PCP: Pop Culture Politics [Original]

This country badly needs a decent president but Iowa voters went to their caucuses and selected instead two preachers, one ordained, the other self-anointed and both successful manipulators of cheap cliches purportedly leading us, in one case, to Christ and, in the other, to hope and change.

How Huckabee, a cruel purveyor of Christian heresies about women and gays, would bring us closer to the Lord is anyone's guess.

As for Obama, we noted some time back that "he's taken the easy way out and applied the marketing principles of Tony Robbins and Marianne Williamson to a political campaign.

Having gone through eight years of EST with Bill Clinton and almost that much of AA with George Bush, we should be burned out on psycho-therapeutics as opposed to physical reality but sadly many are taken in by Obama's covert message that if you trust in hope you don't have to worry about the details like pensions and health care."

Obama might turn out to be a decent president - he certainly would be better than Huckabee - but at the moment the evidence provides little support beyond factors that matter inordinately these days, such as that he is young, good-looking and half black.

This is the sort of thing music producers look for in boy bands. Choosing a president is supposed to involve some deeper concerns.

Besides, there is nothing about Obama that gives him a copyright on hope and, if you really want change, then logic would point you to John Edwards.

But our politics have been subsumed by the values of television and so we continue to look for an American Idol instead of an American President.

Watch Video: Barack Obama won the Democratic Iowa caucus with an inspirational message of hope and change. But US pundit Ken Silverstein says he doesn't hold out much hope that President Obama would be a change at all.

Obama Speaks: "Oh Great White Masters, Help Me to Help America"

I believe all of you are as open and willing to listen as anyone else in America. I believe you care about this country and the future we are leaving to the next generation.

I believe your work to be a part of building a stronger, more vibrant, and more just America. I think the problem is that no one has asked you to play a part in the project of American renewal.

- Barack Obama, speaking to the masters of “American” finance capitalism at the headquarters of NASDAQ, Wall Street, New York City, September 17, 2007

“STANDING UP” AND KNEELING DOWN

Maybe it’s because Barack Obama and his handlers are sensitive to the need to reassure ruling forces that the “first black United States president” will not challenge existing hierarchies. Maybe it’s because he’s bought and paid for by big money.

Or maybe it’s because he believes in his “deeply conservative” heart that good Americans show deep respect for their socioeconomic masters.

Whatever the explanation, I’ve never seen an avowedly “progressive” political candidate more eager than Obama to display his deep willingness to obsequiously kiss the ring of dominant political and economic authority.

For someone who is marching across Iowa and New Hampshire calling working- and middle-class American to “get fired up” and “stand up” for democracy (and for him), Obama sure likes to spend a lot of time groveling before supposed white and upper-class superiors.

Huckabee's Iowa win throws the Republicans into disarray

Mike Huckabee's Iowa win is certainly dramatic, considering that just three months ago he was one of those candidates usually included in the catch phrase "the rest." But it's worth remembering that winning Iowa hasn't had all that much to do with winning the White House in recent history.

Clinton unbowed despite Iowa setback

Hillary Clinton put on a brave face after her third-place finish in the Iowa Democratic caucuses last night, vowing she would "keep pushing hard" in her bid to be the party's presidential candidate.

Obama Sells Hope: Iowans Buy the Hype

Whether it was because they were eager to leave behind the bitter divides of the last two decades or because they wanted to send a message that a small white state could transcend the issue of race, Iowa voters handed Senator Barack Obama a victory here Thursday and supported his improbable candidacy in defiance of those who warned he was too inexperienced in world affairs.

Obama and Huckabee Triumph in Iowa

Senator Barack Obama was lifted to victory by a high turnout. On the Republican side, Mike Huckabee defeated the better financed Mitt Romney.

Movie Lust: Are the Steamy Sex Scenes Real?

"So, is all that ... you know ... real?" Just the suggestion of actual sex is enough to pique the world's interest, and for the film to take its place alongside those other titles alleged to have gone that extra few inches in the name of realism.

Clip: Hillary Clinton Kick-Starts David Letterman Show

Letterman officially made his return to late-night television when he opened Wednesday night’s show by passing through a chorus line of long-legged showgirls clad in white tie and bearing placards that read, “Writers Guild of America on Strike.”

Pakistan Ripe for Islamic 'Socialist' Revolution

The fundamental battle taking place in Pakistan is between the secular and western-based educated pro-American elites and the Islam-championing radical religious types. It's Asian class war - the bourgeoisie against the proletariat.

US Elections: Democracy Is the Cosmetic of Capitalism

The central domestic issue in the election is the growing social polarization in the US, exacerbated by the deepening financial crisis. None of the presidential hopefuls confronts the stark class division between the super-rich and everyone else.

Mike Huckabee: Working-Class Hero

The WSJ, the anti-tax jihadists at the Club For Growth, the National Review - these pillars of Old School Republicanism have signaled that Huckabee is Not One of Ours. But they're careful to say it's not about class, because, of course - it is!

Is Porn Screwing Up Sex?

Yesterday, revelations about the party surfaced. One "very drunk" woman was "roasted" by five or six men, according to another guest, who said that "I asked her if she was OK and she said, 'Yeah, why wouldn't I be? They said I was a great shag.'"

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