Posted on 12/13/2009 4:25:03 AM PST by Kaslin
He campaigned against private sector economic mismanagement, and the harsh realities of global capitalism. He pledged during his campaign to end corruption in both the government, and the private sector.
After he took office, he claimed that he had inherited the worst economic situation in his countrys recent history. And then, the new President sought to consolidate his power. Once privately-owned enterprises became government-owned and operated entities, and were restructured so as to become, essentially, workers cooperatives.
Not surprisingly, unemployment remained persistently high, even as the new was implementing his much-celebrated reform measures. And while private citizens had to struggle with the worsening economic conditions, government officials nonetheless continued to exert increasing levels of control over the nations wealth, and also continued to enrich themselves from that wealth, despite the suffering of the governed.
Does this seem like a description of the first 11 months of the Obama Presidency? What Ive described here thus far portrays the conduct of President Obama and members of his Administration fairly succinctly.
Yet, this is actually a description of the ascendency of Hugo Chavez, the once freely elected President and now rapidly-morphing-into-a-dictator of Venezuela. In fact, you could call this a textbook case - this is my paraphrase of a description of Chavez that appears in International Business: Competing In The Global Marketplace, a text book currently used among M.B.A. students at many of Americas top graduate business schools.
And isnt it interesting to note the parallels between Hugo Chavez and Barack Obama? The story of Chavez early days in office deviates from Obamas story at the point where Chavez was able to arbitrarily change the make-up of Venezuelas supreme court, and thus re-write the nations constitution so as to legally enhance his own power and control (Obama has expressed disapproval of the U.S. Constitution, but has not yet attempted to re-write it).
But on economic policy matters or perhaps we could say on general economic tendencies Obama and Chavez have much in common. The President consolidated his power as he inherited the worst economic situation in his countrys recent history? That sounds like the rhetoric of Obamas brief few weeks as President-elect, his first six months in office, and the establishment of his many czars. Once privately-owned enterprises became government-owned and operated entities, and were restructured so as to become, essentially, workers cooperatives? General Motors and Chrysler should come to mind on this one.
And just as it is in Venezuela, so also it is in the United States - our economy is still not growing. We may be seeing early signs of growth now (well know in the coming months), and Im not offering a forecast here. My point is simply that after 11 months of the Obama Administrations corporate bailouts (a perverse process that President Bush began last year, and that President Obama has accelerated), a forced bankruptcy of one of Americas largest corporations, and the Administrations continuous belittling and demeaning of corporate executives, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and even, at times, the medical profession, neither economic activity nor employment have grown, yet President Obama nonetheless has a lot more control over our economy, and over individual people. As Senator John Thune (R-South Dakota) observed in the Wall Street Journal back in October, President Obama has become the de facto CEO of large chunks of our economy, with the power to hire and fire executives, dictate salaries, declare what products should be made, and decide winners and losers in the marketplace
Along with additional control of economic resources, an augmented constitution, and a military that frequently turns itself against the citizenry, the Chavez Administration has also pursued an aggressive path of control over Venezuelas media. This has meant implementing so-called Media Contents laws, that define what media content is appropriate and inappropriate for children. For example, allowing TV stations to show video of military troops shooting at citizens would be too violent for childrens eyes, so that kind of content is prohibited. And this year, alone, Chavez has closed down radio stations and seized TV stations that dared to broadcast content that expressed disagreement with him.
While violence has not yet erupted in the pursuit of Obamas America, our Presidents Czar of information and regulatory affairs, Cass Sunstein, has nonetheless proposed a so-called notice and take down law. Under this provision, those who operate websites - - The Washington Post, radio stations, private bloggers, and perhaps even you, yourself -we would all be required take down falsehoods upon notice from the U.S. government. And who would determine what is true and false? The Obama Administration, of course.
Thus far, control has been the predominant objective of the Obama presidency. It is difficult to argue that this pursuit has produced good things for the American people, yet the pursuit continues, just as it has in Venezuela and elsewhere around the world.
Will Americans allow this raw pursuit to continue?
I hope so.
I sometimes wonder if the end scenario may be one where Obama’s personal agenda and that of the Rats come into conflict. I do think they’re afraid of him right now, although I’m not sure why. But he will probably continue to grow more and more extreme in his demand for personal power, and some of them may wake up and try to fight for their own power. This will completely paralyze both him and them. A falling out among thieves, in other words.
But maybe that’s wishful thinking...
His objectives?
That’s an easy one.
Obama is a crude, ignorant, angry, radical activist who has set out to destroy the United States and everything it means and stands for, and, thanks in large part to an amoral and power-mad congress, an irresponsible media, and a great deal of old-fashioned greed on the part of a variety of citizens on the Left, he is succeeding marvelously well, thank you.
Doesn't have to. He just ignores it and the stupid cajone deprived Republicans just stand there and look.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.