Have you noticed? There are really two Obamas. One is Obama the Candidate, and the other is Obama the President. The candidate flashes the infectious smile, articulates the charismatic, inspirational rhetoric, identifies with those who are struggling in our society, and, most of all, promises change.
Notice the contrast between the candidate and the president. The latter surrounds himself with Wall Street tycoons so that instead of change, he is bringing us a seamless financial transition from Bush to Obama where his Justice Department has not brought a single case against the Wall Street criminals. (Attorney General Eric Holder and Lanny Breuer, head of the Justice Department's criminal division, were partners for years at a Washington law firm that represented a Who's Who of big banks and other companies at the center of alleged foreclosure fraud).
Instead of closing down Guantanamo, as promised in his first campaign, Obama has, if anything, enlarged this disgraceful facility. And after campaigning on restoring our personal liberties, as president he has enlarged the powers of the Executive branch of government in ways that even George W. Bush never contemplated.. For instance, while you were celebrating New Years Eve, the President was surreptitiously signing the National Defense Authorization Act (when no one was looking). That Act, among other things, unequivocally authorizes the US military to seize individuals anywhere in the world (at home or abroad) and hold them for life in a military detention facility, without a trial or any other legal recourse. My guess is that 9 out of 10 Americans never even heard of this abomination to our civil liberties, as it was intentionally M.I.A. (missing in action) from the Mainstream Press.
The truth of the matter is that Candidate Obama's eloquent words, which champion the so-called 99%, vs. President Obama's diametrically opposite actions, which view the American people as potential adversaries to be controlled should they demonstrate their constitutional right of civil disobedience, is profoundly troubling.
The definition of Fascism is the partnership of Corporate and Government power. With the Republicans offering nothing and the two Obamas not to be trusted, the only hope for the restoration of the America some of us are old enough to remember lies with the awakening of the people. Anybody conscious out there?
January 29, 2012