“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.”—Frantz Fanon
“Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.”—Lucy Parsons
The once mesmerizing rhetoric and the sickly blood curdling smile of Barack Obama, in concert with his Democrat and Republican Party systemic cohorts, has begun to give way to the reality of a growing awareness on the part of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in this nation and around the world.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the “hope and change” rhetoric of the recent past was, and remains, nothing more than a callous and cynical ruse intended to perpetually pimp, deny and manipulate the legitimate needs and human rights of everyday people. It is a ruse meant to perpetuate a corrupt corporate/military political system that is enshrined in abject hypocrisy. [Reference The Hypocrisy of ‘America’s’ Democracy]
The corporate-stream media of disinformation, omission & distraction
Perhaps the most insidious reason that the United States corporate-government is able to engage in perpetual wars abroad, economic austerity against everyday people at home, and constant subterfuge internally and externally, etc., with virtual impunity is, thanks in no small measure, to a so-called ‘news’ and information media that is ‘sponsored’ and owned by the relatively tiny corporate elite of this nation. It is in fact a corporate-stream media of disinformation, omission, and distraction; and its role is to provide a smoke screen of political cover for the ongoing dastardly policies and actions of the corporate Democrat and Republican parties.
This is why the people of this nation have been held hostage for so long to the “lesser of the evils” myth especially as it pertains to the Democrat and Republican parties (i.e., the single party of corporate Republicrats). The lesser of the evils myth is akin to claiming that one corpse is somehow less dead than another corpse. Both corpses are equally dead whether brought about by the relatively slow death of strangulation or the instant death of a firing squad. Yet, the U.S. corporate-stream media has propagated and ingrained this absurd lesserof the evils myth into the psyches of an inordinate amount of people in this nation.
This is also why the people of this nation and other parts of the world find themselves as the unending cannon fodder in perpetual de facto corporate-driven wars. The corporate-stream media, in service to the economically avaricious corporate elite, engage in a barrage of disinformation rife with important omissions in order to provide political cover for their corporate masters, while ensuring that everyday people are yet again hoodwinked and manipulated into submission.
The corporate-stream media also repeatedly engages in the time-tested tactic of distraction.
When observing the machinations of the corporate Democrats and Republicans (and their many operatives) we must view them as wily magicians whose statements and actions are not what they might seem or appear to be. Thus, the objective of the corporate-stream media is to make sure that everyday people are focused on the object that these euphemistic magicians are holding—rather than on what both of their hands are doing. In other words, it is what these scandalous corporate politicos have done and are actually doing, that is of the utmost importance—not what they say. Indeed, what they say is the distraction, and this is where the insidious role of the corporate-stream media is extremely significant.
The corporate-stream media, apart from distracting everyday people with crass gossip,etc., is busily attempting to keep everyday people’s attention focused upon systemically manufactured non-issues which have little or nothing whatsoever to do with the fundamental/structural inequities and the crucialbehind-the-sceneactions in which these systemic misleaders are actually engaging. This is why the corporate/military Obama regime (and its predecessor GW Bush regime) were not and are not politically transparent. It has nothing to do with so-called ‘national security,’ and everything to do with subterfuge, manipulation, corporate blood sucking, and systemic political bankruptcy. Furthermore, this is why back in the year 2008, it was clear to some, for example, that an Obama presidency would be more of the same—only worse. [Reference: An Obama Presidency More of the Same-Only Worse]
The responsibility of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, & Yellow people
Perpetual wars abroad and economic, social, and political inequities at home will only be reversed when everyday people in this nation become fed-up with the litany of regurgitated and rebranded political rhetoric and its concomitant subterfuge. The Barack Obama regime and its cohorts of both the corporate Democrat and Republican parties have neither the political will or the ability to bring about genuine systemic change and usher in a new era, devoid of corporate hegemony and unending wars. Genuine systemic change would fly in the face of the vested interests of the systemic misleaders of this nation, irrespective of their color or gender. Only we, just plain everyday people, can and will bring about this urgently needed change.
Even as these words are being written, there are no doubt moves afoot by our political misleaders and their allies to manufacture an excuse to militarily attack the sovereign nation of Iran, and thereby yet again distract everyday people and heap even more misery upon the peoples of this nation and throughout this planet of Mother Earth. So-called low level (i.e., under the political radar) training and militarization in Africa is occurring thanks to ongoing U.S. actions (in conjunction with certain complicitous despots) to militarize and further economically blood suck and destabilize the African continent via what is known as AFRICOM, all in the misapplied name of ‘security.’ The reality is of course that the only ones who benefit from wars are the corporate elite manufacturers of small arms, bombs, tanks, missiles, and war planes, etc. It has nothing to do with patriotism or ‘security’ for the many—and everything to do with economic blood sucking for the bloated few. It is no coincidence that among the biggest monetary contributors to the previous presidential campaign of U.S. president Barack Obama were none other than the giant weapons/fighter-aircraft corporation LOCKHEED, and the blood sucking shadow-government corporation known as Goldman-Sachs. This is NOT democracy. This is corporate hegemony—de facto corporate plutocracy! And BOTH the Democratic and Republican parties [i.e. the Republicrats] are inextricably wedded to the corporate trough!
Nothing systemically has changed as of yet other than an important beginning of a re-awakening of consciousness on the part of everyday people in this nation and around the world. Make no mistake about this: The corporate-government of the United States is engaged in every conceivable action, from brutality, to co-optation, to COINTELPRO-type activities to discredit and/or neutralize individuals and organizations who are a part of or support the current OCCUPY MOVEMENT and similar consciousness-raising efforts on behalf of everyday people in this nation and abroad. Nevertheless, the time for real systemic change is upon humankind, and our task is to nurture and support the struggle by, for, and of everyday women and men for a better, more just and sane tomorrow.
The true hope of we everyday people is not the insipid litany of rhetorical dope fed to us by the Republicrats and their corporate-stream media. Our hope must be fashioned from within we ourselves: collectively organizing, agitating, and educating ourselves and each other. This is a long, hard, and protracted struggle full of challenges of all kinds. At stake is the destiny of humankind itself! We must “seize the time” and “fulfill our mission” on behalf of humanity and Mother Earth herself!
Onward, then, my sisters and brothers! Onward!
Intrepid Report Associate Editor Larry Pinkney is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil / political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil / Lehrer News Hour. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, the San Francisco BayView newspaper, the Black Commentator,Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), and Mayihlome News (Azania/South Africa). For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book.)
RSS
Obama brand ‘hope’: A litany of rhetorical dope
Posted on November 30, 2011 by Larry Pinkney
The once mesmerizing rhetoric and the sickly blood curdling smile of Barack Obama, in concert with his Democrat and Republican Party systemic cohorts, has begun to give way to the reality of a growing awareness on the part of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, and Yellow people in this nation and around the world.
It is becoming increasingly obvious that the “hope and change” rhetoric of the recent past was, and remains, nothing more than a callous and cynical ruse intended to perpetually pimp, deny and manipulate the legitimate needs and human rights of everyday people. It is a ruse meant to perpetuate a corrupt corporate/military political system that is enshrined in abject hypocrisy. [Reference The Hypocrisy of ‘America’s’ Democracy]
The corporate-stream media of disinformation, omission & distraction
Perhaps the most insidious reason that the United States corporate-government is able to engage in perpetual wars abroad, economic austerity against everyday people at home, and constant subterfuge internally and externally, etc., with virtual impunity is, thanks in no small measure, to a so-called ‘news’ and information media that is ‘sponsored’ and owned by the relatively tiny corporate elite of this nation. It is in fact a corporate-stream media of disinformation, omission, and distraction; and its role is to provide a smoke screen of political cover for the ongoing dastardly policies and actions of the corporate Democrat and Republican parties.
This is why the people of this nation have been held hostage for so long to the “lesser of the evils” myth especially as it pertains to the Democrat and Republican parties (i.e., the single party of corporate Republicrats). The lesser of the evils myth is akin to claiming that one corpse is somehow less dead than another corpse. Both corpses are equally dead whether brought about by the relatively slow death of strangulation or the instant death of a firing squad. Yet, the U.S. corporate-stream media has propagated and ingrained this absurd lesser of the evils myth into the psyches of an inordinate amount of people in this nation.
This is also why the people of this nation and other parts of the world find themselves as the unending cannon fodder in perpetual de facto corporate-driven wars. The corporate-stream media, in service to the economically avaricious corporate elite, engage in a barrage of disinformation rife with important omissions in order to provide political cover for their corporate masters, while ensuring that everyday people are yet again hoodwinked and manipulated into submission.
The corporate-stream media also repeatedly engages in the time-tested tactic of distraction.
When observing the machinations of the corporate Democrats and Republicans (and their many operatives) we must view them as wily magicians whose statements and actions are not what they might seem or appear to be. Thus, the objective of the corporate-stream media is to make sure that everyday people are focused on the object that these euphemistic magicians are holding—rather than on what both of their hands are doing. In other words, it is what these scandalous corporate politicos have done and are actually doing, that is of the utmost importance—not what they say. Indeed, what they say is the distraction, and this is where the insidious role of the corporate-stream media is extremely significant.
The corporate-stream media, apart from distracting everyday people with crass gossip, etc., is busily attempting to keep everyday people’s attention focused upon systemically manufactured non-issues which have little or nothing whatsoever to do with the fundamental/structural inequities and the crucial behind-the-scene actions in which these systemic misleaders are actually engaging. This is why the corporate/military Obama regime (and its predecessor GW Bush regime) were not and are not politically transparent. It has nothing to do with so-called ‘national security,’ and everything to do with subterfuge, manipulation, corporate blood sucking, and systemic political bankruptcy. Furthermore, this is why back in the year 2008, it was clear to some, for example, that an Obama presidency would be more of the same—only worse. [Reference: An Obama Presidency More of the Same-Only Worse]
The responsibility of everyday Black, White, Brown, Red, & Yellow people
Perpetual wars abroad and economic, social, and political inequities at home will only be reversed when everyday people in this nation become fed-up with the litany of regurgitated and rebranded political rhetoric and its concomitant subterfuge. The Barack Obama regime and its cohorts of both the corporate Democrat and Republican parties have neither the political will or the ability to bring about genuine systemic change and usher in a new era, devoid of corporate hegemony and unending wars. Genuine systemic change would fly in the face of the vested interests of the systemic misleaders of this nation, irrespective of their color or gender. Only we, just plain everyday people, can and will bring about this urgently needed change.
Even as these words are being written, there are no doubt moves afoot by our political misleaders and their allies to manufacture an excuse to militarily attack the sovereign nation of Iran, and thereby yet again distract everyday people and heap even more misery upon the peoples of this nation and throughout this planet of Mother Earth. So-called low level (i.e., under the political radar) training and militarization in Africa is occurring thanks to ongoing U.S. actions (in conjunction with certain complicitous despots) to militarize and further economically blood suck and destabilize the African continent via what is known as AFRICOM, all in the misapplied name of ‘security.’ The reality is of course that the only ones who benefit from wars are the corporate elite manufacturers of small arms, bombs, tanks, missiles, and war planes, etc. It has nothing to do with patriotism or ‘security’ for the many—and everything to do with economic blood sucking for the bloated few. It is no coincidence that among the biggest monetary contributors to the previous presidential campaign of U.S. president Barack Obama were none other than the giant weapons/fighter-aircraft corporation LOCKHEED, and the blood sucking shadow-government corporation known as Goldman-Sachs. This is NOT democracy. This is corporate hegemony—de facto corporate plutocracy! And BOTH the Democratic and Republican parties [i.e. the Republicrats] are inextricably wedded to the corporate trough!
Nothing systemically has changed as of yet other than an important beginning of a re-awakening of consciousness on the part of everyday people in this nation and around the world. Make no mistake about this: The corporate-government of the United States is engaged in every conceivable action, from brutality, to co-optation, to COINTELPRO-type activities to discredit and/or neutralize individuals and organizations who are a part of or support the current OCCUPY MOVEMENT and similar consciousness-raising efforts on behalf of everyday people in this nation and abroad. Nevertheless, the time for real systemic change is upon humankind, and our task is to nurture and support the struggle by, for, and of everyday women and men for a better, more just and sane tomorrow.
The true hope of we everyday people is not the insipid litany of rhetorical dope fed to us by the Republicrats and their corporate-stream media. Our hope must be fashioned from within we ourselves: collectively organizing, agitating, and educating ourselves and each other. This is a long, hard, and protracted struggle full of challenges of all kinds. At stake is the destiny of humankind itself! We must “seize the time” and “fulfill our mission” on behalf of humanity and Mother Earth herself!
Onward, then, my sisters and brothers! Onward!
Intrepid Report Associate Editor Larry Pinkney is a veteran of the Black Panther Party, the former Minister of Interior of the Republic of New Africa, a former political prisoner and the only American to have successfully self-authored his civil / political rights case to the United Nations under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In connection with his political organizing activities, Pinkney was interviewed in 1988 on the nationally televised PBS News Hour, formerly known as The MacNeil / Lehrer News Hour. Pinkney is a former university instructor of political science and international relations, and his writings have been published in various places, including The Boston Globe, the San Francisco BayView newspaper, the Black Commentator, Global Research (Canada), LINKE ZEITUNG (Germany), and Mayihlome News (Azania/South Africa). For more about Larry Pinkney see the book, Saying No to Power: Autobiography of a 20th Century Activist and Thinker, by William Mandel [Introduction by Howard Zinn]. (Click here to read excerpts from the book.)