Simon Schama in Financial Times says unless governments quickly move to recognize the genuine and building anger of citizens over the looting of their countries by a few with resultant recessions for the many, that things could get seriously ugly, if not violent.
When Senate Republicans succeed in briefly blocking financial regulation by representing it as an infringement on liberty rather than as a measure minimally needed for the security of the commonwealth, you know the truth needs help from the Presidential Communicator-in-Chief. He is back on the stump, but as with the case for healthcare reform, his efforts are belated and cramped by misplaced obligations of civility. But if his government is to survive the November elections with a shred of authority, it will need Barack Obama to be more than a head tutor. It will need him to be a warrior of the word every bit as combative as the army of the righteous that believes it has the constitution on its side, and in its inchoate thrashings can yet bring down the governance of the American Republic.
So far, Obama has proven himself anything but a warrior for the people. He gives Wall Street most everything it wants after mouthing a few obligatory phrases of outrage (backed by little or no action.)
From the comments to the article:
Speaking as a US citizen full of sound and fury, who has been shouting fruitlessly for Obama to stand up against those who pillage, profit and brought down the economy, this article is brilliant and prescient. It should be required reading, at least on the 24/7 cable news channel crawl. Unfortunately, the Obama administration abandoned its progressive base once he was elected and let the right wing fill the vacuum created by economic distress and populist rage.
Obama too often seems aloof and cerebral, not engaged with the issues of the day. Those with a cynical view might say he was installed with big support from the banksters with the understanding that he would shovel them hundreds of billions, a job he has performed admirably indeed.
Are the guillotines being sharpened?
Having weakened faith in government and made considerable progress towards creating a social Darwinist paradise of isolated individuals pitted against each other, the oligarchs may be about to harvest a whirlwind.