This kind of clears things up for me.
I thought I would share this e-mail I received from Alan Maki with my readers.
The more I look at this whole scenario the more I think the American people have really been played for fools by this "President-elect" Barack Obama.
It seems to me asking why Obama sits in silence as a trapped people with no route of escape from Gaza are being bombed daily requires an explanation.
Rita
-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Maki [mailto:amaki000@centurytel.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 03, 2009 1:11 PM
To: 'swebb@cpusa.org'; 'Miguel Figueroa'; 'CarlD717@aol.com'
Cc: 'ritapolewski@yahoo.com'; 'benny_tinknocker@live.com'; 'cassandra.james@ymail.com'; 'jeffsippila@yahoo.com'; 'David Shove'; 'MARKOWIT@history.rutgers.edu'
Subject: Is Raul Castro suggesting that Obama's "politics of pragmatism" may not be all it is cracked up to be?
These are interesting articles (see the two articles below) about Raul Castro’s perception of Obama causing one to wonder why so many liberals, progressives and those on the left here in the United States and Canada have a much different perception and understanding about Barack Obama being something other than what Raul Castro describes.
Keep in mind that Raul Castro has the liability of having to be very “diplomatic” in the full sense of this term--- and justifiably so.
It is one thing to build the people’s movement as a bridge to the Obama Administration; it is quite another thing to continue moving across a bridge you know to have faulty gusset plates.
I think it is perfectly legitimate to compare the leaders of the Communist Party USA who would hoodwink the working class into thinking that Obama is something which he is not to all the high-paid contract engineers and state and federal inspectors who allowed motorists to continue crossing the I35-W Bridge spanning the Mighty Mississippi River in the Twin Cities knowing for years that its gusset plates were faulty from the start because they were the wrong ones to use, and rusting and corroding through to boot.
But, what excuse do leaders of the CPUSA or leaders of the Communist Party of Canada or the many “Progressives for Obama” have in thinking that Barack Obama will be anything but a full participant with Wall Street in trying to save capitalism and protect the profits and investments of these Wall Street coupon clippers by holding the working classes of all countries down in quest of the designs and aims of U.S. imperialism having as the primary objective saving this rotten system while profiting from trying to “solve” this economic mess as their “solutions” are creating growing misery for the working class?
The time has come for these revisionist leaders of the CPUSA--- and those weak-minded Communist “leaders” across borders who have been bullied into silence--- to address this issue clearly and forthrightly rather than continue with vague assertions that Obama is something that he is not.
Obviously there are those like Tom Hayden and Carl Davidson being paid very well to mislead people into thinking that Obama has some aspect of liberalism or progressivism about him; but, why the silence on the part of so many others?
And, why the intent to try to cover-up the fact that Obama is owned lock, stock and barrel by the Wall Street crowd?
What we are already witnessing from the corrupt, corporate controlled Democrats is a reneging of support for the Employee Free Choice Act in the same way these same forces urge the continuation of the Israeli carnage of the Palestinian people and the inhabitants of Gaza which is not unlike any American Indian reservation complete with all the human misery associated with the intentionally inflicted poverty of a people singled out for a genocidal campaign of annihilation.
Yet we read in the People’s Weekly World such foolishness that George Bush is creating problems for the incoming Obama Administration by supporting Israel’s murderous campaign of genocide and terror. Not long ago Sam Webb was arguing “a plague on both your houses” as the violence against the Palestinian people was expanding… thereby disorienting the peace movement. Webb then went on to expand this revisionist thinking to include support for the Democrats bringing forward legislation claimed to be for ending the war in Iraq by continuing to finance this dirty war for oil and regional domination that has been a catalyst for spreading violence throughout the region.
What we do not read in the People’s Weekly World is that while Bush being vocally supportive of these Israeli butchers, Barack Obama is just as shamefully silent… thereby setting himself up for his own problems.
Of course, to Obama and Bush their actions are all part of the “politics of pragmatism” by which state monopoly-capitalism controls, operates and runs the government in the interest of the military-financial-industrial complex.
Bush’s vocal support for Israel serves the very interest of the “politics of pragmatism” being served by Obama’s silence.
Obama and his handlers have stated in no uncertain terms that theirs is a “politics of pragmatism.” And, by through their own stated and declared admission, the “Progressives for Obama” openly buy into these “politics of pragmatism” under the guise of creating some kind of “new” New Left.
Of course Sam Webb and the leaders of the CPUSA along with the organizations they influence claim to be advancing the idea that they will “hold Obama’s feet to the fire;” but, where is there any evidence of them doing this? Their only action is directed at preventing the kind of real progressive grassroots/rank and file organized opposition which is required if working people are to stand up for their own working class interests and in solidarity with the Palestinian people and the people of Cuba along with the many other victims of imperialism.
It is kind of humorous that the “leaders” of “Progressives for Obama,” which includes leading members of the National Board of the Communist Party of the United States of America, are openly stating that they have no such grassroots/rank and file base from which to operate and are now seeking to use “ready-made” outfits like “Progressive Democrats of America (PDA)” as their base of operations and the leaders of PDA seem to be more than luke-warm to the idea of getting this bunch of do-nothing left-wing blow-hards and muddle-headed middle class intellectuals, along with some of the most corrupt trade union leaders into the orbit of the Democratic Party where they will not challenge the two-party trap or Barack Obama’s self-serving “politics of pragmatism” about to be completely discredited as the violence and killing in the Middle East continues and the cost of “solving” the mounting problems for the capitalist economic depression are shifted fully to the working class to bear.
Do not these supporters of Obama understand what the “politics of pragmatism” represents? Anything goes as long as it defends capitalism while making profits for Wall Street.
Frank Sinatra sang a song with lyrics appropriate for the liberals, progressives and those on the left who continue to support Barack Obama either because they are convinced Obama’s “politics of pragmatism” will yield something of benefit to them or part of the working class or because they are deluded into thinking that Barack Obama is not inseparably wedded to the Wall Street crowd:
“…cause he had high hopes, he had high hopes
He had high apple pie, in the sky hopes…”
Working people anywhere and everywhere are just as expendable as the Palestinian people living in Gaza when it comes to the “politics of pragmatism.” To even suggest that Barack Obama’s “politics of pragmatism” differs from George Bush’s “politics of pragmatism” is suffering serious delusions which have taken a very deadly turn of events in Gaza.
I have a great deal of respect for those who supported Obama to now use that support to try to force him to take a stand in opposition to the blood-letting in Gaza… but to those like Carl Davidson and the “Progressives for Obama” who urge support for Obama under the guise that Obama’s “politics of pragmatism” offer us “hope” when in fact such politics offer neither “hope” nor the “change” people voted for.
Recent articles and editorials in both the People’s Weekly World and the People’s Voice suggesting that the election of Barack Obama offers any real hope for change is like the actions of the engineers and inspectors who continued to allow unsuspecting motorists to continue driving across the I35-W Bridge spanning the Mighty Mississippi River day in and day out knowing the gusset plates were the wrong kind to start with and were then weakened through rust and corrosion to the point where collapse was virtually inevitable.
Working people and the working class, like the unsuspecting motorists who crossed the I35-W Bridge routinely, have a right to expect that Communist Parties take their responsibilities seriously even if this means being at odds with those who prefer we keep our mouths shut, which is most Democrats, including Obama.
We all know that had any one of us suggested to Democratic United States Congressman James Oberstar that the gusset plates holding the I35-W Bridge together were not the proper ones and were rusted and corroded to the point of threatening human safety and life, we would have been boisterously and arrogantly ridiculed by Oberstar hoping to silence us, and maligned by state and federal bridge inspectors who would have shoved their university degrees under our noses in the same way they do concerning peat mining in the Big Bog… and these are the kinds of people--- people like Obama and Oberstar--- we are supposed to kiss up to under the guise of not upsetting the “politics of pragmatism.”
The “politics of pragmatism” will not work out any better for the working class as a whole than it has worked out for the long-suffering people of the Red Lake Nation in northern Minnesota who have been left to languish in poverty as their Nation is destroyed, nor the Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza whose daily struggle for existence, even without the bombs, is very similar to the plight of the Ojibway people who inhabit the Red Lake Indian Reservation--- a plight of poverty by intent and design by the same politicians who turn their heads in indifference to the Israeli bombing raids in Gaza; a coincidence? I think not. Will Obama do anything to resolve these problems? Just as quickly as he sets U.S. imperialism on a new course with Cuba.
Obama’s politics is the “politics of pragmatism” which is the ideology of the ruling capitalist class… Marxism is the ideology of the working class. The former is the ideology of war, racism and poverty… the latter is the politics and economics of livelihood. The first serves the Wall Street bankers… the latter serves the working class.
How is it that working class leaders of Communist Parties can embrace Barack Obama and his “politics of pragmatism” under the guise of hoping for change?
Think about this: Barack Obama’s proclaimed adherence to the “politics of pragmatism” has not even been discussed on the pages of the People’s Weekly World or the People’s Voice.
Question: Why has there been no discussion of this ruling capitalist class ideology--- the “politics of pragmatism”--- on the pages of either of these Communist Party newspapers nor in “Political Affairs” or “The Spark”?
Question: Is not this ruling capitalist class ideology, the “politics of pragmatism,” worthy of at least one article or essay in each of these publications so working people understand what they are up against?
Question: Further, why wasn’t this topic on the role of this capitalist ideology broached at the recent International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties held in Brazil by the CPUSA?
Answer: Because the revisionist leaders of the CPUSA are too busy spreading the idea that Obama offers the world “hope.”
No one should think that the “politics of pragmatism” is not THE official ideology of the capitalist ruling class. The ideology of the “politics of pragmatism” is not unique to Barack Obama even though he is one of the first to openly and publicly claim this ideology in recent times as something “new.” As such, this ideology of the “politics of pragmatism” must be addressed by Communists.
Knowing that “leaders” like Sam Webb and the members of the National Board of the CPUSA are the guiding lights behind “Progressives for Obama,” “Progressive Democrats for America,” and the “Campaign for America’s Future” should make every working person feel just as secure as the motorists who routinely drove across the I35-W Bridge spanning the Mighty Mississippi River--- wrong gusset plates badly corroded and all--- yes, completely secure, before the I35-W Bridge collapsed.
The PWW has been liberally quoting Carl Davidson as an authority on progressive politics in support of Barack Obama. In return, Davidson rewards the revisionist “leaders” of the CPUSA with posting their articles and “statements” to the “Progressives for Obama” list serve… mind you, to the list serve, but not for public consumption to the website or blog, which is, also, very interesting.
All the while, Carl Davidson and Tom Hayden state they are working to build a “new” New Left. Both Davidson and Hayden have quite the credentials… Hayden dropped away from the old “New Left” to become a poster boy for Israel and AIPAC. Carl Davidson undertook the task to ruin the largest, most respected progressive newspaper for activists in the United States--- The National Guardian… a task he successfully accomplished.
Today, both Davidson and Hayden warn that a certain type of socialism is ok; as long as it is not the kind of socialism associated with the Soviet Union and long associated with the CPUSA until Sam Webb and his flower power socialists and voices of spring dishonestly snuck in.
Sam Webb joins Davidson and Hayden with his, “I don’t want to see a redux of 20th Century socialism” proclaimed standing at a podium adorned with flowers--- most likely fake plastic flowers; flowers as fake as the “socialism” Webb, Davidson and Hayden say they are for.
Recently, Carl Davidson posted an article about the closing of the St. Paul Ford Twin Cities Assembly Plant on the “Progressives for Obama Blog,” knowing full well the article was riddled with misinformation and outright lies.
Lies and misinformation are part and parcel of the “politics of pragmatism.” After all, someone had to have created the lie in the first place that led people to believe that Barack Obama was a “progressive,” eh?
In fact, let us be very clear: There is nothing George Bush can say or do that leaves Barack Obama in a position not to change anything if he chooses to go against his Wall Street masters.
Barack Obama, by his silence in the face of a most cowardly, outrageous, genocidal campaign of terror involving the very worst kind of murderous brutality that can be inflicted on a closed-in community from which there is no avenue of escape by human beings as bombs are dropped on homes, schools and kiosks paid for with U.S. tax-dollars, and dropped by planes paid for by the U.S treasury has demonstrated once and for all what we can expect of this Wall Street flim-flam man.
Fortunately, I don’t have to be as diplomatic as Raul Castro.
Alan L. Maki
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090103/wl_nm/us_cuba_castro_obama;_ylt=AquQBme0IeADZDQwdPTDtC5m.3QA
Raul Castro says hopes too high for Obama
HAVANA (Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Barack Obama appears to be an honest and sincere man, but his election has awakened "excessive hopes" that the United States will change, Cuban President Raul Castro said in a television interview broadcast on Friday.
Castro repeated previous assertions that he is open to talks at any time with Obama, who takes office on January 20, but said he is not desperate to do so.
Obama has said he wants to ease the 46-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and meet with Cuban leaders as first steps toward normalizing relations with the Communist-run island 90 miles off U.S. shores.
"Now there is a president who has raised hopes in many parts of the world -- I think excessive hopes," Castro said in an interview on state-run television.
"Because even if he's an honest man -- and I believe he is -- a sincere man -- and I believe he is -- one man alone cannot change the destiny of a country and much less the United States," said Castro, who replaced his ailing older brother Fidel Castro as president in February.
"I hope I'm mistaken in my assessment. I hope Mr. Obama has success," he said.
"He can do much, he can take positive steps, he can put forth more just ideas, he can put a stop to the tendency of almost all U.S. presidents to have their war, or wars," he said.
The interview was taped on December 31, a day before Castro led celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the revolution that put his brother in power and turned Cuba to Communism at the height of the Cold War.
In a speech on Thursday, he spoke in harsh terms about U.S. treatment of Cuba and said the island can expect 50 years more of "incessant struggle" with an "enemy" that "will never cease to be aggressive, treacherous and dominant."
In the interview, he said Cuba would talk with the United States whenever the U.S. wants, but only as equals, "without the smallest shadow over our sovereignty."
"We're willing to do it when they say, without intermediaries, directly, but we're in no hurry, we're not desperate," Castro said.
(Reporting by Jeff Franks)
http://uk.reuters.com/article/UKNews1/idUKTRE5020EA20090103?sp=true
Raul Castro says hopes too high for Obama
Sat Jan 3, 2009 3:52am GMT
U.S. President-elect Barack Obama appears to be an honest and sincere man, but his election has awakened "excessive hopes" that the United States will change, Cuban President Raul Castro said in a television interview broadcast on Friday.
Castro repeated previous assertions that he is open to talks at any time with Obama, who takes office on January 20, but said he is not desperate to do so.
Obama has said he wants to ease the 46-year-old U.S. trade embargo against Cuba and meet with Cuban leaders as first steps towards normalizing relations with the Communist-run island 90 miles off U.S. shores.
"Now there is a president who has raised hopes in many parts of the world -- I think excessive hopes," Castro said in an interview on state-run television.
"Because even if he's an honest man -- and I believe he is -- a sincere man -- and I believe he is -- one man alone cannot change the destiny of a country and much less the United States," said Castro, who replaced his ailing older brother Fidel Castro as president in February.
"I hope I'm mistaken in my assessment. I hope Mr. Obama has success," he said.
"He can do much, he can take positive steps, he can put forth more just ideas, he can put a stop to the tendency of almost all U.S. presidents to have their war, or wars," he said.
The interview was taped on December 31, a day before Castro led celebrations of the 50th anniversary of the revolution that put his brother in power and turned Cuba to Communism at the height of the Cold War.
In a speech on Thursday, he spoke in harsh terms about U.S. treatment of Cuba and said the island can expect 50 years more of "incessant struggle" with an "enemy" that "will never cease to be aggressive, treacherous and dominant."
In the interview, he said Cuba would talk with the United States whenever the U.S. wants, but only as equals, "without the smallest shadow over our sovereignty."
"We're willing to do it when they say, without intermediaries, directly, but we're in no hurry, we're not desperate," Castro said.
(Reporting by Jeff Franks)
Thomson Reuters 2009
Alan L. Maki
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Cell phone: 651-587-5541
E-mail: amaki000@centurytel.net
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