Naomi Wolf: Obama inauguration: A new tone. No more fake optimism for the people

[marmar]

from the Guardian UK:



Obama inauguration: A new tone. No more fake optimism for the people
Naomi Wolf

guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 21 January 2009 01.52 GMT


I know that Barack Obama is incredibly smart, and it's not that I'm surprised that he gave a fantastic speech. But I've been following American politics for a long time, and sometimes you see something that works on so many levels that you kind of have to gasp at its sophistication.

This speech marked a sharp line in the sand, breaking overtly with the past administration. That message was clear and intentional. It is a much more confrontational approach than ­inauguration speeches have typically been in America. I am overjoyed.

I thought Obama did three things impressively. Firstly, he sounded a note of our dire circumstances that was in line with a reality that many have been in denial about. That is technically ­brilliant, because he's inheriting a mess, and he's telling people, "We're not going to dig ourselves out of this easily." But also, "Don't blame me for it all."

The second was that he reasserted the primacy of the constitution and the rule of law. With Bush sitting behind him, that was like showtime at the OK Corral. I have written in the past that it is going to take a grassroots movement to support him in reasserting the rule of law, because there are so many vested interests that stand opposed to it. But that was a shot across the bows. ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/21/obama-inauguration-no-more-fake-optimism

[navarth]

1. Naomi writing for the Guardian.....hmm

Do any American papers syndicate Naomi? Just curious.

[marmar]

3. Palast, Naomi Wolf, Naomi Klein.....they'd never get airtime in a mainstream US publication.....

Our media sucks ass.

[navarth]

4. =sigh=....yeah...dammit...

well we've got the internet....so far...

and hey! who knows? maybe someday...

[tom_paine]

9. That is not permitted in America's State-Controlled Media

America's State-Controlled Media is all about the Bushie Technique of "Lying Without Lying" and about denying access to anyone with anything quality to say outside the brain-dead thinking of our National Punditocracy, which will surely go down in history as one of mankind's stupidest creations.

[mmonk]

2. It was time.

[sendero]

5. I think she pretty much nailed it...

.. the speech was brilliant and her analysis is also.

It's about time there were some grownups telling us the truth. To be honest, with the "Audacity of Hope" angle, I was pretty worried about Obama. But not any more, his speech was inspirational without being delusional. We DO face some serious problems, problems that have been brewing for decades and never addressed. Obama seems willing to at least propose solutions. Nobody in the office of president since Jimmy Carter has dared to do so.

It's a wonderful thing.

[marmar]

6. Agreed.

n/t

[KharmaTrain]

7. But But But...There Was No "Killer" Line...

It was an excellent speech in speaking to reality. For those of us who had heard his speeches in the past, I considered this the follow up to his convention speech. In that one he appealed for unity...now he was appealing for a common purpose. I got a lot more out of reading the speech than hearing it and Ms. Klein is right on target in her analysis. He's speaking on several levels...and IMHO, a lot went way over the heads of the corporate media...trying to show strength to those who needed assurance, but also speaking about the hard work that is ahead. Optmisism and platitudes were at a minimum because right now those are in short supply...there's a lot of problems to fix.

[SpiralHawk]

8. The people's business shall be conducted in the light of day

farewell to republicon homelander secrecy, occultism, and skullduggery...

[tomp]

12. bullshit.

state secrets will still be kept. we will not know what 's really going on behind the scenes. is obama going after cheney's energy policy meetings conducted in secret? is he going to claim executive privilege to not reveal who he is seeking counsel from or what that counsel is? do you really think you're going to know more about what's REALLY going on than you did before? naive!

[tomp]

10. new tone, same policies? nt

rule of law? why is he hedging on going after bush/cheney, inc.? why is he supporting the war in afghanistan when we haven't fully investigated 9/11? why retroactive immunity? why unaccountable bailouts for the rich?

i have to say i'm disappointed in wolf here, not seeing through the obama rhetoric.

[BurtWorm]

11. I had similar thoughts.

The Daily Show picked up on the ultra-realism angle too. Hard to miss it. Very unusual in American politics for a leader to tell the plain truth.