Double agent

I think Barack Obama is a double agent for progress, and maybe the most brilliant politician ever.

In his campaign he talked about protection and support for whistleblowers, so his reaction to Wikileaks generally and Bradley Manning’s contribution to it in particular made him look like a steaming pile. He had also looked like a steaming pile when he refused even to mention single-payer health care on his way to giving the insurance companies 30 million new customers. Likewise when he paid off Wall Street and didn’t close Guantanamo and made more war.

Obama was a steaming pile from every angle, and he could still jive like nobody’s business. It’s total bushwah, and still when I hear him I almost believe him every time. I want him to be a great man, which brings me to an argument I once had with my ex-wife’s uncle.

Tyler was a brilliant, successful, erudite man. I was 24 and in my eighth year of college. Four or five members of Jennifer’s family and I were talking about greatness, and I said that Hitler was a great man because of the magnitude of the effects he’d had on the world, whether we liked them or not. Tyler said that greatness requires service to people, not just widespread influence.

Of course now I agree with Tyler, and I think that Obama is heading for something rather less than greatness by Tyler’s standard. I keep hoping that Obama will change into his superhero suit with the cape and magic tool belt, but he just keeps shuffling along looking as good as ever giving corporate hand jobs to the usual suspects.

As for Osama bin Laden’s murder, since I don’t put much stock in the terrorist danger, and I don’t think of murder-by-goons as desirable, and I’m unable to believe anything that comes out of the federal government without extensive corroboration anyway, I wouldn’t bet your nickel that bin Laden died like the media say he did or even that he was the head of anything but the family that saw him murdered before their eyes. Buried at sea? Are we that gullible? Of course we are. What torture? What secret war? What grassy knoll?

Anyway, I read somewhere that now Obama has offered to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid if the dastardly Republicrats—as opposed to the Demopublicans—will keep the U.S. government from an even bigger accounting crisis than the last one. That’s how I figure he’s a double agent. Since he’s trying to gut some of the best things the federal government has ever done, revolution must be his goal. Man the barricades.