Forum Post: chomsky on "only in america?"
Posted 12 years ago on Aug. 10, 2012, 8:48 a.m. EST by flip
(7101)
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I mean, what's the elections? You know, two guys, same background, wealth, political influence, went to the same elite university, joined the same secret society where you're trained to be a ruler - they both can run because they're financed by the same corporate institutions. At the Democratic Convention, Barack Obama said, 'only in this country, only in America, could someone like me appear here.' Well, in some other countries, people much poorer than him would not only talk at the convention - they'd be elected president. Take Lula. The president of Brazil is a guy with a peasant background, a union organizer, never went to school, he's the president of the second-biggest country in the hemisphere. Only in America? I mean, there they actually have elections where you can choose somebody from your own ranks. With different policies. That's inconceivable in the United States. Interview by Wallace Shawn, October 19, 2004 [11]
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if you notice the date, it is from 2004 when he spoke at the convention - doesn't really change what he is saying - you don't want to compare obama to morales, lula or airistide do you (i will keep chavez out of this for the moment)? and did you miss this crucial part? "they both can run because they're financed by the same corporate institutions" - that is crucial don't you think?
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i don't think it is very effective to blame the ills of the country - war, economic etc solely on the gop. if that is what you think you will not win friends and influence people - not here on this site anyway. i imagine there are sites where the democratic party faithful chat
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i don't really disagree with what you say but i do think it is obvous who is saying no on all the important issues facing the country - health care, climate change, economy etc - corporations! and both parties are beholded to them. i agree that campaign finance reform is the one issue to start with. i have never voted repubilican and probably won't since i am old! if ike or nixon were running this time i would vote for them. the right wing of the republican party is your best friend right now. if they were at all sensible obama would not have a chance the way things stand now. i am put off by the way some here seem to be so anti republican and pro obama - i think you they would have a better response if they owned up to his failures - he had a chance to change the world and he walked away from it - larry summers etc showed what he stood for long before the gop did anything!
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yes he also wanted national health care - they are all murder's you know - our presidents. you do know that right. all would be hanged if they stood before the numemberg tribunal. well let's test your knowledge - how many did clinto murder - don't go to google now - let me know what you think. our fearless leader is to the right of nixon in my opinion - don't make me prove it - please - it's my day off
Not a totally fair assessment - This administration has been severely plagued by corpoRATist's.
I wonder what these last few years would have been like without a large portion of Congress in open rebellion against the people.
come on - with larry summers and tim geithner in charge of the economy - the guys who helped to put us into the shit! then there is rahm emanuel in top position - another sweetheart. here is a list of the goldman guys wispering in obama's ear - you notice it is a partial list i started at O! ORSZAG, PETER.
Obama’s Budget Director was the founding director of the Hamilton Project, funded by Goldman Sachs and Robert Rubin.
PATTERSON, MARK.
former lobbyist for Goldman Sachs who serves under Timothy Geithner as his top deputy and overseer of TARP bailout funds, $10 billion of which went to Goldman.
RATTNER, STEVE.
Ratner is the shady billionaire financier who Obama appointed as his “car czar” and who resigned after it was revealed that his company, the Quadrangle Group, was apparently involved in “pay to play” for a billion dollars or so of New York State pension funds, and was under possible indictment by the New York AG and the SEC, also sits on the Advisory Council of the Goldman funded Hamilton Project.
REISCHAUER, ROBERT D.
RIVLIN, ALICE.
RUBIN, JAMES.
Son of Robert Rubin ...
RUBIN, ROBERT.
Mr. Goldman Sachs and co-funder, along with Goldman, of the Hamilton Project. Served as the 70th U.S. Sect. of the Treasury under Bill Clinton and spent 26 years at Goldman Sachs becoming its Co-Chairman from 1990-1992.
SPERLING, GENE.
Prior to advising Timothy Geithner on bailouts, Sperling was paid the paltry sum of $887,727 by Goldman Sachs for one year of consulting work. Sperling, another acolyte of Robert Rubin’s ...
STORCH, ADAM.
Storch worked for Goldman Sachs for 5 years reaching the position of Vice President in the Business Intelligence Group. He is Obama’s Managing Executive of the Security and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement.
SUMMERS, LARRY.
Obama’s chief economic adviser and head of the National Economic Counsel. Summers’s boss at Goldman was non other than Robert Rubin, former co-Chairman of Goldman and also former head of Citicorp.
Yes - these individuals should likely be charged with criminal activity.
Why do they have positions of power? Good question. Why does Obama not push for criminal investigations? Good question.
Bottom line we have to get money out of politics - we have to get corpoRATist's out of politics.
We ( the People ) need to campaign for proper criminal proceedings on the criminals.
We need to go after the people in government that are in rebellion to the People - this could also include impeachment proceedings and possible charges of treason.
The thing is - this needs to be pushed by THE PEOPLE and any one in government that still wants to support the Constitution and the American People.
i think we agree here but it needs to be recognized that obama put these people in positions of power - he was not forced to do it. he is part of the corporatization of our government - this is an old process. look at the kennedy admin. we need to move towards democracy here is noam on the subject - check the date! - "Roughly speaking, I think it's accurate to say that a corporate elite of managers and owners governs the economy and the political system as well, at least in very large measure. The people, so-called, do exercise an occasional choice among those who Marx once called "the rival factions and adventurers of the ruling class." Talk titled "Government in the Future" at the Poetry Center of the New York YM-YWHA, February 16, 1970 [2] or this one- "Personally I'm in favor of democracy, which means that the central institutions in the society have to be under popular control. Now, under capitalism we can't have democracy by definition. Capitalism is a system in which the central institutions of society are in principle under autocratic control. Thus, a corporation or an industry is, if we were to think of it in political terms, fascist; that is, it has tight control at the top and strict obedience has to be established at every level -- there's a little bargaining, a little give and take, but the line of authority is perfectly straightforward. Just as I'm opposed to political fascism, I'm opposed to economic fascism. I think that until major institutions of society are under the popular control of participants and communities, it's pointless to talk about democracy. Business Today, May 1973 [18]
See my open letter.
http://occupywallst.org/forum/an-open-letter-one-comment-from-a-conversation-on-/
"At the Democratic Convention, Barack Obama said, 'only in this country, only in America, could someone like me appear here'."
Obama was telling the truth. He was in the Goldman Sachs waiting room when he WROTE that speech.So It has no relevance to when he GAVE the speech. Plus he also said "only in America". Could have meant South America, maybe?
sure it could have
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