[Marxism] How the system works -- the case of Barack Obama

[Brian Shannon <Brian_Shannon@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

THE ANTI-VIETNAM WAR KERRY BECOMES THE PROWAR KERRY
AND BARACK OBAMA WANTS ENOUGH TROOPS TO WIN THE WAR
AND THE OCCUPATION

[From Obama's speech last night at the DP Convention]
You know, a while back, I met a young man named Shamus [Seamus?] in a 
V.F.W. Hall in East Moline, Ill.. He was a good-looking kid, six two, 
six three, clear eyed, with an easy smile. He told me he’d joined the 
Marines, and was heading to Iraq the following week. And as I listened 
to him explain why he’d enlisted, the absolute faith he had in our 
country and its leaders, his devotion to duty and service, I thought 
this young man was all that any of us might hope for in a child. But 
then I asked myself: Are we serving Shamus as well as he is serving us?

I thought of the 900 men and women — sons and daughters, husbands and 
wives, friends and neighbors, who won’t be returning to their own 
hometowns. I thought of the families I’ve met who were struggling to 
get by without a loved one’s full income, or whose loved ones had 
returned with a limb missing or nerves shattered, but who still lacked 
long-term health benefits because they were Reservists.

When we send our young men and women into harm’s way, we have a solemn 
obligation not to fudge the numbers or shade the truth about why 
they’re going, to care for their families while they’re gone, to tend 
to the soldiers upon their return, and to never ever go to war without 
enough troops to win the war, secure the peace, and earn the respect of 
the world.

Now let me be clear. Let me be clear. We have real enemies in the 
world. These enemies must be found. They must be pursued — and they 
must be defeated. John Kerry knows this.

And just as Lieutenant Kerry did not hesitate to risk his life to 
protect the men who served with him in Vietnam, President Kerry will 
not hesitate one moment to use our military might to keep America safe 
and secure.

HERE IS WHAT BARACK OBAMA SAID OCTOBER 2002

“I noticed that a lot of people at that rally were wearing buttons 
saying, ‘War Is Not an Option,’” he said. “And I thought, I don’t agree 
with that. Sometimes war is an option. The Civil War was worth 
fighting. World War Two. So I got up and said that, among other 
things.” What he said, among other things, was “I am not opposed to all 
wars. I’m opposed to dumb wars.” Invading and occupying Iraq, he said, 
would be “a rash war, a war based not on reason but on passion, not on 
principle but on politics.”
http://www.newyorker.com/fact/content/?040531fa_fact1

THE TRANSITION DOCUMENTED IN JUNE 2003

In Search of the Real Barack Obama--Can a Black Senate Candidate Resist 
the DLC

"For a while the whole speech could be found on Obama's campaign web 
site, a key statement of principle for a serious US Senate candidate in 
an election season when the President's party threatens the world with 
permanent war and pre-emptive invasion, and cows US citizens with fear 
mongering, color coded alerts, secret detentions and the abrogation of 
constitutional liberties. Although Obama may have appeared at meetings 
of other citizens opposed to the war or let them use his name, no 
further public statements from the candidate on these important issues 
have appeared.

"Then, a few weeks ago, Barack Obama's heartfelt statement of 
principled opposition to lawless militarism and the rule of fear was 
stricken without explanation from his campaign web site, and replaced 
with mild expressions of 'anxiety'.

[Bruce A. Dixon's article continues with some very interesting remarks 
on how the DLC works]
Full at http://www.blackcommentator.com/45/45_dixon.html

from Brian Shannon




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