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Obama’s Presidency Through Palestinian Eyes
By Dr. Elias Akleh
People worldwide were very interested and following the 2012 American election believing that their future would, somehow, be affected by the foreign policies of the new American President. Only the Palestinian people were totally apathetic to the election. They believe that the American stance toward the Palestinian cause, specifically, and towards the Middle East, generally, would not change no matter who becomes the American president; whether a democrat or a republican.
Many people, including large percentage of the American people, are under the illusion that the President really has the power to change things. It appears that a president may have the power to take his country to war, to create jobs, to improvise and improve medical care plans, or to change tax laws or any other law, in that matter. Such matters are determined by a power elite representing the very rich and very influential 1% of the population, who owns, controls and manipulates the economic, political, industrial, and social structures of the country. The President is just an employee, who is appointed in a theatrical game of fake democratic election, in order to carry the plans of this power elite.
Petraeus: Resignation or Sacking?
by Stephen Lendman
Some observers call Washington a city of scandals. Lots of intrigue reflects daily life in the nation's capital. Elected and appointed officials come and go.
Most often it's uneventful. Other times once powerful figures fell from grace or scandals affecting them rose to the level of affixing a "gate" suffix on what happened.
Watergate, Whitewatergate, Iran/Contragate, Koreagate, Travelgate, and Troopergate among others come to mind.
More spin on Syria…
by Philip Greaves
Having followed the Guardians Middle East Live blog for a while there has been a distinct narrative forming in the support of the opposition in the Syrian civil war, one could say the support in western media has from the outset been on the side of the uprising which started with peaceful protest, brutally cracked down by the Assad regime and it’s forces it has fomented into civil war, but it is far more complicated than that. What was once perceived as the street and the people rising up against a dictator and demanding self-determination and human rights has turned into civil war with outside states and internal factions now vying for the inevitable power vacuum once Assad has gone.
Grand Bargain Betrayal Coming
by Stephen Lendman
Obama's economic record includes nearly 25 million unemployed, around 23% of working age Americans without jobs, poverty, homelessness, and hunger at record levels or close to it, and the greatest wealth disparity in US history.
Privileged elites benefitted enormously on his watch. They'll get plenty more ahead. Others are enduring protracted hard times. Bipartisan complicity calls for making things worse, not better. Huge budget cuts loom. Social programs will be hit hardest. More on that below.
America's compromised progressive left hailed Obama's victory. Condemnation should have been headlined instead. Nation magazine lost its soul long ago.
Throughout its history, it pretended to have one. It scorns truth. It turns reality on its head. It ducks responsible reporting on issues mattering most.
Obama’s Post-Election Militancy
by Stephen Lendman
Obama didn't miss a beat. He picked up where he left off. He's America's most belligerent leader. He's waging multiple direct and proxy wars abroad and at home by other means.
Despite pressing unresolved domestic issues, he celebrated his electoral victory belligerently.
On November 7, he bombed Yemen. Washington's been waging proxy war there for years. Daily attacks occur. Drones are the weapon of choice.
Remote warriors conduct sanitized killing on the cheap. Death and injury tolls rise. Mostly civilians are harmed. On November 8, Press TV headlined "US drone kills three in Yemen." US media scoundrels ignored it.
Hours after Obama's reelection, a "drone strike near the Yemeni capital has killed three people and injured two others."
Greece: Profile of a Failed State
by Stephen Lendman
Greece exhibits failed and rogue state characteristics. It governs irresponsibly. It's beholden more to foreign interests than its own. Banker needs are prioritized. Ruling authority outside Greece dictates terms.
The country's unable or refuses to provide public services. It threatens the welfare of its people. It spurns legitimate rule. It's bankrupt but won't declare it.
Governance in Greece combines travesty, tragedy and shame. Democracy's birth place spurns it. It also displays an unprincipled disregard for human need at a time of rampant corruption and prioritized military spending.
In 2011, seven billion euros went for arms. Greece is the tenth largest weapons importer. It's one of 28 NATO countries. Collective defense requires member states to purchase arms and buy them from alliance partners.
Argo: From Hollywoodism to Iranophobia
By Ismail Salami
In recent years, Iranophobia has come to encompass a wider scope of media including cinema which is incontestably capable of exercising a more powerful effect on manipulating the audience.
Along the recent Iranophobic attempts comes Argo (2012), a ‘nail-biting thriller’ which according to David Haglund, takes a few liberties with the history. A few liberties, indeed! The false façade of the movie and the glorification of CIA agent Antonio Mendez (the hero, played by Ben Affleck) in particular and the intelligence apparat in general in smuggling the escapees out of Tehran gives a flimsily larger-than-life flair to the movie on the one hand and a too-good-to-be-true feeling to the multitude of audience whose minds have already been hijacked by western media about Iran.
Lies and Liars Lost
Joel S. Hirschhorn
My cynicism about the stupidity of the American public would have increased exponentially if Mitt Romney would have been elected president. In over 50 years of voting and 25 years of working professionally in the world of politics and public policy I had never seen such outrageous and persistent lies, distortions and intellectual insults from a presidential candidate. Please note that I was not an Obama supporter; I proudly voted for the Libertarian candidate.
Repeatedly, Romney sold his soul to first get the Republican nomination and then attempt to win the presidency. For such a supposedly religious person he had no difficulty in saying anything to win support, despite contradictions with his previous positions and statements as well as with objective facts. The only thing you could trust about him was his love for his family and religion, and oh yes his quite negative view of 47 percent of the American public muttered when he thought he was only talking to a bunch of his rich supporters. But for such callous behavior he deserves to go to Mormon hell for lying to so many, including himself apparently because he could justify just about anything because the end of becoming president justified all means.
Money Party Wins US Election
by Stephen Lendman
The same party wins every time. Duopoly power rules. America is a one party state with two wings. Each replicates the other. On major issues mattering most, not a dime's worth of difference separates them.
The late Gore Vidal explained it as well as anyone. Some of his best comments included:
"Apparently, a democracy is a place where numerous elections are held at great cost without issues and with interchangeable candidates."
"Any American who is prepared to run for president should automatically by definition be disqualified from ever doing so."
Washington State and Colorado Join the Fray: Cannabis Legalized
by chycho
The big news from last night is not that the lesser of two evils won the US presidential elections, but that “Washington and Colorado voters legalized recreational use of marijuana.”
“’It’s very monumental,’ said Allen St. Pierre, executive director of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, a Washington-based group that advocates legalization. ‘No state has ever done this. Technically, marijuana isn’t even legal in Amsterdam.’”
Under the measures, “personal possession of up to an ounce (28.5 grams) of marijuana would be legal for anyone at least 21 years of age. They also will permit cannabis to be legally sold and taxed at state-licensed stores in a system modeled after a regime many states have in place for alcohol sales.”
In addition, the cultivation of up to six plants for personal use will be legal in Colorado while still remaining illegal in Washington State.
How will this play out with Obama’s war on cannabis, especially considering his record on medical marijuana?
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