I was in the supermarket today and at the checkout counter there were several of the tabloids with articles about Obama with big headlines about gay sex, Muslim controversies, and Opra being upset about something coonected to him. I have long predicted that Hillary would get the Democratic party nomination. With Obama now gaining control of the nomination race, the right-wing elements of the Democratic party are fighting back and we are seeing the unleashing of their mean spirited nature.
Obama would never have been let to get as far as he did unless the power structure felt comfortable with him. Anyone that doubts that only needs to recall how Dennis Kucinich was not allowed into his own party debates and how John Edwards was continually vilified for being the "angry man" by the media when he talked about the need to fight against corporate power.
But something went wrong along the way. Obama was not supposed to jump ahead of Hillary. He was to come in a safe second place and then become Hillary's vice-presidential running mate and bring the energy from his campaign to bear on her behalf and help get her elected president.
Let's be honest here. Obama did all he could to show the power structure that he would play ball with them. He went to Connecticut before the 2006 congressional elections and backed right-wing Sen. Joe Lieberman for reelection against the insurgent anti-war candidate Ned Lamont. If that wasn't enough he has Zbigniew Brzezinski (Jimmy Carter's National Security Council chair and the person who ran the U.S. campaign to arm and train the Taliban in Afghanistan) as one of his top advisers. He has gone to AIPAC and pledged his loyalty to Israel. On and on it goes.
But Hillary (and Bill) have shown by their deeds that they can be trusted to do the bidding of the corporate empire builders. They have shown that they will betray their Democratic party base on issues like NAFTA, health care, Star Wars, and the terrible sanctions of Iraq that left over 500,000 children dead during the Clinton administration. Obama has yet to fully prove his allegiance to the power elite. Best he stand as an apprentice behind the master for awhile.
So now Obama is being sent a signal. Relent and agree to become Hillary's V-P or sit stubbornly and watch your campaign be destroyed before your very eyes. The Democrats are now showing the world that they work much like Bush and the crazy Republicans do.
Aspiring Democrats have to show their loyalty to the system first. That is the number one requirement for "success" in American politics. If you refuse then expect to see yourself trashed in the supermarket checkout lines.
