Re: Obama... "He is in office, but is he in power?"

[leftchick]

Published on The Smirking Chimp (http://smirkingchimp.com)
Is the Hunter Being Captured by the Game? How the Permanent Power Structure Is Trying to Stop Obama

By Danny Schechter
Created Mar 16 2009 - 10:09am

Some things don't change. Obama may be in the White House, shuffling between the safety of the center and the language of change ("changeguage?"), firm in his commitment to the doctrine of neo-prog pragmatism which all too often requires the abandonment of ideas and ideals that could offend both the right and wrong people.

He is in office, but is he in power?

The mistake that many make is to confuse the trappings of symbolic power with the exercise of real power. Truth be told, real power is exercised mostly by unchecked private interests, lobbyists and our media. They have the power to obstruct policies, stir up controversies and orchestrate pressure to kill measures they don't like. They are well-funded minority and work skillfully in the shadows and through highly paid PR practitioners.

Every politician knows that these non-elected power centers often have more power than elected decisionmakers. They know that Congress is a swamp of competing interests catering to provincial needs. Remember the debate over "earmarks" during the campaign? McCain raised it but then Obama agreed with him. What happened?

Both parties promote them. They are, apparently, a permanent part of the system. South Carolina's Lindsay Graham thunders against them until it involves money for a convention center in Myrtle Beach SC. And etc.

AP says of the President: "He criticized pork barrel spending in the form of "earmarks," urging changes in the way that Congress adopts the spending proposals. Then he signed a spending bill that contains nearly 9,000 of them, some that members of his own staff shoved in last year when they were still members of Congress."

True, but! Like many press reports this is totally context-free, even in our Republic of Pork. These earmarks represented 2% of the budget and got 98% of the coverage.

[truedelphi]

1. A President can only be powerful about things he understands

So far he does not demonstrate much understanding about the economy. He has given the pigs at the trough our money to continue feeding at our expense while we are thrown out of our jobs, thrown out of our houses, and die because we cannot afford prescription drugs.

Obama should read up on why and how Lincoln ignored the Corporate Banking Interests of his time and set up a Central Bank, allowed by the Constitution, so that the nation would not be swindled and drained dry by the monied elite.

[Imagevision]

2. Real power is big business - they 'families' founded this country and will always run it regardless

of who occupies the White House.

[Imagevision]

3. Illuminati power b-a-b-y - the rest is fluff...