Obama’s Devolution, Or How Another Revolutionary Became Another Dictator

In a must read piece for Al Jazeera, journalist Paul Rosenberg examines the transition of Obama from a figure of revolutionary hope and change to just another run-of-the-mill politician:

Things did turn out that way in exactly one case: the repeal of the military’s anti-gay “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy. But in virtually every other instance, Obama’s influence has been much more reminiscent of the “practical”, if not paranoid side of Kennedy, who spent a good deal of time and energy trying to restrain the Civil Rights Movement, ever mindful of the negative impact that headlines of racial conflict would have around the world. Still, Kennedy clearly wanted progress on civil rights, both because he believed it was right, and because it was vital for gaining Cold War support in the Global South in the long run. He just wished the struggle was not so messy, even as his flamboyant spirit helped fuel that struggle, almost in spite of himself.

In 2008, at least, it could plausibly be hoped that Obama’s election would unleash a similar dynamic across a wide range of issues, encouraging idealistic pressure from below, even while struggling to contain it. But things have not turned out that way, as Obama has repeatedly undercut, sidelined or opposed the more idealistic enthusiasms of his base with a determined seriousness he rarely, if ever, displays against Republicans.

Perhaps Rosenberg’s most prescient statement was one focused on Israel:

Yet, as Bradley Burston, Senior Editor of Haaretz.com, so simply explained: “There is nearly nothing which more effectively delegitimises Israel – and makes Israel look more like an uncaring blockhead state -than does the siege of Gaza. The siege benefits Hamas in a thousand ways and Israel in none. But there is one thing that does the work of delegitimisation even better: attacking civilians in order to protect the siege.”

These should have been the words of Obama as well, if he actually were the “true friend of Israel” he now robotically proclaims himself to be. After all, we have a saying here in America, “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk”. Israel has no such friends in America today. Certainly not Obama.

Not only is that last little blurb applicable to Obama, but nearly all of Congress today. Whenever foreign policy is discussed and debated, whether it be in the halls of a think tank or in the Reagan national library, the focus is almost always centered around America’s relationship with Israel. And just as often as Israel enters the conversation is there a neocon or self-proclaimed liberal who announces their unwavering support for the small, Jewish country. It is, in fact, robotic to announce support for Israel, because to do so otherwise is political suicide.

The real friends of Israel are those chastising its leaders for engaging in a modern day Holocaust against the Palestinian people. It is the real friends of Israel that are trying to steer Israel away from attacking Iran, which could result in even more regional instability and insecurity. Neither Obama, nor Bush, nor Romney, nor Pawlenty, nor any mainstream political figure is a friend of Israel. They are the exact opposite: enemies pushing for its demise.

9 thoughts on “Obama’s Devolution, Or How Another Revolutionary Became Another Dictator”

  1. "The real friends of Israel are those chastising its leaders for engaging in a modern day Holocaust against the Palestinian people."

    This is a lot like calling every tinhorn dictator "Hitler." Let's leave the trite WWII analogies to pop historians and interventionists.

    1. "The real friends of Israel are those chastising its leaders for engaging in a modern day Holocaust against the Palestinian people."

      I agree with you Matt. The holocaust was a broad hardcore attack on the very lives of Jewish people by the nazis…. What is occurring in Gaza is a more politically correct [softcore] genocide by starvation and deprivation, the picking off of the resisters and leaders…… More like the Warsaw ghetto…. less like an outright rounding up of everyone…. True! But do you really believe that bickering with an overwrought attack on the policy is the place to put your shoulder, or would your effort be better expended arguing with policies of those policies that so closely resemble people doing their worst to, in this case, their captives? I guess it real;ly comes down whether it's O.K. for a disadvantaged group through created from whole cloth legal means, can invade and occupy a country declaring those living there to be under THEIR control in all matters including who owns what and life and death…

  2. Obama was a figure of revolutionary hope only to the delusional. The rest of us knew he was just another pol we just didn't know how bad. What's shocking is what an empty suit he has turned out to be.

  3. Where are the extermination camps? If this is another Holocaust name me one single extermination camp for Palestinians.

    1. Rather than going to the "showers" in order to "get clean," the Palestinians are graced with such luxuries as a total blockade, crumbling infrastructure, and a general lack of access to any healthcare at all. So rather than a quick bullet to the head or a nice little shower with gas, they get to rot and languish. Ahhhh the life of being a Palestinian.

      Let's not forget the Arab-Israeli defined sidewalks, "security areas," etc. Jim Crow, Holocaust, overreach of the government: oh how great it is to be the only "thriving democracy" in the Middle East, run by the Great Democratizers who hail from former Soviet states, retaining with them their Soviet ideals of state worship.

  4. Think of Israel as the 51 state of America and the first one to be run by neo-conservatives who pander to the religious Evangelicals and Zionists.

    Who props up Israel? The MIC, those who believe in the end times, Contractors and the energy industry to name a few. Why? Many reasons, to destabilize the area so that no superpower ever emerges from the area, to make a lot of money and for some to bring about the end times.

    Of course there are many dupes who actually buy into the "this is the Jewish homeland". However, by that standard nobody but Native Americans should be allowed in the Americas and we should all be forced off our land and either sent home to our ancestors countries (if they will take us) or forced on to reservations, deprived of food, water, medicine, housing materials and any real means of defending ourselves. Of course if we do defend ourselves with a counter attack of any kind, we should be labeled terrorists and this will be used as an excuse for an attack at least 100 times worse.

  5. If what the J-ws are doing to the Palestinians is ethnic cleansing, then the appellation “holocaust” is appropriate.

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