It's time to shine the harsh light of truth on the players and policies in our farce of "politics" and this "election" year. It's time to re-evaluate what this group is really about, and what direction it takes in the future. It's time to get serious here, folks.
No matter how "cool" Obama acts, never forget that he is a killer. War is just organized murder, and his administration has continued to expand on it as a perpetual engine for American power and revenue. Funny talk show appearances, disarming toothy smiles and staged mic-drop moments are just orchestrated public relation tricks designed to distract us from actual reality... and our civic duty. Any responsible, informed citizen cannot ignore Obama's hand in America's constant weapons dealings, drone strikes, and support of corporatist "trade deals". These blatantly anti-humanitarian 'new world order' type stances, combined with his illogical, frankly irrational support for "say anything, do nothing" Hillary, puts him squarely in the category of duplicitous war criminal no matter how much positive spin our sponsored media propaganda gives him and his 'just like us' family narrative.
We're being treated condescendingly, taken for apathetic, superficial idiots, apparently with the intellect of children and memory of goldfish. "Hope and Change" was anything but, instead continuing the very elitist neoliberal anti-populist agenda we all thought we were successfully fighting against- while Barrack soothed us with placating, reassuring, yet wholly ineffective speeches. Obamacare was simply legally enforced participation-or-punishment into our existing bloated, greed-based privatized insurance conglomerate- it was an institutionalized bad business deal, never a viable solution for the masses. Frankly, any positive you hear being continually repeated- say, "lower unemployment"- is just plain dishonesty. Bernie himself exposed the number game that our own government uses to statistically hide mass poverty and disguise our lopsided, rigged economy. But the reality is all around us, throughout our everyday lives- no matter what the radio and TV tells us, we know it hasn't gotten any better.
Robert Reich is an establishment tool, period. He was one of the first to eagerly toss his supposed ethics and career-making "ideals" aside, discarding Bernie to jump on Hillary's elitist train- even while his followers turned on him en masse for it. Don't get me wrong, he really knows his stuff. He's quite intelligent, but his moral compass and obvious loyalty lies firmly within the continuation of his own petty personal success. And he's been dutifully pushing the mainstream narrative ever since, complete with Trump-fear, Clinton-denialism, and whitewashing Obama's legacy. To anyone in politics, or those who have followed it closely over the past year, Reich sits squarely in the same classification as Elizabeth Warren and Debbie Wasserman Schultz- all their "I'm one of you" covers got blown when they were forced to actually choose between what was right, or what was merely personally profitable and politically expedient to their cohorts and careers. The latter describes Robert embarrassingly well, choosing to ignore and render hollow all his own books, speeches, and constant pseudo-intellectual posturing with his embarrassing me-too bid helping trick progressives into drinking Hillary's kool-aid of toxic ignorance. I and many others have directly called Reich out on his glaring insincerity, but his trademark attention-pandering "What do you think?" closures are apparently rhetorical when it comes to justifying his own immoral mental gymnastics.
Hillary- whether just a ditzy patsy, a scheming con artist, sick, brain damaged, or merely a bad political actor- is categorically unfit and unwanted for any public office, particularly the highest in the land. With election fraud having been proven (then immediately ignored), her unethical and tainted rise to power would not be through any electoral process or chosen representation, but instead increasingly and validly viewed as an unapproved dictator. When combined with her unapologetic warmongering, lobbyist backers, and corporate connections, her regime would also be fundamentally, diametrically opposed to the interests, goals, and ideals of the majority of the American citizenry. All attempts to convince the public otherwise have failed spectacularly, repeatedly, even with the nearly unlimited power, resources and the backing of mainstream media to bolster her dismal public image. And claiming to be an extension of Obama's presidency (valid or not) doesn't give her any extra sway with the educated voter. The woman who sold the world fracking, takes millions from foreign countries, yet can't remember anything when questioned by the FBI is the choice only for fans of feminist supervillains.
Trump is a joke, in every way, period. One can't even truly be critical of his policies, campaign, or points of view- because he clearly has none. He is an indiscriminate bully, an uncouth pig, a flim-flam man who has mastered the art of spewing words both randomly and opportunistically to alternately dupe or incite the weak-minded. He and Hillary play basically the same game with the same tactics, but where she tries to employ the plastic-smile "responsible straight man" persona, Donald is the intentionally divisive wildcard hotshot. Both manufacture empty white noise; the only difference is the equally false-happy or false-angry flavors. Yet both are totally devoid of any inherent substance.
And that sums up this political charade quite well - "devoid of inherent substance". Without honesty, without integrity, without a proven backbone, ethical principles, or credible passion for moral and humanitarian interests, our corporate government and its millionaire snake-oil salesmen operatives simply do not and cannot represent us. Institutionalizing corruption has left political criminals no longer held accountable. Normalizing rigged "lesser evil" settling has created an atmosphere where no candidate has to be qualified or even wanted, merely successfully portrayed as 'not quite as bad as the other guy'. Our classist pay-to-play society and system of accepted disorder has dragged us down to the lowest common denominator, where nearly universal control by the wealthy few at the expense of the majority poor becomes validated and somehow 'more realistic' than actually upholding justice or social ethics. There is unfortunately nothing admirable or genuine about our country's actions or policies any more- we excuse our terrorism as "anti-terrorism", report constant unapproved wars as "armed conflicts", and push blind cultist nationalism as "patriotism". Politicians provably do not care for our people, our land, nor show either basic respect. Progress has become synonymous with increasing the wealthy's profit margins, regardless of who suffers for it. This is the true reality of today's America: worsening corporate feudalism hiding behind sponsored dishonesty, injustice, and immature soap opera distractions.
This was Bernie's superpower. This is what gave him a legitimate right to be our respected leader, friend, and president of these now Hopelessly Divided States of America. Instead of defending or perpetuating the unsustainable status quo, he dared challenge it outright. Instead of just spouting typical, generic fact-bereft feel-good statements while ignoring inconvenient realities, he challenged all to sit down like honorable men and openly talk about long-ignored truths, with anyone and everyone, especially those that opposed his views. He cared more about mutually beneficial exchanges of ideas and knowledge than simply being right, more about people than profit. His credibility was earned; his motives were well proven, and well respected. With trust in our government at record low levels, again for very valid reasons, his campaign and resulting movement of unabashed unity and universal equality touched at the true heart of what our country is desperately lacking. Anyone who has played Monopoly knows that capitalism without conscience eventually is reduced to oligarchic suffering, no matter how well disguised or incrementally introduced. Without moral character in our leadership, nothing will ever truly improve, and We the People will always come second to somebody else's bottom line. His 'socialist' yet populist-shared words resonated clear and true: Greed is not, in fact, good.
Jill Stein carries on the core of Bernie's message, but remains even more of an outsider, ostracized from the public eye and debates by strictly controlled media and rigged qualifying polls. Forty-one states can indeed vote for her now, and all absolutely should. However, between the purposeful lack of public informed choice, widespread gerrymandering, and the proven sham of our meaningless, puppet-placing elections, relying on our ballot voices to enact actual change and real representation has been reduced to a mere protest vote which may or may not even be counted. Through no fault of her own, Stein lacks Sander's momentum, career-long vindication, and vast political experience and clout. She remains an admirable, well-meaning citizen activist undeniably fighting for the people, but is realistically unable to surpass what a veteran couldn't accomplish with much greater advantages.
So what's the right answer? In my view, we're seeing routine Americanized politics of exploited ignorance finally hit critical mass. This is the beginning of the end to apathetically allowing the inane excuse of 'status quo' to override our common sense. This is the long overdue awakening of a clueless, consumerist population to the unsustainable, cruel realities of America that most of the rest of the world has been painfully aware of for so long. Skeptical? Just consider our situation. Right now, the few Native Americans left are now physically banding together against the destructive greed of the rich. Honest whistleblowers like Snowden are getting classified as terrorists for exposing the ongoing violations of our rights and freedoms. Worldwide, people are rising up and rejecting police-state rule dictated by the bankers, businessmen, and moneyed, immoral cabals who operate above the law while simultaneously creating and enforcing them on us. I agree with Bernie and the millions of others who marched with him that enough is indeed enough, and that action outside the usual, approved, ineffective means is now patriotically and ethically required. Asking nicely and doing what we're told only works in a fair, responsible, democratic system. Since ours has proven to be none of those, our actions must therefore go beyond as well. Remember, doing so follows in the footsteps of a long, proud history of many great American's timely, essential activism.
We need organized public disobedience. We need respectful but unyielding refusal to comply with a government and system of rule where we are taxed without any true representation. There is no net positive incremental change possible within a system built and perpetuated by corruption. There can be no peace when our "leaders" have allowed death and suffering in all forms to be turned into thriving for-profit industries. There can be no justice when those pledged to protect and uphold it continue to kill us without repercussion. Make no mistake, civilization is breaking down with or without our rising up; our willingness to quietly comply with those destroying it only makes us good slaves who voluntarily contribute to our nation's downfall, not good citizens. It is our imperative as truly good citizens, responsible human beings and inheritors of a now-tarnished, once-noble legacy to reject the atrocities being done in our country's name; not just in passive occasional thought but in active consistent deed. It is on us to unite and raise the bar back up on our current concept of leadership, acceptable practices, and demand full transparency to expose the constant deceit and lies. Our kids, planet, and country will not survive with our hands off the wheel any more. Until we have true consent that isn't manufactured or coerced, democracy is dead. If there are laws preventing us from restoring it, those laws are indisputably unjust and deserve to be challenged. Change happens only when we make it happen, not by repeatedly pinning our hopes on the latest convincing paid personality.
Bernie woke us up, but now it's up to us to continue this. Together we hold the power to organize and make too much noise to be ignored, just like how every other major change in this country has been facilitated. The world is watching, and our future truly is in our hands- if we only stop letting the oligarchy who have hijacked our country dictate and sell it back to us. In my lifetime, there has never been a more immediate, more critical time to rise up and say with one united voice, enough is enough. The only guarantee is the continued horror and our own exploitation if we choose not to.
#WeAreAwake #NoMoreWar #OligarchyEndsNow