Shoe On the Other Foot

There are protests; and there are protests. The trick is to know which is which. There are genuine grievance protests; there are rent-a-mob protests; there are get-your-face-on-TV protests; there are let’s-kick-some-ass-because-we’re-bored protests. Then there are protests that are made up of any combination of these.

For Barack Obama, there is only one kind of protest. It’s the one defined in communist protocol as being the precursor to social revolution which in turn is the precursor to the imposition of totalitarian governance. As a community organizer on the streets of Chicago, he routinely helped organize protests as a means to weaken the system in order to wring out concessions. This, he believed, was wholly legitimate as a means to advance his ideology as well as his own political ambitions. He remains fully aware of the potency of the tactic.

Now that the shoe is on the other foot and Obama has reached the pinnacle of power, he is no longer so enamored by protest movements of any type. So far, the protests against him and his policies have consisted of relatively polite tea parties, easily marginalized by his adoring press flacks’ inattention. Still, the numbers of those participating are worrying. Somehow, information is getting out. Equally (if not more) troubling is the fact that the American people seem to have decided en masse to sit on their hands and refuse to participate in the hotly anticipated economic recovery. It’s almost as if they’ve adopted a passive-aggressive stance – not working; not spending – deliberately designed to bleed the system dry.

Still, as long as it stays that way, the revolution advances. What is its aim? Why, to stamp out every vestige of America’s past (presumed) power, of course. The theory goes that, without America (and its few remaining allies), it would be a peaceful world, safe from the corrosive effects of racism, greed and pollution - a virtual utopia in which everyone loves each other and happily contributes to the limit of their ability to everyone else’s need. (Did I get that right?)

So far, so good. But there’s trouble brewing. Obama’s inability to speak out decisively on recent protests in Iran and in various parts of China stems from the fact that his own position has changed. He knows that, though bearing the mantel of U. S. president, his is a tenuous hold on power. He knows that the majority of Americans do not support his policies. He knows he must be in a position to crush any resistance movement that may emerge in order to have a shot at ramming his radical agenda through.

Iran is the template when it comes to dealing with protesters. Use brute force, intimidate (got a head start on that with ACORN); deny free speech (working on it); and fill the prisons (with tax cheats). Make it so no one will dare to speak out. Keep them busy mourning over the lives and deaths of celebrity icons. Draft rubber-stamp celebrity icons to serve in Congress.

Uyghurs? (Probably should be spelled with a "W”. Can’t really blame them; why, with Bush giving the poor letter such a bad name.) Yeah, those guys are trouble alright. I wonder who’s stirring them up? I hope it’s not us.