Why I Am Not Enthusiastic About Obama (or voting)
by Brother Manifest ~ October 18th, 2008. Filed under: Black Consciousness.
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| Why I Am Not Enthusiastic About Obama (or voting)1968. 40 years ago. FBI Cointelpro Documents sent one month after the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The title of the document was spying and disruption. Cointelpro served as a pretext to what we see in th Patriot Act parts 1 & 2, the Military Commissions Act and the War on Terrorism.
Official Cointelpro Document Highlights
- 1. Prevent the COALITION of militant black nationalist groups. In unity there is strength; a truism that is no less valid for all its triteness. An effective coalition of black nationalist groups might be the first step toward a real “Mau Mau” [Black revolutionary army] in America, the beginning of a true black revolution.
- 2. Prevent the RISE OF A “MESSIAH” who could unify, and electrify, the militant black nationalist movement. Malcolm X might have been such a “messiah;” he is the martyr of the movement today. Martin Luther King, Stokely Carmichael and Elijah Muhammed all aspire to this position. Elijah Muhammed is less of a threat because of his age. King could be a very real contender for this position should he abandon his supposed “obedience” to “white, liberal doctrines” (nonviolence) and embrace black nationalism. Carmichael has the necessary charisma to be a real threat in this way.
- 3. Prevent VIOLENCE on the part of black nationalist groups. This is of primary importance, and is, of course, a goal of our investigative activity; it should also be a goal of the Counterintelligence Program to pinpoint potential troublemakers and neutralize them before they exercise their potential for violence.
- 4. Prevent militant black nationalist groups and leaders from gaining RESPECTABILITY, by discrediting them to three separate segments of the community. The goal of discrediting black nationalists must be handled tactically in three ways. You must discredit those groups and individuals to, first, the responsible Negro community. Second, they must be discredited to the white community, both the responsible community and to “liberals” who have vestiges of sympathy for militant black nationalist [sic] simply because they are Negroes. Third, these groups must be discredited in the eyes of Negro radicals, the followers of the movement. This last area requires entirely different tactics from the first two. Publicity about violent tendencies and radical statements merely enhances black nationalists to the last group; it adds “respectability” in a different way.
- 5. A final goal should be to prevent the long-range GROWTH of militant black organizations, especially among youth. Specific tactics to prevent these groups from converting young people must be developed.
Now, on to the point of this blog. Why am I not enthusiastic about Obama (or voting)? For a while now I entertained conversations from folks on the topic of the presidential election. What did I think about it, did I think Obama could win were the most common; though I often found myself reclusive from engaging in the diatribe. My responses in the beginning were optimistic at best. I surmised that it would be good for black children in America to see a black man as president, that this phenomenon of Obama would raise the self-esteem of millions of black youth throughout the country and encourage them to make more of themselves than what the television (BET MTV VH1) was giving them as role models.
I rested my case on this point for a while. However my own mind could not iron out a glaring contradiction. How could it be that a black man rise to the highest position in this country without having compromised himself and his dedication to African (American) people? I’ll admit to knowing nothing of this man prior to 2007. He was no champion of black people prior to this historical run. No advocate of civil rights such as (though to limited degrees John Conyers, Maxine Walters, and the like) I had never heard his name mentioned when we talked about black issues at all. Though I admit to not really follow the house or the senate. But here was this man, who seemingly came out of nowhere and had galvanized millions of American people unlike any other in the history of presidential elections as I have known them. Would he stand up for black people? Or would be be a better marketed democrat version of Alan Keyes?
It did not take me long to become thoroughly disenchanted by Barack. I cushion this statement by saying I know that McCain is the enemy. I have no question about it. I really think it was easy for all of us to tell that McCain would represent Bush. Since it was very obvious that McCain was the enemy and nobody I knew would be voting for him anyway; McCain never really was a thought process for me to critique. Bullshit is bullshit, it might smell different, have a different texture, come froma different person but all in all it is still bullshit. But Barack Obama on the other hand, this was an enigma. What did he stand for? Change. Hope. Progress. These were all very marketable statements. I am still impressed by the awesome marketing campaign employed by the Obama team. It seems as though they studied the best of guerilla marketing, fused it with seth godin, and sprinkled in a million dollar budget and youth targeted audience. But what did he stand for? It did not take me long to find out.
Reason Number 1: He is Pro-Imperialism
Around maybe Feb of 2008, I read that Barack Obama had voted for the FISA Bill which allowed the government to tap your phone, hence the above quote from the FBI Cointelpro Document. My thought was how could he do that? Support the patriot act? How and why could that be logical when the Administration who pushed it; had foreknowledge of the 9-11 attacks which was the reason it was created? Then I read that his advisor was former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzenzinski; who is the author of The Grand Chessboard and other books that serve as what we can call handbooks of American Imperialism. The book basically outlines how the last piece of the puzzle for global Western Dominance of the globe was in fact the region called The Middle East and its vast reserves of energy (oil). The book puts the quest for modern global dominance in the context of what other great imperialist nations had done i.e. Rome, Mongolia, etc. what they did wrong…but I digress. Brzezinski was Obama’s advisor. This explained his stance on Iraq, that they would keep US forces in the country to act as police (perform anti-terrorist strikes against AL-qaeda); never mind that the US invasion of Iraq was illegal in the first place given that the pretext was that they had Weapons of Mass Destruction that they did not have and that they had assassinated their leader Sadaam Hussein. I am not saying that Sadaam Hussein was not evil or whatever, I am saying that the US does not have the authority to do what it did in Iraq and that is overthrow a government and occupy it with people who sympathize with America. Link: Obama on FISA
Reason 2: He is Pro Israel
Later I would read that Obama’s comments to AIPAC (American Isreal Public Affairs Committee). Background on the Palestine vs. Isreal conflict is needed to understand this situation. Okay. Lets explain it like this. Suppose me englishmen were looking for a home. They get a couple of their rich companies (nations) to finance their occupation their move to North America. The native people of North America call North America Turtle Island. There capital is Washitaw. They are annexed to a certain area by force (guns, tanks, military from the rich companies i.e. nations) that does not even include their capital. The Americans even build a fence around their new area between them and the native peoples new territory. Remember there was no negotiation they just came in an took the land. The englishmen rename Turtle Island, America and claim Washitaw as their capital.
Now the native people fight back, they want their capital back. They are slaughtered but are relentless. They fight and fight and the international media highlights that the Americans are too brutal and intervenes to negotiate. The international media sides say 60/40 in favor of the Americans (cuz they got money and guns) and say Americans should chill out with the slaughter/discrimination and genocide but they can keep Washitaw as the capital. This is the situation in Palestine, except the Palestinians are the Indians and the Americans are the Israelis. Washitaw in my example is Jerusalem. Never mind that they didn’t have the authority to go and take the Palestinian land in the first place.
Some may say well the Jews who became the Israelis were there because after WW2 Holocaust they needed a place to go. Israel is their biblical homeland and they should be able to return to it. This is a myth. After the holocaust Jews relocated to South America, the United States and even the Congo. What has been done in Palestine is inhuman and a blatant disregard for the Palestinian peoples’ right o self determination. Suppose somebody came into your house saying that the bible authorized them to do it. Killed your family and moved you into the garage?
Considering that Obama is a black man, it would make alot of sense for him to emphasize on the behalf of the Palestinians, I mean dag; considering the history of America it would appear obvious that we would be on the side of anyone who was being oppressed. But he was not. He sided with the Israeli government and said that the capital of Israel is Jerusalem. Link: Obama on Israel
Reason 3: He Says We Should Respect the Sean Bell
Sean Bell was the a soon to be newlywed black father who was shot to death by police the night of his bachelor party. The police who shot him said they thought he had a gun (don’t they always say that?) though no gun was found. They police shot over 50 times!! One police officer actually reloaded his gun and shot some more after emptying the clip. The result was (of course) the police were found not guilty and acquitted. We have seen this in the black community before. So many times before. We thought that this time we would get justice. But nope. Obama said we shout respect the ruling of the judges in the matter. How can we respect the ruling? More importantly why? If he is about change; why does he support more of the same when it comes to Africans being brutalized and killed unjustly by the police? Link: Obama on Sean Bell
Reason 4: He is against even a study for African American Reparations
Really don’t need to say much about that. Oh, except that J.P Morgan whom has it’s roots in the slave trade (it’s predecessor companies profiteered from the slave trade and as a result are the foundation of the company) and in fact offered an apology in 2007 to African Americans; is one of Barack Obama’s top contributors to the tune of over 200,000 dollars. He indicated that reparations would be a “distraction and make people feel as though they paid the debt” Problem is we don’t even have a clue as to how much of a debt is owed because he opposes even a study to find out. Link: Obama Against Study For Reparations
Okay So Your Not Enthusiastic About Obama; Why Voting?
Well I will first say that I am an advocate for Cythia Mckinney but I am well aware of the fact that a great number of people are not aware of the fact that an all women african/american|african latino ticket is in place for the Green Party. People who do know, say well if you vote for the Green Party you are actually voting against Obama; and you know Obama even if you don’t agree with him is better than McCain. The line of reasoning is that you should go with the lesser of two evils. I rather go with neither and would actually be glad to give the Green Party my vote. If the Green Party gets 5% they get equal funds to campaign in the 2012 election. Cythnia Mckinney is actually more inclined to speak for the people who have been oppressed, questioning the 9-11 attacks on the house floor while in the House of Representatives and holding sessions on Cointelpro and on the death of tupac shakur. Rosa Clemente has been organizing the grassroots for a long time, advocating for black and brown unity within the Malcolm x grassroots movement. Neither Cynthia nor Rosa have been able to get any air time from the major media machine, because the presidential election is governed by money and they don’t got money like McCain or Obama. Cynthia is featured highly in the film American Blackout; which covers voter disenfranchisement which actually brings me to the point of this post, as to why I am not enthusiastic about voting or Obama.
What Happened to The Elections Being stolen in 2000 & 2004
In 2000 greg palast indicates that 1 million black votes were cast away in this country. No discussion of voter disenfranchisement has taken place in 2008. Not one, considering that this was the topic of discussion in Ohio in 2004 and in Florida of 2000. Hindsight is always (dependent on whose looking) 20/20 and we find that votes were lost all around the country. So if I did vote; there is no guarentee that my vote would event count, let alone take away from Obama, let alone if I were even so optimistic elect Cynthia Mckinney for President (never mind how historical it is to have two women of color running a presidential ticket)
So tell me; should I be enthusiastic?
One thing that does excite me is the heightened political consciousness of lay people. Everybody has an opinion based on the information they have received thus far, and this is mine – even with it’s cynicism. To wrap all this up, considering the FBI document from 40 years ago that I cited in the beginning, also considering that political prisoners are still in prison as a result of that same Cointelpro; do we honestly believe that America would allow a black man to come in a right the wrongs of this corrupt government? This is the same government that assassinated Malcolm, Martin, exiled Marcus Garvey, has trade sanctions on Cuba, won’t lift a finger to help Haiti, enslaved my ancestors, exterminated the indigenous people of this country and still practices imperialism by invading countries overthrowing it’s leaders in the name of democracy. We shall see, but I honestly don’t think so.
To Prevent the Rise of A Black Messiah
Fact is, given the history of this current and its current attitude toward race, and Obama’s insistent color blindness – it appears that Obama may be the quintessiential “black leader”. He has been groomed for the position, and has no affiliations with militant black nationalists. For all intents and purposes Cointelpro’s goal was to prevent real black leaders from being successful in making a better world – to make real change. So when did the memo go out to allow a black messiah to rise up again? If they killed Malcolm and Martin, how can who the hell left the gate open to allow Obama in? Why have we not heard him stand up for oppressed people like Malcolm or Martin or Lennon or Che? Will we see that? I don’t know. Unlike Mckinney he asked no questions about 9-11. Which is how we got into this war in the first place. Cynthia Mckinney stood for truth. BUt we know she won’t win the election. We know the election is classocracy; with the spoils going to the person with the best marketing plan and budget to back it up. Corporations endorse presidential candidates like sports drinks endorse athletes. God only knows what will iron out in the wash in the weeks to come regarding this bailout and Bush, given what washed out after the Enron scandal. Who is putting money behind Obama? What are their politics? What is the agenda of the financier?
To Conclude This
Let me say I am not anti-obama, I am anti-imperialism. In Africa, neocolonialsim took hold after colonialism. Defined loosely neocolonialism is when the subjects of the colony are given control of the colony as long as they are in line with the colonies policies. They go to the colonies schools, dress like the colonial powers and are an extension of their colonies power. When the colonist say they gave the country independence or freedom, and the country is controlled by people that the colony put in power it is not sufficient to say oh there is a black leader in power. What is that leaders orientation given the historical reality faced by his or her people. It is because of these questions and realities that I find myself not enthusiastic about Obama or voting.
October 20th, 2008 at 12:37 AM
This essay needs to be one of those emails that circulates ad nauseum like, say, those fake Sarah Palin pictures or the Willie Lynch letter or the one about not flashing your headlights to cars with their own off…but then again it’s easier to forward mindless crap than this kind of stuff which requires one to think. I worry that people’s decision to support Obama is a knee jerk response to Bush for much of what you named. A “black messiah” that we had not even heard of in the recent Black American discourse? Nobody wonders why we never see his white mother and grandmother? The *crafting* of a decidedly *black* messiah is what I, like you seem to, suspect…And makes me rather cynical about this election too. Thanks for the research I didn’t have to support my uneasiness!
October 20th, 2008 at 1:48 AM
Brutha…This is a beautifully organized and written piece. Initially, I struggled with some of the same things when asked whether or not I would vote for Obama. I have many friends in different countries on the Continent that are so excited that Obama will be president. One of the brothers even said “When Obama is president, Africa will finally have some relief.” WOW, is what I said to myself. Obama madness is truly global. When I put it in perspective, I realize how hungry Africans all over the world are hungry for this relief that my brother in Congo was talking about. I couldn’t help but to feel bad when the brother was sighing as I broke down the reality to him. I thought about how this affected him and it led me to this.
The corporate imperialist machine is definitely at work here in this Obama madness. In fact, their hoping that they can trick millions of Black & Brown people all over the world who’s DNA is informing them of the REAL CHANGE that is coming. I see this Obama madness as the last and final revelation. The last stage for imperialism. Once the people see that imperialism is in place after Obama is in office, then our work really begins. We can use this to our advantage. A Rasta elder once told me, “the higher the monkey climb, the more him exposed, Truth will be revealed.” What is hidden will truly come to light. Everything is the fuel and all things can be used to work for the good. So while imperialism is fighting to enlist their last recruit in a last ditch effort to conquer the minds of the youth, let us not underestimate our youth and let us be vigilantly preparing them for the time of the REVELATION. How angry will they be when they realize that they have been tricked, hoodwinked, bamboozled? And more importantly, how can we be instrumental in steering that anger and fury towards the goal of liberation? Truth will be revealed after all the lights and glitter have gone. Truth will be revealed when Black people are still getting shot down in the streets of every major city in Amerikkka. Truth will be revealed when those very same young people who saw so much hope in Obama are let down because not much in their hoods have changed. Let us have sight beyond sight. Let’s be ahead of the game. What is the plan after Obama wins? Bless.
October 20th, 2008 at 8:28 AM
I must respect this peace and give thanks for the info I was not aware of and glad to see I’m not the only one looking at this character suspiciously. When I found out Cynthia was on the ticket I was pissed only because we all should have known from the very beginning she was running.
Hype seems to consume the masses and that is where we as a people fail, we follow the hype and don’t research and really watch what’s going on around us. Much Raspect brotha and keep the FYAH blazin’.
October 21st, 2008 at 7:57 AM
Here are a few reasons to not only be resistant to ‘Obamamania’ but also not participate in the so-called election: (1) Obama was already hand-picked by the Illuminati to be the next president. It’s already a done deal. (2) Obama is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations just like messy Jesse. Obama was confronted on youtube about his membership in this secret society and he started stuttering weak denials concerning his membership. (3) The etymology of the word ‘Barak’ is traced back to the phrase ‘White Horse’ or Pale Horse ! Perhaps this is what the late William Cooper lost his life trying to warn us about in his book, Behold The Pale Horse. What I have just put down is researchable and I encourage you all to explore this and make your own decisions regarding the credibility of Mr. Obama. Read up on a tactic known as the Hegelian Dialectic and you’ll come away with a mor profound overstanding as to why he is propped up to be ‘False Messiah.’
November 3rd, 2008 at 4:11 AM
Brother Manifest, this is a great piece of research. These facts are needed when battling the pressure from our people about not voting. I never voted, because for the simple reason that, I never believe that this is our system. From the very beginning its only been a system to oppress us. I don’t understand how our people could support a constitution that has us documented a 3/5 human beings. I know they say its amended. But it should be trashed and corrected. I guess we do need to study how much is owe to us, but not by Congress, they are the perpetrator of the crime. We need a independent party that works on our behalf. I could go on and on, but I will end here. This make me feel good to see that all our people aren’t disillusioned.
Peace
BlackMan
November 4th, 2008 at 4:04 AM
To piggyback on Obama and the CFR check out what I found on http://www.nowpublic.com/obama-cfr I will only submit the key points in the article. You can go to the website to read the article in its entirety.
Obama outlines his ambitious geopolitical plans in a recent essay for Foreign Affairs magazine. Foreign Affairs is published by the Council on Foreign
Relations, which describes itself as a non-partisan group of which he is a member. Established in the 1920’s and headquartered in New York, its membership includes prominent politicians and business elite, including heads of academia and media. The organization seeks to centralize both political power and market power to craft legislation outside the checks and balances of democracy. The CFR is rarely mentioned by the mainstream media, making it difficult to fully gauge its influence. When it is mentioned in the press, it is
likely whitewashed as trivial or irrelevant. Notable members of the CFR include:
Dick Cheney
John Kerry
Bill Clinton
Al Gore
Ronald Reagan
George H. W. Bush
Gerald Ford
Richard Nixon
John, David &
Nelson Rockefeller
Condolezza Rice
Paul Wolfowitz
Alan Greenspan
[Rectal] Colin Powell
Henry Kissinger
Angelina Jolie
(Yes, the actress has a five year term membership as an
ambassador)
Its membership list is a who’s who of Washington and Wall St. elite going back nearly a century. It should not be surprising that most presidential
candidates in the 2008 election are CFR members. Candidates do not
advertise their CFR membership to the public. They pose as “liberals” and “conservatives” to control all aspects of the debate. The CFR has stacked the deck for the 2008 election with several members in the race from both sides of the isle:
Democrat CFR
Candidates:
Barack Obama
Hillary Clinton
John Edwards
Chris Dodd
Bill Richardson
Republican CFR
Candidates:
Mitt Romney
Rudy Giuliani
John McCain
Fred Thompson
Newt Gingrich
The mainstream media’s self-proclaimed “top tier” candidates are united in their
CFR membership, while an unwitting public perceives political diversity. The unwitting public has been conditioned to instinctively deny such a mass deception could ever be hidden in plain view. Presidential Candidate & Congressman Ron Paul is the only “top tier” candidate who is not a member of the CFR.
By now, I think you get my drift. Go to the website if you’re curious about the rest of this issue.
Peace + Light,
Bro. Khem Sut Amen
November 7th, 2008 at 2:40 AM
Peace Brethren + Sistren,
Submitted for your approval is another link to an article on Obama’s CFR connections. The link is http://kemetaphysics.blogspot.com/.
Peace + Light,
Khem Sut Amen
November 13th, 2008 at 9:16 AM
Of course BO is a member of the CFR, & so is Jesse Jackson, Colin Powell,
Condi Rice & Clarence Thomas. Now what all these folk have in common is their bone deep commitment to maintaining the hegemony of the super-rich white male ruling elite who control is nation & much of the world. They all are 21st century house negroes who serve their master unflinchingly & w/out question. Make no mistake about that.
As a Harvard trained lawyers, both BO & Michelle have been schooled to serve the interests of of the U.S. White power structure. This is true for everyone who attends Harvard, which has never been a school noted for training transformative African Amer leaders. Can anyone name a Black revolutionary trained at Harvard?
The African community did not fund their Harvard ed, nor BO’s run for the white house. HIs rich, white, male backers picked up the tab for both. So we should not be surprised or disappointed when he sides w/his White trainers & handlers against the interests of the African community.
December 13th, 2008 at 3:57 AM
While I find the information that you have presented very useful, I am unable to share in your disenthusiasm with Mr. Obama. From the beginning here, I must concede that Obama is no Black revolutionary nor is he a Black nationalist. But is it a realistic expectation to see someone who is (or proclaims to be) associated with Black radicalism elected to the presidency? I think we all can agree the answer is no.
The nagging problem with democracy has always been that one very rarely can carry out their electoral civic duties by electing the want they want. We are able only to cast our votes for those candidates that we have. In this past election I was happy to cast my vote for Mr. Obama, because I believe in a great many of his policies.
My exuberance in casting my vote speaks to the core of what Obama represents to me: a forward thinking, politically astute Black man.
I think our Afrocentrism and nationalist ideals are bound to pale any candidate for any office in this country. If we are going to concern ourselves with this political climate, we must learn to deal with the reality that our nationalist ideals will not be reflected in the American government. It is completely unrealistic to expect these ideals to be reflected since such a vocal advocate for our cause could never to stand to win a nomination from a party – much less a general elections.
Expecting a president to be vocally pro-black, to not have any dealings or business partnerships with white America, to not have to take unpopular positions in order to bolster political appearance if folly in the American system – or any system in the world quite frankly. Need I point out that many of our brothers and sisters who were leaders of the great African revolutions of the 20th century turned out to be corrupt beyond measure!
All I’m saying is this: when you pick up a piece of chalk, you don’t put it in your mouth because you know it’s chalk. Expecting a president of the United States to be a pro-black, revolutionary, Afro-centrist is like picking up that piece of chalk, putting it in your mouth, and expecting it to taste like cheese.
January 19th, 2009 at 8:42 AM
great work!
i’m relieved that some of us have our thinking caps on. i had this guy figured out minus the research that you all did. if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is.