Obama and the Fourth Turning Watershed

ObamaWatch: Following on the "Groundhog Day" theme (from what I consider one of America's great movies) of a few days ago, John Pilger observes that so far Obama's "change" is a code word for "continuity." Keeping Gates as SecDef promises the US will be deeply involved in the Middle East for some time. John Brennan at CIA shows tolerance for "extraordinary rendition. Madeline Albright, an architect of Clinton's 1990's genocide in the siege of Baghdad, is assigned to develop the US response to genocide.

"There is more continuity in Obama’s appointment of officials who will deal with the economic piracy that brought down Wall Street and impoverished millions. As in Bill Murray’s nightmare, they are the same officials who caused it. . . . Contrary to myth, Obama’s campaign was funded largely by rapacious capital, such as Citigroup and others responsible for the sub-prime mortgage scandal, whose victims were mostly African Americans and other poor people. . . . President Obama is the latest manager of an ideological machine that transcends electoral power."


Pilger finds hope in Obama's idealistic supporters who his cynical advisors say "have no place else to go. . . . If there is a happy ending to the Groundhog Day of repeated wars and plunder, it may well be found in the very mass movement whose enthusiasts registered voters and knocked on doors and brought Obama to power. Will they now be satisfied as spectators to the cynicism of “continuity”? In less than three months, millions of angry Americans have been politicized by the spectacle of billions of dollars of handouts to Wall Street as they struggle to save their jobs and homes. It's as if seeds have begun to sprout beneath the political snow. And history, like Groundhog Day, can repeat itself. Few predicted the epoch-making events of the 1960s and the speed with which they happened. As a beneficiary of that time, Obama should know that when the blinkers are removed, anything is possible."


My hope is that Obama's youthful supporters (as opposed to the die hard Democrats) will be far less tolerant of Obama's sellout than were Bush's apologists on the Christian Right. Both supported their man with religious fervor. The Millennial Generation's secular religious tendencies should prove less enduring as the reality of the Obama administration sets in. His charisma will start to ring hollow. They probably won't like his calls for mandatory "national service" (the draft). And they should have no stomach for the continued bloodshed in the Middle East. His allegiance to the Banksters and ties to corruption will be clear for all to see.

On the other hand, with the economy going in the tank, financial stress may see them opting for the security of all the new government jobs he's promising with his stimulus packages. The more idealistic/authoritarian of them may relish the idea of becoming part of his new, million-member, National Civilian Security Force. Youthful idealists are not immune. Could they become counterparts to Hitler's Brown Shirts or Mussolini's Black Shirt Militia? Is this warning by a former member of Hitler's Youth on target? Our Dear Leader is already touted as a role model and appears in government school textbooks. Is there a limit to what can be justified by an appeal to "the greater good?"

The battle for the future may well be in the hands of the Millennials as we enter the Fourth Turning. My fear is that they have been so brainwashed by the government schools and popular culture, that they won't even be able to grasp the real issues. The home schooled kids I've met are generally much better grounded and independent in their thinking than the public, and even private, schooled graduates. They are less susceptible to mob psychology, too.


It may well be that King Obama's Dream Team will complete the transformation of our once constitutional republic into fascist Amerika. Capitalism and freedom may well be dead. As Ayn Rand wrote 50 years ago, "Capitalism: [is] The Unknown ideal." What we have experienced in the US in our lifetimes is not free market capitalism, though it has been represented as such. But, "capitalism" gets the bad rap for the economic problems we face. I've heard this from three well-"educated" Millennials I know. Therefore, they are Marxists. Incredible!


America has morphed, slowly like the proverbial frog in the heating pot of water, into Amerika: "Our country was founded upon the principles of freedom, responsibility, and opportunity to succeed or fail. Government was supposed to play a limited role in our lives. Government’s function was to defend against foreign invaders, provide basic services, enforce the laws, and maintain the public infrastructure of the country. Over time government has incessantly intervened in the economic system and by successive steps has moved the country toward socialism. Millions of Americans are now totally dependent upon handouts from the government. This policy of government expansion through the use of credit at the expense of taxpayers is detrimental to the rest of society. Interventionist wars, undeclared by Congress, and maintaining military bases in 117 countries were not envisioned by the Founding Fathers. The more we consent to government intervening in our lives, the more freedom that we lose. We are now experiencing the utmost intervention by government in our 222 year history."

Ominously, Obama's continuity pick for SecDef Gates calls for greater integration between active duty and reserve military. And new rules published in the Federal Register call for expanding the military's domestic mission "to prevent environmental damage or respond to 'special events' and 'other domestic activities.'" Earlier we reported the combat brigades now stationed in the US by Northcom for domestic peacekeeping. So long Posse Comitatus!

My mood of apprehension increases as we approach the King's inauguration and his First 100 Days. They promise to be truly "transforming." Too bad for us.