It's April Fool's Day week and my inbox is full.
My favorite prank posting so far comes from the London- based Guardian newspaper which announced (via Twitter): "The Guardian scraps print version for all-Twitter format"
The newly Twittered 140-character-only archive was said to include the following articles: "OMG Hitler invades Poland, allies declare war see [link]," and "JFK assassin8d@Dallas, def. heard second gunshot... WTF?"
What I wish was a joke was some of the rest of what's been coming in...
Like all the mail from supposedly anti-war groups who worked hard to elect Barack Obama on an anti-Iraq war platform, but now, when it comes to escalation in Afghanistan, are lining up in support.
After the president announced the deployment of 4,000 more troops (on top of the extra 17,000 he's already sent) Jon Soltz, an anti-Iraq war organizer with VoteVets wrote in the Huffington Post: "With today's announcement President Obama has shown that he 'gets it.' That's why we at VoteVets.org are supporting the plan." They even have a rah-rah petition going.
Americans United for Change ran hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of anti-Iraq war ads in 2007. But they refused to answer a Washington Post blogger's question about Afghanistan. Anti-war organizers - and plenty of generals agreed -- there was no military solution possible in Iraq. But many of those who got their head round that idea then, seem to believe the opposite is true in Afghanistan, even though Obama's own advisers say the struggle there can't be won on the battlefield.
On the website of the liberal Center for America Progress there are no fewer than five articles supporting the president's policy, including one headlined "Seven Reasons Why We need to Engage in Afghanistan."
On the Afghanistan deployment, as the Center for Media and Democracy's John Stauber has pointed out, MoveOn has thus far been silent on Afghanistan.
The Post's Greg Sargent says that when MoveOn’s members were recently polled on their priorities for 2009, the subject didn’t apparently make the cut.
I wish I could say APRIL FOOLS. But sadly no. Looking at the history of Afghanistan, I'd have to say, the joke, such as it is, is on us.
Laura Flanders is the host of GRITtv which broadcasts weekdays on Free Speech TV (Dish Network Ch. 9415) on cable (8 pm ET on Channel 67 in Manhattan) and online daily at GRITtv.org and TheNation.com.
I agree with the autrocity of this topic 100%. It is an autrocity because of the former anti-war supporters suddenly changing their negative viewpoints on the war. I feel that the idea of a candidate who was elected to support minorities was in this country and world’s best interest. Although, we cannot deny that Barack Obama has outdone George W. Bush with his new Middle East strategy. He picked up where Bush left off with his anti-terrorism propaganda and ran even further with it.
As a citizen who helped elect him, I am outraged at his strategies that contradict much of what he proposed that he would suggest and support in office. I feel that many Obama supporters still feel they need to give him a chance. That we have. We gave him our vote, support, and hope, yet we cannot deny that he is not representing most of the people who voted for him.
I believe the idea of the first African-American presidient being introduced was excited for all of us. We were ready for change, but we meant change for the better. Some of us thought that electing a minority might help us tackle discrimintory hurdles, and now that this hope has been proven false hope, we do not need to continue to stand behind Barack Obama just because he is a member of a prominent minority group in the United States.
I do not mea this to be hurtful or racist whatsoever, but I feel Obama using his race as a stepping stone helped him get a swing vote from the African-American community. Not only did this group help give him a swing vote, so did other communities including women, young voters, the LGBT community, and other minority races.
If people could just open their eyes, turn on FreeSpeechtv, see and hear what is really going on in our country and overseas, they would not support Obama any longer. Instead, people (especially where I live in southeast Georgia) tend to watch Fox News programs which shield them from the truth about our involvement in genocide.
Until the American people break free from these large media corporations that are brain-washing them into having political stances based on fiction created to protect the government, we will never break free from our oppression that targets our minority groups, which still exists even after Obama took office.
Thank you for helping me to express my feelings about the corruption and dishonesty of Barack Obama that I have felt building up since he chose to send more troops overseas, instead of bringing them back home. Please continue to speak on topics of this nature because the more it is talked about, the more citizens will allow themselves to conceive of the notion that objecting to Obama’s presidency is not about being prejudiced. Refusing not to support him should only come as a result of his continuance to subject American people (and country’s citizens) to financial harm, but most importantly physical harm.
By 1world1love on April 6th, 2009 at 12:11 pm