Finding A Cure For The Insidious Cancers Of 'Hope' and 'Faith' (Carolyn Baker)

[Tace]

Mar. 1, 2010 -- (CarolynBaker.net) -- At the risk of being accused of declaring "I told ya so," I must admit that three online articles made my day today -- two of which I posted in Truth to Power's Daily News Digest, and one which I posted on the website itself.

The first was by one of my heroes, Chris Hedges, in which he stated: "We owe Ralph Nader and Cynthia McKinney an apology. They were right about Barack Obama. They were right about the corporate state. They had the courage of their convictions and they stood fast despite wholesale defections and ridicule by liberals and progressives." His article is a litany of how Barack Obama, using "hope" to get elected, has revealed himself as Bush III and how voting in national elections accomplishes nothing in a society rotting in putrifying political and moral corruption.

Joe Bageant, a man after my own heart who's hunkering down in rural Mexico making tortillas, pens a scathing article, "Americans Are ‘Hope Fiends' Because Honestly Looking At The Present Situation Would Destroy Just About Everything We Hold As Reality." In it he states that hope is political pablum for an infantilized nation. He too, reluctantly voted for Obama because he thought Obama just had to be better than Bush, but now Joe is crying on his tortillas and saying things like, "Hope is magical thinking, believing that somehow, some larger unknown force is in motion to set things right."

And a journalist for whom I hold the greatest respect, Robert Jensen, writes an article on getting rid of "hope" and "faith," inspired by his interview of Abe Osheroff, long-time activist and documentary film maker. It opens with a short vignette by Jensen:

After a recent talk about the struggle for social justice and the threats to the ecosystem, a student lingered, waiting to talk to me alone, as if he had something to confess.

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http://worldnewstrust.com/index.php?option=com_flexicontent&view=items&cid=122:commentary-wnt-original&id=7567:finding-a-cure-for-the-insidious-cancers-of-hope-and-faith-carolyn-baker-

[NJmaverick]

1. This article is a heapng stinking pile of horse manure

filled with dishonest green propaganda

[Tace]

3. Tell Me How You Really Feel

: )

[gcomeau]

5. I would...

...but the mods would probably take issue with me using the necessary language.

[tom_paine]

6. I despise Nader, too, for his role in the 2000 Stolen Election

I won't forgive him and I won't vote Green ever because of it.

However, your blanket condemnation of it and your use of the term "Green Propaganda" sounds discomfortingly like what the Bushies say when presented with an inconvenient fact or three.

"Liberal Propaganda!"

Am I glad I voted for Obama over McPalin/Crazy? Of course. Is he doing anything to overcome the systemic rot now so obvious to so many? Nothing of substance - nothing that can't be flipped off like a switch when the Bushies return to power. Sadly, Obama's public groveling for "bipartisanship" when the Bushpublicans daily piss in his face is grotesque and almost certainly guarantees the Bushie return to power will mirror 1994.

Please list some of the things in this article you feel are "dishonest Green propaganda".

One can despise Nader, yet still realize he WAS right about the Corporate State.

[NJmaverick]

7. The article is NOTHING but dishonest Green propaganda

as for Bushie's the author seems to have learned a trick or two from them in the propaganda department.

[tom_paine]

9. And you have certainly learned something from them in how to shout down legitimate questions

without actually saying anything.

Did you even read the article? You have thus far shown no indication that you did.

WHO were you saying is aping Bushiganda techniques?

Personally, if I had to choose between someone writing a long article with properly constructed arguments, agree or disagree, and someone firing off one-liners without substance, I would think the closest thing to Bushiganda would be the substance-less one liners.

Sure you don't want to call me a SOCIALIST? Or do you prefer custom one-liners of no substance to the "off-the-rack" one-liners of no substance that the Bushies favor?

:rofl:

I should have known it was pointless to try to have a civilized discussion with you. Goodbye now. Enjoy the last word.

:rofl:

Now, fire back a substance-less one-liner! Quick! Do it without thinking! You sure you just wouldn't like to scream SOCIALIST at me and be done with it?

[wolfgangmo]

8. Okaaaaaaaaaaaay.

So the Bushies had NOTHING (sarcasm) to do with the stolen 2000 election. Katherine Harris, anyone? Puhlease - Nader was right.

You can parse figure and use them to find a scapegoat, but don't you honestly think that the Bushies are much more culpible than Nader ever was?

[tom_paine]

10. I believe you misinterpreted my comments.

I do agree with you that the Bushies are FAR more culpable for 2000.

I am still upset with Nader for what he did.

You might be better served by going after the bunch of people who are 100% opposed to you than me, the one guy with a modicum of sympathy and understanding for your position and belief.

[dkf]

2. Nader is a waste of time. On the other hand I won't fall for hope again. I guess I've been cured.

[Zoeisright]

4. Yeah, sure, Nader was right.

And Jim Bunning is just a concerned American and Mitt Romney's hair is real.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAH!!