Stephen Lendman

On November 4, 2008, I wrote the following: The age of George Bush ended, and a new one under Barack Obama began - with high hopes for responsible change.

Celebratory echoes quickly faded. Dirty business as usual continued - exceeding the worst of his predecessors. His tenure has eight months to go. Expect nothing positive in his remaining time in office.

He’ll be remembered for permanent wars, looting the nation’s wealth, wrecking the economy, thirdworldizing it, and making poverty a growth industry.

He’s served war profiteers, Wall Street, drug industry bandits and other corporate favorites exclusively, not Main Street.

One-fourth of working-age Americans have no jobs on his watch, countless millions more underemployed in rotten service jobs with few or no benefits - one lost paycheck away from homelessness.

He presides over a fantasy democracy under a homeland police state apparatus, exceeding the worst of George Bush. He targets whistleblowers, peace and global justice supporters, Muslims, African Americans, Latino immigrants, as well as environmental and animal rights activists.

All politicians lie. It matters most when presidents willfully deceive, arguably no one more consistently, maliciously and with more devastating consequences for countless millions at home and abroad than Obama.

The self-styled peace president is an unindicted war criminal multiple times over. He belongs in prison doing hard time, not high office.

He broke every major pledge made, delivered betrayal - not “hope,” “change,” peace, “a new era of openness,” universal healthcare, financial reform, ending torture, illegal spying and detention without trial.

Guantanamo remains open despite promising to close it in his first year - able to do it any time by executive order.

Organized labor suffered hugely on his watch after vowing to walk picket lines whenever worker organizing rights are threatened.

He promised to meet individually with Iranian, Syrian, Venezuelan, Cuban and North Korean leaders to begin normalizing relations. He remains hostile against all five countries despite meeting with Raul Castro in Havana.

Washington rejects normalization with sovereign independent countries, wants dominion over planet earth no matter the cost in human lives and misery.

The Nobel Committee has a deplorable tradition of awarding peace prizes to war criminals, twisted logic honoring Obama.

His Nobel Lecture in response to being selected in 2009 was a shameless exercise of deception. He continued wars on Afghanistan and Iraq at time - lied claiming one was winding down, the other America didn’t seek.

Nor did he reveal planned aggression against Libya, Syria, Yemen, Ukrainian Donbass freedom fighters and partnered with Israel against Palestine.

Citing the notion of “just wars,” he failed to explain none in history were just. US wars aren’t waged for peace and stability, solely for conquest and dominance.

Throughout his tenure, Obama bombed seven countries - Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Somalia. He deployed US special forces death squads to 135 countries.

He waged endless war on humanity throughout his time in office. Millions of corpses attest to his barbarity.

In March, a Nobel Peace Prize Committee chairman was fired for the first time. Thorbjorn Jagland, former Norwegian prime minister, said Obama “really ought to consider” returning his award.

The Committee shamed itself in honoring one of history’s most ruthless criminals, a man responsible for horrendous mass slaughter and destruction throughout his tenure.

He believes America should rule the world, “write the rules…call the shots,” nations unwilling to go along toppled in favor of subservient ones.

His world is unsafe and unfit to live in. Bipartisan criminals run America. World peace hangs in the balance.

-###-

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks World War III".

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.