We’ve lived so long under the spell of hierarchy—from god-kings to feudal lords to party bosses—that only recently have we awakened to see not only that “regular” citizens have the capacity for self-governance, but that without their engagement our huge global crises cannot be addressed. The changes needed for human society simply to survive, let alone thrive, are so profound that the only way we will move toward them is if we ourselves, regular citizens, feel meaningful ownership of solutions through direct engagement. Our problems are too big, interrelated, and pervasive to yield to directives from on high.
—Frances Moore Lappé, excerpt from Time for Progressives to Grow Up

Monday, September 20, 2010

The Petraeus Bait and Switch Maneuver

by Gareth Porter from Dissident Voice. 

This investigative reporter reveals some conflicts between the Obama administration and the military establishment. However, I take issue with his framing of this as a Constitutional conflict between the Executive and the military establishment. 

The ruling class truly rules regardless of a Constitution and rules of law. Obama and military figures are mostly employees of the ruling class. Obama was hired because of his excellent rhetorical skills and populist type image. Mainstream media merely does its part by going along with this political stage play with its reporting of Obama's policies that tries to cover over any contradictions with reality.
In interviews in recent weeks, Gen. David Petraeus has been taking a line on what will happen in mid-2011 that challenges President Barack Obama’s intention to begin a troop withdrawal from Afghanistan by that date. This new Petraeus line is the culmination of a brazen bait and switch maneuver on the war by the most powerful military commander in modern U.S. history.
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