The more things change, the more they remain the same.
Obama won. What will change? Certainly the deck chairs will get a new coat of paint. We will have a new face on the TV screen. But the people who bought and sold the candidate are the same ones who bought and tried to sell McCain. They are also the same ones who bought and tried to sell us Hillary and Rudy. Were we offered any change at all?
Of course there are differences, but the powers behind the throne dictate the major directions. Who are the lords and what can we guess they want?
Obviously the media. Their contributions via commentary, controlling the public (via TV) debates and deciding which events are “newsworthy” are worth more than all of the campaign contributions combined. Their monopolies granted and maintained via the FCC are secure for another reign. We won’t have to worry about changes to our TV programming.
The Six who control it wanted us to choose between Obama, McCain, Clinton and Giuliani. The 2008 presidential election gave us the perfect opportunity to see this. Ron Paul was wildly popular, broke numerous records for the greatest fund-raising by any candidate in history and inspired many to participate in an election process they had long since abandoned. By January he was number 3 to McCain’s number 8. They didn’t merely ignore him, but suppressed mention of him, kept him out of debates while lower-ranking contenders participated, and blatantly skipped over him in those debates they couldn’t keep him out of. Sure we got to choose, but from the contenders last winter, we were allowed “Anybody but Congressman Paul.”
Also contributing to all four mouthpiece offerings were Goldman Sachs ($535,000), JP Morgan Chase & Co ($335,000), UBS AG ($297,000), Lehman Brothers ($286,000), Citigroup ($268,000), Morgan Stanley ($213,000), Citadel Investment Group ($174,000) and Credit Suisse Group ($172,000). The names of these banking and investment firms, with similar amounts show up in the top twenty of all four candidates. Those of you who were worried that Obama really stood for change can rest assured theft of our dollars by the banking industry will go on as usual.
High on all of their lists are the law firms. For Obama they were Kirkland & Ellis – law firm ($304,264), Skadden, Arps et al – 2000 attorneys ($282,591), Sidley Austin LLP – attorney office ($280,657), Jenner & Block – law firm ($213,907), Jones Day – 2300 lawyers around the world ($213,825), and Mayer Brown-largest law firms in the world with more than 1400 lawyers in seven US and six European cities ($179,733). I didn’t build a complete cross-reference, but I think the law firms change with each candidate. Government contracts, laws and executive orders favorable to their firms and industry are all returns they can expect from their investments. The big money, however, is in access to the White House that can be sold to important clients from around the world. While the faces in the Oval Office change, the expensive suits will still have big-firm lawyers in them.
The next big group of buyers and sellers of presidents is curious at first glance. University of Chicago ($293,481), Harvard University ($263,541) and University of California ($246,944). With just a little looking I found other major universities stacking up in the top 50 of all favored candidates. What do you suppose the universities have to gain from owning a piece of the president? I’ll give you a hint: they also contribute heavily to the campaigns of senators and congressmen. Here too, it is all about return on investment. Students are still paying the same for their education as they always did. One change they we won’t have to worry about is a reduction in the 3/4ths of the income for universities that government loans, grants and scholarships make up – assuming they continue to teach what the lords want taught.
Google Inc ($198,808) is expecting their dominance of the Internet to continue with government support. Exelon Corp – the nations largest energy company ($298,511) is expecting favorable (to them) energy policies. National Amusements Inc-Media mogul Sumner Redstone who basically controls all movie releases to the USA ($234,000) is expecting presidential protection, as are Cablevision and Time Warner.
Speaking of changes, or not, here is this guy who has a white momma and black poppa being called a “black man” in this country. I’m wondering if in Africa Obama is a “white man.” Did this presidential election even give us a change of race?