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  • Obama and Health Care Reform for August 19, 2009

    Compiled by Ben Wood | August 19th 2009 | USA Politics and Foreign Policy

    Judging by the amount of rhetoric emanating from all levels of media this week, it would seem Obama’s health care plan that was a cornerstone of his election platform in the fall is going to fail. And what’s worse, very few people can go beyond the hyperbole to make a decent argument for or against reform. The most outrageous was the clamoring of the “death squads” in ‘socialized’ health care that decide who lives and who dies.

    A brief overview of Obama’s recent health care struggle:

    This article outs (via Open Secrets) Senators who have received money tied to the health insurance industry. Certainly, an important consideration when you have a Democratic majority in a House that has trouble passing the health care plan that championed Obama’s election platform. Though as the article points out, the list “is not presented to suggest that any of the congressional members have been ‘bought’ by the health insurance industry. But what flesh-and-bone human being would not at least be influenced by such largesse?”

    And as usual in American politics, the coverage slowly walks away from serious attempts to reform health care, real discussions of alternatives, or comparative studies with other countries, and more and more this issue becomes a test to see if Obama fits the President’s shoes.

    The outrage directed at Obama from both Democrats and Republicans, left and right, is curious, if anything. There are those who have internalized his campaign of hope and change, as if these ideals can only surface and spread via Obama alone. We are the sheep and Obama the shepherd, as far as this group is concerned.

    There are others, though skeptical of naïve Obama worshippers, certainly do wish he has a more successful term — or at least month (it’s been a rough 8 years) — than Dubya. Not just for their personal enjoyment, but for the whole country. And maybe, and this might be a stretch, to shift international public opinion on the United States.

    I think these people would side with William Pfaff in his recent piece on Truthdig, who blames the American public: seniors who are convinced Medicare is not a government program, but rather “delivered through the benevolence of hospitals and doctor, or by divine providence”; or those citizens who stubbornly believe the “American system is superior to all others on Earth…If not, why does everyone in the world want to come to live in the United States?”

    And then there is David Michael Green who sees Obama’s commitment to bipartisanism as nothing more than “total capitulation” to “the folks who have such small minorities in Congress that they can’t even muster forty percent of Senate votes to block consideration of legislation by filibuster”.

  • Afghanistan and Democracy for July 3, 2009

    Compiled by Ben Wood | July 3rd 2009 | USA Politics and Foreign Policy

    Obama’s plan for Afghanistan

    A recent face-to-face poll suggests that the majority of Afghans want peaceful negotiations with the Taliban.

    Despite these wishes, the first major strike in Afghanistan under Obama was launched this week and included sending nearly 4,000 US Marines and 650 Afghan forces into Helmand province. Obama has declared a plan to pull all U.S. troops out of Iraq by August 2010, but it would appear he is not done with Afghanistan.

    At least new rules of engagement (oh, the euphemisms of war!) command troops to not to fire at the Taliban if there is any risk of civilian death or injury. Should this really be something new?

    Political theory and nationalist holidays

    More troubling than the deployment of more troops into Afghanistan is the lack of any clear goal. I would attribute this, at least in part, to a lack of proper understanding of democracy or any of the ideals Western troops attempt to spread. Not to mention, the whole concept of westernization. So, what better time to brush up on our political theory than the first week of July, where the numerous celebrations of nationalism afford us many opportunities to resubmit our allegiance and devotion to the state and the political system we know very little about. Len Krimerman on the dilemma of democracy:

    And with a nod to our Southern neighbours, here is an interesting essay on the revolutionary pamphleteer whose words are used and abused by many American politicians, most recently during Obama’s inaugural address earlier this year. But, can you blame any of them? Thomas Paine’s passionate prose is so convincing which politician wouldn’t want to borrow a couple of phrases in an attempt to reawaken even the smallest nationalist sentiment?

  • Obama in Cairo for June 18th 2009

    Compiled by Matthew Brett | June 18th 2009 | USA Politics and Foreign Policy

    Those critical of Western imperialism are doubly tasked under the Obama administration and Michael Ignatieff’s rapid ascent to Prime Minister. The first task remains unchanged: to monitor centres of power. The second, more difficult task, is to strip away the “saintly glow” that emanates from these supposed humanitarian and altruistic liberal elites.

    The notion that the world is a better place under Obama is dangerous, granting the president extreme latitude. So long as this image persists, and Obama’s team is spending millions to insure it does, the possibility of any real change is distant and unlikely. The lies and distortions of Obama need to be exposed. This edition of War Zones focuses on some of the best recently published articles that grapple with Obama’s foreign policy:

    Chomsky went unpublished for months, only to produce two consecutive articles condemning the Obama administration.

    In his “reaching out” in Cairo, as in his “anti-nuclear” speech in Berlin, as in the “hope” he spun at his inauguration, this clever young politician is playing the part for which he was drafted and promoted. This is to present a benign, seductive, even celebrity face to American power, which can then proceed towards its strategic goal of dominance, regardless of the wishes of the rest of humanity and the rights and lives of our children.”

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Rick Salutin, playwright and columnist, Toronto Star

Nothing seems to me more important than the debate about what socialism means NOW, with the decks finally cleared of Soviet and similar versions, yet so few are doing it. Thank God, pardon the expression, for Canadian Dimension.

— Rick Salutin, playwright and columnist, Toronto Star. SUBSCRIBE NOW!