Obama: The Parallax View

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Obama: The Parallax View

At Salon, an intriguing catalog of urban legends that have spread regarding the new president *since* his inauguration. Most are Fox news crazy riffs on actual discussions of potential policy, cathode ray incantations of an alternate reality even scarier than the ones we are currently enduring. Some are Alex Jones-style conspiratorial extrapolations, the political equivalent of outsider art. And then there are the totally unhinged Satanic visions. Some of the better ones:

Myth: Barack Obama is the Antichrist.

Who's spreading it: Get in line. If you have an idea for a "Barack Obama is the Antichrist" Web site, the URL is probably already taken (www.barackobamantichrist.blogspot.com; www.obamaantichrist.blogspot.com; www.beastobama.com). It's also hard to blame any particular individual for preaching the bad news about Barack Obama being the Antichrist when a Google search for "Barack Obama is the antichrist" gets you nearly 800,000 hits and just searching for "Barack Obama" and "Antichrist" together gets you 2.2 million.

What they believe: That, um, the president is Satan. Or Satan's son. Or maybe he's just the warm-up act for Satan. At the very least, he likes the devil.

The evidence? Why, Nostradamus predicted his coming. Obama bears traits resembling the Antichrist, according to former "Saturday Night Live" cast member and current Christian wactress Victoria Jackson. He sends subliminal messages to his minions and to his master, Satan. Also, Jesus' biblical prediction of the coming of the Antichrist describes him as coming as "lightning from heaven"; that translates to "baraq o bama" in Hebrew. And if Obama were not the Beast foretold in Revelation, why would the nickname for his presidential limo be -- the Beast? And, why, on the day after his election, was the winning number in the Illinois lottery 6-6-6?

What's real: The winning number in the Illinois Evening Pick 3 Lottery on Nov. 5, 2008, was 6-6-6. And his armored-plated 2009 Caddy is nicknamed the Beast. But Obama is probably not the Angel of the Bottomless Pit, the First Horseman, or the Seed of Satan. If he is, well, then we're wrong about a whole lot of other things too.

Myth: Obama is a fascist.

Who's been spreading it: Glenn Beck, but especially Jonah Goldberg. His revisionist history book, "Liberal Fascism," re-shelves European fascists as inveterate leftists and insinuates that vegetarian, organic-eating Hitler was some kind of proto-hippie.

What they believe: So you think Obama is cool? Hold on there, liberal mushhead, Mussolini was cool too. He had the worshipful crowds, the admiring world leaders, the good public transit -- the whole nine yards. Hence the insistence, in certain quarters of the right, that we keep a close eye on hipper-than-thou President Obama for hints of fascist instincts. It's the surreal, looking-glass version of "Obama is a socialist." "We've so overused the word 'socialism,'" says GOP operative Saul Anuzis. "Fascism -- everybody still thinks that's a bad thing." The government is bossing around corporations, the president is the subject of a cult of personality, and there's a bundle of rods pictured on the back of the dime called the fasces in Latin. It's all evidence that our first black president is a brownshirt. "People are once again feeling oppressed by an out of control state," wails Glenn Beck. "Like it or not, fascism is on the rise." Of the quasi-nationalization of GM, pundit Goldberg said ominously to Beck, "I'm not calling Barack Obama a Hitler and I'm not calling him Nazi and all the rest. But, you know, in fascism, we saw the people's car. We call it the Volkswagen."

What is real: Bush-era torture, surveillance and aggressive warfare do not meet the standard for fascism, but bailing out a bankrupt car company apparently does. If this is the road to fascism, the American people aren't feeling oppressed -- they're riding shotgun. Also, the fasces have been on the dime -- as well as on all the rest of our symbols -- since before the term "fascism" came into English.

Myth: Obama has created his own version of the Hitler Youth.

Who's spreading it: Radio host Alex Jones; various hard-core right-wing bloggers

What they believe: Again with Hitler! Even by the rather baroque standards of the Obama conspiracy theorists, this one's a tad wacky. It stems from a bill that Congress recently passed and Obama signed into law as the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act. The law allegedly contains "disturbing" language forcing young people into mandatory national service. Ratcheting up the fear, some conservatives are calling it "coercive servitude" and "statist indocrination." "At best, this reprise of Hitler Youth will nationalize charitable work, using slave labor to help the State to further marginalize Christianity, which is one of the few remaining obstacles to totalitarianism," Right Wing News seethed. "At worse, this and Obama's Serve America Act are part of his stated plan to create a race-based, Gestapo-style 'Civilian National Security Force' as large and well-funded as the military." Evidently, Obama wants to conscript 1 million young people into "youth brigades," and they'd be barred from attending church services while they were enlisted. "This has serious Nazi Germany overtones to it." In a nice twist, some bloggers are calling the alleged brigade "Obama Ujana" -- using the Swahili word for "youth."

What is real: Don't start goose-stepping yet. The legislation doesn't involve conscription, Obama Youth or anything else of the sort. It expands AmeriCorps and other existing volunteer programs, devoting $6 billion over five years to creating 175,000 new service jobs and creating new volunteer corps to deal with energy, education and healthcare. It does set up a commission to investigate whether mandatory national service would make sense for America down the line, but chances are its findings -- whatever they are -- won't exactly set the political world on fire. There's no ban on attending church services, no racial component at all, and no reason to be alarmed. Unless you're a Republican who looks at exit polls showing two-thirds of voters under 30 supported Obama.

I hadn't previously considered the apparent fact that Fox News is broadcasting large quantities of science fiction. Real-time extrapolative alternate history, tabloid Orwellians creating an even scarier variation on reality.

[via No Fear of the Future]

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barack obama

15 apr | The fanatic right-wing, after taking a few days off to catch their breath, is back again with vengeance. Name anything that President Obama is doing, and this broken wing will try to slap it down, unmindful that more than two-thirds of Americans support the President, with his popularity rising each week, according to several independent polls. . . read more

Barack The Magic Negro

2 jan | Sung to the tune of "Puff the Magic Dragon", it references the magical negro, a stock character in fiction who commonly helps the white protagonist to get out of trouble. The song builds upon David Ehrenstein's assertion in the Los Angeles Times that Barack Obama would serve as a "magical negro" to assuage white guilt. The song's lyrics explicitly refer to this:

"Yeah, the guy from the L.A. paper

Said he makes guilty whites feel good

They'll vote for him, and not for me

‘Cause he's not from the hood.

In the song, the singer impersonates activist Al Sharpton by using a megaphone while singing the song. . . read more

Union Contracts Won't be Honored, But Wall Street Contracts Will

30 mar | Auto industry workers wages will be lowered and the future of their retirement funds is in question, even as bailed out Wall Street lenders are assured that they will keep theirs. . . read more

Letters from America

6 nov | Letters from America . . read more

Hollywood Obama

23 jan | Hollywood Obama . . read more

Obama At The Pyramids - From Terry D McGee

10 jun | President Obama has admitted that America was part of the illegal and violent overthrow of the democratically elected government of Iran in 1953 (with Britain). Never before has an American president admitted this publicly. It was in the first of Barack’s speeches to focus solely on America’s relationship with the Islamic & Jewish worlds. The speech, essentially the Obama Middle-East Doctrine, certainly changes the old dynamic of the last 28 years. . . read more

Obama: Surprised, Troubled, Enchanted & Humbled

4 may | President Obama needs a pen when asked about his most Surprised, Troubled, Enchanted & Humbled moments since becoming President . . read more

Hold Your Applause - from Chris Hedges

11 jun | Did they play Barack Obama's speech to the Muslim world in the prison corridors of Abu Ghraib, Bagram air base, Guantanamo or the dozens of secret sites where we hold thousands of Muslims around the world? Did it echo off the walls of the crowded morgues filled with the mutilated bodies of the Muslim dead in Baghdad or Kabul? Was it broadcast from the tops of minarets in the villages and towns decimated by U.S. iron fragmentation bombs? Was it heard in the squalid refugee camps of Gaza, where 1.5 million Palestinians live in the world's largest ghetto?

What do words of peace and cooperation mean from us when we torture--yes, we still torture--only Muslims? What do these words mean when we sanction Israel's brutal air assaults on Lebanon and Gaza, assaults that demolished thousands of homes and left hundreds dead and injured? How does it look for Obama to call for democracy and human rights from Egypt, where we lavishly fund and support the despotic regime of Hosni Mubarak, one of the longest-reigning dictators in the Middle East?

We may thrill to Obama's rhetoric, but very few of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world are as deluded. They grasp that nothing so far has changed for Muslims in the Middle East under the Obama administration. The wars of occupation go on or have been expanded. Israel continues to flout international law, gobbling up more Palestinian land and carrying out egregious war crimes in Gaza. Calcified, repressive regimes in countries such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia are feted in Washington as allies.

The speech at Cairo University, which usually has trucks filled with riot police outside the university gates and a heavy security presence on campus to control the student body, is an example of the facade. Student political groups, as everyone who joined in the standing ovation for the president knew, are prohibited. Faculty deans are chosen by the administration, rather than elected by professors, "as a way to combat Islamist influence on campus," according to the U.S. State Department's latest human rights report. And, as The Washington Post pointed out, students who use the Internet "as an outlet for their political or social views are on notice: One Cairo University student blogger was jailed for two months last summer for "public agitation," and another was kicked out of university housing for criticizing the government."

The expanding imperial projects and tightening screws of repression lurch forward under Obama. We are not trying to end terror or promote democracy. We are ensuring that our corporate state has a steady supply of the cheap oil to which it is addicted. And the scarcer oil becomes, the more aggressive we become. This is the game playing out in the Muslim world.

The Bush White House openly tortured. The Obama White House tortures and pretends not to. Obama may have banned waterboarding, but as Luke Mitchell points out in next month's issue of Harper's magazine, torture, including isolation, sleep and sensory deprivation and force-feeding, continues to be used to break detainees. The president has promised to close Guantanamo, where only 1 percent of the prisoners held offshore by the United States are kept. And the Obama administration has sought to obscure the fate and condition of thousands of Muslims held in black holes around the globe. As Mitchell notes, the Obama White House "has sought to prevent detainees at Bagram prison in Afghanistan from gaining access to courts where they may reveal the circumstances of their imprisonment. It has sought to continue the practice of rendering prisoners to unknown and unknowable locations outside the United States, and sought to keep secret many (though not all) of the records regarding our treatment of those detainees."

Muslim rage is stoked because we station tens of thousands of American troops on Muslim soil, occupy two Muslim nations, make possible the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine, support repressive Arab regimes and torture thousands of Muslims in offshore penal colonies where prisoners are stripped of their rights. We now have 22 times as many military personnel in the Muslim world as were deployed during the crusades in the 12th century. The rage comes because we have constructed massive military bases, some the size of small cities, in Iraq, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Kuwait, and established basing rights in the Gulf states of Bahrain, Qatar, Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The rage comes because we have expanded our military empire into neighboring Uzbekistan, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It comes because we station troops and special forces in Egypt, Algeria and Yemen. And this vast network of bases and military outposts looks suspiciously permanent.

The Muslim world fears, correctly, that we intend to dominate Middle East oil supplies and any Caspian Sea oil infrastructure. And it is interested not in our protestations of good will but in the elemental right of justice and freedom from foreign occupation. We would react, should the situation be reversed, no differently.

The brutal reality of expanding foreign occupation and harsher and harsher forms of control are the tinder of Islamic fundamentalism, insurgences and terrorism. We can blame the violence on a clash of civilizations. We can naively tell ourselves we are envied for our freedoms. We can point to the Koran. But these are fantasies that divert us from facing the central dispute between us and the Muslim world, from facing our own responsibility for the virus of chaos and violence spreading throughout the Middle East. We can have peace when we shut down our bases, stay the hand of the Israelis to create a Palestinian state, and go home, or we can have long, costly and ultimately futile regional war. We cannot have both.

Obama, whose embrace of American imperialism is as naive and destructive as that of George W. Bush, is the newest brand used to peddle the poison of permanent war. We may not see it. But those who bury the dead do. . . read more

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9 Years to Late- by Michael Stripe

It always seemed anachronistic to me (but I suppose so does most of America) buy why had the people who had helped with the clean-up after 9/11 not get compensated for their health problems?

Now they have, after 9 years.

Now, after hundreds of deaths and lives shattered from respiratory illnesses these people are finally getting their dues.

Makes me wonder though, was this some unholy example of a government's absolute dedication to the free-market and avoiding universal health-care?

Will we hear never again for Nigeria?-by Sean Maguire

After a genocide or massacre there's a simple refrain that always rings out from the international community:

"Never Again"

It's a powerful statement, and one that's meant to show that we as a world are united for good.

Unfortunately, a lot of the reason why we say "never again" is because the tragedy that has just occurred could have been stopped.

The Holocaust, the Khmer Rouge massacres, Darfur, Srebrenica, Rwanda, the Congo are all examples of this, and prove the saying that "all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing".

So, in the days to come, as we learn more of the Nigerian Massacre it would be nice to hear that this will never happen again; but in a country that few know about (apart from its oil) and a continent that remains in darkness- don't expect that never will last forever.

Defending the right to exploit- by Sean Maguire

As "revelations" emerge that the Defence Department has been wasting billions, I ask you, is anybody surprised?

As we are constantly told in international relations, security is the central concern of all governments. Without it, society can't function.

So in turn, governments, especially American governments, throw billions into blackhole budgets in an attempt to keep us safe, or feeling safe.

And just to make it all the sweeter, secrecy is essential- meaning transparency is of course impossible.

So just like the story that British Ministers have been getting greedy with their entitlements, the only person to blame for this is yourself.

Because, as long as we're happy blindly throwing power, money and guns to shady people we shouldn't be surprised that they use them for their own benefits.

Abbott leaves mothers in the cold- by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

Once again Tony Abbott has come out of the political woodwork with a new idea that:

Is stupid and
Goes against his previous promises as a leader.

Tony Abbott is trying to relight the dwindling flame of his woman support by proposing a six month paid maternity leave, which in itself is a fantastic idea.

The problem is the bill will be foot by a fairly large tax of 1.7% on all middle to large businesses that earn in excess of $5mil a year.

Apart from the fact that Abbott promised there would be no new taxes if he were to become leader, most of these large multimillion-dollar businesses already have paid parental leave schemes for their employees in place and by this new tax would be put out millions of dollars more to pay for everyone else.

Interestingly, Australia is one of the only Western countries that doesn't have a governmental parental leave programme already in place, which reflects poorly on us as a progressive nation.

Perhaps we should take a leaf out of Norway's book - where each Norwegian is taxed 0.01% and is rewarded with 46 weeks off at 100% of their wage or 56 at 80%, and the father MUST take at least 10 weeks off.

Why didn't Australia get the memo?

A Day to Think Again- by Sean Maguire

The Iraq War was probably the most divisive and tragic event of the last decade, causing me, and millions like me, to stand in steadfast opposition to any invasion or occupation.

Today might be a day to stand-up and humbly say that maybe we were wrong.

Today we see that a country that was never meant to get itself back on track has just held its second free election- with record numbers braving threats of violence to vote.

This was never meant to happen.

The country was meant to descend into sectarian chaos, become a second Vietnam, make the US reticent to use force, show us that neoconservatism doesn't work and prove that we can't impose our values on other ideologies.

Went to script for a while.

Saying that though, the question that can never be answered remains; were the deaths of hundreds of thousands worth this new security, safety and prosperity?

La Campana: The Best Club in Sydney?- by Sean Maguire

As another week begins and another weekend slips into the shadowy world of drunken memory, we can all be assured that around the world millions of people are drinking coffee and reading the newspaper- reflecting on the 48 hours that were.

Some of us will be nursing our bruised egos, others will be bragging about who they've pulled and others still will be looking forward with excitement to next weekend- hoping to make a repeat performance of a previous success.

For me that excitement comes from 'La Campana', a Spanish Club in Sydney that is sweaty, viceral, undulating and incredibly enigmatic.

Why for instance does a self-styled Latin loving Spanish restaurant play head-thumping experimental dance, trance and techno music?

And why does a place that has some of most kitsch 70's decor, the worst lighting, and hottest temperature this far north of hell attract some of the coolest local DJs and bands?

God Knows.

All I know as Managing Editor of HPD, Jack Freeman, exclaimed to me on Saturday- this is the best club, with the best atmosphere playing the best and most interesting music in Sydney.

Jesus, this Monday I definitely have Friday on my mind.

You say you want a Revolution?- by Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

Well, you know we all want to change the world.

You tell me that’s it’s evolution,

Well can I do it at an hourly rate?

You say you got a real solution,

Is that having mummy and daddy foot the bill?

You ask me for a contribution,

and I’ll ask you to pay my superannuation.

But when you want money for minds that hate?

All I can tell you brother is welcome to the 21st Century.

You say you’ll change the Constitution,

Well good luck, university isn’t free anymore.

You tell me it’s the institution, Well you know, none of us can change a thing.

Don’t you know it’s gonna be alright, At least if they don’t run out of coffee, alright,

As long as we stay disillusioned, alright,

And don’t give up our day jobs, alright.

Alright. Alright? . . read more

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Why has homepage started running so many nameless 100 word eds? Names are good for intellectual continuity, honesty and non-hypocrisy. - Terry McGee

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Re: Bale de Rua

We thought the Bale de Rua was aweful. Choreography was terrible - set design, music and costumes were lacklustre. The dancers however were very athletic and graceful. - Jules

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Re: In Praise of Mediocrity

I just wonder who decides if what ever you chose to do in life, is mediocre or not. Sounds like with standards like yours, this article with its poor structure and soap box appeal may also be considered by many as, in-fact, mediocre. - Khedra

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Re: The Assassins of Langley

Yes, Mr. Neville. Odious, heinous assassins sold body and soul to Luciferian entities who pull the strings (the last of them, I want to believe) from the shadows. Philip Aggeee and John Stockwell portrayed them quite well. They are NOT heroes, nor are the gangbangers of East Los Angeles who spray grafitti in Iraq, where they most certainly train for urban warfare on our streets. Good riddance to them all!

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Re: Hairy Legs: A Study of Female Art, Feminism and Femininity

Looking forward to more of her articles. Hope she does plenty of Art Theory at SCA. Barbara Kruger and Judy Chicago are certainly powerful artists and it would be interesting to see what they are doing now.

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A hero's welcome for the famous Iraqi shoe thrower

Terrorist! Please do your research first before writing such dangerous things, we was insulting Bush by throwing the shoe as he was disgraced with him, not trying to topple the largest super power in the world by throwing a shoe. I cant believe you have put those words up. Ashamed

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Re: How to Report the News

Having worked as a TV news reporter I found Charlie's piece very amusing - some of us have long believed reporting like this is a rubbish way to do things! But even if a journalist wants to tell stories in a more authentic and engaging way, the constraints of the so-called "house style" in many news organisations make it difficult to achieve. What's needed is a massive culture shift and a complete re-think of what we understand quality broadcast news reporting is. And guess what? That's exactly what's happening, though you'd never believe it from what we're still mostly seeing on TV. Anyway, the new digital technologies, and shake up of "old school/old mainstream" journalism means new platforms and styles of "news" storytelling can now emerge. Let's hope fresh and appropriate ways of funding appear too, so we can kill off this dreadful formulaic reporting and delivery, and clear the way for more natural and interesting ways to treat stories and content.

Much love, Ian Aspin.
www.twitter.com/ianaspin

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Re: Pushing 60 With Pot

You're pushing 60, well I'm pushing 70 and still having to scrounge around for my pot. It's tragic that when I first came to Australia it was $30 an ounce, and now I have to pay nearly $350 - Peter

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Re: Textbook publishers dream of the tablet

Why can't this just be a program for PC and Windows? Why do they have to make us buy more hardware that's just going to disappoint? - Tyler J. Wilson

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Re: Killing Indian Students: Australia's Favourite New Sport!- by Sean Maguire

How about the indian guy who slashed his wife's throat, is still australia to blame for?..may be , for accenpting them to move over!I am an immigrant myself but I love this country, there is no perfect place on Earth but australia is one of the best! - Michael

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Re: Killing Indian Students: Australia's Favourite New Sport!- by Sean Maguire

This entire fiasco is an incredible over reaction. Australia is an easy target. Why? because we are honest, transperant and we talk about our failings. Is there aggression and iolence in Australia? Sure, like any country. But we face it head on and we work to eliminate it. What about the stories of the 100’s of thousands of Indian workers who are treated as slaves in the middle east and nobody says anything? What about the fact that India still has entrenched pedophilia in terms of child brides? What about the crushing poverty embraced by more than 60% of the Indian people while this nation runs around building nuclear warheads? A storm in a teacup, an over reaction, and a diversion from some the really bad issues facing India. What is really happening here is that students are being unnecessarily frightened. meaning they will miss out on what could be the opportunity of their lifetime. - Daryl

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Re: Killing Indian Students: Australia's Favourite New Sport!- by Sean Maguire

I couldn't agree with Sean Maguire's article more on the recent Indian attacks. For all those who like the pretend the attacks are merely based on coincidence, try to imagine how we would react if the boot were on the other foot and an uncharacteristic number of Australia's had been murdered in India. Would you push for a travel ban? Would you be scared for your children in a seemingly hostile environment so many miles away? - Kara Jensen-Mackinnon

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