Death of the Obama Myth
You’ve heard this spiel before. Obama, during the campaign, was just playing possum to get elected. Hiding his true Progressive nature. Pitching himself as a “centrist” to big business and scared whites while cunningly concealing his real agenda. Crawling until he could fly. And then, once he was elected, he would show his true colors and the left-wing Millennium would begin.
So now Obama has won the Presidency. By a landslide. His “honeymoon” period has already begun. During his term of office, he will never have more freedom to do what he wants than in the next few months. So what is his first act as President-elect? He appoints RAHM EMANUEL as chief of staff.
Who is Rahm Emanuel? He is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House, behind Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Leader Steny Hoyer, and Whip Jim Clyburn. His mentor is Bill Clinton. He has strong ties to the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC), the organization that, in the late 1980s and in the 1990s, under Clinton, shredded the Democratic Party’s few remaining links to its populist New Deal traditions. He is a member in good standing of the New Democrat Coalition, described by Wikipedia as a group of Democratic Senators and Congresspersons “who claim moderate and pro-business stances.” In 2002, he supported Bush’s plan to invade Iraq, but lamented that Bush had not found the right message to sell the war to the American people.
Most importantly, he was the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee chair for the 2006 elections. In this devastating 2007 Truthout exposé, Matt Renner reported how Emanuel, while claiming neutrality, strongly supported, with contributions and other forms of pressure, pro-war, pro-business Democratic House candidates, like Tammy Duckworth in Illinois (who was backed by Barack Obama), while deep-freezing all antiwar Democrats, like Christine Cegelis (running in the same Illinois district as Duckworth). By the way, Duckworth lost, whereas the charismatic Cegelis would probably have won, but that did not seem to phase Emanuel. In other words, he is probably more responsible than anybody in the House (except Pelosi) for keeping the Democratic Party a pro-war, pro-corporate party.
Obama might well be considering keeping on Robert Gates as Defense Secretary. He is also considering appointing his economic advisor Austan Goolsbee, who is consistently described as a “centrist” (read: Republican-lite), as Treasury Secretary.
The myth of “Obama the Closet Progressive” is dead. Can we bury it now?
John B.
Final Appeal to Vote for Cynthia McKinney for President!
IF YOU HAVE HOPE FOR REAL CHANGE – THEN VOTE GREEN PARTY – ROW H [New York State] ON ELECTION DAY, TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH.
The Green Party candidates for president and vice president, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, are an historic ticket. These two women of color, a former six-term Democratic Congresswoman from Georgia and a journalist and founder of the National Hip Hop Caucus have teamed up to bring a message of peace, democracy, justice and ecological sanity to the 2008 national elections.
Never in recent history has the momentum and engagement in a presidential race been at this level, but registered voters and Obama volunteers are not the only numbers that are at a record high. So is the gap between rich and poor. Foreclosures have risen dramatically. Unemployment is on the rise. Our planet is in more danger than ever before.
Why should you vote for McKinney and Clemente on the Green Party line?
Because both the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates will continue to spend precious resources – our young people and our money – on war and the military. McCain will bomb his way to “victory” in Iraq while Obama will redirect resources from Iraq to Afghanistan.
Neither candidate has a convincing plan to control emissions. And both support new coal and nuclear power plants.
The Green Party candidates, Cynthia McKinney and Rosa Clemente, will drastically cut military spending, stop the building of new nuclear power plants and implement a bold plan that will provide real oversight and control over the Wall Street robber barons.
By voting GREEN this Election Day you’ll be saying:
YES to total withdrawal from Iraq and Afghanistan!
YES to universal, single-payer health care!
YES to national living wage!
YES to reducing emissions to 25% by 2020
YES to renewable solar power and wind energy!
YES to a crackdown on corporate crime!
YES to ending the drug war!
YES to restoring Constitutional civil rights!
YES to abolishing the death penalty!
YES to electoral and campaign finance reform
YES TO PEOPLE’S NEEDS AND NOT CORPORATE GREED!
Here in New York State, the Green Party is the only party that runs candidates who adhere to these values– your values. When we encourage you to vote for candidates on the Green Party line – you can be sure that what our candidates say and do is based on our party’s platform.
While both the Democratic and Republican candidates have spent record breaking amounts of money on this election from big corporate donors and special interest groups, the Green Party takes no corporate donations. So please show your support by making a secure donation on line at gpnys.org [if you are in New York State].
Vote Truth 08 – Vote McKinney/Clemente – Vote Green Party Row H! [If not in NYS, check if the McKinney/Clemente ticket is on the ballot in your state; if not, ask your poll worker to instruct you in casting a write-in ballot for the Green Party ticket.]
The Green Party stands for: Non-violence – grassroots democracy – social and economic justice – ecological wisdom
Peter LaVenia
Gloria Mattera
Co-chairs
Green Party of New York State
Gpnys.org
