© Duncan Long
Every four years, the deck chairs of the political Titanic that is the American empire get rearranged in the choreographed spectacle of another presidential "election". The 2012 charade is particularly disgusting; the lies more blatant and shrill, as the world continues to burn.
It is critical to focus on the cold, ugly reality facing the world with either prospective White House occupant.
On one side, the Obama administration, and the traditional brand of neoliberal imperialism and international consensus, and false domestic populism. On the other side with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan, militant right-wing extremism, an apocalyptic war agenda and the politics of sadism at home.
The interests of the elite (Council on Foreign Relations, Bilderberger, etc.) is dutifully served with either Obama or Romney in the White House. The question for the elite is purely over style and execution.
Obama has been a servile facilitator and protector of the political establishment; an insidious capitulator and "consensus man". For Wall Street's billionaires, the Pentagon's warmongers, and Washington's most shamelessly corrupt, there has been no greater gift than Obama and his presidency. But with Romney and Ryan, the agenda simply speeds up and destroys faster, more violently, with true theocratic maniacal fervor.
The final choice will not be made by voters (who will be disenfranchised again, via electronic vote fraud and other manipulations), but by the criminal elements who seize final control of the apparatus over the final month of the "contest".
The "children" are being allowed to fight it out amongst themselves. The side with ultimate command of the corporate media propaganda, the most effective back door deals, and the most effective dirty tricks and election night shenanigans, will prevail, the pre-determined result promptly encrypted into the software of controlled Diebold voting machines.
The Debate Charade
The carefully pre-selected issues assume a host of falsehoods, from the legitimacy of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the destabilizations of Iran and Syria, to the need for fiscal austerity.
These are rhetorical dog-and-pony shows without real differences, beyond timing, style, and method, by which they will execute similar agendas.
Both sides largely agree on foreign policy. Both sides proudly trumpet how best to inflict crippling economic warfare on "nuclear Iran", and topple Syria. The only argument is whether the sequential multinational stranglehold ("diplomacy") led by the Obama administration continues apace, or, if Romney/Ryan and the right will get what they really want: an all-out war with Iran.
Both sides agree on the same falsehoods regarding the national debt (without mentioning that the world war that they enthusiastically wage is the main expenditure) and the US financial crisis (ignoring the fact that the financial "crisis" and "bailout" was a manipulation that centralized the power for Wall Street constituents, the big banks, who support both sides equally, at the expense of US taxpayers). In terms of social programs (that will be cut in any case in order to pay for more war), the Romney/Ryan contingent calls for an immediate destruction of the entire social structure of the US - a swift draconian end to social programs such as Medicare and Social Security - while the Obama administration takes a more gradual approach.
Essentially, the candidates have already admitted that they do not serve the interests of most of humanity.
The media "analysis" of the election has been stomach-turning - nothing more than insanity heaped atop insanity. The chattering of talking heads over infantile nonsense, such as "who looks presidential", who got more "gotchas" and "zingers". A dumbed-down spectacle for a dumbed-down, manipulated populace.
Was Libya a Right-wing October Surprise?
One genuine point of friction between the Obama and Romney/Ryan camps is the Libyan terror attack of 9/11/12.
The attack, including the assassination of Ambassador Christopher Stevens was carried out by the Al-Qaeda "freedom fighters" that helped the US overthrow the regime of Muammar Qaddafi. These assets are closely linked to American neoconservatives, including a large contingent of figures behind the Bush/Cheney apparatus
There is little doubt that it was a false flag operation. The question remains, what high ranking Washington figures were involved. Who benefits?
Was it an October Surprise on the part of the right wing to humiliate the Obama administration, and steal the election, or an incident that was part of a larger bipartisan consensus agenda?
New reports from Salon.com of the coordinated activities of the American criminal right-wing and the Romney/Ryan camp, including gloating and "chortling" by high ranking Republicans that the attacks have turned Obama "into Jimmy Carter": GOP's October Surprise.
The timing of the attack and the Obama administration's flummoxed reactions also suggest that they were caught off guard. Although it is true that the "war on terrorism" gets a boost in any case (there will be ramped up "anti-terrorism" in the wake of the incident), the Obama camp does not benefit politically from appearing to be vulnerable, disorganized and "weak", ahead of an election. But the Romney/Ryan camp, which will do anything to gain power, very clearly benefits.
The right-wing (exemplified by the such criminals as the malodorous and corrupt Mitch McConnell) has treasonously sabotaged the Obama administration from the minute Obama took the oath.
Romney and Ryan are certainly playing Libya it to the hilt, noisily igniting scandal. They seek to ride the momentum of their attacks, all the way to a victory, with the help of vicious right-wing elements in Congress.
Who is investigating the right-wingers who were "chortling" about it?
It must be remembered that such October Surprises have occurred before. Right-wing Republicans have always been the culprits.
Bottom line: a terror attack, the murder of a US diplomat, and an international flashpoint are being exploited for political gain in Washington.
Romney/Ryan: Bush/Cheney on Steroids
To know what a Romney/Ryan presidency promises, simply consider some of the dangerous ultra-hawk war criminals and unsavory individuals who are advising the ticket.
Its team of foreign policy advisers is a wall to wall cast of Bush/Cheney war criminals:
Dan Senor - former leader of the Iraq provisional authority
Cofer Black - former CIA official, vice chairman of Blackwater USA
John Bolton - former Bush/Cheney US ambassador
Eliot Cohen - Project for New American Century (PNAC), Dick Cheney aide
Walid Phares - "scholar" on "anti-terrorism"; Lebanese Christian with ties to violent Lebanese militia
Michael Hayden - Bush/Cheney CIA and NSA director
Max Boot - senior CFR fellow, PNAC
Eric Edelman - former Dick Cheney aide
The ticket's economic advisers are led by the Paul Ryan himself, "Lyin' Ryan" the destroyer, along with the following leftovers from Bush/Cheney:
Glenn Hubbard - Bush/Cheney council of economic advisors
Gregory Mankiw - Bush/Cheney council of economic advisors
Vin Weber - lobbyist, former Republican member of Congress
Jim Talent - lobbyist connected to Jack Abramoff
Kevin Hassett - former aide to Bush/Cheney
This list speaks for itself, as does "Etch-a-Sketch" Romney's background as a Wall Street manipulator and "Lyin" Ryan's fanaticism. Expect saber-rattling, violent rhetoric, rabid attacks against nations from those in the Arab world to China and Russia, and irrational behavior to blossom in the weeks ahead.
Media Cheerleading
Judging from the narrative that is being created out of the presidential and vice presidential debates so far, it is clear which side the establishment favors more. The right-wing elements dominate American society and its media. There is no "liberal media". The right-wing also controls the voting machines.
The right-wing is foaming at the mouth for a Romney/Ryan Republican win. This explains why Romney and Ryan can do no wrong in any mainstream media coverage. They can say or do anything, tell any lie, while the Obama administration "loses" - even when they "win", and no matter what they attempt.
Romney and Ryan, and their minions, have spouted treasonous rhetoric, and have not been stopped.
This is identical to the astounding free passes that Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush received on their way to White House power. It is happening again.
Which way to the abyss?
There have never been real elections in contemporary America, and there will be no "election" this time either. There will, as always, be no real choice: war-mongering, mass-murdering imperialist "A" or war-mongering mass-murdering imperialist "B".
America and the world must pay attention to which brand of fascism will ultimately be chosen, if only to properly prepare for what is to come. The marginal differences in method and style have ramifications, domestically and globally.
The quelling of increasingly large swaths of humanity is more important to the elite than ever before. The next White House occupant will spearhead the likely UN and NATO regime changes for Syria and Iran, both of which have been systematically destabilized by the CIA and its affiliates, and the "reconstruction" of the American social net.
Will it be more of the fist inside the velvet glove, or the hammer directly to the skull?
No matter who "wins", humanity loses.
That's the button I want to wear on that dreaded waste of time Tuesday. Then I can fly under the radar with the rest of the invalids, until they take the time to read it, then I can smile as their gears audibly lock up inside that bony cave they look out of.
Shouldn't that button say 'I Voted!'? What is he trying to say? Where's the nearest Starbucks?
I'm so sick of all these pathetic excuses for patriotism. All patriotism does is stroke the egos of people that know full well their decision to back the political apparatus in any form promotes murder in exchange for entitlement. That is perhaps the biggest self delusion of all these patriots: that somehow preemptive war in nation after nation has a justification. That rolling in with tanks, planes and soldiers wherever the international thieves deem necessary is OK because waving the stars and stripes makes one impervious to blame and morally immune.
Every time I see the flag it brings shameful pictures to mind and heart. I see a murder, extortion and terror machine run by complete madmen. How anyone can see otherwise is inconceivable. When they start playing that pathetic war ballad I go grab a beer or take a dump, two infinitely more valuable practices. When I see people making the pledge I ask God for forgiveness. When I see people vote. I know it's all for the right to have others murdered in exchange for false security and debt driven immediate gratification.
All of that sounds rather extreme. It is. I do love this land, and I love my life. If the system actually operated in the manner it claims to, beginning with personal sovereignty and ending with the constitution, I would have little to say. But for the few that actually have the bells to investigate and pay attention, all freedom has been legislated down the toilet, and the constitution was the ass wipe to top it off. It is and always has been about killing people and taking their possessions. This nation was founded on killing the aboriginal people and taking their land. Back then, the government just demonized them, made them a separate and evil subspecies in the eyes of greedy, bloodthirsty men. It's no different now, except the murdered are halfway across the world, and the mentally obese patriot can breath easy knowing that a world full of bad guys is safely at the end of gun barrel.
The government hasn't been a constitutional republic since the civil war. Maybe it never was. What it has been is a masterful theater of acting like it is a democratic republic, while subversively stealing the labor value and lives of any man that isn't morally decrepit enough to join team USA. All of this voting crap is the topper of the government posing. The people flock to the video games, insert their quarter and press the button that validates their incapability of critical thought. They vote for an image, created by media programming, based on illegitimate character traits like pseudo religious, color of skin, political party and appealing demeanor. They never pause to question why there are only two candidates that have a chance, and the parties of those candidates exist at every level of the political process from local to national. They never question the fact that every election cycle is the forerunner to more fear, more debt, more control over their lives. Somehow they have convinced themselves that their vote will make a difference, this time, or any time.
One of these times, maybe this one, it will be the last time there is a vote. And when the charade is up, the bleating throng will attach itself to anything that keeps the ego's wolves at bay.