In the footsteps of ancient giants

Of course :) (6.00 / 1)

We understand your target audience, as well as the fact that yours is a consistent voice adding to the pressure of "I agree with you, I want to do it, now make me do it." as spoken by FDR. No one here would take offense.

That is why we are activists, after all.

I knew he was a corporatist before casting my vote... my best "hope" as it were is that he was a more moral corporatist than McCain, and I was positive he was far saner than Palin.

There are no messiahs, but there are certainly men in unique positions to make things different, once voted into power.

Obama sent warships to accompany Israeli ships to help with the blockade.

He did not close gitmo, and could have by a simple order.

As Commander in Chief, one pen swipe could have ended DADT.

As CiC, he also could have stopped the civilian drone bombings in Afghanistan, and got us out of Iraq.

Bush's "Free Speech Zones" where he fenced off protestors has become thousands of miles long under Obama, as he backs BP's PR ploy to stop the freedom of the press from covering our own Cherynoble of the Gulf.

I didn't expect him to be the next revolutionary bringing peace and prosperity to our Nation. But I certainly hoped he would do the small things within his power to stop the worst atrocities.

It is good to remember Ghandi did not stop the brutality of British Occupation in a vacuum. The entire world had sickened of Colonialism and Empire and Oppression, because of people like us in the Press exposing it for what it is.

We must continue to help shed that same disinfecting sunlight on the Oppression and genocide being wrought by the Israelis on the Palestinians every day.

We remember Rachel Corrie as a martyr, or at least I do... but it is important to remember that although one white young woman from another country cared enough to die for the cause, hundreds of thousands of men and women indigenous to that cursed land have done the same... and their names must ring too.

The best leaders don't really lead at all. All they do is believe in others enough to make them believe in themselves. They simply inspire those around them to be the very best selves they can be, and then each individual chooses their own actions.

---

by: Diane Gee @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 11:03:49 AM UTC

the effectiveness of martyrdom (12.00 / 1)

One can not forget that the reason that Ghandi was so effective was the context of the struggle he was in. The British middle class had been raised on a culture of moral exceptionalism, and their mission as one of spreading the religious and social value system of "Enlightened Britain".

When the British press brought home the pictorial proof of the  Barbarism of Colonial British power, the great backers of the Colonial Empire could not stomach their association with the abuses of Military Power and the transparent excuses of the Banking and Merchant classes to exploit the "Unwashed Masses" of the Orient and Africa. It made a moral excuse for Colonialism impossible to maintain, even given the climate of British Exceptionalism. This does not work with societies who have 'Their' cultural supeority so deeply ingrained as a part of their racial or national identity. Ghandi would not have had a moment's notice if the occupiers of India had been the Japanese, as he would have been regarded as a cultural inferior and beneath notice. We don't have to even go that far to find evidence of such behavior in the history of the US; as it's treatment of the Native population, African, Hispanic, and Oriental peoples will attest.

Non-violence is, and should remain a worthy and desirable practice; but tempered with a certain amount of pragmatism. There are people "out there" who will not hesitate to use lethal force against anything or anybody they perceive to be thwarting their objectives; whether that is logging a virgin  area of rain forest with an indigenous population that has resided there for Millennia, or a group of people vocally protesting the efforts of the cabal of G8 bankers to adversely affect their lives with their machinations.

Sometimes, the implicit threat of the ability of meeting violence with equal and effective force is the only thing that gives a protest effectiveness, and raises it above useless and ineffectual 'whining'.

My grandparents understood this when they met police truncheons with baseball bats and pick handles at strikes.

People In Power never willingly give up any advantage they have, and the use of force is tantamount in their arsenal.

Palestine really needs a charismatic and incorruptable leader who can embrace both the philosophical views of Ghandi as well as the tactical awareness of Geronimo.

The basic injustice of the fiat creation, by European and American nationals, of the State of Israel on Palestinian tribal land is the root cause of the problems there. The moral failure of the European Zionist immigrants to address this is really no different from the European settlers of the Americas to address the fact that their 'Country' is built on stolen land and genocide.  

As for Obama, it would be expecting the unreasonable to hope that such a beneficiary of privilege could hold any Common Cause with the average, working-class citizen (now usually unemployed and desperate) against his Corporate backers. The fact that the 'Banking Class' vetted him and found him preferable to both Hillary Clinton as well as John McCain should have set off warning bells in the ranks of the so-called "Progressive" blogosphere. I find it the height of "Magical Thinking" and outright fantasy that there are any defenders of his agenda and policies that have any credibility with the Left.

Our lives are filled with daily moral choices. It is the shame of the Left that 'Activism' has become the equivalent of 'Military Service' to the Right. It serves the same purpose as a photo-op... generates useful press without really displaying a moral commitment. It has always been a useful aphorism that a person should be judged by what he does, not just what he says. In this vein, Obama and the American Left fall far short of their manufactured personas.

---

by: wyamarus @ Sun Jul 11, 2010 at 16:13:44 PM UTC