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I originally posted this interview with Howard Zinn back in April 2009 following the then recent revelations of President Obama’s DOJ under Eric Holder betraying Obama’s campaign promises to instead embrace the Bush administrations claims for immunity and “states secrets” in the case of clear FISA violations and illegal wiretapping.
So much more has gone down since then, including his troop increases in Afghanistan, his expansion of drone strikes, his coddling and enriching of Wall Street investment bankers at your expense, and his effective sellout of the American people to the health insurance industry.
And Obama has turned his back on so many of his campaign pledges to make his administrations policy decisions so far essentially a direct extension of the policies of the the Bush/Cheney years, with most of the bigger points outlined in Paul Street’s recent article The Dawning Age of Obama as a Potentially Teach-able Moment for The Left that I thought that in light of Obama’s SOTU speech that this might be a good time time for revisiting what Zinn had to say in this interview.
I also suspect that Zinn would be honored to have us honor his ideas more than himself.
RIP Mr. Zinn. We’ll do our best.
In part three of what was a series of interviews, historian, political scientist, social critic, activist, author and playwright Professor Howard Zinn talks here with Real News CEO Paul Jay about why so many people seem to be convinced that Obama is anything more than what he appears to be given his actions and policies implemented since inauguration, and about how to create a mass popular movement to pressure Obama for progressive results in a supportive way, and concludes that social turmoil is not only not bad but necessary if it leads to something good in the sense of creating real change.
Real News Network – April 10, 2009
Send a message to Obama
Howard Zinn: Social turmoil is not bad if it leads to something good
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Can we create a large enough movement of people to start credibly threatening him now with political oblivion in 2012, not to throw him out, but to make it so loud and clear and unequivocal to him that he will have all the support and all the votes he will need for a landslide in 2012 only by producing good results, or face being turfed out if he doesn’t?
He is head of state with few significant powers, in my view. There are various committees who are hidden who have the final word on really important issues. Isn’t that obvious by now? Unless we deconstruct the media narrative that, unfortunately, is largely shared by the so-called “left” we will never even begin to understand who really has the power in this world (we live in a global empire).
We have to get past this sheeple shit about the US being number one as a nation. About the deception that is left/right political theater driven by multinational globalists.
I like the concept of RealNews but it is far too US centric and old world thinking for my tastes. Instead I would opt for wearechange as THE news station to be expanded upon.
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embed doesnt work for me but its here.
🙂
gave me The Peoples History, 20 years ago. It woke me up from my not so comfortable delusion that nothing political mattered as I drifted in and out of the American Dream. I find in him a generational link much like Woody Guthrie was. Threads like his and others who have gone before are hard to lose. He will teach and affect many more generations to come and I thank him for his commitment to the best of our common dreams. I always felt he was pragmatic, positive and not an academic who was above the political fray and believed that we the people could and would tip the balance. How many have read his books and had their eyes opened? Thanks Howard.