Barack Obama won a historical election in November 2008. He captured the presidency of the most powerful nation on earth and arguably throughout history. Prudence demanded an avoidance of the race card during the campaign although it did manage to surface here and there despite efforts to suppress. When victory was achieved however, racially charged celebrations broke out across the nation and around the world. The party seemed never to end. Blacks and non-whites danced in the streets from Harlem to Kenya. “Yes We Can” became “Yes We Did” and for a prolonged moment in time, the hope of all people who are not white radiated with a powerful energy which has yet to dissipate.
Now Barack Obama has won the Nobel Peace Prize and many people, including myself ask “for what”? I supported and continue to support this president but do find his major accomplishments more a thing of the future than the near past. Still I have to sit back and give the folks in Sweden the benefit of the doubt. I have to assume they are intelligent and above corruption. This prestigious award is one of the most coveted, respected honors a human being can attain. Since there is no immediate issue presenting itself to account for this award, one has to seek deeper into the mystique of the Obama victory to discover reasons why this exalted community chose this man for the prize.
Avoiding the race card in this past election had the effect of obscuring the elephant in the victory (no pun). My initial thoughts regarding the celebratory reactions around the world had to do with the irony of ignoring the race of the man while he was running, but exalting it after his victory. The celebrations made no effort to camouflage the obvious. A black man had been elected president and for this reason alone there was cause to be hysterically jubilant. The media coverage displayed a wild party atmosphere going on in African–American communities around the nation, seasoned with like celebrations throughout Africa and the world as non-whites met this momentous occasion with an outpouring of unbridled joy.
The tumult was not fueled by a sudden realization that health care was coming to all, that peace was imminent in the Middle East, or that the economic recession was soon to end. The reaction was largely non-substantive, reveling mainly in the sole realization that for the first time in history the least likely of ethnic peoples was being represented first-hand in the White House. It was a dance of symbolism; a time of reference; an advance of the Civil Rights movement. It was everything but specific; a border-less passion set free as though confined throughout the entire spectrum of human history.
This victory inspired hope and energized the human spirit all over the world. It signaled the end to a human history of white people being in charge of everything powerful and economically significant. True, the idea held more symbolism than reality for the power structure rarely changes that much over the election of one president. Additionally, the election of a black man does not, did not, nor will not disenfranchise the power of the white man in politics or economic leverage. Despite the implications behind the presidential victory of a black man, racism, institutionalized in America and around the world continues to recede ever so slowly from the human landscape.
Barack Obama is an embattled president whose detractors will not rest until he is a loser in 2012. Nothing Mr. Obama does seems to meet with the approval of those who oppose him and seek his failure at any cost. The opposition media will misinterpret, twist and skew Obama’s words and acts no matter what it is he says or does. His trip to Denmark to win the Olympics for Chicago was win/win/, lose/lose, depending on who you ask.
When an aging, but still highly intelligent former president called attention to obvious racist attacks on Barack Obama from the opposition, Fox News immediately interpreted the remarks as referring to every attack on Barack Obama. Glenn Beck smirked and joked about being a racist just because you oppose Barack Obama. The tide of misinformation regarding President Carter’s remarks sought to ridicule the former president and deny any racism at all in the relentless drive to invalidate, devalue, criticize and deflate the presidency which in November, 2008 brought pure ecstasy to the majority of the world’s population.
Enter the Nobel Peace Committee. What this community has observed is that the election of Barack Obama was a significant inspiration to people all over the world, black and yes, white. It was a symbolic moment in human history that validated all people of color and demonstrated that indeed, you didn’t have to be white to count in this world. Symbols often carry more meaning that reality. Our faiths are built on symbols and non-literal meanings. Who would argue that faith does not impact the human experience in a great way, whether good or bad? The Nobel community has decided that symbol in the elevation of Barack Obama to the presidency of the USA is more important than the persistent devil trying to take command of the details. The opposition has been more than marginally successful in portraying Barack Obama as a failure and disappointment so far. The euphoria of November has abated in the wake of reactionary activity aimed solely at destroying the victory of 2008 with an unseating of Barack Obama in 2012.
My understanding of this award centers on the victory of Barack Obama as being sufficient enough to ignite and inspire the world to move towards peace and international cooperation. The momentum may be mired in a sea of impatience and dearth of accomplishments, but the victory nonetheless was significant for the very reason that race card-avoiders are reluctant to admit. It was the emergence of the Black and non white masses onto the open stage of power-sharing and the validation of all people around the world no matter their color or heritage. The Nobel Prize was the triumph of symbol; the celebration of spirit and the acknowledgment that faith in its purest form is still a potent and valuable motivator in the human experience.
President Obama wisely accepted this award in a diminutive tone, understanding that its raison d’être had less to do with substance than pure potential. It is an appropriate salute to the forces behind the fury of November 2008; a thank you to a man whose tireless effort and strong will took him through a hard-fought election where more than politics was at stake. Far more, for now it is at least a dream-able dream that the world’s people will seek to unite in a search for peace, even as wars continue to be fought more over principle than substance. I congratulate not Barack Obama, but the Nobel Committee for seeing through the camouflage and recognizing the president’s victory for what it truly was.
Robert W Hamilton: 2012: It's never too soon.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
The Mission against Hamas
Once again, as in the removal of Saddam Hussein, the US, now through its client state Israel is doing the dirty work for the Arab world. Cooler heads in the Arabian group of sovereign states did not like Saddam Hussein and no matter how much they huffed and puffed during Bush's campaign against the Saddam regime, filled with blood and death, notice they did nothing about it. Not so much as turn off the oil which they usually do when they want to underscore a point.
Notice how little beyond talk they are doing against the Israeli advance on Gaza. This is because they simply don't like Hamas. Nobody does. They tolerate Hamas, but this group of armed thugs is seeking legitimacy among world elite and they just don't rate. Not even Hezbollah is retaliating with rocket fire or cross border attacks while Israel is clearly extending its resources to the southwest.
Iran has spoken sharply against the attacks, but does little more than continue to get rockets and munitions into Gaza through their sponsors in the game. Again, the oil flows freely and the US continues to broker deals with peace-loving, wealthy Arab states such as Oman, with whom the United States has just embarked on a Free Trade Agreement. The "infidel"; the "Great Satan", continues to warm the hearts of Islamic moderates who see with a greater vision. Even Iran faced with a friend in Iraq rather than a mortal enemy, has seen the value of cooperation with the US elephant in the room. Kuwait is largely silent on the issue. Go figure.
By taking out Hamas, the US-sponsored State of Israel is helping to clear the way for a more honest relationship with Mahmoud Abbas who himself is reduced to lip service support of the poor Gazans dying and being injured in this calamitous response to a few rockets fired on a small town in the southwest. The Arab world stands to gain from the elimination of the roguish Hamas who killed their own people to get where they are. They ran the president out of Gaza and will kill him in the West Bank first chance they get.
Given what they want, which is an open border with Israel and the end of the sea/air blockade, along with full access to an open border with Egypt, they will merely step up their violent campaign against Israel with more rockets and missiles. They will undoubtedly import anti-aircraft weaponry and tanks, etc. to protect against further Israeli incursion as well as beef up their coming war against Abbas in the West Bank. Hamas is contending with Hezbollah for dominance in militant ideology and Hezbollah won't sit still for an enhanced Hamas. These groups do not act in concert any more than their unified anti-Israel rhetoric virtually quited with the embarrassing defeat of Hezbollah during the Lebanon offensive.
Amidst all the talk and rhetoric against the Gaza campaign, there is no action. Israel is bombing, killing, razing and disrupting with impunity. They are taking out Mosques at will. Where is the hard-core Arab response? Where are the warplanes of Syria and Jordan? Where are the Israelis getting the Jet fuel for their planes, gasoline for their ground vehicles? The last I checked, Israel has no oil fields in the Middle East.
Turning off the oil would go a long way to weaken the United States and hamper the flow of energy into the Israeli war machine. The US and the west could take military action against Israel without firing a shot. They could turn off the money. The disproportionate response to a few rockets fired is clear indication of a greater mission; greater, meaning beyond the borders of Israel. The entire world wants to see an end to the Hamas regime, but most will not admit to that. Just as in the Iraq invasion which fed right into the political will of the Shiite majority, Iran, and everyone else in the region who hated Saddam, the Arab world is screaming bloody murder with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
An end to Hamas means greater support for Abbas who has agreed to play the game leading to a two-state solution. An Israeli incursion into Gaza means an eventual armed presence for the UN and Arab militaries while Gaza gets rebuilt with money sucked in from American coffers. It means the return of Abbas and Fatah to Gaza at a time when the people there will be more interested in reparations, food and medical resources and breathing space in a post-Hamas atmosphere.
The Arab States have no choice but to cooperate with this “Infidel"; this “Great Satan” who is their only venue for full arrival in the first world. They continue to let the oil flow when turning it off would be a loud cry of support for Hamas. They get to continue selling their essential product at a time when turning it off would hurt an already endangered economy. They get to pour their resources into a Fatah-controlled Gaza without worrying about sponsoring a militarist regime whose only goal is the elimination of Israel.
The Arab world of cool heads and reasoned thinkers is silently praying for an Israeli victory which will come at the expense of (more) hatred for the US, not them for their inaction. This is what they want and this is why the Israelis are acting with impunity on the weak premise of responding to rocket fire which does little more than terrorize and annoy the citizens of a small town in Southwest Israel. If it was about the rockets, then why not use the advanced technology of surgical strikes with drones to take out the rocket stashes wherever they may be found?
This is about a much larger picture; ending the reign of Hamas and returning to the peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas speaking singularly for the Palestinians with the blessings of the Arab community. Harsh as it sounds, the only route to peace is through the collapse of Hamas and all other ad-hoc militarist groups seeking to eliminate Israel rather than make peace.
RWH 1-4-2009
Notice how little beyond talk they are doing against the Israeli advance on Gaza. This is because they simply don't like Hamas. Nobody does. They tolerate Hamas, but this group of armed thugs is seeking legitimacy among world elite and they just don't rate. Not even Hezbollah is retaliating with rocket fire or cross border attacks while Israel is clearly extending its resources to the southwest.
Iran has spoken sharply against the attacks, but does little more than continue to get rockets and munitions into Gaza through their sponsors in the game. Again, the oil flows freely and the US continues to broker deals with peace-loving, wealthy Arab states such as Oman, with whom the United States has just embarked on a Free Trade Agreement. The "infidel"; the "Great Satan", continues to warm the hearts of Islamic moderates who see with a greater vision. Even Iran faced with a friend in Iraq rather than a mortal enemy, has seen the value of cooperation with the US elephant in the room. Kuwait is largely silent on the issue. Go figure.
By taking out Hamas, the US-sponsored State of Israel is helping to clear the way for a more honest relationship with Mahmoud Abbas who himself is reduced to lip service support of the poor Gazans dying and being injured in this calamitous response to a few rockets fired on a small town in the southwest. The Arab world stands to gain from the elimination of the roguish Hamas who killed their own people to get where they are. They ran the president out of Gaza and will kill him in the West Bank first chance they get.
Given what they want, which is an open border with Israel and the end of the sea/air blockade, along with full access to an open border with Egypt, they will merely step up their violent campaign against Israel with more rockets and missiles. They will undoubtedly import anti-aircraft weaponry and tanks, etc. to protect against further Israeli incursion as well as beef up their coming war against Abbas in the West Bank. Hamas is contending with Hezbollah for dominance in militant ideology and Hezbollah won't sit still for an enhanced Hamas. These groups do not act in concert any more than their unified anti-Israel rhetoric virtually quited with the embarrassing defeat of Hezbollah during the Lebanon offensive.
Amidst all the talk and rhetoric against the Gaza campaign, there is no action. Israel is bombing, killing, razing and disrupting with impunity. They are taking out Mosques at will. Where is the hard-core Arab response? Where are the warplanes of Syria and Jordan? Where are the Israelis getting the Jet fuel for their planes, gasoline for their ground vehicles? The last I checked, Israel has no oil fields in the Middle East.
Turning off the oil would go a long way to weaken the United States and hamper the flow of energy into the Israeli war machine. The US and the west could take military action against Israel without firing a shot. They could turn off the money. The disproportionate response to a few rockets fired is clear indication of a greater mission; greater, meaning beyond the borders of Israel. The entire world wants to see an end to the Hamas regime, but most will not admit to that. Just as in the Iraq invasion which fed right into the political will of the Shiite majority, Iran, and everyone else in the region who hated Saddam, the Arab world is screaming bloody murder with their fingers crossed behind their backs.
An end to Hamas means greater support for Abbas who has agreed to play the game leading to a two-state solution. An Israeli incursion into Gaza means an eventual armed presence for the UN and Arab militaries while Gaza gets rebuilt with money sucked in from American coffers. It means the return of Abbas and Fatah to Gaza at a time when the people there will be more interested in reparations, food and medical resources and breathing space in a post-Hamas atmosphere.
The Arab States have no choice but to cooperate with this “Infidel"; this “Great Satan” who is their only venue for full arrival in the first world. They continue to let the oil flow when turning it off would be a loud cry of support for Hamas. They get to continue selling their essential product at a time when turning it off would hurt an already endangered economy. They get to pour their resources into a Fatah-controlled Gaza without worrying about sponsoring a militarist regime whose only goal is the elimination of Israel.
The Arab world of cool heads and reasoned thinkers is silently praying for an Israeli victory which will come at the expense of (more) hatred for the US, not them for their inaction. This is what they want and this is why the Israelis are acting with impunity on the weak premise of responding to rocket fire which does little more than terrorize and annoy the citizens of a small town in Southwest Israel. If it was about the rockets, then why not use the advanced technology of surgical strikes with drones to take out the rocket stashes wherever they may be found?
This is about a much larger picture; ending the reign of Hamas and returning to the peace talks with Mahmoud Abbas speaking singularly for the Palestinians with the blessings of the Arab community. Harsh as it sounds, the only route to peace is through the collapse of Hamas and all other ad-hoc militarist groups seeking to eliminate Israel rather than make peace.
RWH 1-4-2009
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