OBAMA / THE BILLION DOLLAR CANDIDATE WITH NO HALO OR BASE

President Obama will become the first Billion dollar candidate running on a Platform of Corporate Welfare You Can Believe In ~ but the hard reality is he has no halo, no base and a raft of broken promises which no amount of money can cover up: Allen L Roland

Having run over and all but dismissed his progressive base, which elected him in 2008, an increasingly arrogant President Obama has consummated his marriage with his new base ~ Wall Street and the global financial elite ~ and has announced his re-election with e-mails and text messages to his supposedly loyal supporters. Obviously, this would allow him to start campaigning and tap into potentially a billion dollar war chest from big money corporate donations he has often criticized in the past.

Obama will inevitably lose many of the individual donors who backed him four years ago, said Anthony Corrado, a professor of government at Colby College and expert on campaign fundraising."That's something that we're not going to see this time around, that level of excitement about the Obama candidacy that we saw last time, from people who are not traditional donors or traditional Democratic primary voters," he said.

As a former Obama supporter I received his email message and two minute video http://www.barackobama.com/ which announced “President Obama’s campaign is just kicking off ~ We're opening up offices, unpacking boxes, and starting a conversation with supporters like you to help shape our path to victory. 2012 begins now, and this is where you say you're in.”

And this is where I am proud to say, along with millions of disappointed Americans who drank the Obama Kool Aid of broken promises that I’m Out and will actively work to not only promote an alternative progressive Democrat or Independent candidate in the Presidential primaries but will also actively work against Obama’s re-election.

Obama has no idea that the millions of volunteers, which included me, who supported his first run for office in 2008 were energized by the desire for true change and saw Obama as an agent for that fiercely desired change from the Bush/Cheney decade of sleeze and ineptitude. It was an organic home grown movement that began in 2007 and continued to gather momentum through the campaign but that coalition of African Americans, Latinos, young people, women, college educated white voters, Seniors and progressives atrophied when it realized that the change they voted for rapidly became the status quo or Bush lite. Campaign promise after campaign promise was broken by Obama who arrogantly dismissed his progressive base and revealed that his true allegiance had always been with Wall Street and Main Street be damned.

It was a betrayal that his progressive base and Main Street will never forget but Obama still is seemingly basking under a non-existent halo of change we can believe in ~ while the hard reality is he is a billion dollar candidate running on a platform of corporate welfare you can believe in.

A new IBOPE Zogby Survey finds a majority of likely voters are ready for someone new in the White House, as just 38% say Obama deserves to be re-elected and 55% say it is time for someone new. The poll of 2,125 voters was conducted from April 1-4, 2111. http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27835.htm

For the last time, Barack ~ it’s not a halo you’re wearing and that hard reality along with your broken promises and non-existent base will soon become obvious to you and your corporate minders.

A recent Rasmussen Poll confirms that persistent anger from an increasingly economically oppressed and frustrated electorate ~ On energy policy, a topic with significant economic implications, just 38% believe the president is doing a good or an excellent job. With gas prices rising dramatically, opposition to his continuing ban on oil drilling off the Eastern seaboard and in the eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico is up to 55%. As for the president's signature initiative, a majority of voters have consistently favored repeal of the health care law since it was passed by Democrats in Congress over a year ago. Not only has the president’s agenda to date done little to move the economy, but after two years of unpopular bailouts, stimulus proposals and the national health care plan, 69% of Likely U.S. Voters remain at least somewhat angry with the current policies of the federal government. That figure has run as high as 75% since September 2009.”

Jon Stewart hilariously and rightfully lampoons Obama’s re-election announcement in this 4 minute video ~ Jon Stewart on Obama 2012 Campaign: "How Did We Go From 'Yes We Can' to 'Ya Know, Whatever'?"

Stewart mocks the "stunning" news that President Obama will run for reelection in 2012 and critiques Obama's first campaign video. "Those were the best people you could come up with for your opening campaign video? They're all exhausted," Stewart joked. "How did we go from 'Yes we can' to 'Ya know, whatever'?"

Obama’s broken campaign promises are almost endless ( Google Obama’s broken promises ) but the sheer political hypocrisy and arrogance of these betrayals is accurately captured by this one ~ HEALTH-CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

OBAMA STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health-care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

Obama is ripe for a primary challenge which is why he has announced his candidacy early in hopes of scaring away a serious challenger ~ but he underestimates the anger of his largely ignored former base. Michael Moore sums up these feelings in his comments delivered and relayed at yesterday’s “ We Are One” rally at the state capitol in Honolulu ~ “ I want to thank you for turning out today to make your voices heard ~ and they ARE heard, even across ocean and land. Today, hundreds of thousands of Americans are joining with you to honor Dr. King by standing up for working people all over America. It was what he was doing in Memphis when he was killed 43 years ago today, supporting sanitation workers on strike. Today everywhere is Memphis, and it's not just sanitation workers being attacked. It's teachers and firefighters and social workers -- yes, all those greedy public workers who caused the Great Recession we are in! No, my friends, it wasn't! It was the top 1% of the country who did this. THEY brought on the mortgage crisis. THEY made off with billions of dollars from our economy. THEY have systematically destroyed the middle class. And THEY have bought and sold the very people elected to represent us!
America is not broke! It's just that the wealthy have absconded with the money! They've removed it from circulation and left us begging for school supplies and fire trucks and libraries. Even the Wall Street Journal admits that the uber-rich are currently just sitting on almost $2 trillion of cash. They're not creating jobs with it. They're not re-circulating it. They're just hanging on to it hoping to make more money off it by continuing their casino games in the stock market, the derivatives market, the credit default swaps market and any other crazy scheme they can invent. This has to stop. But it won't stop unless we make it stop. 400 wealthy Americans now have more wealth than 150 million Americans COMBINED! But what they don't have is the right to vote 150 million times. They only have 400 votes! Are we going to allow 400 bullies destroy the lives and livelihoods of 150 million of our fellow Americans? The time to act is now!” READ MORE

Every seat in the House will be up for grabs again in 2012, as well as one-third of the seats in the Senate. The time to act is now and begins by insisting that we have a presidential candidate, Representatives and Senators who truly represent the people and will deliver on their promises ~ regardless of their party affiliation. That Presidential Candidate is not Barack Obama for I predict a successful primary challenge from someone on his left ~ someone like Russ Feingold.

The only Republican I would vote for now for President, without hesitation, is Ron Paul.

“We can have democracy in this country, or we can have great wealth concentrated in the hands of a few, but we can't have both” : Louis Brandeis
Supreme Court Justice,1916-1939

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/obama-billion-dollar-candidate-with-no.html

About the Author: Allen L Roland is a Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist. Allen is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations. Dr. Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website www.allenroland.com . He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.ne

Obama's Dilemma / No Scapegoats, No Excuses, No Action

OBAMA'S DILEMMA / NO SCAPEGOATS, NO EXCUSES, NO ACTION

[ Click on picture to enlarge ]

President Obama's dilemma is that he is running out of scapegoats to blame or excuses for his own inability to live up to his campaign promises, move beyond beltway politics and restore transparency and trust to the presidency: Allen L Roland

President Obama is seemingly still reading the owners manual for the presidency while his credibility rapidly sinks in the growing muck of an out-of-control oil gusher in the Gulf.

But the manual seems to be the updated version which was written by the Cheney/Bush administration ~ where the corpocracy reigns supreme and truth and transparency are thrown overboard. The manual Obama needs to read is the Teddy Roosevelt manual of rightful moral and emotional indignation.

In other words, our pragmatic unemotional President is still trying to politically please everyone while the vast majority of Americans want him to rise above politics and do the right thing ~ regardless of the political consequences.

Witness Jummy Carter and Obama's reaction to Israel's deadly attack on the Freedom Flotilla and a recent WH Press Conference.
Obama said the Israeli raid on the flotilla is a "tragic situation" and called for an investigation into the incident.
Former President Jimmy Carter condemned a deadly Israeli raid on the flotilla of aid ships on its way to Gaza.
Chip Reid, CBS: You said earlier that the President is enraged. Is he enraged at BP specifically?
Press secretary Robert Gibbs: I think he's enraged at the time that it's taken, yes. I think he's been enraged over the course of this, as I've discussed, about the fact that when you're told something is fail-safe and it clearly isn't, that that's the cause for quite a bit of frustration ...
Reid: Frustration and rage are very different emotions, though.
Have we really seen rage from the President on this? I think most people would say no.
Gibbs: I've seen rage from him, Chip. I have.
Reid: Can you describe it? Does he yell and scream? What does he do? (Laughter.)
Gibbs: He said. . . he has been in a whole bunch of different meetings. . . clenched jaw. . . even in the midst of these briefings, saying everything has to be done. I think this was an anecdote shared last week, ' to plug the damn hole ' .

Sam Smith ( Progressive Review ) " Again, what we face is not an ideological problem, but a class and cultural one; a president so practiced at self-protective reserve that he can't get cross when he needs to. By trying so hard to act intelligent and measured, he ends up seeming distant and a bit dumb.

Frank Rich, made this very same point in his June 4th NY Times column ~ Don’t Get Mad, Mr. President. Get Even ~ where Rich correctly states " But the debate over how to raise the president’s emotional thermostat is not an entirely innocuous distraction. It allows Obama to duck the more serious doubts about his leadership that have resurfaced along with BP’s oil."

Excerpt: " His most conspicuous flaw is his unshakeable confidence in the collective management brilliance of the best and the brightest he selected for his White House team — “his abiding faith in the judgment of experts,” as Joshua Green of The Atlantic has put it ..
Obama’s excessive trust in his own heady team is all too often matched by his inherent deference to the smartest guys in the boardroom in the private sector. His default assumption seems to be that his peers are always as well-intentioned as he is. The single biggest mistake he has made in managing the gulf disaster was his failure to challenge BP’s version of events from the start. The company consistently understated the spill’s severity, overestimated the progress of the repair operation and low-balled the environmental damage. Yet the White House’s designated point man in the crisis, Adm. Thad Allen of the Coast Guard, was still publicly reaffirming his trust in the BP chief executive, Tony Hayward, as recently as two weeks ago, more than a month after the rig exploded...."
" It’s this misplaced trust in elites both outside the White House and within it that seems to prevent Obama from realizing the moment that history has handed to him. Americans are still seething at the bonus-grabbing titans of the bubble and at the public and private institutions that failed to police them. But rather than embrace a unifying vision that could ignite his presidency, Obama shies away from connecting the dots as forcefully and relentlessly as the facts and Americans’ anger demand...."

Rich concludes with the analogy of the need today for a Teddy Roosevelt fire in the belly truth talk pivot point to not only rescue his presidency but the nation as well ~ " But Obama can’t embrace his inner T.R. as long as he’s too in thrall to the supposed wisdom of the nation’s meritocracy, too willing to settle for incremental pragmatism as a goal, and too inhibited by the fine points of Washington policy debates to embrace bold words and bold action. If he is to wield the big stick of reform against BP and the other powerful interests that have ripped us off, he will have to tell the big story with no holds barred. "
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/opinion/06rich.html?hp

In other words, Mr President ~ stop reading the manual, stop being careful, stop playing politics and stop looking for scapegoats as well as making excuses. It's your presidency and you'd better take full charge of it now or you'll soon be a one term lame duck president ~ floating in a sea of BP's oil.

President Obama says he would have fired BP CEO Tony Hayward if he worked for him. Unfortunately, the White House works for BP and the Corpocracy, so his hands are tied ~ and that's how he is acting.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/obamas-dilemma-no-scapegoats-no-excuses.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on http://www.conscioustalk.net/

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Gulf Has The Scent Of A Major Deception

GULF HAS THE SCENT OF A MAJOR DECEPTION

[ Click on photo to enlarge ]

The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico may have apocalyptic consequences, a report by the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources said.

The gulf coast is not only drenched with the stench of a poisonous runaway oil gusher but the scent of a major deception perpetrated by BP and condoned by an indifferent Obama administration. When are we going to collectively say ~ I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any longer ?

BP figures that if you can't see it ~ then they don't have to deal with it and that they can hide the true reality of the black death that lurks in the gulf and is slowly moving towards the gulf loop and Florida ~ but people are not only seeing it but beginning to grasp the enormity of this man-made disaster.

And get this ~ Matt Simmons, founder of energy investment bank Simmons & Company, also says that there is evidence of a second oil leak about five to seven miles from the initial leak that BP has focused on fixing. That second leak, he says, is so large that the initial one is "minor" in comparison. Why does this not surprise me ?

In a discovery described last Thursday, scientists aboard a University of South Florida research vessel found an area of dissolved oil east of the leak that is about 22 miles long, six miles wide, and extends from the surface down to a depth of about 3,200 feet, said Professor David Hollander.

And now we have an ominous report by Russia's Ministry of Natural Resources who warned of the impending disaster resulting from the British Petroleum (BP) oil and gas leak in the Gulf of Mexico, calling it the worst environmental catastrophe in all of human history, the European Union Times reported.
Russian scientists believe BP is pumping millions of gallons of Corexit 9500, a chemical dispersal agent, under the Gulf of Mexico waters to hide the full extent of the leak, now estimated to be over 2.9 million gallons a day.

Note that Corexit 9500, disapproved by the EPA, causes the oil to sink and coalesce beneath the ocean surface and out of sight of radar, observers and, of course, the press.Experts say Corexit 9500 is a solvent four times more toxic than oil. The agent, scientists believe, has a 2.61ppm toxicity level, and when mixed with the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, its molecules will be able to “phase transition.” This transition involves the change of the liquid into a gaseous state, which can be absorbed by clouds. The gas will then be released as “toxic rain” leading to “unimaginable environmental catastrophe” destroying all life forms from the “bottom of the evolutionary chart to the top,” the report said. http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=128113&sectionid=3510203

Corexit 9500 can cause central nervous system depression, nausea, and unconsciousness. It can cause liver, kidney damage, and red blood cell hemolysis with repeated or prolonged exposure through inhalation or ingestion according to the MSDS ~ so let's just call it a potential black rain of death !

Bob Dylan was right...A hard rain is a-gonna fall... Obama and BP both know it and they are both stonewalling the release of this information. BP for financial liability reasons and Obama strictly for political reasons in a mid-term election year.

President Obama's reaction to this growing nightmare reminds me of George W Bush's reaction when told about the 9/11 attack, while reading My Pet Goat to a Florida Kindergarten class, Bemusement and Disengagement ~ but why ?
Because both knew the full extent of what was coming down and both were stone walling this information !

It's time to get rightfully angry and many are ~ The shift in spill and other downplayed details from BP have caused environmental activists like Lorraine Margeson of St Petersberg, Florida to rightfully question whether other details are being lowballed as well ~ " From the get go, every aspect of the situation has been downplayed ~ this thing has been out of control in terms of informing the public and transparency from day one "

Wayne Landry, parish council president in St Bernard Parish lashed out at BP's decision to use dispersants that Landry and others rightfully believe have undermined the miles of boom laid out to stop oil on the surface. ~ " Let's start getting at some of the hard hurtful truths. We don't know what we're dealing with ~ It's unacceptable that BP can have this problem, can destroy our marshes, our estuaries, destroy our way of life and at the end of the day can still lie to us about how it's not as bad as anybody thinks ~ our people are furious about this ! "

But what we really need are respected politicians who have seen it all but are willing to give a no-holds-barred critique of President Obama's totally inadequate response to the Oil disaster in the Gulf. Democratic political strategist, James Carville did just that on ABC's Good Morning America with his old friend George Stephanopoulis last week " I have no idea why their attitude was so hands-off here ~ It's just unbelievable ! "

Now you know why ~ Obama, like Bush and Clinton before him, is in bed with Big Oil and nothing, short of extreme voter anger, will break this mutual co-dependent relationship and most certainly not transparency and the truth ~ which must be avoided at all costs. Obviously, the seed of this calamity started with deregulation whereas we left Big Oil alone to mind itself with virtually no effective government oversight ~ and we are now paying the price for this lack of engagement.

By the way, the Roberts Court’s willingness to invent a rule capping punitive damages against Exxon doesn’t bode well for anyone hoping to hold BP accountable for this mounting disaster and to make sure it doesn’t happen again ~ which certainly will not be improved by Elena Kagan's appointment.

We need another Howard Beale to scream I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY LONGER ~ five minute must see Video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_qgVn-Op7Q

Now, send this post to your Email list and say the same words and we just might get something started. We can boycott BP right now (One million people have already signed up to do so ) Don’t buy BP gasoline or their Casterol brand lubricants !

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/gulf-has-scent-of-major-deception.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover .

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on http://www.conscioustalk.net/

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Wall Street's Foundation of Arrogance,Corruption and Greed

WALL STREET'S FOUNDATION OF ARROGANCE, CORRUPTION AND GREED

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A fast spreading cancer of Arrogance, Corruption and compulsive Greed has permeated Corporate Wall Street and it has become treasonous ~ to the extent that our political leaders are increasingly seen as beholden to their power brokers and oblivious to the people: Allen L Roland

The first seeds of treason started with the repeal of the Glass/Steagal act during the Clinton Administration wherein Banks could now become Investment houses thus ushering in a new form of financialization where financial markets dominated the traditional industrial economy. Greta Krippner of the University of California Los Angeles explained that “financialization” refers to a “pattern of accumulation in which profit making occurs increasingly through financial channels rather than through trade and commodity production.”

The next treasonous step occurred in 2000 with the rigged election of George W Bush, with the help of the Supreme Court. Quickly following was the self election of Dick Cheney as the Vice President and the titular leader of the shadow presidency ~ which was totally beholden to Big Oil and the financial and global elite.

Under Cheney, Greed had its ultimate disciple for Cheney had few moral scruples and virtually no empathy. It was Cheney's role to activate or permit the ultimate act of treason ~ the 9/11 attack and cover-up ~ and parlay that into the illegal attack and occupation of Iraq as well as Afghanistan. The Military / Industrial Complex was now in full control, greed was running rampant and FEAR was and still is its principle weapon. Remember this, on 9/10/01 Donald Rumsfeld announced that 2.3 trillion Pentagon dollars was missing ~ that's $8000 for every man, woman and child in America and this was never mentioned again after the infamous 9/11 attack a day later ~ as America became quickly consumed and manipulated by fear.

When the financial mortgage pyramid scheme collapsed in 2007 the banksters of course bailed themselves out and Obama was selected in 2008 with the mandate to keep the same clearly treasonous financial rules, set up by both Cheney and Bush, firmly in place. Goldman was the top contributor to Obama's election. Now greed has turned into obvious financial corruption and arrogance as witnessed by Goldman Sachs recent stock market actions and BP's negligent Gulf oil disaster. Goldman people were involved and responsible for the original economic meltdown and Goldman people are still in positions of leadership in the Obama administration. Peter Sutherland, chairman of BP’s board for the past decade, had headed Goldman Sachs International and, in the 1990s, was a director of the World Trade Organization. Goldman is the face of the Global Corporate Elite along with the Federal Reserve and the Bilderberg Group.

As such, Obama's illegal surge and continued occupation of Afghanistan must be seen as an external diversion to hide the increasingly obvious financial treason from within. It reminds me of a famous quote from Marcus Tullius Cicero ~ "A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly. But the traitor moves amongst those within the gate freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments, he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer is less to fear. The traitor is the plague."

The traitor from within is individual and compulsive GREED and it is as powerful and dangerous as the plague itself. Greed metastasizes ~ eventually all moral values and personal integrity fall victim to its lure as it slowly rots the soul of our nation as well as the Democratic pillars of our Republic.

As the late George Carlin correctly said ~ " The Corporations spend billions of dollars every year lobbying ... lobbying, to get what they want ... Well, we know what they want. They want more for themselves and less for everybody else, but I'll tell you what they don't want ... They don't want a population of citizens capable of seeking the truth. They don't want well informed, well educated people capable of critical thinking." ( 5 minute must see video )http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr7ePrCAqzo

As Danny Schechter writes in ICH ~ " The Banksters need to be stopped, but only the people can do that ~ our media and politicians, right center and progressive, are not up to the task. What we need is more than exposes but a major effort to organize like foroureconomy.org. This is the only way to fight back against a one-sided war." http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25455.htm

Thomas Wolfe prophetically wrote in You Can’t Go Home Again, Chap. 47 " I think the enemy is here before us with a thousand faces, but I think we know that all his faces wear one mask. I think the enemy is single selfishness and compulsive greed. "

Wall Street's foundation of single selfishness, arrogance, corruption and compulsive greed has permeated our body politic and the only antidote starts with the truth and transparency ~ which is always the foundation of true political change.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/wall-streets-foundation-of.html


This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover ~ call (707) 935-1908.

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

In Washington, They're All Pigs At The Same Trough

IN WASHINGTON / THEY'RE ALL PIGS AT THE SAME TROUGH

It's always the same in Washington ~ whereas everyone is feeding at the Wall Street money trough while posturing about meaningful reform and exhibit A continues to be unmitigated dishonesty and greed: Allen L Roland

Paul Krugman wrote a few days ago correctly that much of our financial industry is a racket ~ " a game in which a handful of people are lavishly paid to mislead an exploit consumers and investors. And if we don't lower the boom on these practices ~ the racket will just go on."

But now, Bob Chapman, International Forecaster, is much more specific regarding the frauds and scandals on Wall Street and the imminent collapse of the financial system ~ " As the world faces an ongoing sovereign debt debacle we see an attempt to defuse an oncoming scandal involving Goldman Sachs, Paulson and perhaps others."

Excerpt: " This leads us to the frauds on Wall Street and banking. We have pointed out for some time that Wall Street and banking had turned into a criminal enterprise. They always skated down the edge, but nothing like what we have seen over the past 20 years. Having been in the brokerage industry for 28 years and around it for 50 years we have been in a position to observe it closely. Today it’s massively rife with criminality. The exposure of Lehman’s crimes in hearings has been unprecedented. We wonder how many other firms did the same thing and their actions were covered up by the Fed and the SEC, as well as the CFTC? They are still underestimating debt levels by 40 to 50 percent, which means their focus reports are useless. The spirit of honesty and integrity still doesn’t exist. They are essentially keeping two sets of books and that makes their financial statements useless and fraudulent. That doesn’t bother the SEC, the BIS, the FASB, the Treasury or the Fed; they supervise the lawbreaking. Debt levels are massively understated by keeping two sets of books and by marking-to-model, fantasy, not to market. All of this is a result of the termination of the Glass Steagal Act It is all fraud, even if the government sanctions it. They are all acting in concert to screw the investor and the public. These people are all criminals. The excuse is that they are too big to fail. It is all fraud no matter which way you cut it. This is a criminal syndicate that should legally be out of business ~ bankrupt. They are all being bailed out, but we do not see the public being bailed out. The bailout of banking, Wall Street and insurance is still in process and there is no end in sight. There are two sets of laws. One for the Illuminists/elitist and another for us. Congress won’t do anything about it because most of them have been paid off."

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article25339.htm

In Summary ~ In Washington they're all pigs feeding at the same trough and nothing will change until truth and transparency are brought to Wall Street, the Glass Steagal Act is restored, criminal charges are filed and the Fed is audited.

Allen L Roland
http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/in-washington-theyre-all-pigs-at-same.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover ~ call (707) 935-1908.

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

Cartoon courtesy of Pat Oliphant / Washington Post

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Obama Hope To Obama Hype

OBAMA HOPE TO OBAMA HYPE

How deeply disappointing it is to watch Barack Obama ~ our candidate of HOPE become the president of HYPE ~ who still remains in full campaign mode while Americans teeter on the edge of a deepening depression: Allen L Roland

The true test of a persons character is not how they handle adversity but how do they handle power. In that respect President Obama has failed ~ for the articulate candidate of action,change and HOPE, that many of us voted for, has become the consummate Washington political insider who is still in campaign mode and has not only lost his base and credibility in the process but has also become the President of HYPE.

As such, it's time to take the gloves off and exercise the great American tradition of satire ~ traditionally used to humble and chasten our national leaders who don't live up to their promises.

Steve Bridges imitated George Bush on the Jay Leno Show during the entire eight years he was president. He was made up to look and act exactly like Bush. He has now started imitating Obama and he "nails" it. Click below and enjoy / part 1 & 2

http://www.stevebridges.com/video/flashVideo/obamaVideo.html

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/obama-hope-to-obama-hype.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover ~ call (707) 935-1908.

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Obama / Our Dark Machiavellian Prince

OBAMA / OUR DARK MACHIAVELLIAN PRINCE

Prince Obama by Edna Spennato

As Nicolò Machiavelli wrote in the early 1500's ~ The promise given was a necessity of the past: the word broken is a necessity of the present ~ and President Obama appears to be an ardent disciple of this cunning and deceitful Machiavellian political tactic: Allen L Roland

Any means to the end is, in essence, a Machiavellian political tactic and President Obama has become a subtle master of this political strategy ~ whereas, as noted Machiavellian Henry Kissinger once said, in the world of politics perception becomes far more important than reality.

Note President Obama's seeming Machiavellian indifference to his broken campaign promises from Renewed Offshore oil drilling, Renewed Nuclear power production, Keeping the Guantánamo torture camp open, Continuing the war against Iraq, Increasing our military presence in Afghanistan, Renewing the USA Patriot Act, Continuing "military commission" kangaroo trials, Reserving the right to torture, and Continuing the NSA's "domestic surveillance" program of spying on innocent Americans' emails and phone calls.

But also note that a key Machiavellian principle is "A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise "

Machiavelli originally wrote Principe (The Prince) (1513) in hopes of securing the favor of the ruling Medici family, and he deliberately made its claims provocative, and that they are ~ " Machiavelli argued that it is primarily the character or vitality or skill of the individual leader that determines the success of any state. The book surveys various bold means of acquiring and maintaining the principality and evaluates each of them solely by reference to its likelihood of augmenting the glory of the prince while serving the public interest. It is this focus on practical success by any means, even at the expense of traditional moral values, that earned Machiavelli's scheme a reputation for ruthlessness, deception, and cruelty."

http://www.philosophypages.com/ph/macv.htm

Writer Mary Rizzo makes the same analogy in her brilliant post Hail to the Prince: Obama, the paradigmatic Machiavellian Leader written on March 4, 2010 ~ " What you “are” and how you are “perceived” is a fascinating topic. It is dealt with mainly in sociology and psychology, but someone very important in the history of thought had a great deal to say about it regarding politics and power .. Machiavelli’s got something of a reputation, evidenced by the fact that his name has become an adjective with largely negative connotations, not really merited, in all honesty. What makes it even more entertaining is that the most scandalous part of his theoretical writing was the analysis of “reputation”, and the necessity of the leader of a State to manipulate the idea and the perception others have of him in order to carry out actions that have as the goal consolidation and maintenance of his own power... In his writing, a true “Prince/President” has to appear “compassionate, faithful, humane, religious” without actually being any of these things. He should go to Cairo to tell Muslims they have a beautiful faith, yet address them in a way only a colonialist could do, using Arabic words to thrill them, a sort of Ich bin ein Berliner in Middle Eastern Sauce.... Machiavelli insisted that the only real force of a State is in an extremely well-armed military, solid and faithful to its leader. Clashes and wars are born out of will to power and desire to control ever greater territories, conquest, in other words, not for abstract principles, though the abstract principles get the consensus required by a democracy."
http://palestinethinktank.com/2010/03/04/hail-to-the-prince-obama-the-paradigmatic-Machiavellian-leader/

Now let's note two recent events which show how the use of the Machiavellian principles of Perception versus Reality rule in the Obama Administration .

During his late March surprise six hour Afghanistan Photo Op Drop-In ~ President Obama assured his captive military listeners, and most assuredly Americans at home, that we will “finish the job” and made another promise as well: “I’m looking forward,” he told the troops, “to returning to Afghanistan many times in the years to come” thus contradicting another promise to the American people about withdrawal by 2011 but reinforcing his image as the consummate War President at the expense of the vast majority of Americans who want us out of Afghanistan.

But as columnist Courtland Milloy reported in the Washington Post on April 6th ~ " So President Obama made another surprise visit to a war zone ~ this time to Southeast Washington for Easter services at Allen Chapel AME. But instead of addressing the battle-weary congregation, as he did with the troops in Afghanistan last month, Obama fell curiously silent.... The president neither spoke nor shook hands, didn't wave or even turn around in his pew to smile at the 700 or so churchgoers who began arriving as early as 3 a.m. to see him .. In Afghanistan, Obama thanked U.S. soldiers and civilians for their efforts to "keep America safe and secure " but in Southeast, Washington ~ Obama sent up a private prayer and, with a veritable army of Secret Service and D.C. police officers protecting his motorcade, beat a hasty retreat back to the White House."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/06/AR2010040600538.html

And there you clearly see Obama's priorities ~ Obama is our dark Machiavellian Prince whose promises should always be measured in the light of political reality and the preservation of political power versus 'abstract' and traditional moral values.

Machiavelli would be proud of his new disciple ~

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/obama-our-dark-machiavellian-prince.html

This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476 Also accept Visa, MasterCard and Discover ~ call (707) 935-1908.

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net

Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )

ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY

Finally, A Matchmaking Service For Lobbyists And Politicians

FINALLY, A MATCHMAKING SERVICE FOR LOBBYISTS AND POLITICIANS

It was an idea long overdue, particularly with lobbyists outnumbering politicians by at least ten to one ~ a matchmaking site for polluters, Industry lobbyists and politicians where the only ones who lose are, of course, the American taxpayer: Allen L Roland

What is it with politicians who get caught lying, taking bribes or breaking ethics laws but pass it off as the beltway Way of Life ~ and act like they did not do anything wrong. Take for example ~ Rep. Charles Rangel, Democratic Chairman of the House Ways and Means committee, who gets slapped on the wrist this week by the Senate ethics committee for accepting an illegal multi-day vacation ~ paid for by a well connected corporate 'sponsor' in the Caribbean.

Three of the five Democrats on the bipartisan Ethics Committee got donations from Rangel and one of them went along with Rangel on his recent ill fated Island junket ~ which confirms that most politicians are indeed for sale to the highest corporate bidder.

So why not make it legal and set up a matchmaking service that at least brings transparency to this long time Washington D.C tradition.


Published by GREENPEACE on February 24, 2010 ~ this brilliant satire on just such a matchmaking service, like all great satires, comes very close to the truth.

PolluterHarmony.com is the #1 Matchmaking Site for Polluters, Industry Lobbyists, & Politicians !

Here's a typical success story ~ " When I saw Jeff's profile, I couldn't believe I found a lobbyist with so much money to contribute to my re-election campaigns and so many big coal and utility industry clients. Arch Coal, Southern Company, Edison Electric... I thought "He's just what I'm looking for!" We instantly clicked ~ in our first phone conversation, he told me he could bundle $10,000 by our first date. We met in person a week later, and he had the check in hand. By our second date we knew that this was the real thing for us both. He told me he'd been trying to undermine the Clean Air Act since the first Bush term. As the ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources committee, I was happy to help him by slowing down clean energy policy and introducing polluter-friendly legislation. Thanks to PolluterHarmony, I've finally found my perfect match. Together, we're blocking the EPA from taking on big polluters. And now that the Supreme Court has opened the floodgates for corporate funded elections, Jeff's able to funnel even more money into my re-election efforts this November."

http://www.polluterharmony.com/testimonials.php

A match made in heaven, or hell if your a progressive, but what else can you expect in a Corpocracy ~ a society dominated politically and economically by large corporations ~ where the dirty energy money is there for the taking.

3 minute video of K Street lobbyist Jeff's big score ~
http://www.commondreams.org/video/2010/02/24

Allen L Roland

http://allenlrolandsweblog.blogspot.com



This weblog is sustained through donations from people like yourself. Please send check or Money Order to Allen L. Roland, PO Box 1221, Sonoma,CA 95476

Allen L Roland is a practicing psychotherapist, author and lecturer who also shares a daily political and social commentary on his weblog and website allenroland.com He also guest hosts a monthly national radio show TRUTHTALK on www.conscioustalk.net
Freelance Alternative Press Online columnist and psychotherapist Allen L Roland is also available for comments, interviews, speaking engagements and private consultations ( allen@allenroland.com )


ONLY THE TRUTH IS REVOLUTIONARY