By Jamilah Hoffman
That’s what Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania said as the 79-year old Pullman car stopped in Philadelphia. Obama’s whistle-stop train tour has been full of words, historical comparisons and over-the-top patriotism. From retracing the tracks that Abraham Lincoln travelled 150 years ago to his own inauguration, to taking the oath of office on Lincoln’s personal bible, and then afterwards, sitting down to enjoy some of Lincoln’s favorite foods; this has been the photo op to top all photo ops. It all seems to be a bit, well, much. But at the same time, there is a real need for the ruling class in this country to rally as many people as they can under their flag. With troops stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan and an economic crisis growing, it’s important for them to not just maintain control of the people, but to have active participants upholding their program.
Obama told the Philadelphia crowd, “It was here that a group of farmers and lawyers, merchants and soldiers, gathered to declare their independence and lay claim to a destiny that they were being denied.”
Obama seems to have left out the slave owners from that group. And the “destiny” that this group was laying claims to include the land that was stolen from the Native Americans. He left out the part about the genocidal actions towards the Native Americans as well.
Obama has also said that, “The American Revolution was — and remains — an ongoing struggle ‘in the minds and hearts of the people’ to live up to our founding creed. Starting now, let’s take up in our own lives the work of perfecting our union.”
Let’s put the 200 some odd years of “perfecting” the union to the side, if our focus begins with ourselves, our union and our nation, then there is little difference between Obama’s words and the John McCain slogan of “Country First,” which not only reeks of fascism, but conditions people to put their own needs ahead of what is needed to really stop the crimes of this government. We need mass, independent political action where people think, not just about themselves, but about what’s in the best interest of humanity.
Obama is a skillful orator and many people find solace in his words of change and unity. But you cannot speak of change if you continue the unjust and immoral wars of your predecessor and we cannot unite with someone who believes that the man who waged those wars is, “a good guy.”
Words matter. They matter indeed.
So do actions.
When are people going to get it through their heads that we do NOT get a new fucking messiah every 4 years?!! Words, words, words, that’s all they are! No action, just words. In fact, what’s worse is that they are lies, lies, lies!!
Obama is a politician, he is in this for the money and to make his fucking corporate and banking friends rich. His speeches are amusing at best only because he speaks english as opposed to Bush’s drunkenese or whatever language he spoke in. Other than that it’s the exact same lies and empty promises we have heard for 200 plus years! US democracy is a joke, it’s broken beyond repair and judging by Obama’s speeches you would think that he knows that. However, he is going to do NOTHING about it! He talked about slavery and how it has been overcome….WRONG! He is a slave to Wall Street, the corporations and Bush/Cheney and company!!!! It’s 4 more years of Bush/Cheney in a different package.
I found the anauguration yesterday disgusting. It was racism, racism, racism and God, God, God. I thought we were over that. So what if he is black, so what if he were blue with pink polka dots? Color and words don’t matter! Actions and only actions matter! Then there was all that emotional bullshit, cameras showing people crying and shit. What the fuck was that? Wake the fuck up! He is not some fucking messiah people!!!! His policies are the same as Bush!!! (People wonder why I hate christians).
Even the occasionally brave and controversial Bono failed to act on conviction and just got caught up in the herd mentality. On a side note, I also thought the second song U2 did was inappropiate. Actually, the whole celebration and even was inappropiate!
I listened and read the entire address Mr. Obama gave. While I know it was full of lies and empty promises, if he even believes half of it and acts on it, we may see that “change”. However, it is also a hard fact that we will not see that “change”, just more of the same with things getting worse and worse to the point that the US will be a dead country by 2010. (That’s also my personal dream to see the US turn into at least a third world country or worse. It is what we deserve).