What a Difference Eight Years Make…
By Indypendent StaffFrom the January 16, 2009 issue | Posted in National | Email this article
Obama’s presidency has to be a starting point, not a final destination, for the diverse movements that carried him to the White House.
On Jan. 20, 2001, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in the freezing rain to protest George W. Bush’s takeover of the White House following his theft of the 2000 election and to pelt his motorcade with rotten fruit.
This year, millions of people are expected to flock to Washington, D.C., to celebrate the inauguration of Barack Obama.
Still, much remains unchanged.
Whether the president is a conservative Texas oilman or a brilliant young African-American lawyer from Hawaii, Harvard and the South Side of Chicago, power in this country is still centered in big business and the Pentagon. And our nation’s governing philosophy—a fervent belief in free-market economics, global empire and the right to use military force anywhere in the world — remains rooted in decades of bipartisan policymaking.
For Obama’s presidency to make a decisive break with the failures of the past, Inauguration Day has to be a starting point, not a final destination for the diverse movements that carried him to the White House. Only a ceaseless clamor from visionary, broad-based mass movements will push our new president to take the sort of genuinely progressive positions that can truly solve the multiple crises we face.
“We are the ones we have been waiting for,” as Obama was fond of telling his supporters during the early part of last year’s campaign.
Indeed.
One group we cannot count on is the corporate media. The media establishment that gave Bush a free pass for much of his presidency will continue to be a powerful force for the status quo no matter who is in the White House.
This is why The Indypendent was launched in the waning days of the Clinton administration and why we persisted during the long era that Bush and his wrecking crew of right-wing ideologues have held power. During that time, hundreds of artists, activists and independent media makers have contributed to The Indypendent and made it both a pioneering project in citizens’ journalism and a space for bold reporting and analysis that digs beneath the headlines to illuminate the workings of power as well as grassroots efforts to make change.
Now, like many on the left, we find ourselves in the novel position of having a president who claims to share many of our concerns. We are hoping for the best, but have no illusions. For our part, we promise to continue being the same fearless, hard-hitting, truth-telling newspaper during a Democratic administration as during a Republican one. Our allegiance continues to be neither to a party nor a politician but to you, our readers, and to bringing forward the voices, concerns and the struggle for justice of the people most affected by policies made in their name.
5 Responses to “What a Difference Eight Years Make…”
February 21st, 2009 at 9:45 am
Wow! I’m (almost!0 speechless. The author of this article writes:…”One group we cannot count on is the corporate media. The media establishment that gave Bush a free pass for much of his presidency will continue to be a powerful force for the status quo no matter who is in the White House.”…Totally non-sense. When did the media ever let up on President Bush, albeit the media was right to do so more often than not.
Secondly, I thought the whole premise of the The Indypendent was to get away from the mold of being left or right, Republicrat, if you will? You watch, President Obama will not have near the impact the leftist ideologs think…That mentality is just as bad as being far right. what hypocrisy!
If you want REAL change, people, do your research and vote third party! In Christ, In America–K.T.
February 21st, 2009 at 7:30 pm
The Indypendent takes a critical stance toward capitalism and its dehumanizing logic of putting private profit before human need and the neo-colonial resource wars, economic insecurity, environmental destruction and personal alienation that such a system invariably produces. This puts the Indy unabashedly on the left end of the political spectrum and at odds not only with the Republicans but much of the Democratic Party as well.
As for Bush, where were you when the media was breathlessly hyping his scaremongering lies about Saddam’s WMDs? They marched right over the side of the cliff with him on that one. It was Hurricane Katrina that shattered the aura of infallibility around Bush and it was impossible to put the clothes back on our boy emperor after that.
February 23rd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
…critical stance TOWARDS capitalism!?!?!? That principle is one of the very ones that helped propel this nation towards greatness. Look at ANY industry. Any product you have on your person, in your house, the car you drive, you can thank capitalism for. Period. As far as your ‘dehumanizing, etc.’ rant that ’such a system produces,’ let me remind you, dear fellow American, that no matter how flawed you think our financial system and/or government is, we still are among the best in the world-hands down. You can thank God for that.
Further, you vastly overstate that the media ‘marched over the cliff for WMD’ issue. Being a leftist, you must be watching only conservative media venues in order to have something to complain about. FOX (or, Faux News, as I call it) is about the only network I recall willing to do as you mentioned.
I want you to take a globe, spin it, and point to an area with your eye closed. With about a 99% degree of accuracy, we most assuredly, ‘have it better’ than that place your finger lands on.
Speaking of 99%, let me also remind you that 1% of the population allows the other 99% the right to criticize our government. If you have never served in the military, you NEVER- repeat NEVER- will know the levity of the rights you have as a citizen, the concept of commitment to your nation, or the willingless to die for those rights.
Not to detract from that vital point too much, I also want you to look at any great civilization in history. Most only prevailed for a period of 400 - 800 yrs. We’ve been around for a little over half of that bottom number. I’m afraid that, if we as a nation, continue on the same Republicrat concept, we won’t make it to 800 yrs old.
In a nutshell, the single flaw that will cause our undue demise as a nation is that we have gotten away from the very principles in which this nation was founded on.
I’ll close with a rhetorical question: Do you REALLY want to make a difference in our nation?
My solution is to quit voting Republican or Democrat. We have been stuck in neutral since the Eisenhower Administration. There has never been a time in history where the two major parties resembled each other so much. Voting for Obama is like voting for McCain-light, and vice versa.
Make a difference. Do your research. Vote third party.
In Christ, In America- K.T.
March 6th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
KT wrote: “In a nutshell, the single flaw that will cause our undue demise as a nation is that we have gotten away from the very principles in which this nation was founded on.”
No, I think the United States has very much always been about colonialism, coercing and exploiting the underclass for various purposes, and expanding and maintaining our brand of imperialism. Industrialism and technological development has magnified these principles tenfold. And in the process, we’re witnessing what Sheldon Wolin calls “inverted totalitarianism”.
I agree, KT, that for any sort of change, third party politics must enter into equation in order to effectively dismantle this two-headed corporate party. The beginning of the Indypendent article above goes:
“Whether the president is a conservative Texas oilman or a brilliant young African-American lawyer from Hawaii, Harvard and the South Side of Chicago, power in this country is still centered in big business and the Pentagon. And our nation’s governing philosophy—a fervent belief in free-market economics, global empire and the right to use military force anywhere in the world — remains rooted in decades of bipartisan policymaking.”
This should be taught in high school, not only college, instead of the Columbus myth.
Mike
January 20th, 2009 at 8:19 am
Nice of them to ease up on the white phosphorus and tungsten bombs so not to tarnish the inauguration of Rahmbo and the crew.