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NationofChange / Op-Ed
Published: Tuesday 11 October 2011
The suggestion that a loss for Obama would signal a return to the Bush era has some merit.
A New Bush Era or a Push Era?
Back when Barack Obama was still just a U.S. senator running for president, he told a group of donors in a New Jersey suburb, “Make me do it.” He was borrowing from President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used the same phrase (according to Harry Belafonte, who heard the story directly from Eleanor Roosevelt) when responding to legendary union organizer A. Philip Randolph’s demand for civil rights for African-Americans.
While President Obama has made concession after concession to both the corporate-funded tea party and his Wall Street donors, now that he is again in campaign mode, his progressive critics are being warned not to attack him, as that might aid and abet the Republican bid for the White House.
Enter the 99 percenters. The Occupy Wall Street ranks continue to grow, inspiring more than 1,000 solidarity protests around the country and the globe. After weeks, and one of the largest mass arrests in U.S. history, Obama finally commented: “I think people are frustrated, and the protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works.” But neither he nor his advisers—or the Republicans—know what to do with this burgeoning mass movement.
Following the controversial Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, which allows unlimited corporate donations to support election advertising, the hunger for campaign cash is insatiable. The Obama re-election campaign aims to raise $1 billion. According to the Center for Responsive Politics, the financial industry was Obama’s second-largest source of 2008 campaign contributions, surpassed only by the lawyers/lobbyists industry sector.
The suggestion that a loss for Obama would signal a return to the Bush era has some merit: The Associated Press reported recently that “almost all of [Mitt] Romney’s 22 special advisers held senior Bush administration positions in diplomacy, defense or intelligence. Two former Republican senators are included as well as Bush-era CIA chief Michael Hayden and former Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff.” But so is the Obama presidency an expansion of the Bush era, unless there is a new “Push era.”
The organic strength of Occupy Wall Street defies the standard dismissals from the corporate media’s predictably stale stable of pundits. For them, it is all about the divide between the Republicans and the Democrats, a divide the protesters have a hard time seeing. They see both parties captured by Wall Street. Richard Haass, head of the establishment Council on Foreign Relations, said of the protesters, “They’re not serious.” He asked why they are not talking about entitlements. Perhaps it is because, to the 99 percent, Social Security and Medicare are not the problem, but rather growing inequality, with the 400 richest Americans having more wealth than half of all Americans combined. And then there is the overwhelming cost and toll of war, first and foremost the lives lost, but also the lives destroyed, on all sides.
It’s why, for example, Jose Vasquez, executive director of Iraq Veterans Against the War, was down at Occupy Wall Street on Monday night. He told me: “It’s no secret that a lot of veterans are facing unemployment, homelessness and a lot of other issues that are dealing with the economy. A lot of people get deployed multiple times and are still struggling. … I’ve met a lot of veterans who have come here. I just met a guy who is active duty, took leave just to come to Occupy Wall Street.”
The historic election of Barack Obama was achieved by millions of people across the political spectrum. For years during the Bush administration, people felt they were hitting their heads against a brick wall. With the election, the wall had become a door, but it was only open a crack. The question was, would it be kicked open or slammed shut? It is not up to one person. Obama had moved from community organizer in chief to commander in chief. When forces used to having the ear of the most powerful person on earth whisper their demands in the Oval Office, the president must see a force more powerful outside his window, whether he likes it or not, and say, “If I do that, they will storm the Bastille.” If there’s no one out there, we are all in big trouble.
© 2011 Amy Goodman
Distributed by King Features Syndicate
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ABOUT Amy Goodman
Amy Goodman is the host of "Democracy Now!," a daily international TV/radio news hour airing on more than 900 stations in North America. She is the author of "Breaking the Sound Barrier," recently released in paperback and now a New York Times best-seller.
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26 comments on "A New Bush Era or a Push Era?"
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Deadly accurate asnwer. You've hit the bullseye!
October 14, 2011 5:55pm
Amen
October 13, 2011 8:46pm
Truly we are in a period in history were humanity is at it's worst. We have been overrun by the corporations and a neo-liberal design that has is the basis of our "voodoo" economy. It is truly a predatory system, but we saw it's beginning through the deregulations, privatization, and now the further push of the corporations is a "no hold bars" approach to whatever they can and want to do. At first we used powerless countries to take advantage of, and it is well documented how this took place. But they weren't satisfied. They had to squeeze the American people and they were successful.
Why I truly have my doubts about reform and turning this trend around because this is truly a conspiracy of the forces at work . We can't use the word conspiracy because it makes us look like some crazy folks who don't really know the answer to these questions. But that is truly the definition of what conspiracy means. The unknown factor exists and we are seeing the unraveling of these conspiracies right before our eyes. 9/11, the War against Iraq and all other deeds on the list are well known, but the popular design of these incidents of all that has happened has been altered by the mainstream corporate press and media. Truly, this is a reason to protest in disgust. To make the word heard that lies fed to Americans is a hypocritical and immoral. So the failures in the banking, mortgage, Wall St. systems worked immorally, without anything but greed on it's mind to profit at it's fullest, regardless of the consequences of the after effects.
The conservative forces have all the means of power. They have the resources and the money from those who have bought them to do their dirty work and keep the status quo. It is not so much that these forces at work aren't just Republicans, they are Democrats who are also in the play. So when conspiracies, one after another, meld into one long chain of events that bring us to this point, we can only slowly react to all that is happening. They have the upper hand and that is why the American public is finally out in the streets now protesting and occupying Wall St. and all these financial institutions . It has finally reached the mainstream media, only to be drowned out as if these protests were a inconvenience of the police as in the last broadcast of NBC News. I find these networks disgusting in that they treat Americans as if we were born yesterday. Rather they would rather spend their time on sensational murder cases involving "white" individuals.
We know corruption when we see it. When we see innocents thrown in jail to rot or put on death row, or when we see corporate leaders not spending a day in jail for their legally sanctioned, criminal deeds, and whistle blowers dismissed, fired, or thrown in jail, it is time to protest. Bizzaro land has overtaken America!
October 14, 2011 5:56pm
Amen!
October 12, 2011 1:59pm
There is much sentiment here that we never left the bush era.
Looking at facts surrounding torture, extreme rendition, the continued, escalated and new wars, bears that conclusion out. Add in the ordered execution of a US citizen with no recourse to our court system and we are actually beyond the bush era.
a vote for Obama is a vote for continued destruction of the US, and its "interests" all around the world.
a vote for one of the nut case republicans is suicide.
Seems to me neither of the above choices are any good. We must allow this occupation to grow. We should join and support it. We have the beginnings of a chance of a second American revolution, one that is non violent and non stoppable.
October 14, 2011 11:05pm
"Looking at facts surrounding torture, extreme rendition, the continued, escalated and new wars, bears that conclusion out. Add in the ordered execution of a US citizen with no recourse to our court system and we are actually beyond the bush era."
Wow, the USA no longer tortures anyone. Obama has implemented the end of of the USA's involvement in Iraq, which McCain was never for in the first place. Killing a known terrorist that was out to destroy the USA (whether he was a U.S. citizen or not) will not make me lose any sleep anytime soon.
The idea that the Occupy Wall Street "movement" is a "revolution" is just silly. Even the people that are in that "movement" don't know what it's really all about!
October 12, 2011 1:20pm
A vote for Obama is a vote for the continued erotion of American citizen's rights. Obama has continued the brutal policies against the world's poor by strengthening the Neo-liberal Global War on the third world, and now he, in cooperation with the most reactionary forces of this country (the very wealthy who have made their money on the backs of the rest of us) has turned the Global War on American citizens. Habeas Corpus is dead and buried and Obama hammered the last nail in its coffin. I would have to be out of my mind and then some to vote for this fascist again. Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...
October 14, 2011 5:57pm
The two parties are one and the same. Time for change!
Obama is not the one to blame and he is not a fascist. He has unfortunately inherited the two wars that BUSH started, and also inherited the deep debt that BUSH got our country into, after CLINTON previously had our budget BALNCED. It is unfair to judge President Obama so harshly when unfortunately he has so much of someone else's mess to clean up and not enough time to undo nearly a decade of Republican damage. Don't be so quick to judge him when he is getting NO support at ALL from Congress.
October 13, 2011 4:58am
I am not quick to judge, he is the President of the United States and as such he has continued the Bush's criminal wars and attacked other nations, increased unlawful surveillance on american civilians, implemented the assassination of American citizens without due process, and furthered the interests of the reactionary forces in this country. He is a fascist, whether we want it or not.
October 12, 2011 1:01pm
Remember that Barack Obama was the first presidential candidate to endorse George Bush's $700b Wall Street bailout. John McCain as least fretted a little before saying OK. When Obama won, the change of administrations caused barely a ripple on Wall Street. He brought in a team of Wall Street advisors and the bailouts grew even bigger. Obama is a true believer in Wall Street Rule. He doesn't deserve reelection. But neither do the Republicans deserve our vote. If you don't want to endorse more of the same, then vote Green Party or write in the name of someone with integrity.
October 12, 2011 12:05pm
One of the most important things OWS and its offshoots has done is to adopt non-violence. They cannot put us all in jail, they cannot keep us in jail for long, and the more violence they use against us, the stronger our cause becomes. Just because MSM ignored the occupation at first did not mean the news didn't get out. Whatever happens, the world will know, and those of us outside the USA are acting against the same corporate power you are. Keep your eyes on us.
October 12, 2011 11:39am
What on earth makes anyone think we ever left the Bush era?
No more Obama!
Do NOT vote status quo - do NOT vote Democratic.
Do NOT vote Republican!
October 12, 2011 11:38am
"But neither he nor his advisers—or the Republicans—know what to do with this burgeoning mass movement".
That's easy - just get out of its way!
October 12, 2011 11:20am
Why don´t Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren use this
moment to make a ticket for the election 2012 as independent?
They won´t need campaign money as they already have all
the 99% votes.
We need you seriously you know.
October 14, 2011 11:00pm
Wow, Warren is running for Senate in MA, and Bernie is already very happy in the U.S. Senate...he's going nowhere...wake up...
October 14, 2011 5:58pm
We need to make that plea public and the support them.
October 12, 2011 10:56am
Unfortunately Amy doesn't want to be in the real world. As the assasination US citizen Al-Aulaqi by Obama ( endorsed heartily by Dick Cheney) shows, we never left the Bush era. Continued wishful thinking of this sort is only paving our way into dictatorship.
October 12, 2011 12:38pm
Begging your pardon, sir, Amy Goodman has been in the frontline trenches of the "real world" longer than most could have endured. Please check out her bio and Democracy Now.
October 12, 2011 6:09pm
This article is called sophistry. Amy would lead the unsuspecting into their own destruction, because Obama is no different than Bush/Cheney. The same oligarchy controls both Administrations. Do we need a Democrat to destroy Medicaire, Medicaid, and Social Security? If Bush had used a secret committee to assassinate an American, wouldn't everyone, rightly, have demanded his impeachment?
October 12, 2011 10:43am
Another BUSH era would mean the total demise of the US. Due to Bush & Co. activities, we have entered an unsustainable era and no one but the dumb, deaf, blind, ignorant, treasonous would deny it. We cannot afford wars and they are not good for business any more because they cost a lot more than the return on "investment". To maintain an occupied world, we need boots on the ground. Those who start toppling various regimes are even worst in the long run for their societies and the world than our Banksters. We must return to SANITY and SUSTAINABILITY. We cannot fight our way out of this depression. We will have to take on China, Russia, most of Europe, Africa, Latin America, India, Pakistan, Iran, Syria, N. Korea, even Japan. Do we have enough resources and bombs to undertake such an adventure so the JACKALS of the Wall St. and their political hacks would keep their power/privileges and relegate the world to utter destruction? Occupy Wall St. result would tell us if the .005% is ready to take on the world and turn a folly into total insanity.
October 12, 2011 10:08am
Americans, particularly you independents, Today’s Vote proves that McConnell and Senate Republicans and two Demos Lester / Nelson as well as House Speaker John Boehner and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Kevin McCarthy had no intention of supporting any jobs for Middle class Americans! Americans are longer asking where the job is creating legislation in the House of Representatives that you promised last election. We are furious?
According to Senator Bernie Sanders, it is now clear that the Republicans /hypocrites continue their pledges for their “only” plan of continuing its Class War against the Middle Class to protect their rich Millionaires and Billions like the Gover Norqest, Russ Limbaugh, Rupert Murdock and others like the Koch Brothers that provide them their campaign funds! Their plan was never about creating American jobs for the unemployed middle class! They proved that when they voted against unemployment benefits because they said you were too lazy to a job! This is a clear and concise recap of what is the real issue? American march on Wall Street to Stop the hypocritical republicans! 81% of Americans are disgusted with political prostitutes taking thousands of $$ from the same billionaires and Millionaires! Are you listening Mr. McConnell and Boehner, Cantor and your obstructionists? Another year of no taxes for Grover Norquest and his Billionaires and Millionaires for the called "job creators," but still no new jobs? What's the deal with the right wing clowns in Senate and House? In November we will remind you that It’s all about jobs stupid
Go to: http://politics.nytimes.com/congress/votes/112/senate/1/160