I don't have to like Obama's defense-related appointments, but I'm not disappointed by them

[eridani]

Disappointment refers to to thwarted expectaions, and Obama and Clinton agree on just about everything on that subject. They agree

*that imposing an "oil law" on Iraq for the purposes of outright theft is a good idea
*that we should maintain an ongoing presence in Iraq to defend a Vatican-sized embassy built with slave labor even after most troops are withdrawn
*that we can afford to continue funding an American military empire
*that we should be spending even more on the military and increasing its size
*that US military intervention in the rest of the world is just social work done with M-16s, JDAMs and cluster bombs
*that AIPAC actually represents the opinions of American Jews
*that "terrorism" is an actual problem instead of being the symptom of a problem
*that we should continue to attempt to control the diminishing resource of oil by force, even if the spending on that goal undercuts the opposing goal of inventing the next energy economy


http://www.barackobama.com/2007/08/01/the_war_we_need_to_win.php

Just because the President misrepresents our enemies does not mean we do not have them. The terrorists are at war with us. The threat is from violent extremists who are a small minority of the world's 1.3 billion Muslims, but the threat is real. They distort Islam. They kill man, woman and child; Christian and Hindu, Jew and Muslim. They seek to create a repressive caliphate. To defeat this enemy, we must understand who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting for.

It's unfortunate that we are getting this "caliphate" horseshit from someone who is way past smart enough to know better. It's what he had to say to be considered a "serious" candidate, unfortunately. I'm sure he understands that the "caliphate" whackjobs will probably never be able to decide whether it should be a Sunni caliphate or a Shi'ite caliphate, and that ss long as that question remains unanswered, the whole notion is just idiotic.

"Islamofascism" or whatever bullshit term they are applying to it this week, is not the problem; it just one SYMPTOM of the problem. The problem is the alienation and despair resulting from economic polarization (corporate globalization) and intense conflict over resources in an overpopulated and overconsuming world.

If you live in an Islamic country, of course fundie Islam is right there for you. If you live in India, you can join one of any number of Hindu fundie groups that get off on disembowelling pregnant Muslim women and stuffing them full of burning rags. Japan? Try Aum Shinrikyo or one of the crackpot Shinto sects. America? Lots of Christian Taliban groups just waiting for you to get in on all the misogynistic, racist, homophobic fun activities they have to offer, anything from burning abortion clinics to blowing up government buildings with fertilizer bombs. Not Christian? No problem! Plenty of neo-pagan Racial Holy War groups around, and Heaven's Gate cults as well. Not a "joiner"? All you need is a few guns to go shoot up a school all by yourself. Live in a place like South Korea with tough gun control laws? Just take a milk bottle full of of gasoline and light it off in a crowded Seoul subway at rush hour.

I'm sure you see where this is going. It's the alienation, stupid! Overall, there is some bad news and some good news about these random threats of violence that have been around for most of human history. The good news is that only a tiny minority, say less than 0.1% of us, is psychopathic enough to actually follow through with perpetrating serious mayhem on civilian populations. The bad news is that 0.1% of 6 billion is 6 million. Do more cheerleading for "free" trade, corporate dictatorship and US military domination of the rest of the world, and you can expect to see a lot more alienated people breaking loose. Turning ourselves into the most fear-ridden locked-down society in the world will not stop it. The assault on our Constitution and the Bill of Rights has not made us the slightest bit safer. Nor will "defending" our slave-labor built Iraq embassy, or maintaining 700+ military bases around the world.

Still, like I said, I'm not disappointed--it's what I expected from both Obama and Clinton. Reversing course on imperialism is a lot like trying to turn a battleship around with an outboard motor.

Obama and most Dems are so far above the Repubs on domestic issues that this alone is worth all the time I spent on the election. And there is that real world fact that smart imperialism tends to get fewer people killed than the stupid Bush/Cheney model. That will do for a start, and Obama is good at thinking outside the box, so who knows what might happen eventually?

[Tom Rinaldo]

1. We reach a very similiar bottom line for very similiar reasons

Nice OP. Electing Obama is real progress in the real world, even if real change happens really slowly.