Obama: anti-American anthropologist?
One of the fascinating questions about Barack Obama is whether his success will alter the sour view of the US that many in the outside world hold at the end of the Bush years. So I alert you to - insightful, utterly wrong-headed, weird, incomprehensible all in one - and we can all look forward to much more in a similar vein.
Meanwhile in Washington there is a big fuss about the Pope - not the visit but , which the local Catholic Church complained about and had pulled from the airwaves.
Redman Pinkerton - I agree with both your comments!
UPDATE:
And here is an amusing/frightening post-script to the discussion about American rationality and general knowledge: one college professor is .
Strikes me that having initally had no idea about rendition, his students now have a highly partisan notion based of the professor's dislike of it. Perhaps they will read more for themselves.
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I think the Asia Times commentary got some things right. Obama does hate America. Otherwise how could he be a member of Rev. Wright's Church for so long? How could Mrs. Obama say she has never been proud of her country until her husband runs for president of it? Yes, one can safely assume some things based on the people with whom one associates closely.
As for the Papal bobblehead spoof ad... I am amazed something so stupid and borderline offensive could make it into production. Just goes to show Christians are the only group one can bash in the US and still be PC. And among Christians, Roman Catholics are the favored target for slander and ridicule these days.
Bad taste?!
the other day I saw a bumper sticker that read:
"I (Love) My German Shepherd
Pope Benedict XVI"
I've just read the Asia Times commentary, with increasing disdain. The author, who seems to write from behind a veil of anonymity, has taken some facts and meshed them together with rambling and ill-informed views. As an Englishman living in the USA, I'm fairly objective about what's going on here, and the Obama campaign is generating an energy and hope like I haven't seen since... Tony Blair ran for Prime Minister in the late 1990s. OK, so that's not a great reference, but whatever Obama is doing, it isn't generating an aura of self-pity - President Bush & Co[orporations] managed to do that all by themselves.
That Asia Times piece has got to be the absolute oddest political rant/conspiracy theory screed I have read in recent memory. I'm not all that fond of Obama. I think he talks a lot and says very little, whith that little being more right-wing than people seem to realize. That said, I don't quite understand how you can spin that into saying that he is a crypto-Islamist anti-American fellow traveller anthropologist bent on destoying the fabric of our society before his inner hollowness eats him away (I think that was the gist, wasn't it?). I don't know that we can take that peice as any indicator of how the world would view the US under an Obama administration. A more reasonable readin is that the author is in need of psychiatric evaluation, stat.
As a high school social studies teacher for five years in America, one of the problems of US secondary education is its pandering to fads and extremes. On the one side, there is a faction pushing for testing and forcing facts on students. Testing is fine to a point, but too much of class time is devoted to prepping the students. On the other side, educational experts argue that students learn best only in group work or student-centered learning. It can be argued that this has lead to a watering down of standards. As a result, many teachers are made to feel guilty for having teacher-centered learning in the classroom. I found the most effective method is a mixed pedagogical approach. Additionally, school administrators micro-manage teaching in the classroom to the point where the teacher doesn't feel respected or trusted to their job. Maybe one day the educational establishment will finally understand that education will improve in America by training and retaining good teachers and treating them as professionals. That would reduce the embarrassingly high teacher turnover rate and do more to improve knowledge and skills of American students than constant testing and micro-managing.
"Spengler" is brilliant, iconoclastic and thought provoking. One doesn't have to agree with him, but do consider him carefully. As Ouspensky said, "Think in other catagories".
I think you have lost the plot here, Justin. What does this article have to do with sliced bread? It certainly has nothing to do with the politics of the US. It is a rant by an apparently egotistical person, possibly revealing some things about himself. Please stick to more important articles and points.
Professor Gup is absolutely right about the ignorance of, and indifference to, current affairs of the current generation of young people including journalism students.
I employed a number of very bright undergraduate and graduate students between 2000 and 2005 - and not one of them read a daily or weekly newspaper or magazine. One journalism major even told me she had no time to read - not books, not newspapers or magazines – no written material outside of the set books for her courses. Worse still the only source of news for most of them appeared to be Fox News on tv, or just the headlines on the internet version.
I think we have to start very early in our schools to try to reverse this trend. High School is too late. I would like to see age appropriate civics classes for Elementary School students, and more donations to schools of copies of daily newspapers to be used as classroom materials.
Wow. The Asia Times piece is thoroughly engaging, thought-provoking... and, unfortunately, written for all the wrong reasons and with a twist that is not unlike the fear mongering and creepy tactics used by Bush and the neo-cons. Only this guy did his homework and ALMOST appeals to debate if it weren't for the post-apocalyptic, Charleton Heston-esque, and pretentious tone of the writer. You're sure Dick Cheney didn't write that?
"One of the fascinating questions about Barack Obama is whether his success will alter the sour view of the US that many in the outside world hold at the end of the Bush years."
Well you certainly couldn't be accused of such a view Mr Webb. I still recall your visit to South America to investigate the causes of anti-Americanism. See here
There is a huge historical record of bloody US intervention/support for dictators in Central and South America including...
1. Funding the contras and mining Nicaraguan Harbours (for which the US was condemned by the World Court)
2. Involvement in the coup in Chile which put in place the murderous Pinochet Regime.
3. Backing the Argentinian Military Junta. The US knew about the coup well in advance and despite being warned about widespread murders, Kissinger is on the record as being quite happy about it.
4. Overthrowing the Democratically elected government of Guatemala and supporting murderous dictators there.
The list could go on and on. Of course the particular country you visited was Venezuela. Why might Venezuelans, or even Chavez himself be so "anti-American"? What has the US done to annoy him so much? How about being behind the coup to overthrow him in 2002? There is strong evidence to suggest US involvement, and even if it was not true, many people in Venezuela believe it is and you should surely have at least mentioned it, along with some of the other US interventions people there might be angry about.
In today's America it seems if someone is not instilling fear in this country, blindfolding us so we have no idea what is going on in the outside world...tauting an American flag while convincing us America is equal to godliness all while they bleed us dry of all our self worth and help export our jobs, they are labeled anti-American...
It is no wonder even before he becomes president Obama has to prove he loves this country...it is sad if you stand for something else and can look at yourself in the mirror and say I hate my ways, I must change for the better you are viewed as hating who and what you are.
OBAMA 08
Great article by Ted Gup that is a damning indictment of the infoglut society which the internet has produced where kids can see a wood, but don't realise it is made from trees.
But the fact that the military-industrial complex controls the media and the neo-cons want 'total spectrum domination' means that we should not be too surprised when the Americans appear to be in ignorance of what is going on outside their borders.
Exactly which part of the professor's account is 'highly partisan'? He mentions 'U.S. abductions of foreign citizens ... the likely treatment accorded such prisoners ... the months and years of detention ... the lack of formal charges ... subsequent lawsuits ... stymied in the name of national security'. Are any of those points factually incorrect? Is this Fox News or the ´óÏó´«Ã½?
Barack Obama gives Americans hope during a time of great adversity; the Iraq War, economic downturn, and continuing scandal in government all shake the confidence of people in government. Barack Obama represents none of these things. Those who say that he "hates America" or is unpatriotic need to re-examine their priorities. Obama is campaigning on economic reform while John McCain is on an autobiographical tour... Who is ignoring the issues here? This college student (about to enter the job market) wants someone who will tackle problems out of love for his nation and not turn a blind eye to them as though simply chanting, "USA! USA! USA!" will make them better.
Yes we can.
I have to say that I have not read such an ignorant, xenophobic and hateful piece such as the Asia Times commentary in quite some time--probably because I avoid wasting my time on peices that have no true substance. Like Obama, I am an American that has a varied and international background--born in Brazil to a Bolivian mother and American father--and, like Obama, I know what it is to look at the US both as an outsider and an insider. While I recognize the beauty of this country and the genuine people I know here, I also have seen too much suffering in South America and elsewhere as a consequence of American action there to ever say that the US is a perfect example of anything. Is it un-American to recognize that we too have acted heinously in the world merely to promote our own self interest? I don't believe so. Unless we acknowledge our shortcomings and monumental mistakes then we have no hope of finding a new path as a country that respects its neighbors and recognizes that we are not the only people capable of deciding for themselves. The fact that Barack grew up in such a diverse family and lived abroad in his childhood is immensly reassuring to me as it means, hopefully, that he'll have a better and more respectful relationship with the other countries in this world and the people who live in them.
Does Obama hate America? If he hated our country so much, why subject himself, his wife and two young daughters to the insanity of running for the highest office?
Instead of spinning conspiracy theories out of soundbites, the author would do well to truly investigate Mr. Obama and his family. Read both his books. Look into the work he did as a community organizer. Look his work in the Illinois State government. Study the history of African Americans and what they have gone through in our country.
As an American of Asian ethnicity, I can relate to some of the struggles Mr and Mrs Obama have encountered. No country is perfect. It is more patriotic to care about your country, to want to change things for the better, to expect more of your country.
Far too many do nothing, justify everything our country does and think that qualifies you are somehow more patriotic.
Our current president has led us into an expensive and deadly quagmire in Iraq, squandered our government's finances, ruined our credibility around the world and allowed corporations to operate with little regulation often against the best interests of the majority of Americans. To me, he clearly hates our country and doesn't care about his fellow citizens if the Asia Times writer wants to talk about who hates America.
"One of the fascinating questions about Barack Obama is whether his success will alter the sour view of the US that many in the outside world hold at the end of the Bush years."
After eight years of George, surely even a papal bobblehead has got to be better?
Friend, in order to understand fully the offence caused by the latter, I guess I'd have to be a Catholic. The size of the bobblehead is perhaps unfortunate - and given the other costs associated with running a media ad designed to avoid congestion travelling to and from the papal mass, those responsible could have spent a few hundred dollars on a handsome actor with an authentic costume - unless of course, the ad was cleverly put together to court controversy and therefore 'free' publicity! As a result of pulling the ad, are Catholics going to find it easier to get to the mass?
As Brian pointed out in the film of the same name, there's no pleasing some people!
I hope the mass is enjoyed by many, at any rate.
1 - I agree with the asia times article in regards to cultural destruction - very apt, this is not a new phenomenon and not that different to british colonialism - just a different form.
2 - I agree that Obama's economic policy is ludicrous if viewed in isolation, however if he does make deep cuts in military expenditure, there will be additional budget available to bridge, however that will not help with uncompetitive industry, and will not help with the inevitable conflict with the WTO.
3 - The comments about the standard of current affairs knowledge amongst americans is actually the biggest reason why I despise the majority of my USA based peers. The insular entertainment culture means that government can do what it wants and acts without the most important check in the political process - the will of the people.
Well, of course teachers are partisan. That goes without saying - after all, my 8th grade history teacher insisted that the civil war had nothing to do with slavery, and my participation in government teacher senior year in high school gave us a class-long rant on how obviously no one who'd voted in the presidential election had any brains at all, because no one with half a thought in their head would have voted for Bush. This was the day after the election, not later when Bush-hate got really popular.
As Ted Gup bewails, we lack literate and accountable media, essential to civic literacy. Susan Jacoby speaks of "dumb objectivity" -- read Divine Intelligence, or inane fairness doctrines -- under which delusion 2 + 2 MIGHT be 5: "One of the things that really has gotten dumber about our culture is the media constantly talking about truth as if it were always equidistant from two points." The no-opinion opinion.
Richard Hofstadter ("Anti-Intellectualism in American Life," 1964 Pulitzer) discovered "The national distaste for the intellectual appeared to be not just a disgrace but a hazard to survival."
Have journalists helped dim the lights? Why is detailed analysis or (short or long) historical comparison never even tried? Would it hazard survival? Why isn't journalism regularly held to the same standard as a rigorous and vigorous university? We used to paddle the same canoe.
What if (and I find this utterly outrageous) certain media alter articles after the fact or delete them entirely (including archives!) faster than the roadrunner (sans dust). It is equivalent to altering medical records, or the Rodney King Cop defense: You didn't see what you KNOW you saw. Whether by deletion or distortion, omission or coercion, some journalists and some institutional media sources have abandoned their noble profession, the Fifth Estate. Professionals are accountable ... reliable ... and trackable.
Ted Gup, his pal Bob Woodward and mentor Ben Bradlee walk in sunshine.
I think the Asia Times article is a rather pretentious piece of twaddle. The author accuses Obama supporters of projecting their own aspirations onto Obama, and to some extent this true. What is less acknowledged is that those on the right of the political spectrum, such as Spengler himself (herself?) are projecting their fears, hangups and prejudices onto Obama too. Politics has always been about charisma and empty rhetoric as much as policy. Is this healthy? I am inclined to support the Seymour Hersh analysis of JFK from "The Dark Side Of Camelot" - namely that too much charisma can be a dangerous thing. Then again, if only Ron Paul had Obama's charisma...
Hi Justin
A few quick points: first, on the subject of the students' lack of knowledge, do we honestly think the equivalent British students would do much better? This is not a uniquely American problem I assure you, having also spent time teaching in France.
Second, I think the Asia Times article is so bizarre and pompous (I can see why he chooses to remain anonymous!) I don't really understand why you featured it.
Finally, as a general point about your blogs, we seem to be getting less and less comment, and only a few links to news websites each day. I am perfectly capable of reading these websites by myself - what I would enjoy is more contextual analysis from you, for example I would be interested to hear your opinions on the various news stories you barely touch on, such as the whole (somewhat frustrating) Pope issue.
Nevertheless I remain a regular reader! (In case you are interested in your reader demographics, I am a 22 year-old English student).
Of course USA students don't know geography and world/history. The non-private, masses of schools had a policy for decades of getting "two for the price of one" by having their sports coaches teach history and/or "Civics" [government and societal structure]. One such teacher I had was a retired sports couch who would take attendance at the beginning of history class, point to the assignment on the blackboard at the front of the class, turn off his hearing aid, and proceed to read the sports pages for the remainder of the class period. I was 14; lucky for me I was an avid reader in a political progressive family, who'd been taught to read at home before I began school.
Mr Webb,
You need to consider the implications of the propoganda you make available to readers who hold ´óÏó´«Ã½ in high esteem. What really are your objectives in your coverage of the Presidential elections?
I dooubt Obama can ever change the U.S.' image. In fact, Obama will likely tanish the U.S. at the time it faces major crisis. He spoke a lot, undoubt he has charisma, but he yet hasn't grab a firm commitment to what he casted... Further, his campaign is organized by the democrat machine, which it doesn't have any great agenda in changing this country. In addition, as a minority, Mr. Obama will hard press to change the U.S., since the majority is controlled by many rich Caucasian that he was so anti of... The irony to his campaign is that it was set up by these rich white folks. He will be a puppet of the democrat party, and only self-serving individual. With this, it will be the worst chaos in Washington, leaving more crisis then ever before. If Obama is elected, he will be the next Bush...except this time it will be a democrat Bush. Thus, it would be better not having Mr. Obama as the next president.
Sorry, but is this guy really serious? He takes inuendo, reads histories and then professes to know the deepest most intimate knowledge of what motivates someone? Please!
Maybe he just doesn't undersand American humor, but Michelle Obama was doing the routine that the average housewife does: she was complaining about her husband's behaviour in the home. Wow, I always knew that people could turn and twist words to make a point, but I have never seen it at this level.
I suggest that the author spend a few years in the U.S. getting to know the people and then, maybe, he can profess some insight into what makes Americans tick. I have often commented on how Americans have a warped sense of the world from the American perspective, but I now see that it applies to other nations as well.
Justin - its time to put aside this silly term "anti-Americanism". It implies racism, and the idea that racism against Americans is a serious problem facing the world today is not really credible.
There are many people around the world who are sharply critical of the US government and US corporate power because they see those influences as harmful to their own interests. That's not racism. Its just a political judgement, and one that's probably shared by a lot of Americans.
Moreover, one has to at least acknowledge that this critical view has a rational basis for many of those people. Take Iraq. 1 in 6 Iraqis is a refugee, hundreds of thousdands are dead, hundreds of thousands more bereaved and God knows how many more have suffered in some other serious way, as the result of the chaos unleashed by the US invasion. If those people take a critical view of the US government, are they "sour"? Racist "anti-Americans"? Or just rational human beings making a judgement based on the evidence in front of them?
Let us not forget that there are millions of people like this. From those tortured by US-backed tyrannies and dictatorships in Latin America and the Middle East (who bankrolls Mubarak's Egypt?), to those impoverished by IMF shock-therapy economics directed from the US Treasury, to the 3 millions killed in Indochina where the US dropped more bombs (including chemical agents that still poison to this day) than all the combatant nations in WWII combined.
The opposition to US power (not its people) that arises from these millions of destroyed lives, traumatised families, and the sympathy for this that is elicited from millions of others, can hardly be ascribed to some form of bigotry or "sourness". It it were, how do you then account for the fact that many of us who share this opposition also love US popular culture, Hollywood films, Jazz, rock n roll, Hip Hop, TV shows like Lost, Mad Men and the Simpsons, wish our own nations had constitutions like the US constitution, have American friends or even relatives, and dream of one day moving to California or New York?
Misrepresenting principled opposition to government actions as a form of hateful pathology is a good propaganda trick for a government. I'm sure the Soviets did the same. But its surely not something that should be bought wholesale, and then regurgitated faithfully, by a ´óÏó´«Ã½ journalist?
Only by misunderstanding principled opposition to US government actions as a form of hateful pathology could you have imagined that the Asia Times article you linked to was remotely representative of that opposition.
btw, Spengler is not remotely representative of the quality of Asia Times either - its an invaluable source of high-quality analysis.
It's post's like the above (Chris F) that, thankfully, reassure me that not all Americans are completely ignorant!
Obama does represent hope, but not just for Americans, as an Englishman he represents a better hope for global political stability. He comes across as a calm thinker. The reasons why he doesn't "talk-the-talk" is because he thinks on things and doesn't react like a stereotypical "gun-toting hot headed texan chanting USA-USA-USA" - Shoot first and cover up later...
I can only hope that for American's and the world's sake, they (Americans) can see through the smokescreen "dictatorship" of McCain and the clueless oat-tailing of Clintons campaign and elect someone who can make a difference!
You post links to two articles. Are you suggesting that raising questions about rendition, and other ethically abhorrent actions is a manifestation of partisanship? Did you think before you wrote that?
You write that:
"Strikes me that having initally had no idea about rendition, his students now have a highly partisan notion based of the professor's dislike of it. Perhaps they will read more for themselves."
Is there really an unbiased view of extraordinary rendition and the subsequent torture of prisoners? Perhaps amongst ´óÏó´«Ã½ editors, I suppose. But really now, such "unbiased' views are at heart de facto acceptance of the practice. I hope that they will read more and debate the issue, and come to some conclusions that go beyond the "unbiased" views of reporters.
I've never heard of Cape Western Reserve University, though I'm not certain why they chose a name for the place that sounds more like a South African winery than a seat of learning.
Surely there's an extent to which being well informed about the world is a matter of individual responsibility - actually I'd say that the individual is by a long way the one most responsible. But if there's an educational failure here, it would seem to be more about the examination regimen in operation in American schools: how is it possible that these students came in the top 10% of their high schools, without apparently knowing much of anything apart from what they'd been spoon-fed by their teachers?
Its kind of funny that people can try and throw obama under the bus and stay he's racist and hate america, but have no problems with ann courter, right wing media, and radio hacks who have a racist agenda supporting other candidates, politician, and officials.
the reason i hear for this there know those people dont mean it, and not to take them by there words. such as romney
being supported and with ann C.
obama brings the hope that most american s lost during the bush admin.
The Asia Times article borders on absurdity. To suggest that either Obama's mother or wife harbor some hatred for America based purely on conjecture is ridiculous enough, but to take that a step further and imply that from those conjectures you are able to definitively show that Obama hates America is utter nonsense.
Plenty of questions have been raised about Obama's patriotism in the wake of the Rev Wright tapes, and rightfully so, but many of the issues brought up in this article are nothing more than a rant masquerading as sound argument. Since when is hate transmittable through milk? The whole piece is entirely too dramatic to be taken seriously.
I find the Asia Times piece by Spengler interesting and thought provoking!
If Senator Obama was indeed raised thinking in the manor of his mother and other hate filed anti-colonialists. His direction may just be ideological with no grasp of reality.
Like those of Chavez, Magube, and others who dreamt of change only to find themselves doing exactly what they blame others for.
Should McCain make it to the White House you can bet that Isreal's (not so) Secret Agent Joe Lieberman will be calling all the shots. Incidently, POWs are not heros, they are unfortunate victims we care about; Audey Murphy was a hero.
Politics is so shrill and hateful that I envy people who are totally ignorant of the whole mess.
The disjointed article in Asia Times seems a far-fetched effort to discredit Obama - perhaps motivated by the author not wanting Obama to succeed in unifying & strenghtening the USA or restoring American values and global image.
An America known for both fairness and opportunity, a successful melting pot with citizens active in politics and a free press, is a threat to the blend of totalitarian excess and greedy (unregulated) capitalism that hold sway over much of the world.
That's why nearly every critique of a totalitarian regime is met by blaming the meddlesome USA or Europe, or by changing the subject to Native Americans or extraordinary renditions. An Obama presidency would go a long way to dilute the effectiveness of this disingenuous tactic.