead to the same results,
tension and a possible thermo nuclear war between Russia and the
United States. Attempting to surround Russia with military force
and first strike nuclear capability is insane. The American
people understand this, for some unknown reason, the Democratic
leadership does not.
Barack Obama
must call for paper trail elections and for individual States to
stop using electronic voting machines that are totally
vulnerable to hacking. Waiting until he loses in November in
States that show he won by the exit polls will be too late. It
has happened before and it will no doubt happen again.
Corporate
ownership of the mass media and corporate censorship of the
networks must end. The Fairness Doctrine must be reintroduced
and Obama should speak out against any attempt to censor or
regulate the internet. The internet is the only thing that
resembles a free press in this country.
Suggesting
that corporate CEO’s and other corporate executives must have a
salary cap. It makes no sense for a corporate executive to be
drawing an annual salary of two hundred fifty million dollars
plus perks and stock options while cutting the hourly pay of
workers and shifting health care benefits to the unions because
the company is running in the red. All one has to do is look at
the automakers to understand what I’m talking about.
The Democrats
should call for the nationalization of all segments of the
economy that deal with all facets of the population. The oil
industry, the railroads, the water systems, the electric
companies, the nuclear power plants, the ports and the
healthcare industry should be nationalized as quickly as
possible. The sustainability of life and our economy should not
be left to the discretion of multi-national corporations. Just
as the economy should be regulated, the military industrial
complex should be also. Declare the intention to eliminate
no-bid contracts and wean the nation off the armament industry
as our industrial base. We have been on a war economy since
1940. This is not sustainable and will eventually lead to the
collapse of our economy. The United States spends 48% of the
entire planets military budget. China spends 8% of what the US
spends, and Russia 5% http://www.globalissues.org/article/75/world-military-spending.
Putting people
back to work by rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure will
bring dividends in two ways. It will boost employment and
restore the value of our roads, bridges and utilities. A New
Deal approach similar to the FDR years should be instituted. The
government should rid itself of the Federal Reserve that allows
multi-national bankers to sell us our own money at interest is
deplorable! Credit to Americans should be offered at low
interest to Americans and lenders that practice deceptive and
predatory lending practices should be regulated. Usury laws must
be re-instituted to prevent the economic rape of American
citizens. It is no coincidence that the richest 10% of the
population owns 71% of this nation’s wealth. 1% of the
wealthiest families own 38% of the wealth. The division between
rich and poor grows each year, while the middle-class shrinks.
Taxing the rich and forcing them to pay their fair share is
essential. The public must be told that the median income for a
Senator is 1.2 million dollars and 675,000 dollars for a
Representative (Center for Responsive Politics,
www.opensecrets.org ). Congress will not tax itself without a
push from America’s citizens that vote.
I could go on
and on. These are the most important issues that come to mind.
Weapons of mass destruction used by our own Armed Forces such as
depleted uranium-235 (DU) white phosphorus and napalm should be
outlawed as well as cluster bobs that kill innocent civilians.
There will no doubt be a second and maybe a third part of this
article. Senator Obama should read this.
I did not
think of all of these ideas myself; I gratuitously stole them
from some of the best liberal minds in America. If I were
a Democrat I would send this to the Obama campaign, but then
again I’m not a Democrat and frankly I wouldn’t waste my time.
They believe they have all the answers anyway.
timgatto@hotmail.com -
http://liberalpro.blogspot.com
Click on
"comments" below to read or post comments
Comment
Guidelines
Be succinct, constructive and
relevant to the story.
We encourage engaging, diverse and meaningful commentary.
Do not include personal information such as names, addresses,
phone numbers and emails. Comments falling outside our
guidelines – those including personal attacks and profanity –
are not permitted.
See our complete
Comment
Policy and use this link
to notify us if you have concerns about a
comment. We’ll promptly
review and remove any inappropriate postings.
Send Page To a Friend
In
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this
material is distributed without profit to those
who have expressed a prior interest in receiving
the included information for research and
educational purposes. Information Clearing House
has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator
of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse
endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
|
