Is The Nightmare Over Yet?
By Timothy V. Gatto
06 November,
2008
Countercurrents.org
Last night, when President-Elect Obama gave his speech in Chicago, I was duly impressed. However, the next U.S. President was a bit off on the true facts about his rise in the Democratic Party and his eventual nomination. He talked about two years ago, when he had no sponsors or endorsements, that the way ahead seemed like an impossible dream. I know this sounds very uplifting, that Barack Obama could come out of nowhere, defeat the Clinton political machine and then the Republican vote-tampering syndicate and end up getting elected to the Oval Office. This truly sounds like a dream come true, but it really didn’t happen that way, and I’d like to explain why. I’m not writing this to defame the President-Elect, but to educate the American people on the political process in this country.
I have been following this election from the start. I knew that Barack Obama would be the Democratic nominee before the first vote was cast in the Democratic Primaries. How could I possibly have figured that out? I did it by simply looking at corporate contributions from The Center for Responsive Politics and their website at opensecrets.org. It didn’t take a political genius to figure out the fix was in. I only had to look at where Goldman-Sachs and other investment bankers were donating too. For the first time in 12 years, the bankers and other key donators to political parties were betting on a Democrat.
So where does that leave us? It simply means that by the time most Americans realized who the prime movers and shakers were out there, the stage was already set. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I believe that most Americans have become keenly aware of what drives corporate politics in this country, and where that leaves the average citizen. President-Elect Obama ran a brilliant campaign and managed to get grassroots support for his candidacy. He has inspired many young people to care about the direction of this country, and he has proven that change is still possible in, and those things alone are enough to command respect. This new President will not owe anyone anything, but the naming of Rahm Emanuel as the President’s Chief of Staff shows how ingrained Obama is in the Democratic Party. I wonder when Kucinich and Gravel were tossed out of the debates, is this the reward? I’d like to know if this was the DNC working behind the lines. I guess we will never know.
One message we must bring to the new administration is that the American People won’t forget about the crimes and policies that Bush and the neo-cons put forth that changed the direction and the conscience of this nation. The draconian laws such as The Military Commissions Act of 2006, The FISA Law, The Patriot Act and many Presidential Executive Orders and signing statements that enabled Bush and Cheney to operate outside the boundaries of American and International Law must be investigated. The reason for this is a moral one. The facts are that if we the people do not hold the Bush Administration accountable for the things they did during their term, we are also responsible.
Over 1.2 Million Iraqi’s died because of Bush’s hubris and his lies. Over 4,000 American servicemen and women in Iraq lost their lives on a lie. There is just so much that we as citizens should stand for. Ignoring the violation of laws both American and International is tantamount to becoming co-conspirators or accomplices of those that knowingly broke those laws. I urge people in this country not to let Bush and his minions off the hook. I can understand that most people just want to go back to a semblance of normality (whatever that is). The law is the law and we cannot decide to selectivity prosecute only those that followed orders. To stop a renegade administration from ever doing what the Bush Administration has done since 2001 is reason enough to prosecute.
I wish Barack Obama the best and I hope he is more liberal than he let on in the presidential race. I support him 100% and hope that we will come together as a people and understand that we must keep one eye open in the future. What happened over the last eight years should never happen again. I pray that January 20th of next year will mean the end of this eight year nightmare of giving up our liberty for temporary security.
