What Happens When We Don't See the Tipping Points

By Bernard Weiner

April 07, 2010 "Information Clearing House" -- Often in our busy daily lives, we miss the significance of a piece of news.
Sometimes it's not until years later that we realize how very important that news event was in shifting the paradigm.

For example: In 1981, President Reagan fired all 11,000 striking air-traffic controllers, and the liberal left didn't really
organize itself to respond forcefully. That breaking of a labor union was the linchpin for much more anti-liberal mischief at
the hands of the Reaganite conservatives for the next eight years -- and beyond. And the liberal left, as personified by the
Democratic Party, remained confused and toothless in its opposition.

But that was then, when the rightwing was in flower. Now we supposedly have a liberal in the White House and the
Democrats control both houses of Congress. So surely there aren't such tipping-point events happening now.

Not so fast. Let's take a look at a few candidates and see the possible ramifications for the body politic.

THE DESTRUCTION OF ACORN

Highly analogous to the Reagan-era attack on the air-traffic controllers was what happened to one of this country's most
effective community-aiding organizations, ACORN. For more than four decades, ACORN had been highly effective in
helping low-income citizens register to vote. Those poor and minorities tended to vote Democratic. As a result, Karl Rove and
his acolytes made ACORN their number one target. Indeed, the firing of all those U.S. attorneys around the country derived
from the unwillingness of a number of U.S. attorneys to go after ACORN right before an election on phony accusations of
voting fraud.

There may have been a few bad apples in ACORN's large organization, but most of the work done by ACORN employees and
volunteer was positive and thoroughly in tune with the small-d democratic impulse in American politics.

When the Republican noise- and spin-machines went into warpdrive over one tiny incident last Fall -- a staged "gotcha!"
event supposedly involving a prostitute and her pimp -- the Democrats, worried that they might get tarred as "ACORN
supporters," joined forces with the Republicans to pass a bill denying federal funding to the organization.

The eventual result was that ACORN a few weeks ago was forced to close up shop, after its private donor base was scared off
by all the controversy. A mighty force for good was silenced and destroyed. It doesn't matter that twice in recent months,
federal judges ruled that the law passed by Congress was an unconstitutional bill of attainder: i.e., designed to punish just one
person or group. Those decisions came too late: ACORN is no more.

The left didn't react with indignation and organized dissent when Reagan busted the air-traffic controllers' union, and they
paid the long-term price for their political cowardice. And the left abandoned the politically toxic ACORN (and even jumped
on board to help pass the destructive de-funding bill), and thus gave the extreme right more license to go even crazier against
more liberal and progressive legislation and groups. Once again, the Dems will be paying for this one for many years to come.

OBAMA'S PUBLIC OPTION SELL-OUT

President Obama, who campaigned on the principle of offering public competition to the health-care insurance carriers, sold
out early on this issue to the insurance companies and for-profit hospitals. Behind closed doors early on, Obama promised in
exchange for their support and muted criticisms of his health-care plan that he would never OK a "public option" that would
harm their bottom-line.

(Also, in exchange for their support on the health-care bill, Obama sold out to the giant pharmaceutical corporations,
guaranteeing them there would be no Medicare negotiations for cheaper drug prices and no importation of less-expensive
drugs from Canada.)

For nearly a year after he made those secret vows to the health-care giants, Obama continued to pretend that he favored the
public option, saying so in appearances and speeches often, but behind the scenes he made sure to kill any attempts to move
that option into the health care bill.

The result is that the insurance companies will face no competition and thus the public has no leverage to get them to reduce
their rates. As a matter of fact, those companies will be raising them again and again and again as the years go by, even as
they rake in humongous profits, since Obama's health-care plan includes a mandatory requirement that everyone will have to
buy health insurance. (Those who need some financial assistance will get such from the federal government, but most of us
will wind up paying about what we pay now, or more. And those rates can, and will, rise over the years.)

Obama and his chief advisors were quite aware that the progressive base would feel betrayed and angry at this sell-out to the
forces of rapacious American capitalism, but felt the left eventually would support their awful bill because they had little
choice. At least, after 100 years of trying, the principle of health-care-as-a-right finally would be inside the tent of political
respectability. More reforms would be possible later. So, yes, progressives (led by Dennis Kucinich) wound up voting for the
bill, rather than joining with the regressive Republicans to kill the first decent chance of getting at least an incremental
foot-in-the-door on health care.

Even though Obama, at the urging of the heath-care mega-corporations, postponed implementing key sections of the act until
after the 2012 election, he may well have pissed off enough voters on the left and middle (the right was already a lost cause)
to guarantee that he will be a one-term president.

Short-term gain for long-term pain. The usual political calculation: I'll take the goodies now, and hope I can finagle something
later to fool the sheople into supporting me then. Obama & Co. may have grossly miscalculated the rising level of anger and
frustration coming not just from the extreme far-right teapartiers but from his own outraged base.

OBAMA AND THE COVER-UP

Obama is quite aware that George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, and their underlings, committed serious crimes: breaking both
federal laws against torture and warrantless surveillance of U.S. citizens, and international laws against starting aggressive
wars and carrying out torture. But the Obama Administration refuses to prosecute CheneyBush and has come to their defense
in court. In so doing, Obama could be seen as being guilty of furthering a cover-up, which is itself a felony.

Why would the President behave in such a fashion? Several possibilities present themselves:

1. That some kind of deal was struck with the outgoing leaders by the incoming leader. Some kind of quid pro quo, although
about what precisely is not known.

2. That Obama does not want to have a court case create a precedent that could tie his hands when it comes to surveillance,
warfare, torture. Indeed, Obama seems to be comfortable continuing many of the most egregious, despicable policies of the
CheneyBush Administration when it comes to "national security," such as keeping open the possibility of rendering terror
suspects to other countries notorious for their brutal interrogation methods. His Administration defends the concept of "state
secrets," the indefinite confinement of terror suspects charged with no crimes, and with maintaining the government's power
to violate civil liberties at will when it comes to eavesdropping and the right of privacy.

3. That Obama is having a hard enough time getting anything through Congress, especially facing a thoroughy hostile
Republican opposition, and thus wants to not stir up old animosities and issues. He says he wants the country to "move
forward," not spend time and energy "looking backward."

4. Supposedly, the impeachment of Bill Clinton was partial payback for driving Nixon out of office. Obama might well believe
that pattern of tit-for-tat destruction of a president has to be broken. In short, no examination of the crimes of Bush and
Cheney.

To my mind, scenario #2 seems most operative here. Once a president is given, or (as in the case with the previous
administration) grabs, more and more power into his own hands, at the expense of upsetting the traditional "balance of
power" between the Executive and Legislative branches, those larger parameters rarely shrink. If you build it, they will come
and want to operate on the same expansive playing field.

Obama may be thinking long-range here: If you permit the country to try and perhaps to convict a former president, the
precedent is established that presidents from now on are fair game at the least, for impeachment for their alleged crimes.
Ergo, Obama will not permit delving into whatever crimes may have been committed by Bush and Cheney.
POSITIVE TIPPING POINTS?

These are just three possible negative tipping-point events (and their ramifications) that are not receiving the attention they
deserve.

But there are also positive events worth taking a look at. It's possible nothing much will come of them, that they're really not
tipping points, but since positive events for liberals have been few and far between, they are worth at least noting, to see what
possible meaning we can take from them.

FIGHTING BACK, AT LAST

Obama and his Democratic leaders in Congress have permitted themselves to be rolled often and easily by the determined
Republican minority. Just the threat of a filibuster in the Senate was enough to make the Democrats quake in fear and pull in
their horns.

When the Democrats took the daring step of confronting the Republicans frontally by slip-sliding away from the filibuster
boogeyman and passing the health-care bill by majority vote, the Dems seemed to finally realize they had power and could
use it.

This led to Obama telling the Republicans in the Senate that their days of total obstructionism were coming to an end. They
had locked up nearly 80 nominees for important posts and refused those nominees up-or-down confirmation votes in the
Senate, many of them for six months or more. So, during the recent Congressional break, Obama simply gave 15 of those
nominee "recess appointments" for the life of the current Congress, which is to say until 2112. (Bush made 170 recess
appointments during his two terms.)

In addition, the Democrats are feeling their oats a bit more, and might even go for majority "reconciliation" votes on
upcoming major bills, including the Dodd bill calling for more oversight of financial institutions. This bill, by the way, is
woefully deficient, and leaves all sorts of loopholes for the giant banks. What I'm talking about here is the Dems' willingness
to confront the Republicans openly.

SURPRISING TRUTH FROM AFGHANISTAN

The U.S. plays down, or outright denies, the huge number of "collateral-damage" deaths of civilians in Afghanistan. "Shit
happens" seems to be the operative mode when raining down missiles aimed at Taliban forces, though on occasion the
Americans have felt forced to apologize for the most embarrassing of such massacres of innocents.

So hearing the recent admission by Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the senior U.S. and NATO commander, about those all-too-
frequent mass-deaths at coalition hands could be a sign of a rift between the military on the ground and the civilian leadership
giving the orders.

Here's what McChrystal said about a week ago: "We have shot an amazing number of people, but to my knowledge, none has
ever proven to be a threat." In other words, the U.S. is slaughtering innocent civilians on a regular basis, for no good reason.

His comments came during a recent videoconference to answer questions from troops on the ground about civilian casualties.
Such deaths were supposed to be much reduced in number under new rules ordered by McChrystal.

One can read this startling admission as a pushback from the U.S. military in Afghanistan to civilian/CIA orders to continue
aggressive actions against suspected Taliban hideouts, regardless of the civilian "collateral damage." Continuing such deadly
policies do little but anger the locals (many of whom see these killings as "mass murder") and provide a major recruiting tool
for the Taliban. No wonder President Karzai is so outspoken against the continuing campaign of the Americans/NATO.

One can hope that Obama and his military advisors will see that the American campaign in Afghanistan is a no-win situation,
and get the hell out of there at relatively little cost rather than risk getting America sucked further into the quagmire for
another decade or two. Especially fighting for a corrupt government in Kabul and in many of the provinces that really doesn't
want the U.S. there.

Bernard Weiner, Ph.D. in government & international relations, has taught at universities in California
and Washington, worked as a writer/editor with the San Francisco Chronicle for two decades, and
currently serves as co-editor of The Crisis Papers (www.crisispapers.org). To comment:
crisispapers@hotmail.com.
Copyright 2010 by Bernard Weiner

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Corban 0

Or maybe, Dr. Weiner, there is a consensus, an agenda which is largely agreed upon across the US political class, and we actually
have - on so many of the big ticket items - merely the appearance of a choice in policy, when, in effect, we have a choice in style and
only a bit of substance as to "who gets what and how much how" - but we have no real say when it comes to the big stuff - like
empire and central banking, Wall Street's need for ever expanding markets and cheap labor, and who gets to live and who gets to
die for want of (a) medic(al care) on the lonely, competitive, brutal battefield that America has been turned into by our virtual-monied
rulers.

Reply Report

Mr. Raven 0

This seems like some apologetics for work within the system liberals. I'd say the wikileaks revelations of overt U.S. war crimes is the
one positive thing. Frankly I expect better from I.C.

Reply Report

PINEIRO 0

IF YOU ARE STILL TALKING DEMOCRAT,REPUBLICAN,CONSERVATIVE,LIBERAL THEN YOU ARE PART OF THE PROBLEM.
IT IS TIME TO BREAK FROM ALL THAT NONSENSE AND TO START OVER. THEY ARE ALL CRIMINALS! THAT IS THE
REALITY OF THE STATE OF AMERICA!

Reply 2 replies Report

Amilcar 0
What happens when you have a Zio-cons' run and controlled media..?!

You & your kids, your family, your neighbours & your entire nation hit all kinds of tipping points [not just 3 points] without realizing it...

Why you may ask?! Because you, your kids, your family, your neighbours, your street, your town and your entire nation are already
pacified: the majority are fat & asking for more Panem & Circenses.

You, your kids, your family, your neighbours, your streets, your town and your entire nation are living in another dimension and
consequently you do not give a rat's ass about what's happening in the world & to the world by your own governments!
You have no time, you are 'busy', you are entangled in debt , you are paying bills after bills, & you are watching Dancing with the
Stars, Entertainment tonight & crave for more stories regarding Tiger Woods extra-marital affairs..!

And that's precisely the objective of Main Stream Media control by these Zio-cons & your 'democratically' elected governments..!

You ARE 'PACIFIED'...You believe that America's Got Talent and nobody else..! You believe you are always right and nobody else!
You believe that you defend freedoms and high morals and nobody else! You believe that you are generous and nobody else! You
believe you are the best in everything and nobody else!

Penem and Circenses...And Penem et Circenses you shall receive..!

YOUR MIND IS CONTROLLED & LESS THAN 3% OF YOU READ BOOKS...

WATCH THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PE7VHDLnYw&fe...

AND THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GiUDKI0ptyk&fe...

You fell victim of your own making..! You were/have been/are feeding the monster!
Throw your telly and sober up..! It's time to see the day light! it's high time for a Reality Check..!

Reply 1 reply Report

Inhabitant 0

Tipping point.

#1. Barry isn't the president and that makes every move and stroke of his pen null and void.

Reply Report

anonamous 0

I don't understand why the other countries can't come up with toy airplanes that shoot rockets. It isn't that high tech if you think about
it. If they could develop their own drones, they could blast select targets in the U.S. just like we do over there.

Reply Report

hayate 0

This read like a sportscaster's description during a horse race when that race had already been fixed, and the judges, jockeys,
owners, the press, in fact everybody except the spectators in the crowd, knew the fix was in.

These obfuscation efforts are part of the corruption.

Reply Report

Amilcar 0

AND WATCH THIS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzRdQEfSUCc&fe...
 Reply Report

epppie 0

How have so many been fooled into thinking that this bill establishes healthcare as a right? It does the EXACT OPPOSITE!!! It firmly
establishes the opposite principle, that you get the healthcare you can afford.

Reply Report

Bill Johnson 0

The tipping point for me came when in the early 60's it was reported that J. F. Kennedy approved the assasination of Fidel Castro. I
said to the people present that he just took any barriers of himself suffering the same fate. Hardly the actions of a respected foreign
leader. History proved me correct. When Manson's girl tried to take out Reagon it was no surprise. When are these people going to
grow up and try to be constructive for a change towards other people outside of the thugs they associate with adopting their barbaric
outlook on others?

Reply Report

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