GuidoWorld

Political Guise/Guys

August 10, 2008 on 4:49 pm | In General |

In a couple of my more recent posts I explained why I am unlikely to vote in the upcoming presidential election. To sum up, I won’t vote until there’s a real candidate to vote for and I don’t want to support a corrupt political process in dire need of an overhaul.

I also mentioned that it appeared to me that anyone truly espousing policies which were different from the status quo was being marginalized and posed as a fool by the corporate media (Ron Paul and Kucinich this election and Dean in the last). In other words no candidate is able to get a nomination by the two parties unless he/she is deemed acceptable by the military/industrial complex as LBJ warned.

Candidates must tow the line even if it means losing the election. John Kerry’s decision to support the Iraq war in 2004 despite an overwhelming majority opposing the war is a perfect example. How else can you explain a Democratic candidate who willingly supports a botched war started by the incumbent despite over 2/3 of Americans saying they wanted out.

Some of Obama’s stances smack of the same political realities of playing the game. First Obama has stated the need for us to cut our dependency on foreign oil (think Arabs) despite the fact that the current bubble in the price of oil is speculative in nature, just like every other bubble. The net if full of reports and footage which shows oil tankers just sitting in the gulf. The corporations making record profits in oil are American owned, and the supply and demand figures don’t reflect any need for high oil prices. Both in terms of production and supply figures we are at levels similar to when oil was well under $40 a barrel. Greenspan and the policies of the Federal Reserve have more to do with the inflated price of oil than any foreign entity. Just as those same policies led to the real estate bubble and the bull market (bubble?) in commodities.

So instead of talking about the truth regarding inflation Obama points the finger at Arabs. Similarly he takes the low road regarding exploiting the fear of terrorism. I saw a piece in which he stated that the greatest threat to our national security is in the possibility of “terrorists” getting possession of a nuclear bomb. Now, how could that be the biggest threat.

A nuclear bomb is not much of a threat without a delivery system. Very few nations have a military and missile program capable of attacking the US. At best a terrorist group could sell the bomb to a nation who could execute an attack. Yet, to say terrorists groups are the real threat is disingenuous fear mongering at best and truly destructive of the culture of hope and trust Obama claims to want to foster.

Obama likewise has found a way to continue our paranoid war like stance with the rest of the world. He has been quoted as saying that he favors a “slow drawdown” of troops in Iraq and poses Afghanistan as the area of real concern. As the area in which we should be increasing the number of troops.

Those advocating an increase in military presence in Afghanistan point out that the Taliban is taking back control of the country and that the opium supply is back to record levels. I listened to a report on NPR that insinuated that both the government and the Taliban are the cause of the sharp rise in the amount of poppy plants in the area.

Yet, that report and any other I’ve seen over the last number of months seems to ignore a couple of important facts. First, we installed the current government and have been highly influential in all their policies. Second, the Taliban has been very successful at squashing the production of opiates in Afghanistan, and had essentially eradicated the crop before we took over. Therefore, to insinuate them as the cause while refusing to mention their previous successful actions appears to be nothing more than blatant propoganda to incite ill based support once again for aggressive policies in the Middle East.

I personally find Obama very endearing, and I’d like to see a culture of hope replace one of fear and blame. Yet, I refuse to continue to vote for the lesser of two evils. We need to demand a certain level of honesty out of our political process and the candidates who supposedly represent us. How can we put our trust into people who are not trustworthy and who routinely tell us lies and propoganda?

Ron Paul was the closest thing to a real person and candidate I’ve seen in a long while. I was willing to vote for him despite the fact I disagreed with some of his policies, because he seemed honest and caring. Such a person seems willing to acknowledge and correct their mistakes and in the end may be able to do the right thing. Those who lie for a living never have sufficient reason to do the right thing or to change their course of action. All they have to do is find the right words to gain our support or foster our dependence on them.

Here are a couple of my songs dealing with this topic. I hope you enjoy them.

Political Guys (lyrics/reveries)

Mob Rule (lyrics/reveries)

Click on song to listen, click on lyrics to read. Political Guys is from the Opportunity Lost CD, and Mob Rule is from Edge of Eden. Got to Music tab to hear more.

Jim Guido