Re: [Pen-l] Obama and the Cult of Personality

[Jerry Monaco <monacojerry@xxxxxxxxx>]

On Wed, Jan 21, 2009 at 9:51 PM, <Waistline2@xxxxxxx> wrote:

 

 

In the case of Germany and Japan, US troops will be removed, in all probability, or as a plausible political scenario, when these peoples and their government demand it. It seems to me that there is a tendency to assign to the individual, a responsibility impossible for the individual - any individual, to carry out. For instance, President John Smith, a non-colored person could not dismantle a department of the defense department simply because he desired it or rather, because someone else desired it.

 

Let me just begin here with what you have to say, to wedge our thoughts from the cleave.  

Chomsky once said that if by some miracle he found himself elected President of the U.S. the first thing he would do is set up a War Crimes commission to try him after he leaves office  He called this a matter of simple human decency. The point is two fold: The institutions of the executive and all that surround it dominate any single personality. The psychology and the will of the individual in these institutional roles is of 10th order importance.  The presidency, beginning with Lincoln and culminating with Roosevelt has become the executive of Imperial power and the protector of market penetration and resource extraction.  That is the President's role, it is what s/he does, and what s/he will do, no matter who occupies the office.  

The second part of Chomsky's point is that in relation to such institutions as the Presidency, the role comes first and human decency comes second.  So a man such as Obama can be "a totally awesome" human being and still not act as a decent human being in his role as president.  Willy-nilly Obama will commit war crimes and unless their is radical change through and through in this country, we can only limit those crimes and not stop them.  The one hope we have is not to be deluded about Obama-as-President, because he looks and sounds so nice when he is Barack-the-Person.  It is only through constant organizing and mobilization, on big scale and large, AGAINST Obama-as-President.  Such mobilization against the President of the United States and the surrounding institutions is the only that will limit Obama's war crimes.  

What I find frightening about the Obama phenomena is many of the very people that should be organizing against him, working against him, are in fact caught up in "the Great Historic Festival of Change and Newness".  All the vaguely left-liberals I know are shiny-happy people in the Obama-verse.  

As for drawing down of the military-imperial legions stationed in Germany, Japan, Italy. Turkey, Korea, etc., etc., my point is that these imperial institutions are "permanent" aspects of our system of dominance.  Not unless that system of dominance is seriously undermined or destroyed will the daily crimes of imperial domination and is guardianship of economic exploitation and cultural oppression be halted. These are crimes that continue everyday and everywhere. Obama chose to become a chief executive of a state power that administers these crimes.  It was his choice.  He is not going to undermine the system of dominance he has chosen to administer.  Obama is not a sleeper agent as some of the crazy right wingers think and apparently some left-liberals believe. 

That system of dominance can be undermined in good and bad ways.  

Some of the bad ways are the following: We can see the rise of inter-imperial rivalry, so that countries other than the U.S. begin to assert military dominance.  That is unlikely globally but it can happen region by region.  Or we can see the rise of authoritarian nationalist regimes in places like Japan that would wind down U.S. bases there, for instance.  Or the U.S. itself could suffer such setbacks that it will not be able to maintain its current far-flung regional commands that act like sovereign states of their own.  Or the world can all go to hell because of nuclear war or global warming and we could fall into a dark age that often follows a collapse of empire. 

Some of the good ways that the system of dominance could be undermined: There may be democratic and socialist radical change in the world that would lead to more and regions withdrawing from the U.S. imperial project.  Or we in the United States can oppose our imperial institutions and undermine them through mobilization against them.  That means mobilization against who-ever occupies the office of president.  

Jerry

________


I am glad to see that Mohammed has come to the obstinate mountain! ;-)
Welcome (once again?) to PEN-L. As always, it is a joy to read your
clear analysis, including the times when I disagree with you!

        --ravi

Thanks Ravi

... for the welcome back.  I am just taking some time off from the baby and chess and writing, so I don't know for how much I'll contribute.  
_________
Jim,

I agree with your posts, both the one on empire and the one below which amends-corrects my post.

Jerry



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