Obama Caught In The Claptrap

After an orgy of flag-waving, baby kissing and smooth-tongued debates, Barack Obama was voted into office on the 4th of November 2008, but is this slick operator from Chicago the Savour of Modern Times or just a Nixon in a Kennedy's clothing?

Claptrap takes a look...

The historic nature of Obama's election is something that will undoubtedly echo down the annals of history, an event as groundbreaking and memorable as any we are likely to see in the near future. It is hard to discern though, among the cacophony of the USA giving itself a huge, collective pat on the back, the meek sound of any concrete policies, and more importantly, policies that will distinguish Obama from the rest of the political pack and justify all his talk of Change.

Of course, during the election campaign, the battle for political supremacy was mainly fought using charisma, slogans and gravitas. Poor John McCain stood as much chance against the zeitgeisty, That Guy stylings of Obama as a skeleton made out of matchsticks would have against Ricky Hatton. Now the election is over however, its time to really examine Obama and what he'll do that will make a difference.

'You can always judge a President-Elect by the first Chief of Staff they appoint' is what a friend of mine used to constantly say before I had him sectioned, but thinking about it now, he may have had a point.

Obama's choice of Rahm Israel Emanuel is indicative of this. At first glance, Rahm appears to be just another interchangeable, self-important political drone, but if you look closer, you can clearly see that his appointment resonates a clear pro-Israel message. Rahm's father was in a pro-Zionist terrorist group called Irgun who were operative in Palestine between 1931 and 1948 and involved in several horrific attacks against civilians in that time.

At hearing the news of his son's appointment his father was quoted in an Israeli newspaper as saying "Obviously, he will influence the President to be pro-Israel. Why shouldn't he do it? What is he, an Arab? He's not going to clean the floor of the White House."

Although Rahm immediately apologized for his father's remarks, he hasn't explicitly denied that he will propagate pro-Israel policies. The congressman said Obama did not need his influence to "orientate his policy toward Israel."

A senior aide to Rahm was also reported as saying to Ynet.com, "Emanuel is pro-Israeli, and would not be willing to consider accepting the job unless he was convinced that President-elect Obama is pro-Israel."

Those hoping that Obama's election will mean a new era of leniency toward Palestine and the concept of a fair, sustainable Palestinian state in general may then be disappointed.

Obama's appointment of his Security Council also tells an interesting political story. His nomination of Robert Gates as Secretary of Defence seems to suggest that he is not quite prepared to leave the Bush years behind. He was appointed by good old Dubya in 2006 and held previous posts as the director and deputy director of the C.I.A.

Gates has been surrounded by controversy in his involvement in several momentous political scandals including the Iran-Contra affair, which involved selling arms to Iran to pay for arming paramilitary groups in South America.

An ex-member of Reagan's Security council, Howard Tiecher, has also explicitly implied him in arming Saddam Hussein in the mid 1980's saying “The CIA, including both CIA Director Casey and Deputy Director [Robert] Gates, knew of, approved of, and assisted in the sale of non-U.S. origin military weapons, ammunition and vehicles to Iraq,”.

Thus we see that the residual bad stink of a Republican administration may linger in the White House for longer than a lot of people would say is healthy. The fabled Change that Obama has promised us using his Perfect American Teeth is so far the same disregard for Palestine and a renewed expense account for the man who sold Saddam weapons in the eighties.

Marine General James Jones may just cheer us up then. "Supreme Commander of NATO" and "Commandant of the Marine Corps" are good things to have on your CV when going for the job of National Security Advisor. However this fiddly little diplomat/killing, machine has his fingers in other pies than piddling matters of American security logistics.

He is currently on both the executive board of the Boeing Company; those guys and gals that brought us the Stealth Bomber, and the Chevron Company; those guys and gals that brought us the Niger Delta incident, whilst simultaneously being the chair of president of the Institute for 21st Century Energy, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. This institute recently published a "Transition Plan" for the Obama-Biden administration with regard to the future of energy use in America that advocates drilling of oil in America and the use of "clean coal" technology.

I attempted to watch an interview with the Vice-President of the institute, Karen Harbert, but got tired of her haphazardly trying to weld unconnected statements together, such as; "You know, the American public spoke strongly in this election about a number of things and one of them was that energy was one of their top priorities." and "We're going to have to have more oil and gas resources developed here at home." She nearly fooled me. By simply placing wildly contrasting facts next to each other she had, by the very act of mental association made them seem feasibly correlated.

A little research on "clean coal" had also revealed that you can pretty much bang the heads together of any seemingly opposite concepts and make them stick. Clean Coal uses a technology called Sequestration that removes a lot of the CO2 in the refining that is then simply stored somewhere else, like underground. Sounds nice doesn't it; coal can be your friend. It can come in your house without getting the carpet all dirty. Except it can't. According to the American Water Works Association "Sequestration technology has yet to be tested on a large scale and may not be safe or successful. Sequestered CO2 may eventually "leak" up through the ground, may lead to unexpected geological instability or may cause contamination of aquifers used for drinking water supplies."

Hopefully, Obama will not pay heed to General Jones when it comes to energy issues, or we'll see a disastrous continuation of unsustainable energy use in America and a blatant disregard for the urgent need for sustainable energy policy.

It doesn't stop there however. As his Secretary of State, Obama has appointed a shady character called Hillary Clinton. Whilst little is known about her, she is believed to be married to a man called Bill Clinton, a known philanderer and ex-President.

Foreign Policy wise, Clinton seems to be trying to line the jackboot of American imperialism with soft, pink fluffy fur. Though only time will tell how the incoming administration deals with issues such as the trade embargo with Cuba and the relationship with China et al.

Judging Obama by the company he keeps so far, its easy to sense the pro-Israel, pro-Oil, pro-C.I.A sleaze vibes. There are good signs though, Obama has ordered the close of Guantanamo Bay and although, according to Obama foreign policy adviser Denis McDonough, there is no consensus "about how and where to try the detainees", at least the concept is being discussed in public.

The years to come will be a test of the integrity of the Mighty Barack and hopefully he'll suprise us all by making some sensible policy decisions and shaking off and giving a good beating the phantom of Republican politick that has haunted the White House for so long.


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