[Peace-discuss] The Nation praises Obama's war propaganda

[C. G. Estabrook]

...Hastening to align itself with the imperialist establishment and declare its 
support for [Obama's "Peace Prize"] speech was the Nation magazine, the main 
organ of what passes for “left” liberalism. John Nichols, one of the magazine’s 
principal commentators, in a blog entry published almost immediately after the 
speech and featured as the lead item on the magazine’s web site, wrote that it 
was "an exceptionally well-reasoned and appropriately humble address."

Nichols gushed, "The president's frankness about the controversies and concerns 
regarding the award of a Peace Prize to a man who just last week ordered 30,000 
US new troops into the Afghanistan quagmire, and the humility he displayed ... 
offered a glimpse of Obama at his best."

"As such," he continued, "the speech was important and, dare we say, hopeful."

In an interview on National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” news program, 
the Nation’s editor, Katrina vanden Heuvel, praised the speech’s supposed 
"humility and grace." The host of the show, evidently expecting more criticism, 
noted that vanden Heuvel "seemed to be resolving the conflict between the 
wartime president ... and the speech about peace rather easily...”

Vanden Heuvel responded with blather about the "complexity" of American life. It 
was a "complex speech," she said, and she was "interested in its complexity."

Contrary to vanden Heuvel, there was nothing “humble” or “graceful” about 
Obama’s speech. Nor was it complex. It was an open brief for unrestrained 
aggression and colonial oppression.

There should be no confusion as to the position of the Nation and the privileged 
upper-middle-class layers for which the magazine speaks, including former 
radicals and one-time critics of US imperialism. They have moved squarely into 
the camp of American imperialism. They support Obama’s wars in Central Asia and 
Iraq and, more generally, the efforts of the United States to assert global 
hegemony.

In the run-up to the 2008 elections, the Nation was among the most enthusiastic 
supporters of the Obama campaign, presenting his victory as the first stage in a 
radical reform and revitalization of American democracy. It vouched for Obama’s 
supposedly antiwar credentials.

One year later, the candidate of “change” and “hope” presides over a right-wing 
administration that is expanding US military aggression while it bails out Wall 
Street and attacks the jobs and living standards of the working class.

The unmasking of Obama before the entire world has not in any way lessened the 
support he receives from the Nation. On the contrary, the coming to power of an 
African-American president has served as the vehicle for American liberalism, 
including its supposedly “left” wing, which long ago abandoned any serious 
reform agenda and rejected class as the basic category of social life in favor 
of race, gender and other categories of identity politics, to lurch further to 
the right.

It has provided the means by which the Nation has completed its passage into the 
camp of American imperialism and political reaction.

Remarking on Obama’s speech, Walter Russell Mead, the Henry Kissinger senior 
fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, remarked, “If Bush had said these 
things the world would be filled with violent denunciations. When Obama says 
them, people purr.”

The “purring” of the Nation comes at a time of growing popular opposition to the 
Obama administration and its policies. In his speech, Obama himself made 
reference to the fact that his expansion of war is deeply unpopular, noting the 
“disconnect between the efforts of those who serve and the ambivalence of the 
population.” He made clear, however, that this “disconnect” will have absolutely 
no effect on the policy of his government.

What will happen as the “disconnect” turns into anger and opposition? How will 
the Nation respond? Its greatest concern is the growth of a political movement 
that breaks free of the Democratic Party...


 From <http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/printer_57791.shtml>; the whole 
article is worth reading.