In the Tuesday October 6, 2008 debate with the Republican candidate, Mr. Barack Obama, the presidential candidate for the Democrats, said: “If we have Osama bin Laden in our sights and the Pakistani government is unable or unwilling to take them out, then I think that we have to act and we will take them out. We will kill bin Laden; we will crush Al Qaida. That has to be our biggest national security priority.”
His words show a chilling similarity to Osama bin Laden’s attitude towards the US government and its citizens. Do they share a similar mind set? Does the senator really believe that killing Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda will give national security for the USA? Does he really believe that other terrorists worldwide will then suddenly stop their murderous attacks? Does he imagine suicide bombers will give up revenge attacks? Will Iraqi and Afghani nationals comply with the occupation? Yet the fuss in the USA after the debate this week seemed to be John McCain saying “that one” in a critical reference to Mr Obama or using the word “friends” too often.
Hasn’t Mr. Obama heard of the international criminal courts, the rule of law, the right to trial, and sovereignty of the nation state? Hasn’t the current President of the United States supported the killing and maiming of countless citizens in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere in the pursuit of this national security prioroty. We are told that the war on terror against in Arab countries stops terrorists from coming to the West to wage their war here.
Is the President, the British Prime Minister and the candidates claiming that the network of Arab nationals who hate the West and its ideology cannot spare 15 or 20 men to generate terror in the West? I had written for the August issue of the Dharma e-News a lot of quotes from Barack Obama that left me feeling very concerned. (see Dharma e-News 15 on www.insightmeditation.orgI would like to thank you for your responses to my concerns about the political statements of Barack Obama in my Dharma eNews sent out in August, 2008.
In reply to one e-mail, I wrote:“The responses are coming in from the USA and elsewhere about my reflections on Barack Obama. Are we looking for a Messiah within the political form? We have to go much deeper than that. We have to examine the political values, structures and forms that shape our thinking, and the historical processes that supports it. For example, much of the American Constitution, Bill of Rights and numerous amendments are hopelessly antiquated. The world of 2008 is not the same as 1787. It is the same with the UN Charter. The world’s poor, sick and unwanted would write a very different constitution or charter. The current US constitution needs to be dumped and totally re-written so that it addresses the responsibilities of the the powerful, wealthy and global needs.We need divine and heartfelt inspiration and realisations about what matters, and have the courage to act upon them. Everything has to come under question. We can’t expect Barack Obama to think that way. He is a product of the circumstances, but it is the circumstances that require re-examination.
Here are a handful of your responses.
“I watch Al Jazeera fairly often and am quite the news hound. I appreciate your work and your insight on this. It is extremely hard to get any real, ‘truthy’ news in the states, you have to go get it.”
“I am planning to use some of your latest missive (on Barack Obama) in our next issue.”
A Dharma eNews reader sent to me an article she wrote for a USA publication. Here is an excerpt.“This is not a compromise – it is an all out sell out of our Fourth Amendment rights. My politico friends have taken to regurgitating that line that goes, ‘he’s only pretending to sell us out – just wait until he actually gets into office, he’ll do another about face and become Obama The Pure again … Well, it seems clear to me that he was either paid off, blackmailed, his family was threatened, or he was debriefed enough by the Corporate Dictators to understand the direction this country is going in and wants to come in on the right side of martial law when it comes down. Whatever it was, we’ll probably never know and once a deal like that is made, do you think he would survive welching on the devil?”
“So you recommend voting for McCain???”“Thanks for your quotes on Obama’s speeches. Here is an extract from an article in the US. . “Starvation.net logs the increasing impacts of world hunger and starvation. Over 30,000 people a day (85% children under 5) die of malnutrition, curable diseases, and starvation. The numbers of unnecessary deaths has exceeded three hundred million people over the past forty years. ..Yet neither US presidential candidate has declared a war on starvation. “
“Thank you for all your research and thoughtfulness in putting it together. I enjoyed your observation regarding his (Obama) public countenance.. “
“In this community, with it’s various list-serves, there are many conversations going on about Obama–basically it seems most folks are relieved to have a bright, thinking person as a possible candidate for president–and some are angry and don’t quite know what to think about his changing positions. Sadly i think business as usual will continue. And, as you pointed out, change will not come through “politics.” — but rather from an awakening in the human heart. . . an awakening to our divinity. And THAT change is happening as we speak . . . .in spite of everything around us to the contrary. “
“I am writing to ask you for permission to use all of your article or most of it on Barack Obama in our magazine. ““Thank you for your schedule and your thoughts and information on Obama. Please come back to the US. You are greatly missed! Sat with you in NYC and Spirit Rock”
“Take a look at this extract, Christopher. “I hope no one out there has any romantic notions about the new Administration. I hope everyone realizes that the political process can never be used to solve our problems; that system is in fact the heart of our problem. And in the end, capitalism can’t last anyway. Only when you have reached that deep level of hopelessness, where you see no avenue of escape, can you clear your mind enough to begin to see where the real problem lies. The real problem lies, my friends, in the fact that you and I have nothing to say about how our societies are run. Any one of us has more sense than the people who are running things, and we certainly have our fellow beings more at heart. Our problem lies in our own powerlessness, leaving power in the hands of those who always abuse it, in one way or another, in one age after another. Our challenge as a sentient species is to begin to empower ourselves, us ordinary people, without reference to the useless political process. How to pursue our empowerment must be the aim of our investigations, and pursuing that empowerment must be the point of our activism.”
Once again, for taking the time to respond to my e-mail. Mind you, the great crash in the global financial markets have turned the presidential elections currently into a mildly interesting sideshow.
Keep questioning Christopher