David Model's journal

Dear Senator Obama

Not unexpectedly, it required a major disaster to awaken former Federal Chairman, Alan Greenspan, to the long overdue reality that the free-market, free enterprise economic model fails to trickle down wealth to the poor and near poor but concentrates wealth at the top.

Apparently 37,276,000 (U.S. Census Bureau, 2007) Americans are not considered to be human, have no value and hence unworthy of any consideration in the formulation of policy.

Despite the unfortunate fact that presidential debates depend mostly on impressions, images and perceptions, the real purpose, namely the substance of the debating points of each candidate, is unattainable in a medium that has been referred to the “glass teat” or one that encourages us to “amuse ourselves to death”.

As voters in the United States are entertained either by the minutia of electoral politics anticipating the next gaffe by Sarah Palin as well as the latest poll or the latest frivolous update on the artificial and superficial lives of magazine-created celebrities, people in Africa are suffering from a myriad of crises for which the Western World is largely responsible and which we now ignore at ou

As the interminable circus marches on towards its ultimate and merciful conclusion on November 4, 2008, pundits peer through their electronic microscopes seeking any activities that they can report as significant events in a miasma of irrelevant factoids masquerading as real issues.

George Bush’s true legacy may not be truly understood for many years. Domestically he will be remembered as the president who severely weakened the economy, undermined civil liberties, and enfeebled the foundations of democracy.

As many of you will remember, the American 4 by 100 meter relay team at the summer Olympics did not complete the race because during an exchange, the baton was dropped. The structurally embedded empire builders in the Pentagon, State Department, CIA, and NSA etc. should have no such fears if Obama qualifies for the final event, the swearing-in of the president.

George W. Bush is not really that much different from other presidents with respect to his hegemonic ambitions or his proclivity to use force to achieve foreign policy objectives.