Obama and Iran's Opposition

Original article, by Mark Vorpahl, via Workers Action:

On the weekend of December 26-27, the Iranian regime saw the greatest threat to its survival to date as possibly millions flooded the streets across the nation to express their opposition to the government, facing off with the regime’s notoriously repressive security apparatus. From his holiday retreat in Hawaii, President Obama saw fit to make the following statements:

"The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens, which has apparently resulted in detentions, injuries, and even death." "For months, the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality, even on solemn occasions and holy days." Obama called on Iran to respect human rights and release "all who have been unjustly detained within Iran."

All well and good as it is. Of course, Obama uttered similar platitudes toward the Honduras coup, and look what happened there.

Such fine words are meant, in part, to reassure U.S. workers that their basic sense of justice and decency are reflected in the Presidency. Like any commodity, Obama's appeal is marketed in a way to make people who have bought into it feel better about themselves and the world. However, given his record while in office, his claims bear no more legitimacy than the accounting practices of the banks and insurance companies Obama helped to bail out.

Needless to say, pay attention to what the President says, then read between the lines as to what he means. Would he be happy if a Socialist revolution won the day in Iran? Of course not. What if a new Shah were crowned? Now...that's more like it. Regime change is good only as long as it serves the Empire.

I'll let you read the rest of the article. If the clerics fall in Iran, my guess is that you'll see a fairly drawn out civil war should the Left win. Should the right win, it's likely Iran will be integrated into the Empire in quick time. We live in interesting times.

New Year in America: A portrait of social misery

Original article, by Tom Eley, via World Socialist Web Site:

The new decade finds the US working class suffering a level of social misery not seen since the Great Depression. Unemployment, poverty, hunger, utility cutoffs, homelessness, foreclosures and bankruptcies have become common experiences for millions.

The failure of Capitalism, and the apparent lack of understanding of the failure by the two Capitalist parties, have led to this level of misery. No surprise there.

But unlike in the Great Depression, when limited reforms were put in place in response to the crisis, the Obama administration, Congress, and state and local governments are taking no serious measures to provide relief. On the contrary, the two parties of big business are exacerbating the crisis through budget cuts at the state and local level and the federal government is preparing new austerity measures.

Suffer the masses as long as the corps make their profits. That's what Conservatism and Neo-liberalism brings us. What's to be done?

I'll let you read the rest of the article. Suffice it to say that we're all in a big mess right now. Capitalism isn't going to fix it. We need to take a new road.

Man Utd 0 - 1 Leeds United

Original article, by Chris Bevan, via the BBC:

Jermaine Beckford's winner gave League One leaders Leeds a famous FA Cup victory over their fierce rivals Manchester United in a thrilling tie at Old Trafford.

Of all the sporting events in the world, the FA Cup rates right up there with the World Cup (since the FA Cup's a yearly event).

Forty-two league places separate the two clubs following the Yorkshire club's dramatic fall from grace during the last decade but Simon Grayson's side showed the rate of their recent revival with a memorable triumph.

Leeds at one point had made it to the semi-final of the Champion's League. They had spent heavily to build the club. Unfortunately, they were relegated while still having the large payroll, and 'poof.' They're rebuilding and apparently doing a good job in doing so.

Man Utd had never before lost in the third round of the Cup - or been knocked out of it by a lower-division side - during Sir Alex Ferguson's 23-year reign as manager, but they began 2010 on the wrong end of their biggest upset in this competition since they were dumped out by Bournemouth in 1984.

Man U, one of the world's largest football clubs, is owned by the owners of the Tampa Bay Bucs. Enough reason not to like them there. They do have the legendary Sir Alex Ferguson as manager.

I'll let you read the rest of the article. Needless to say, a 'cupset' of the most monumental type. Now if we can get rid of Chelski, the Gunners and Manchester City, all will be better in the footballing world!

The Awful Truth

Original article, by Ralph Nader and subtitled Liberals Begin to Bail on Obama, via counterpunch.com:

Those long-hoping, long-enduring members of the liberal intelligentsia are starting to break away from the least-worst mindset that muted their criticisms of Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential campaign.

You can see some of the bloodletting over at Big Orange. And it has been a bloodletting to some extent, hasn't it? The 23%ers on the Dem side just can't wrap their heads around the fact that power isn't the only goal for a large segment of the Party. You dis Obama, and you dis the whole Party...PERIOD.

Even when Obama deserves so richly to be dised.

They still believe that the President is far better than his Republican counterpart would have been. Some still believe that sometime, somewhere, Obama will show his liberal stripes. But they no longer believe they should stay loyally silent in the face of the escalating war in Afghanistan, the near collapse of key provisions in the health insurance legislation, the likely anemic financial regulation bill, or the obeisance to the bailed out Wall Street gamblers. Remember this Administration more easily embraces bonuses for fat cats than adequate investment in public jobs.

There's a good article over at Democratic Underground today titled In American DEMOCRATIC Capitalism, the govt's job is to BREAK UP monopolies, NOT to mandate them. It points toward someting which I think has happened in the American body politic. It's been so long since there's been a successful leftist agenda pushed forth that most of today's progressives don't even know what a progressive leftist agenda is. They look back to the Clinton era as the golden age, not as an age that set the table for where we are today.

Jim Hightower writes that “Obama is sinking us into ‘Absurdistan.’” He bewails: “I had hoped Obama might be a more forceful leader who would reject the same old interventionist mindset of those who profit from permanent war. But his newly announced Afghan policy shows he is not that leader.”

Wonder where good ol’ Jim got that impression—certainly not from anything Obama said or did not say in 2008. But hope dims the memory of the awful truth which is that Obama signed on to the Wall Street and military-industrial complex from the get-go. He got their message and is going after their campaign contributions and advisers big time!

Keep this in mind: To not collapse in the polls in November, the Dems are going to have to run on (for the most part) support of what Obama's done. There are a few, like Dennis Kucinich and Bernie Sanders (and their ilk) who won't, but most Democrats will have to. Good luck with that.

I'll let you finish the article. As usual, Ralph is right on as far as seeing what's going on, and where it's leading the progressive 'movement.'