"Cruelty of Politicians"....Interview with Glenn Greenwald.

[KoKo]

Is it cruel for a leader to cultivate false hope from cynical voters, only to flip the script and crush those hopes two years later? Is what we were promised in 2008 being delivered on in 2011? To dig in to that topic, we’re bringing one of our Radio Free Dylan favorites, Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com.

“The promise of his candidacy, the reason why young voters and new voters became so energized by his The campaign, or the reason people became so “hopeful” to use his word — the central promise was that things would actually be different, the central promise of his candidacy was radical changing of these dynamics. And not only has the critique been that he’s failed to change it, that he hasn’t changed it quickly enough or fundamentally enough, it’s that he’s doing the opposite. He’s moving it in the other direction. He’s bolstering it and intensifying it and strengthening it, and I think that’s the real complaint,” says Glenn.

As we all remember, the promises of the Obama campaign were lofty. ”The real irony and the real tragedy of the Obama presidency is that there were so many speeches where he talked so insightfully about the cancer of cynicism that was infecting the body politic, that people really believed that there was no point in participating in politics, that the political system was stacked against them inherently, that politicians were intrinsically corrupt. And the promise of his campaign was to eliminate the cynicism and to restore in all kinds of factions of the citizenry who lost it. And by raising people’s hopes that greatly, only to then crush those hopes, that has done more to intensify cynicism than any other single event. It let people who had been jaded and cynical believe that they had finally found a reason to be hopeful. Then to dash those hopes, maybe of an entire generation to give into cynicism forever. I think you saw that in 2010, and you’re seeing it in his approval ratings now,” says Glenn.

Even more serious than that, says Glenn, is the president’s inaction towards prosecuting corruption in big business and government, and the protection of those who actually have committed crimes.

MORE AT.........
http://www.dylanratigan.com/2011/05/23/cultivating-hope... /