[Peace-discuss] Fear McCain…

[C. G. Estabrook]

[I posted this interview in its entirety, but the following section is worth
repeating while the obvious is being vigorously belabored in re McCain. --CGE]

October 13, 2008

NOAM Chomsky speaks to the German magazine Der Spiegel about Europe's Barack
Obama delusions.

Spiegel: Change is the slogan of this year's presidential election. Do you see
any chance for an immediate, tangible change in the US? Or, to use use Obama's
battle cry: Are you fired up?

Chomsky: Not in the least. The European reaction to Obama is a European delusion.

Spiegel: But he does say things that Europe has long been waiting for. He talks
about the trans-Atlantic partnership, the priority of diplomacy and the
reconciling of American society.

Chomsky: That is all rhetoric. Who cares about that? This whole election
campaign deals with soaring rhetoric, hope, change, all sorts of things, but not
with issues.

Spiegel: Is there nothing about McCain that appeals to you?

Chomsky: In one aspect he is more honest than his opponent. He explicitly states
that this election is not about issues but about personalities. The Democrats
are not quite as honest, even though they see it the same way.

Spiegel: So for you, Republicans and Democrats represent just slight variations
of the same political platform?

Chomsky: Of course there are differences, but they are not fundamental. Nobody
should have any illusions. The US has essentially a one-party system and the
ruling party is the business party.


Brussel Morton K. wrote:
> Paul Street's commentary on McCain and implicitly those (among us) who 
> discount the important differences between him and Obama. I think Paul 
> Street, no admirer of Obama, hits the nail on the head.
> 
> 	*Fear McCain*
> 	By *Paul Street*
> 	Oct 12, 2008 
> 
> 	The thought of [John McCain] being president 
> 	sends a cold chill down my spine.
> 	---United States Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi)
> 
> According to a recent article in the Chicago Tribune, some voters in the
> critical political battleground state of Pennsylvania are leaning towards
> Barack Obama because economic matters are trumping candidate "character" in
> determining their choices in the presidential election.
> 
> If "the economy" hadn't become the overwhelming issue, the Tribune reports,
> these voters would be going with John McCain because of his supposed superior
> personal qualities.
> 
> The voters are worried about Obama's moral fiber because of his past 
> connections to such supposed moral monsters as the black pastor Jeremiah
> Wright and the former SDS Weatherman-turned education professor and charter
> school advocate Bill Ayers.
> 
> The Tribune story is titled "Character Counts; Economy Counts More" (J.
> Tankersley and C. Parsons, Chicago Tribune, October 9, 2008, sec.1, p. 13). 
> ... While I am no particular fan of Obama's personality and neoliberal 
> politics, I find the Tribune article's angle and title distressing.  I do not
> expect mainstream voters or reporters to follow me (a left Marxist since age
> 18) in feeling little shock at the crimes of Ayers (decades ago) and in
> having little problem with the rhetoric of Wright. I get it that most
> Americans are in no position --- morally, ideologically, or in terms of
> information received --- to share my understandings of why Ayers briefly
> became a (rather hapless) ultra-left "terrorist" and why Rev. Wright is angry
> at U.S. policies (and crimes) past and present...