No question, for everybody who is emotionally inclined to the situation of African Americans and the country´s history of racism and humiliation it was impossible not to be touched by Obama´s election to become President of the US, likewise for me. At the same time everybody who is familiar with the analysis of the political and power structure of that country could have hardly avoided to be skeptic of what that meant for real politics especially in the global context.
Since Eisenhower – surely not a leftist – it was revealed for those who are open to hear that there is a medially unseen power behind the democratic façade, the power he dubbed “Military Industrial Complex” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_II0H7X5O4&feature=related), which would be more precisely called Military Industrial Intelligence Complex. This is a formation led by super rich WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants), no matter whether those have integrated a few people of other ancestry. Those ones finally decide about the fate of the country and about the activities of US economy, military and intelligence towards the world, it´s not the President, Stupid (http://tinyurl.com/6pqawsp)! These are what are rightly called the Power Elite for example by C. Wright Mills (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Power_Elite). There might be some differences within at times, the more sneaky imperialists dubbed the “traders” and the openly aggressive ones, called “warriors” will have to sort out at times where things will go.
In the following lines a lot will be talked about the machinations of this Power Elite, but the author is quite aware of the heroic struggles the oppressed have been and are fighting against it – inside as well as outside the US.
Death and Life Question
Since Kennedy every US president knows quite well – at least short time after having come into office – it is the Power Elite deciding even over death and life of a US President, no matter how much this fact is denied in the US public (http://tinyurl.com/7w88vjn). Obama has seen very soon that certain aims and the respective promises were banned by those people truly “in power” and this was already to be seen before the situation in congress turned around. If he was a bit uncertain about the “red lines” the almost crash of the plane carrying his wife might have reminded him (http://tinyurl.com/cym977r).
Selected to be elected
But with the prevailing de facto Two Party System of the US and the two parties overlapping in their political concepts and the way campaigns are financed we already can be sure that only with the approval of that Power Elite a candidate has a chance to be nominated by his party and then elected, the more when they “need” him. Let´s not forget: also Obama´s campaign wasn´t predominantly financed by small barbers from Harlem or by those black people being hit hard by the ongoing concentration of wealth in white hands! After the Bush era with the open brutal Imperialism a human mask was needed. Enthusiasm and conviction (possibly already a bit contained in the previous political carrier) was ok, it would be tamed as we´ve seen. And what should not be forgotten, the Power Elite is mastering the “color game”!
The Color Game
As much as the WASP Power Elite of the US has used racism to divide and rule it has occupied a fake “Anti-Racism” as a strange sort of theatre play. US Imperialism is a “learning system”. After the First World War during which they´ve played the “democratic card” to get to grips with the anachronistic German and Austrian systems and bringing the British and French competitors with their direct colonialism under pressure an important fraction of the US Power Elite helped the Nazis into power (http://tinyurl.com/c8ayeua) and helped them even during the Second World War (http://tinyurl.com/4m6q4u). Nevertheless they had to get rid of them after the Nazis had served their purpose to almost crush the Soviet Union and to almost kick Great Britain and France as competitors out of the global game. For this end they played the card of Anti-Racism (though they were using racism inside the US to the extreme). The push that this gave to the Anticolonial movement after WW II was welcome as long as it allowed the US to substitute British and French direct control by indirect US economic and intelligence control, it was “devilish” in as far it was about to lead to real independence like in case of Congo and Lumumba and dealt with accordingly.
Never the less this antiracist card also gave them headache in the US. But the Power Elite learned to handle it. They found out that a renovated surface of racist US society would supply them with extended black gun fodder for their wars and make use of the black potential (as labor force as well as intellectually) for their own ends. At the same time they were able to partly dissolve the profound antiracist movement by trickily reducing the topic of racism to Anti-Semitism (precisely Anti-Judaism). The Near East conflict was also serving this end beside the aim to gain control over extended oil recourses. And this shift helped splitting parts of the liberal Jewish community from the civil rights movement and turned a large part of US Diaspora into fanatic service people of conservative policy.
One strong weapon could all the time been used leaving human colors and obvious racism totally aside: the “green game”, the Dollar hegemony!
The big Leap
After having ruined the East Block by the weapon´s race and employing Islamic fundamentalism against “the Communists” thus creating Al Qaida, the US Power Elite did the “big leap” to unabated military world presence and domination despite the Warsaw Pact´s end and the expectations of mankind for an “Age of Peace”. The “big leap” was done with the “help” of Nine Eleven (http://tinyurl.com/cc76arf). Though the US Power Elite was able to befuddle a great part of Western society about the complex background to the event the unlimited exploitation of the attacks turned also many more Westerners against US politics. A profound change of face was necessary as we have seen. Many people around the World have really believed in “Change”. In Africa (of which United States Africa Command nowadays is “taking care”) people were even dancing in the streets. At least as far as US foreign politics are concerned not very much has changed apart from the fact that more people have died from US drone attacks than ever before – “thanks” to the fact that there are now even more drones than fighter jets in the USAF.
The Close Race for Office and the Difference of Perspectives
To maintain him as a figure perceived as the personification of a “different US” and to be identified with on a worldwide range it has to be a damn close race (as being seen by the Power Elite) and people have to be so scared of a Mormon seemingly turning to arch reactionary positions. That is done so that when Barak has made it they all become relieved and euphoric again (after the disappointment about the “Change” not having taken place). Obama´s final victory has to be expected in the end because the Power Elite fared well with him. The last debate has finally shown that there are no fundamental differences at least in foreign politics, but Romney would raise many more suspicions abroad than Obama.
To be clear: there are differences concerning accents in social and corporative politics, no doubt. And despite the said as a normal US American I surely would prefer Obama to Romney, but looking at it on a global level and especially from the angle of the Southern hemisphere Obama has more potential to befuddle the world about the nature of US Geo-Strategy. On the other hand Romney is possibly ready to play even more risky games with the world. But, no matter who´ll win in the end, the WASP Power Elite will make sure the strings are tight and they´ll finally decide what is done. They control the currency and financial war against the world, they control the military machine and the intelligence apparatus!
Andreas Schlüter
WiPoKuLi 