by Stephen Lendman
Momentarily the odds favor Obama, but is that something to celebrate? Not really, says the author.
Voting for Obama or Romney is like choosing between death by hanging or firing squad. Either way you’re dead. The same goes for choosing Republicans or Democrats. Each party replicates the other. On issues mattering most, not a dime’s worth of difference separates them.
They’re pro-corporate, pro-war, pro-Israel, anti-populist, anti-civil and human rights, and anti all values real democratic societies cherish.
Post-November 6, nothing will change. Duopoly power assures harsher times ahead. Expect direct and proxy imperial wars to continue. New ones will be launched. War on terror/existential threat deception will justify them. Waging war on freedom rages domestically. Hypocrisy, not democracy, is policy. Dissent is endangered. Big Brother spying is endemic. Democratic values are fast eroding en route to disappearing altogether.
Torture is official policy. It’s institutionalized at home and abroad. America’s gulag is the world’s largest. Anyone can be arrested, detained, and held uncharged indefinitely for any reason or none at all. Obama appointed himself judge, jury and executioner. His kill list decides who lives or dies. No one is safe anywhere including US citizens. State-sponsored murder is policy. Death stalks anyone threatening Washington’s imperium.
On November 27, 1941, Franklin Roosevelt issued Proclamation 2524. He declared December 15 Bill of Rights Day. It was done to commemorate its 150th 1791 ratification. At the time, he hailed “America(‘s) charter of personal liberty and human dignity.” He said it includes “freedom of religion, freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and the free right to petition the Government for redress of grievances.”
American freedom always was far less than he claimed. Today it’s vanishing in plain sight. Tyranny is replacing it. Constitutional, statute and international laws don’t apply. Presidential diktats replaced them. Obama governs that way. Romney won’t change a thing. Due process, civil protections, and judicial fairness are null and void. Police state laws destroyed them. Expect harsher ones to quash freedom entirely.
Third worldizing America is planned. Bipartisan complicity assures it. Poverty, unemployment, homelessness, hunger, inequality, and overall human deprivation are at unprecedented levels or close to them. At the same time, $4 trillion or more in domestic spending cuts are planned. When help is badly needed, ordinary people will be hurt most. Medicare, Medicaid, and other vital programs are targeted. Ahead they’re on the chopping block for elimination along with Social Security.
Job creation remains moribund. Policies aren’t in place or planned to stimulate them. Layoffs will increase. The greatest divide between rich and poor in US history will widen.
Military spending and generous corporate handouts will rise. Corporate taxes will be cut. No matter who wins, policies Obama’s (Simpson-Bowles) deficit cutting team proposed will be instituted. They include:
- ending or capping middle class tax breaks; home mortgage interest deductions and tax-free employer provided medical insurance will be affected;
- billions of dollars in Medicare cuts;
- substantial Medicaid co-pay increases and steep cuts overall; millions will be denied vital healthcare when they most need it;
- raising the Social Security retirement age and cutting benefits by reducing or eliminating cost-of-living increases;
- cutting or eliminating welfare benefits; food stamps and other vital programs will be affected; and
- other socially destructive policies.
At issue is destroying social America. Corporate bosses and privileged elites demand it. They want it all for themselves.
Obama and Romney agree. So do congressional leaders. It has to go. Eliminating it is planned to further Washington’s imperium, increase corporate empowerment and profits, and benefit super-rich elites already with too much.
America’s ruling class wants everything its own way. Social justice isn’t in its vocabulary. It’s in the way so kill it. In the 1970s, America began shifting right. Since the 1980s, neoliberalism dominated US politics under both parties. Bush I continued Reagan policies. Clinton hardened them. Bush II went further.
Obama outdid him. He did what supporters thought impossible. He matched Star Trek. He went where no administration went before. Imagine what he’ll do in a second term. Expect Romney to match or exceed him blow for blow. Congressional Republicans and Democrats assure it.
Money power runs America. Corporate bosses demand it. Whatever they want they get. Ordinary people suffer most. Social justice are four-letter words.
So is prosperity for millions losing out entirely. Bad as things are now, expect worse. Expect America’s great divide between rich and poor to widen.
Neoliberal/imperial priorities let essential public needs go begging. It’s baked in the cake. Party leaders are on board. Rhetoric alone differentiates one side of the isle from the other.
America’s democracy is fake. Back room deals decide who rules. Free, fair and open elections don’t exist. They don’t rise to the level of bad fiction. They mock legitimate governance.
No wonder so many people opt out. Maybe one day an election will be held and no one will show up. Something has to give to change things.
America’s duopoly offers no choice. Vote independent or stay home. Support people oriented candidates committed to real democracy of, by, and for everyone fairly and equitably. Back peacemakers, not rogues wanting to ravage one country after another. Choose wisely for a society worth living in. Do it because it matters. Throwing out bums for new ones never solved a thing and won’t now.
Real change more than ever is needed. Great struggles are won in small steps. Take one on November 6. Boycott America’s duopoly. Oppose the corporate driven pestilence. It’s destroying personal freedoms and social justice. Have your say. Do it wisely.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War”
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour
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