Howard Zinn: Changing Obama's Military Mindset

[billyoc]

Obama once said, 'It's not enough to get out of Iraq; we have to get out of the mindset that led us into Iraq.' What happened to that Obama?


We are citizens, and Obama is a politician. You might not like that word. But the fact is he’s a politician. He’s other things, too—he’s a very sensitive and intelligent and thoughtful and promising person. But he’s a politician.

If you’re a citizen, you have to know the difference between them and you—the difference between what they have to do and what you have to do. And there are things they don’t have to do, if you make it clear to them they don’t have to do it.

From the beginning, I liked Obama. But the first time it suddenly struck me that he was a politician was early on, when Joe Lieberman was running for the Democratic nomination for his Senate seat in 2006.

...

http://www.alternet.org/democracy/140035/howard_zinn%3A_changing_obama%27s_military_mindset/

[fight4my3sons]

1. I love Howard Zinn.

"I say that to indicate that, yes, Obama was and is a politician. So we must not be swept away into an unthinking and unquestioning acceptance of what Obama does.

Our job is not to give him a blank check or simply be cheerleaders. It was good that we were cheerleaders while he was running for office, but it’s not good to be cheerleaders now."

[babydollhead]

2. great and true article.

[asdjrocky]

3. Thank you Howard. And thanks for the link. K&R

[polichick]

4. "The thread consisted of two elements: one, nationalism; and two, capitalism. And Obama is...

"not yet free of that powerful double heritage."

K&R

[asphalt.jungle]

5. But he's always viewed the two wars differently

Even in his 2002 anti-Iraq war speech (that some refer to as an anti-war speech) he said he wasn't against all wars. This quote, 'It's not enough to get out of Iraq; we have to get out of the mindset that led us into Iraq.' doesn't mean something has happened to him. The mindset that got us into Iraq was very troubling. If he starts preemptive wars with countries that aren't even a threat to us then I'd wonder what's wrong with him. If Zinn is saying that the mindset for Afghanistan is the same as Iraq then I can't agree with that. You can be against all wars, but you can't say those two situations are the same.

[polichick]

6. Many of Obama's actions haven't matched his rhetoric about a change in mindset...

...especially with regard to the military and the economy ~ that's why people need to keep reminding him who he works for.

[LittleBlue]

7. Good for him. I agree.

[DemBones DemBones]

8. An article everyone should read.

:kick: & R