The "Manchurian" President

I saw a new book release on Amazon.com that caught my eye, titled "The Manchurian President" by an author named Aaron Klein.  Though falling short of suggesting that President Obama was brainwashed in Manchuria by Chinese and Russian intelligence officials as was Captain Marco in Richard Condon's 1959 novel "The Manchurian Candidate," the book does appear to be a Beck-like, guilt-by-association rap of communist, socialist and terrorist "ties" on the President.  Beck, Palin and Limbaugh have been riding that gravy train for awhile now. It looks like Klein wants a piece of the action.

However, it's not far-fetched to at least be suspicious that our President may be a "Manchurian President"-type, though of course not in the sense of being kidnapped and brainwashed, nor due to socialist ideology or any other far-left "ism" conspiracy being spun by the right-side of the Money Party propaganda machine that passes as media nowadays.

Last July, I sent an e-mail to David Michael Green, one of the handful of writers whose articles I regularly read.  Prof. Green (Hofstra U.) often lambasts President Obama for being weak, allowing the GOP to smack him around, not hitting back from the "bully pulpit" while continuously reaching out in the name of "bi-partisanship."  I was curious as to whether David was possibly thinking what I was thinking;

From: Randy Steele
Sent: Saturday, July 10, 2010 12:26 AM
To: dmg@regressiveantidote.net
Subject: How's That Recessioney, Oily Thing Working Out For Ya?

Hafa adai Professor Green,

Bravo on your most recent article, very enjoyable and 100% agreed on by this fan of your writing.

I’m hoping that you are inching closer to the end-game that I believe, which is the suggestion that President Obama was a “Manchurian Candidate” of sorts, chosen by the economic elite, regressive right, Pentagon and whoever else is in charge of this insanity, to be a receptacle of blame, a bumblin’-stumblin’, goin-back-on-his-every-promise, last stake in the heart of the Democratic Party and progressive ideology.  Far-fetched sure, but how else can you explain a campaign run so flawlessly, followed up by a Presidency so effortlessly inadequate?

Thank you again for the entertainment and the truth.

Best regards from the heart of the Marianas,

Randy Steele

To which he replied;

From: David Michael Green [mailto:dmg@regressiveantidote.net]
Sent: Tuesday, July 13, 2010 11:07 AM
To: 'Randy Steele'
Subject: RE: How's That Recessioney, Oily Thing Working Out For Ya?

…could well be, could well be.

 Need some evidence, though.

 Thanks for your note and kind words!!  From very far away too!

 Cheers – dmg

I really dig Prof. Green's humorous approach to political critique but I don't think that the evidence that he seeks will be in the form of a dead body or smoking gun, though metaphorically speaking, the country may be heading towards being the former, in part due to the latter in the form of brewing racial and social unrest.

But let's look at some sad, solid facts.  President Barack Obama has done nothing to change the Bush-era structure and policies of the Minerals Management Service, the federal agency loaded with oil and mining industry insiders who rubber-stamp drilling and mining applications despite lacking proper environmental impacts or disaster readiness plans.  His campaign was primarily funded by Wall Street and he has returned the favor in spades, giving the bankers the reigns of the economy that they crashed, and watered down reform that doesn't lay a finger on regulating derivatives or ending further, sure-to-come taxpayer-funded bailouts.  Ending tax cuts for the wealthy?  Obama's figuring a way to weasel out of that one as we speak.  His so-called deficit commission is blatantly hell-bent on cutting Social Security benefits at a time when millions of Americans need them most.  His Bush-era holdover defense secretary and generals have carried on with our dual, un-Constitutional occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan (Congress never declared either "war").  His much-hyped healthcare reform was crafted behind closed doors by medical industry insiders and Democrat senators on industry payroll, while Obama stayed out of sight and pulled a "180" from his campaign rhetoric of providing a debate on a "public option."  He was a Bilderberg attendee the year before he was elected.

Yet instead of applause from Big Business and being labeled as a continuation of Bush/Cheney/Rove, amazingly the President is getting hammered from all directions by the Fox and Tea Party crowd; socialist, commie, Muslim terrorist sympathizer, you name it.  BP blowout in the Gulf?  Obama.  High unemployment, that's been 30+ years in the making due to subsidizing manufacturers to ship jobs overseas?  That's Obama's doing.  No progress on the occupation of Afghanistan despite being there for nearly ten years and no clear goal ever being laid forth?  Yep, his fault too.  Your wife burned the meat loaf last night?  You get the picture.

But you know what's more amazing?  He just takes it with no retaliation.  The rad-right side of the corporate media, along with GOP legislators, kick him in the nuts repeatedly with steel-tipped boots, yet he continues to supposedly reach out for conciliation.  Mr. Happy.  The truth is that us guys, we get royally pissed off when someone simply cuts in front of us without flipping on their turn signal.  This President just sits back and takes verbal abuse of epic-proportions, loaded with some pretty far-fetched shit from people with serious financial and political agendas, never steps up to the plate to defend himself......and we're supposed to believe that this stuff isn't staged?

Think about it.  He's a corporate stooge of a level that would make "Saint" Ronnie smile, yet he allows the "right" to frame him not only as a liberal extremist but far, far beyond that.  Come on, this guy isn't even liberal!  Obama couldn't carry FDR's lunchbox.  Government takeover?  Really, so where are the dividend checks?

You have to consider the possibility that this is all staged, with the strings being pulled from high above, out of sight of the crowd, with the torpedoing of the Democratic party and liberal ideology as the ultimate goal.  I know that I do. 

Here's another guy's opinion along the same lines:

"Pres O: What the F… Don’t You Get About Republican Intentions?"