Yeah, I know, I need my tinfoil hat. But, does anyone else seem to think

[rateyes]

that the leaders of the "military-industrial" complex has gotten to and threatened Obama and his family if he doesn't do things their way?

[eleny]

1. No

[griffi94]

2. no

i think it's just business as usual.
the american people had lost all faith in the republicans. their rw froth at the mouth base endangered the upper class party masters, so the party masters being more loyal to their personal interests than any particular political ideaology, just changed teams.

[stevenleser]

3. Like who?

Look, I know Eisenhower mentioned the idea of a MIC, I just don't see evidence of it, at least not any evidence of power or influence greater than any other large industry group. If it exists and is exerting pressure, who are its leaders and what, supposedly, are their goals?

I'm much more concerned about the ability of the oil & gas industry to exert influence over Republicans, for instance. I think that is much more real and verifiable issue.

[1620rock]

5. Could be...

[FreakinDJ]

21. Your kidding - Right ????

Did you see Bush's List of 2004 Campaign Contributers early on in the race.

80% Military Defense Contractors with Ex CIA for CEOs and Corporate Execs.

[stevenleser]

31. No, I am not kidding. That is on what we're basing this?

OK, so, we know that the Republicans are more inclined to spend more on the military and on weapons. Thus it makes sense that the folks you mentioned might be more inclined to support Republicans. Is that the extent of the MIC assertions? Somehow I dont think so.

What I am talking about is that I do not see evidence of this alleged monstrous entity that exerts control over US policy. As I said earlier, there seems to be much more evidence pointing to oil & gas industry influence than that of military/defense.

[Jamastiene]

4. He's a grown man.

He is responsible for his own actions. If he wanted to, he could assert himself. Apparently, he does not want to assert himself. I don't know why though.

He won by a fairly large freaking LANDSLIDE. He has a mandate to move the country away from the right wing crap and to the left.

[housewolf]

6. I think the National Security Agency pretty much runs the country

They seem to be the ones driving all the major decisions regardless of who the president is.

[Little Star]

7. Ya know, I found this real heavy duty tin foil.

Have you tried that? LOL Just joshing you.....

[donheld]

8. Someone has

[geckosfeet]

9. The mic (military industrial complex) is all around you. It is everywhere.

It permeates all that you see, hear, feel and touch. It is the fundamental organizational structure for our country. It cannot be avoided.

Take the blue pill, and you will awaken into a world where you are free.

Take the red pill, and you will remember nothing. And you will go on with your life as if nothing ever happened.

[vaberella]

10. Your nuts. Lord almighty. n/t

[ChairmanAgnostic]

11. I prefer walnuts and hazels.

[suzie]

28. There are no nuts as tasty as pecans.

But I'll bet there's some walnut grower's association out there paying you to say that.

[rateyes]

13. What about my nuts?

:shrug:

[noiretextatique]

12. yes

they've killed before, haven't they? and it's not the crazy teabaggers he needs to worry about. anyone who doesn't know this is a damn fool, and ignorant about this country's history. just look at what the rw did to destroy progressive movements in recent history. not to mention the coup of 2000 :shrug: how fucking clear does it have to be?

[Jim Sagle]

14. No need - he internalized their values before he was ever selected for the Presidency.

[snagglepuss]

19. BINGO nt

[shadesofgray]

15. I've actually had the thought that they've brainwashed him because he seems so different from the

man I voted for.

But now I realize that man was just a speech giver, who completely had me fooled.

So I was the one who was brainwashed.

[tularetom]

16. You've been listening to too many Bill Hicks bits

[rgbecker]

17. Yes, of course. Read "JFK and the Unspeakable"

by James Douglass. The leaders are the Joint Chiefs, the career CIA and FBI agents and the Mainstream Media, who sing their praises and carry their message. Do you think the average American, woke up on September 12th and said let's invade Baghdad? Do you think the average American thinks the Afghanis want to invade the USA anymore than the Yemenis want to? Remember how all Americans were just itching to invade Cuba? I don't and I don't think they did.

Just gotta hope that Obama has interviewed his selective service guys directly.

[cherokeeprogressive]

18. Nnnnnnnope.

[stevenleser]

20. Let's make an assumption that the MIC exists and wants war...

if they were in control, wouldn't we have gone to war against Venezuela and Iran, at least, by now, if not North Korea and Cuba as well?

[Bumblebee]

22. Tinfoil is too mild for this one. It's utter looney.

[KansasVoter]

23. Nutty! Think the secret service would be concerned about that?

[RichGirl]

24. I've been thinking exactly that.

Either he is being threatened or he simply knows way more than we do and is doing the best he can. I have absolutely no doubt that this country and most likely the world is being run by a secret government. I would suggest that anyone who is skeptical do a little googling.

It's not us that need tinfoil hats, it's those who can't handle the truth or are stuck in narrow mindedness who need party hats...because they live in la la land!

Our Democracy, the federal reserve, banks, etc...it's all just a house of cards ready to topple over. Personally, I am grateful that we have a person like Obama at the helm right now. I think the day will come when we wonder how we could have quibbled over things like the public option.

I don't mean to sound doom and gloom because it's not. When you live in a broken down house, you can do all the fixing you want and it never really gets better. Best to just tear the thing down and rebuild.

Enjoy....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xjPODksI08

[chrisa]

25. Preposterous

Have they threatened him poltically? Possibly. With bodily harm? He would just get the FBI involved. He is the President, after all.

[RichGirl]

29. Oh right....the FBI...

And maybe he could get the fairies and unicorns to help him too.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

26. No, I think they just made it clear that if he wanted to be president,

he'd have to do things their way.

Like Bill Clinton, who was equally favorable toward Republican Lite ideas, he's an outsider who wants to be an insider.

[Raine]

41. That's what I think too. nt

[Vidar]

27. Obama & anyone else above a certain level of power are bought, threatened or both.

[Odin2005]

30. I've had the thought in the back of my mind.

I think JFK conspiracy theories are BS and don't think they would try to assassinate Obama directly, but they could easily bribe Secret Service members to slack off when there is a threat of an Oswald-type loony.

[Ikonoklast]

32. If they actually ran things as much as you think they do

a Democrat would not have been elected, and President McCain would be addressing the troops preparing for the Iranian invasion .

[stevenleser]

33. Exactly. Well said. You did a much better job of saying what I was trying to say

upthread regarding the MIC.

[dflprincess]

40. No. They want us to have the illusion that we have a choice when voting

after 8 years of Bush (and 2 elections that were pretty clearly stolen) no one would have believed a McCain/Palin ticket won legitimately.

So, by the end of 2007, we were being told that the choices were Clinton or Obama, either one was acceptable to the those who actually control things.

[RichGirl]

47. It's not republicans.....

If you run the show....you wouldn't care which party gets elected.

[Upfront]

34. No

Just bought and paid for to see it the Insurance companys way.

[CJCRANE]

35. They don't need to. They're part of the system.

Let's play a little thought experiment. Imagine Dennis Kucinich is President. He calls out the MSM, the Pentagon, the CIA and Wall Street and turns against them. How would he actually get anything done with all of the country's most powerful forces against him?

You need to bring those forces along with you by arguing for competence and efficiency and moving them in the right direction.

[MissDeeds]

36. Not at all n/t

[bigwillq]

37. No (nt)

[Clear Blue Sky]

38. No. He is just being lead by the campaign cash carrot.

[WeDidIt]

39. Nah, it was the space aliens n/t

[boppers]

42. Premise fail.

Enjoy the hat.

[POAS]

43. No

[Sapphocrat]

44. Nope.

Nothing Obama has done is inconsistent with the crystal-clear signals he sent pre-election. What some of us saw, from day one, is what everyone got.

Granted, I didn't know he'd go as far as he has (with worse to come, I guarantee you) quite so fast, but -- No. Nobody "got to" him. This is who he always was.

[NMMNG]

45. You're right about one thing

You need your tinfoil hat.

[TheKentuckian]

46. No, I think Obama is at least moderately married to the status quo

and has little vexing concern about the overreach of corporate power.

He has little interest in reinventing the wheel and probably has even less power than desire to do so. Congress is incapable of even center/right reforms, even market based reforms are too radical for Senate and that means we are in the deepest of shit because many if not most of our systems are hopelessly broken and/or out of date being designed for vastly different conditions and non-global competition.

[jenmito]

48. He's doing what he said he'd do all during the campaign in Afghanistan.

And he rejected all of the strategies first given to him since none had an exit strategy. :shrug: