Here is that paragraph. Use ‘find and replace’ to substitute ‘Key’ for ‘Obama’ and ‘Prime Minister’ for “President’ and i think it would still be entirely accurate.
“I conclude that Obama never wanted to be president, that is, he never wanted to do the work, master the details, understand the mechanics of the overwhelming complexities of a massive, constantly metastasizing State. Yes, he wanted to have the title “President” and enjoy the power and prestige that accompanies it (to say nothing of the fact that he and his family are now set for life at the pinnacle of the ruling class). But he never wanted to be president because there were certain policies to which he was passionately committed and wanted to put into action. He wants to be called “Mr. President”; leave the dull, wearisome duties of office to the underlings. That’s what underlings are for. We might regard him as the most frighteningly complete narcissist we are likely to see, as well as perhaps the most complete solipsist. There are no policies beyond himself that he deeply cares about; there is nothing beyond himself at all. Outside of himself and his own power, he believes nothing.”
The real, depressing problem is that you could do exactly the same for most of today’s major politicians and ‘captains of industry’.
Obama, like any President, has a few flaws and imposed limitations. He is a Christian believer who personally respects other world religions. That reported above has been constructed by an incredibly nasty, stupid person or persons. Let me quote some of the words of Obama:
“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence, or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognise it.”
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
“We have just begun – Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”
Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future. But we will not sustain this growth if it favours the few, and not the many.”
“We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”
We’re hardwired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And this country’s scared.”
“A freedom without love or charity or duty . . . is unworthy of our founding ideals.”
“I don’t have time to complain. I’M GOING TO PRESS ON.”
Such words come from the dread creature we see imagined in the article above? I find nothing particularly quotable, or inspiring, from Key.
Dr. Terry – put what Obama has said to one side and look at what he has done, or more pertinently, not done.
“A good compromise…” He has compromised and compromised and compromised with the rabid right, and fought for nothing apart from Obamacare, itself a compromise that will enrich private insurers and health providers.
“Change will not come…” What has he changed? Guantanamo is still open, Bush’s wars still rage, bankers and CEO’s bonuses are still obscene while the middle class shrinks and the poor get poorer.
“We have just begun…” In what way is the world even a little bit better than it was when he took power four years ago?
“Our job is to make sure…” The thoughtful in the US are in despair while the rich get richer and the US falls apart.
“We need to internalise this idea of excellence…” Goods and ideas are now the preserve of Asia. What good has come out of the US in Obama’s four years? Excellent drones and extra-judicial execution in total disregard of international law.
“A freedom without love or charity or duty…” The rational that allows Walmart etc. to cut wages and pay less than a living wage because charity and duty will make up the shortfall.
“I haven’t time to complain…” But the American people have, with the result that Obama is only neck-and-neck with a self-centred, shallow, inept, blatantly corrupt clone of G. W. Bush.
Had Obama delivered even 10% of what he promised Romney would be dead in the water.
A better resume of what Obama has done, regardless of what he says:
The list of actual betrayal is long and virtually covering his public policy without exception.
1) Health care, in which Obama savaged the single-payer system, thus preparing the way for the same on the public option, meanwhile silencing, or rather, delegitimating all dissident voices, at the same time as exempting health insurers from antitrust prosecution and favoring Big Pharma;
2) Civil liberties, a good litmus test of democratic governance, in which Obama’s Department of Justice argued against granting habeas corpus rights to detainees, invoked the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, carried surveillance beyond that of previous administrations, with the National Security Agency one of the culprits practicing the black magic of eavesdropping, while renditions and “black holes” continue and even agencies like FDA spy on its employees; 3) militarism, from which foreign policy, including trade policy, cannot be excluded, in which the drone–as Obama’s signature weapon–terrorizes whole populations reeking destruction from the skies, naval power displayed from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean, a whole new generation of nuclear weapons in the pipeline (exempt from potential budgetary sequestration), a military budget itself second to none, and what appears to be a permanent state of war;
4) the omissions, which by their absence speak volumes about the purposes and policies of his administration, in which job creation and foreclosures have not been addressed, climate change, wholly disappeared, gun control, nonexistent, poverty never, never mentioned, and business and banking regulation the compounding of phoniness on phoniness, not unexpected considering Obama’s belief in deregulation and bringing in the Clinton-Rubin crowd of free marketeers.**
I agree that Key is, fortunately, a third-rate and inept con-artist compared to Obama but both men like so many in politics today precisely described by my original quote.
Thanks for this link, gr, which I’ve just caught up on. An interesting, informative and thought-provoking piece.
It brings back memories to me because I was living in London during that late 70s and 80s. I took part in the left wing protests, public meetings, networks and strikes. The left had been increasingly successful during the 60s and 70s, with gains in policy development, public discourse, etc, There was some lingering optimism into the early 80s, mixed with foreboding. Many of us thought our protests would have an impact. But of course, many of us also swung between optimism and fear of where the right wing governments in the western world were dragging us.
I remember the period of the Brixton riots well. I was living just outside Brixton (Stockwell) when they went off. I remember the helicopters buzzing overhead, the boarded up windows, the bus loads of uniformed police in side streets at night when I went to parties in the area. Not all the protesters rioters were young and unemployed – the discontent was more widespread than that. Later in the 80s I lived in Brixton – an area I loved.
But gradually Thatcher’s government suceeded in destroying the vibrant grass-rooots left wing activism – mainly through dismantling the GLC (Greater London Council), supporting the shift to right wing editors in the MSM, etc, as well as through government policy. This left me frustrated, angry and despondent. In the late 7os and early 80s in London, the left was strong in mainstream political organisations and local councils in the metropolitian areas and councils. It was the time when (Red) Ken Livingston was leader of the GLC.
And the Reading the Maps post points to the way Thatcher never had majority support, but benefited from harnessing tools of power (media, undemocratic FPtP electoral system, opportunistic war mongering, etc).
And this is the lesson: never underestimated the power of the elites to take back control even when the majority of people seem to be successful in working well towards a more fair and just society.
The Bangladeshi man arrested for trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb had an alleged accomplice in San Diego, who was arrested on unrelated child-pornography charges after being monitored by the feds for months.
Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!
California resident Howard Willie Carter II, 36, was arrested after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents found 1,000 child pornography images and three video files on a laptop and hard drive in the garbage near his apartment, the New York Times reported.
1000lb bomb, 1000 child porn pics, (sloppy), um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords
The Bangladeshi man arrested for trying to detonate what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb had an alleged accomplice in San Diego, who was arrested on unrelated child-pornography charges after being monitored by the feds for months.
Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!
California resident Howard Willie Carter II, 36, was arrested after Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents found 1,000 child pornography images and three video files on a laptop and hard drive in the garbage near his apartment, the New York Times reported.
Child porn, um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords.
After looking through the files (and placing more “evidence”), agents found information linking Carter to the bomb plot of New York’s Federal Reserve Bank. Carter’s computer contained e-mails, which addressed him as “Yaqueen.” The Bangladeshi who attempted to detonate the bomb, 21-year-old Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, had told undercover officials that Yaqueen was a conspirator.
Wow thats hardcore, wanting to blow up the NYFED to spilling your guts, just like that. Seems the jihadis are going a bit soft…
Carter, using the name Yaqueen, had previously suggested to Nafis that they attack a military base in Baltimore, which had only one guard standing outside.
Let’s see, next time we could say that they were actually launching WMDs by rocket to blow up the moon, not too far fetched is!
Both men had been under government surveillance as part of an elaborate sting operation. Carter started being monitored by feds as early as August, but officials waited until Nafis’s arrest before going after him.
So they both worked for the Feds then, good to clear that one up…
Both men are now facing charges of conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction and with providing material support to al-Qaeda
Look a real life conspiracy theory, WMDs, and providing “material support” to AQ….
too many ningnongs seduced by the internet and teevee cocatenated with self will run riot and the world has turned into this sort of comic strip with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.
“with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.”
If this non-sequiture in a vacuus comment is meant to refer to me, please be assured captain hook (if you don’t believe you are entitled to capitalisation who am I to argue?) that I have removed myself as far from running the show as it’s possible to get.
“I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs
Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—”
Thanks Penny. That was a good read, and like Blue leopard says, “we can only live in hope” Will he make to the middle of next year though? He’s in such a state as it is, right now. And what will happen, how will it unfold? However it does, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later. There must a collective of champagne corks itching to pop. (or cheap n cheerful bubbles as least)
Thanks Stephen. The reasons given by Brian Edwards seem completely plausible and mirror some of the chat that has been going on here, as do the following comments. I thought the “bucket list” reason was an efficient way of summing up Key’s personal “ambushins”.
Maybe we should run a sweep. My money would be when poll results drop below 40. Then the knives will really come out, so he will jump before suffering the indignity of being pushed.
Public holidays are often about hypocrisy because most of us just plain enjoy bloody holidays! As an atheist I am quite happy to take Xmas and Easter hols, as are Māori haters on Waitangi Day, Republicans on Queens Bday, and dirty filthy anti union torys on Labour weekend.
Holidays are to catch up with people and party on and imagine what it would be like if paid work was reassessed in relation to what we really enjoy doing in life.
In fact, the tenets of Ryan Republicanism are so extreme that they even offend the pioneers of trickle-down economics. “Ryan takes out the ax and goes after programs for the poor – which is the last thing you ought to cut,” says David Stockman, who served as Ronald Reagan’s budget director. “It’s ideology run amok.”
Only if you consider that public opposition stopping them is them knowing when to stop. Romney, Cameron and Key want to take the reforms that Reagan and Thatcher and Douglas started to their natural conclusion. This is very, very scary because their natural conclusion is a massively oppressive dictatorship along the lines of 15th century feudalism. A few people living well and above the law while everybody else is in abject poverty with the law applied arbitrarily.
Nah, Key is relatively (though not wholly) benign. Nothing as bad as Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Ruth Richardson or the Iron Lady when it comes to neoliberalism.
We are seeing the decline and fall of the US empire which began after the loss in Vietnam, and every President has done little to alter this decline since whether Clinton, GW Bush and Obama.
The real economy is in deep poo and cannot be rescued by printing money (US$13trillion so far).
The third trench of printing has so far had no impact on the unemployment where only a part is declared as so many have ceased to register as unemployed.
Only the big cash dealers like drug cartels and the mafia will benefit from an increased cash flow, not here where it is required in the job market.
We can expect a fourth injection before Christmas, still having no impact.
Yes, I entirely agree and what I find remarkable is that the US continues to be cited as the worlds richest country and continues to be related to as such (US says ‘jump’ and we jump). It appears to be a remarkable feat of marketing and spin.
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A listing of 23 news and opinion articles we found interesting and shared on social media during the past week: Sun, January 5, 2025 thru Sat, January 11, 2025. This week's roundup is again published soleley by category. We are still interested in feedback to hone the categorization, so if ...
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The future teaches you to be aloneThe present to be afraid and coldSo if I can shoot rabbits, then I can shoot fascists…And if you tolerate thisThen your children will be nextSongwriters: James Dean Bradfield / Sean Anthony Moore / Nicholas Allen Jones.Do you remember at school, studying the rise ...
When National won the New Zealand election in 2023, one of the first to congratulate Luxon was tech-billionaire and entrepreneur extraordinaire Elon Musk.And last year, after Luxon posted a video about a trip to Malaysia, Musk came forward again to heap praise on Christopher:So it was perhaps par for the ...
Hi,Today’s Webworm features a new short film from documentary maker Giorgio Angelini. It’s about Luigi Mangione — but it’s also, really, about everything in America right now.Bear with me.Shortly after I sent out my last missive from the fires on Wednesday, one broke out a little too close to home ...
So soon just after you've goneMy senses sharpenBut it always takes so damn longBefore I feel how much my eyes have darkenedFear hangs in a plane of gun smokeDrifting in our roomSo easy to disturb, with a thought, with a whisperWith a careless memorySongwriters: Andy Taylor / John Taylor / ...
Can we trust the Trump cabinet to act in the public interest?Nine of Trump’s closest advisers are billionaires. Their total net worth is in excess of $US375b (providing there is not a share-market crash). In contrast, the total net worth of Trump’s first Cabinet was about $6b. (Joe Biden’s Cabinet ...
Welcome back to our weekly roundup. We hope you had a good break (if you had one). Here’s a few of the stories that caught our attention over the last few weeks. This holiday period on Greater Auckland Since our last roundup we’ve: Taken a look back at ...
Sometimes I feel like I don't have a partnerSometimes I feel like my only friendIs the city I live in, The City of AngelsLonely as I am together we crySong: Anthony Kiedis, Chad Smith, Flea, John Frusciante.A home is engulfed in flames during the Eaton fire in the Altadena area. ...
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stand firm and work with allies to progress climate action as Donald Trump signals his intent to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords once again. ...
The Green Party has welcomed the provisional ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, and reiterated its call for New Zealand to push for an end to the unlawful occupation of Palestine. ...
The Green Party welcomes the extension of the deadline for Treaty Principles Bill submissions but continues to call on the Government to abandon the Bill. ...
Complaints about disruptive behaviour now handled in around 13 days (down from around 60 days a year ago) 553 Section 55A notices issued by Kāinga Ora since July 2024, up from 41 issued during the same period in the previous year. Of that 553, first notices made up around 83 ...
The time it takes to process building determinations has improved significantly over the last year which means fewer delays in homes being built, Building and Construction Minister Chris Penk says. “New Zealand has a persistent shortage of houses. Making it easier and quicker for new homes to be built will ...
Minister of Internal Affairs Brooke van Velden is pleased to announce the annual list of New Zealand’s most popular baby names for 2024. “For the second consecutive year, Noah has claimed the top spot for boys with 250 babies sharing the name, while Isla has returned to the most popular ...
Work is set to get underway on a new bus station at Westgate this week. A contract has been awarded to HEB Construction to start a package of enabling works to get the site ready in advance of main construction beginning in mid-2025, Transport Minister Simeon Brown says.“A new Westgate ...
Minister for Children and for Prevention of Family and Sexual Violence Karen Chhour is encouraging people to use the resources available to them to get help, and to report instances of family and sexual violence amongst their friends, families, and loved ones who are in need. “The death of a ...
Uia te pō, rangahaua te pō, whakamāramatia mai he aha tō tango, he aha tō kāwhaki? Whitirere ki te ao, tirotiro kau au, kei hea taku rātā whakamarumaru i te au o te pakanga mo te mana motuhake? Au te pō, ngū te pō, ue hā! E te kahurangi māreikura, ...
Health Minister Dr Shane Reti says people with diabetes and other painful conditions will benefit from a significant new qualification to boost training in foot care. “It sounds simple, but quality and regular foot and nail care is vital in preventing potentially serious complications from diabetes, like blisters or sores, which can take a long time to heal ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Luis Gómez Romero, Senior Lecturer in Human Rights, Constitutional Law and Legal Theory, University of Wollongong On his first day in office, Donald Trump launched his second term with a barrage of executive orders. Unsurprisingly, many could have a major impact on ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nial Wheate, Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Macquarie University Nial Wheate Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) recently issued a safety alert requiring extra warnings to be included with the asthma and hay fever drug montelukast. The warnings are for users and their ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Carolina Quintero Rodriguez, Senior Lecturer and Program Manager, Bachelor of Fashion (Enterprise) program, RMIT University When a tennis player serves at 200km/h in 30°C heat, their clothing isn’t just fabric. It becomes a key part of their performance. Modern tennis wear ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Jayashri Kulkarni, Professor of Psychiatry, Monash University Last week, Australian Open player Destanee Aiava revealed she had struggled with borderline personality disorder. The tennis player said a formal diagnosis, after suicidal behaviour and severe panic attacks, “was a relief”. But “it ...
Research methods in this project included healing Kauri trees through using "sonic samples of healthy whales to construct a tapestry of rejuvenation and wellbeing.” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Amy Hume, Lecturer In Theatre (Voice), Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne A24 The Brutalist has drawn attention this week for its use of artificial intelligence (AI) to refine some of the actors’ dialogue. Emilia Pérez, a ...
Welcome to The Spinoff Books Confessional, in which we get to know the reading habits of Aotearoa’s writers, and other guests. This week: Jenny Pattrick, playwright of Hope, which runs at Circa Theatre from January 25 – February 23.The book I wish I’d writtenHow to choose? Let’s say ...
SPECIAL REPORT:By Lagipoiva Cherelle Jackson and Lilomaiava Maina Vai The Speaker of the House, Papali’i Li’o Taeu Masipau, decisively addressed a letter from FAST, which informed him of the removal of Fiame along with Deputy Prime Minister Tuala Tevaga Ponifasio, Leatinu’u Wayne Fong, Olo Fiti Vaai, Faualo Harry Schuster, ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Anna Marie Brennan, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of Waikato Shutterstock/KV4000 Every day, about 48.5 tonnes of space rock hurtle towards Earth. Meteorites that fall into the ocean are never recovered. But the ones that crash on land can spark debates ...
New year, same friendly local politics podcast. The political year kicked off with a dramatic reshuffle that sees Shane Reti removed from health in favour of Simeon Brown, James Meager made minister for the fiefdom that is the South Island and Nicola Willis in the renamed role of minister for ...
Alex Casey and Tara Ward assemble a list of demands for James Meager, the first minister for the South Island. South islanders, rejoice, for there is now one man dedicated to ensuring that each and every 1,260,000 of us has our voices heard in parliament. This week Rangitata MP James ...
COMMENTARY:By Steven Cowan, editor of Against The Current New Zealand’s One News interviewed a Gaza journalist last week who has called out the Western media for its complicity in genocide. For some 15 months, the Western media have framed Israel’s genocidal rampage in Gaza as a “legitimate” war. Pretending ...
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon says the government has been taking the problem of economic growth seriously, and its work on that so far has been "significant". ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Marta Yebra, Professor of Environmental Engineering, Australian National University Picture this. It’s a summer evening in Australia. A dry lightning storm is about to sweep across remote, tinder-dry bushland. The next day is forecast to be hot and windy. A lightning strike ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Joanne Orlando, Researcher, Digital Literacy and Digital Wellbeing, Western Sydney University Wachiwit/Shutterstock Roblox isn’t just another video game – it’s a massive virtual universe where nearly 90 million people from around the world create, play and socialise. This includes some 34 ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Nicole Lee, Adjunct Professor at the National Drug Research Institute (Melbourne based), Curtin University Dragana Gordic/Shutterstock Anecdotal reports from some professionals have prompted concerns about young people using prescription benzodiazepines such as Xanax for recreational use. Border force detections of ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Judy Lundy, Lecturer in Management, Edith Cowan University Vitalii Vodolazskyi/Shutterstock It’s been a significant day for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs in the United States. Such initiatives are about providing equality of opportunity and a sense of being valued ...
Filmmaker Ahmed Osman reflects on the many challenges the screen industry is facing this year – and what needs to change. I grew up in front of the TV. For me, it was more than just background noise: it was connection. Shows like bro’Town, Street Legal, and Outrageous Fortune weren’t ...
The government last year created a new Ministry for Regulation, with ACT leader David Seymour in charge, to review regulations and, in Seymour’s words, “to look for red tape to cut.” ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Kimberley Connor, Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford Archaeology Center, Stanford University Sydney’s Hyde Park Barracks photographed in 1871, when the building served as a women’s immigration depot and asylum.City of Sydney Archives. Sydney’s Hyde Park Barracks was built between 1817 and ...
Source: The Conversation (Au and NZ) – By Robert McLachlan, Professor in Applied Mathematics, Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa – Massey University NASA/Earth Observatory, CC BY-SA It’s now official. Last year was the warmest year on record globally and the first to exceed 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. This doesn’t mean ...
Analysis - The political year is kicking off with a flurry of gatherings and speeches after the Prime Minister used Wellington Anniversary weekend to get his team in order. ...
There’s been a major shake-up at the Waitangi Tribunal, with more than half of the current members, including some esteemed Māori academics, losing their places to make way for some controversial new appointments.Established in 1975, the Waitangi Tribunal investigates alleged Crown breaches of the promises made to Māori in ...
PFAS chemicals are omnipresent, enduring, and almost certainly in your bloodstream. Here’s a guide to where they come from, why there are concerns about their use and what regulations are in place to help you avoid exposure. Your raincoat, beading with water. The slippery smooth surface of your non-stick pans. ...
Opinion: Austria is poised to become the next European country to fall to the far right. There is only one option for mainstream parties to break this cycle. The post Europe’s far-right dominoes knock down democracy appeared first on Newsroom. ...
Prime Minister Christoper Luxon has turned Finance Minister Nicola Willis into a ‘super minister’ by adding the rebranded economic portfolio to her plate and bolstering her ability to implement change.Luxon announced his decision to appoint Nicola Willis to the role of Minister for Economic Growth as part of a wider ...
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When I reflect on my life, I look at how everything changed on the evening of June 22, 1970.I was lying in bed when the phone went late one night. My father picked it up. He was on the phone for what seemed like an eternity, and I could tell ...
Opinion: After an exhaustive period of consultation spanning almost two years, the Privacy Commissioner, in the week before Christmas, released the draft version of the Biometric Processing Privacy Code he intends to issue under the Privacy Act.Biometric information, collected through the likes of facial recognition technology, is personal information covered ...
Opinion: With a freshly minted transport minister taking the helm this week, it’s a good time to consider why we lack a fair and objective conversation about transport in New Zealand.The main reason for opposing investment in public transport and rail is that these modes reduce the reliance on and ...
After 23 years following a black line at the bottom of a swimming pool, Aquablack and Olympian Helena Gasson has retired from competitive swimming on her terms.She now wants to share her expertise and give back to the sport after being the only New Zealander to compete at an Oceania ...
A paragraph in an savage attack on President Obama snared my attention:
http://powerofnarrative.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/cabrera-for-president.html
Here is that paragraph. Use ‘find and replace’ to substitute ‘Key’ for ‘Obama’ and ‘Prime Minister’ for “President’ and i think it would still be entirely accurate.
“I conclude that Obama never wanted to be president, that is, he never wanted to do the work, master the details, understand the mechanics of the overwhelming complexities of a massive, constantly metastasizing State. Yes, he wanted to have the title “President” and enjoy the power and prestige that accompanies it (to say nothing of the fact that he and his family are now set for life at the pinnacle of the ruling class). But he never wanted to be president because there were certain policies to which he was passionately committed and wanted to put into action. He wants to be called “Mr. President”; leave the dull, wearisome duties of office to the underlings. That’s what underlings are for. We might regard him as the most frighteningly complete narcissist we are likely to see, as well as perhaps the most complete solipsist. There are no policies beyond himself that he deeply cares about; there is nothing beyond himself at all. Outside of himself and his own power, he believes nothing.”
The real, depressing problem is that you could do exactly the same for most of today’s major politicians and ‘captains of industry’.
But Obama is quick to notice discrepencies. Headline:
“Obama Terms Mitt’s ‘Romnesia’ over Policies.” (How about Keynesia?)
http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/americas/7842890/Obama-terms-Mitts-Romnesia-over-policies
Amkeynesia?
Obama, like any President, has a few flaws and imposed limitations. He is a Christian believer who personally respects other world religions. That reported above has been constructed by an incredibly nasty, stupid person or persons. Let me quote some of the words of Obama:
“A good compromise, a good piece of legislation, is like a good sentence, or a good piece of music. Everybody can recognise it.”
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
“We have just begun – Today we begin in earnest the work of making sure that the world we leave our children is just a little bit better than the one we inhabit today.”
Our job is to make sure that even as we make progress, that we are also giving people a sense of hope and vision for the future. But we will not sustain this growth if it favours the few, and not the many.”
“We need to internalize this idea of excellence. Not many folks spend a lot of time trying to be excellent.”
We’re hardwired not to always think clearly when we’re scared. And this country’s scared.”
“A freedom without love or charity or duty . . . is unworthy of our founding ideals.”
“I don’t have time to complain. I’M GOING TO PRESS ON.”
Such words come from the dread creature we see imagined in the article above? I find nothing particularly quotable, or inspiring, from Key.
Good morning Dr T – Where did you draw that conclusion from?
Dr. Terry – put what Obama has said to one side and look at what he has done, or more pertinently, not done.
“A good compromise…” He has compromised and compromised and compromised with the rabid right, and fought for nothing apart from Obamacare, itself a compromise that will enrich private insurers and health providers.
“Change will not come…” What has he changed? Guantanamo is still open, Bush’s wars still rage, bankers and CEO’s bonuses are still obscene while the middle class shrinks and the poor get poorer.
“We have just begun…” In what way is the world even a little bit better than it was when he took power four years ago?
“Our job is to make sure…” The thoughtful in the US are in despair while the rich get richer and the US falls apart.
“We need to internalise this idea of excellence…” Goods and ideas are now the preserve of Asia. What good has come out of the US in Obama’s four years? Excellent drones and extra-judicial execution in total disregard of international law.
“A freedom without love or charity or duty…” The rational that allows Walmart etc. to cut wages and pay less than a living wage because charity and duty will make up the shortfall.
“I haven’t time to complain…” But the American people have, with the result that Obama is only neck-and-neck with a self-centred, shallow, inept, blatantly corrupt clone of G. W. Bush.
Had Obama delivered even 10% of what he promised Romney would be dead in the water.
A better resume of what Obama has done, regardless of what he says:
The list of actual betrayal is long and virtually covering his public policy without exception.
1) Health care, in which Obama savaged the single-payer system, thus preparing the way for the same on the public option, meanwhile silencing, or rather, delegitimating all dissident voices, at the same time as exempting health insurers from antitrust prosecution and favoring Big Pharma;
2) Civil liberties, a good litmus test of democratic governance, in which Obama’s Department of Justice argued against granting habeas corpus rights to detainees, invoked the Espionage Act against whistleblowers, carried surveillance beyond that of previous administrations, with the National Security Agency one of the culprits practicing the black magic of eavesdropping, while renditions and “black holes” continue and even agencies like FDA spy on its employees; 3) militarism, from which foreign policy, including trade policy, cannot be excluded, in which the drone–as Obama’s signature weapon–terrorizes whole populations reeking destruction from the skies, naval power displayed from the South China Sea to the Mediterranean, a whole new generation of nuclear weapons in the pipeline (exempt from potential budgetary sequestration), a military budget itself second to none, and what appears to be a permanent state of war;
4) the omissions, which by their absence speak volumes about the purposes and policies of his administration, in which job creation and foreclosures have not been addressed, climate change, wholly disappeared, gun control, nonexistent, poverty never, never mentioned, and business and banking regulation the compounding of phoniness on phoniness, not unexpected considering Obama’s belief in deregulation and bringing in the Clinton-Rubin crowd of free marketeers.**
I agree that Key is, fortunately, a third-rate and inept con-artist compared to Obama but both men like so many in politics today precisely described by my original quote.
**Lifted from http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/12/america-on-the-cusp-of-fascism
Have we returned, politically if not musically, to 1983?
http://www.readingthemaps.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/back-to-future.html
Thank God we have not returned to Funky Town
a classic.
But, We Built This City on on rock and roll.
😈
Thanks for this link, gr, which I’ve just caught up on. An interesting, informative and thought-provoking piece.
It brings back memories to me because I was living in London during that late 70s and 80s. I took part in the left wing protests, public meetings, networks and strikes. The left had been increasingly successful during the 60s and 70s, with gains in policy development, public discourse, etc, There was some lingering optimism into the early 80s, mixed with foreboding. Many of us thought our protests would have an impact. But of course, many of us also swung between optimism and fear of where the right wing governments in the western world were dragging us.
I remember the period of the Brixton riots well. I was living just outside Brixton (Stockwell) when they went off. I remember the helicopters buzzing overhead, the boarded up windows, the bus loads of uniformed police in side streets at night when I went to parties in the area. Not all the protesters rioters were young and unemployed – the discontent was more widespread than that. Later in the 80s I lived in Brixton – an area I loved.
But gradually Thatcher’s government suceeded in destroying the vibrant grass-rooots left wing activism – mainly through dismantling the GLC (Greater London Council), supporting the shift to right wing editors in the MSM, etc, as well as through government policy. This left me frustrated, angry and despondent. In the late 7os and early 80s in London, the left was strong in mainstream political organisations and local councils in the metropolitian areas and councils. It was the time when (Red) Ken Livingston was leader of the GLC.
And the Reading the Maps post points to the way Thatcher never had majority support, but benefited from harnessing tools of power (media, undemocratic FPtP electoral system, opportunistic war mongering, etc).
And this is the lesson: never underestimated the power of the elites to take back control even when the majority of people seem to be successful in working well towards a more fair and just society.
Words of economic wisdom: http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.co.nz/2012/10/hugh-fletcher-slates-laissez-faire.html
Second man arrested in New York bombing plot
Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!
1000lb bomb, 1000 child porn pics, (sloppy), um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords
Phew just when I was thinking that it was going to be another lone wolf scenario again, but we have already had that twice this year at least in America – What about that 454.545455kg bomb, wow that must have been really easy to procure from all the other terrorists , woops I mean “intelligence operatives” , not to mention get into the desired position, I wonder if the two guys carried it !!
Child porn, um yeah ok then, makes it nice and easy for people to make the step to terrorist, fry that kiddie fiddler. Could thing computers have like client firewall software etc these days, as I wouldn’t want the intelligence kiddie fiddlers loading up my hard drives with their wares, or dumping stuff into my emails account, good thing those are secured too. Note to self, change hotmail, gmail, and facebook passwords.
Wow thats hardcore, wanting to blow up the NYFED to spilling your guts, just like that. Seems the jihadis are going a bit soft…
Let’s see, next time we could say that they were actually launching WMDs by rocket to blow up the moon, not too far fetched is!
So they both worked for the Feds then, good to clear that one up…
Look a real life conspiracy theory, WMDs, and providing “material support” to AQ….
The dup in the middle of the comment?
Yeah any chance of getting that post deleted , and ill put it up again?
Seems I got a bit loose when chopping and pasting, and doubled up…
😀
too many ningnongs seduced by the internet and teevee cocatenated with self will run riot and the world has turned into this sort of comic strip with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.
“with weird monsters like beenit and kweewee running the show.”
If this non-sequiture in a vacuus comment is meant to refer to me, please be assured captain hook (if you don’t believe you are entitled to capitalisation who am I to argue?) that I have removed myself as far from running the show as it’s possible to get.
“I Tiresias, old man with wrinkled dugs
Perceived the scene, and foretold the rest—”
What do you think about Brian Edwards predictions on John Key stepping down in the middle of next year?
http://www.nbr.co.nz/article/5-key-step-down-middle-next-year-thanks-ck-131029
Penny Bright
‘Anti-corruption campaigner’
http://www.dodgyjohnhasgone.com
We can live in hope, I guess.
Be careful what you wish for. Better the devil you know.
Thanks Penny. That was a good read, and like Blue leopard says, “we can only live in hope” Will he make to the middle of next year though? He’s in such a state as it is, right now. And what will happen, how will it unfold? However it does, I wish it would happen sooner rather than later. There must a collective of champagne corks itching to pop. (or cheap n cheerful bubbles as least)
Original with interesting comments here.
http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/
Thanks Stephen. The reasons given by Brian Edwards seem completely plausible and mirror some of the chat that has been going on here, as do the following comments. I thought the “bucket list” reason was an efficient way of summing up Key’s personal “ambushins”.
Maybe we should run a sweep. My money would be when poll results drop below 40. Then the knives will really come out, so he will jump before suffering the indignity of being pushed.
Who has the numbers in his caucus? I’m betting that even with Key gone, English will manage to stay on as Deputy.
Parata was a rising star, but she screwed herself. Joyce? Bennett? Collins?
English will cling on like a tapeworm.
Well, actually, here.
who told him that?
michelle boag?
Which Hollow Man will replace him though?
Hollow Wo/Man please, if you would.
Public holidays are often about hypocrisy because most of us just plain enjoy bloody holidays! As an atheist I am quite happy to take Xmas and Easter hols, as are Māori haters on Waitangi Day, Republicans on Queens Bday, and dirty filthy anti union torys on Labour weekend.
Holidays are to catch up with people and party on and imagine what it would be like if paid work was reassessed in relation to what we really enjoy doing in life.
Found this quote by Mark Twain. “There are two types of speakers,those that are nervous and those that are liars”
And another “There is nothing so eloquent as a rattlesnakes tail” Navaho.
Splendid.
Mitt Romney’s Real Agenda
Sounds just like this National government.
Reagan and Thatcher knew when and where to stop. Romney, Cameron and Key dont.
Only if you consider that public opposition stopping them is them knowing when to stop. Romney, Cameron and Key want to take the reforms that Reagan and Thatcher and Douglas started to their natural conclusion. This is very, very scary because their natural conclusion is a massively oppressive dictatorship along the lines of 15th century feudalism. A few people living well and above the law while everybody else is in abject poverty with the law applied arbitrarily.
Nah, Key is relatively (though not wholly) benign. Nothing as bad as Roger Douglas, Richard Prebble, Ruth Richardson or the Iron Lady when it comes to neoliberalism.
As you know Draco, its those we don’t get to see who create this..
Same crew who could potentially end up owning every piece of mortgage paper in America
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/feds-balance-end-2013-4-trillion
I have ripped into them in the past for being hypocritical, but hats off to socialist aotearoa for attending the protest in Auckland.
Mitt und Tagg!
Selwyn Manning is always worth a listen on Citizen A…but this week he was better than usual. Def worth a watch.
We are seeing the decline and fall of the US empire which began after the loss in Vietnam, and every President has done little to alter this decline since whether Clinton, GW Bush and Obama.
The real economy is in deep poo and cannot be rescued by printing money (US$13trillion so far).
The third trench of printing has so far had no impact on the unemployment where only a part is declared as so many have ceased to register as unemployed.
Only the big cash dealers like drug cartels and the mafia will benefit from an increased cash flow, not here where it is required in the job market.
We can expect a fourth injection before Christmas, still having no impact.
@ Fortran,
Yes, I entirely agree and what I find remarkable is that the US continues to be cited as the worlds richest country and continues to be related to as such (US says ‘jump’ and we jump). It appears to be a remarkable feat of marketing and spin.