It's all about rebranding.
According to this excellent piece by Naomi Klein, the American corporatocracy, after taking a major global PR beating during the Bush years, rebranded itself with Obama.
Just like Blackwater renamed itself Xe after the numerous scandals in Iraq, the sole imperial power in the world decided it too needed a major face lift. And Obama was exactly what the plastic surgeon ordered.
"When Obama was sworn in as president, the American brand could scarcely have been more battered - Bush was to his country what New Coke was to Coca-Cola, what cyanide in the bottles had been to Tylenol. Yet Obama, in what was perhaps the most successful rebranding campaign of all time, managed to turn things around."
"So, it seemed that the United States government could solve its reputation problems with branding - it's just that it needed a branding campaign and product spokesperson sufficiently hip, young and exciting to compete in today's tough market. The nation found that in Obama, a man who clearly has a natural feel for branding and who has surrounded himself with a team of top-flight marketers. His social networking guru, for instance, is Chris Hughes, one of the young founders of Facebook. His social secretary is Desirée Rogers, a glamorous Harvard MBA and former marketing executive. And David Axelrod, Obama's top adviser, was formerly a partner in ASK Public Strategies, a PR firm which, according to Business Week, "has quarterbacked campaigns" for everyone from Cablevision to AT&T. Together, the team has marshalled every tool in the modem marketing arsenal to create and sustain the Obama brand: the perfectly calibrated logo (sunrise over stars and stripes); expert viral marketing (Obama ringtones); product placement (Obama ads in sports video games); a 30-minute infomercial (which could have been cheesy but was universally heralded as "authentic"); and the choice of strategic brand alliances (Oprah for maximum reach, the Kennedy family for gravitas, and no end of hip-hop stars for street cred)."
So with a few minor cosmetic touch-ups (announcing the closure of GitMo, assigning first female Latina to Supreme Court, ceasing usage of 'war on terror' terminology), the Obama administration has seemingly undone all the damage of the Bush years.
The reality is "that Obama played the anti-war, anti-Wall Street party crasher to his grassroots base, which imagined itself leading an insurgency against the two-party monopoly through dogged organisation and donations gathered from lemonade stands and loose change found in the crevices of the couch. Meanwhile, he took more money from Wall Street than any other presidential candidate, swallowed the Democratic party establishment in one gulp after defeating Hillary Clinton, then pursued "bipartisanship" with crazed Republicans once in the White House."
Who was it who said that as much as things change, they stay the same?
Obama:Bush = Xe:Blackwater
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
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9 comments:
I guess it was expected. I'm in American History right now, and we are currently studying the 'Gilded Age' and so far, all through out American History, you see a pattern of moderation in terms of change.
From the beginning, the federalist considered the anti-federalist when they made their decisions. After the Civil War, Lincoln's plan to allow the southern Confederate states re-enter the Union was that 10% of the people had to accept the 13th Amendment. That is highly un-radical, and not revolutionary at all.
So ya, its expected that from Obama to Bush, there'll be no honest change.
-Faique
Oh, and 'Bipartisanship' ruined the Healthcare bill.
Damn Republicans.
-Faique
Another great post Naeem! Jazack Allahuu Kahir!
Brother Naeem,how would you translate "ihsan jatana"i ask because you're eloquent in english, and i'm assuming in urdu as well.
To anonymous:
ihsaan jataana in Urdu is a lot like the expression "rubbing it in" in English.
By the way I completely agree with this piece on Obama.
This just goes to show the only thing Obama's been successful at changing was the fact that a black family could now reside at the White House. His policies have pretty much been more of the same stuff we saw under Bush, it's just that he's gives more soothing and eloquent speeches over what he's about to do. And I think it's becoming pretty obvious to many people, both Americans and people around the world, that Obama can't go against the status quo all by his lonesome self. He has to work with a federal government more in line with policies beneficial to greedy fraudulent corporations that have pretty much bought off 99% of elected politicians.
Muslim Kid, "damn Republicans" nothing. Last I checked ***Democrats*** were the majority in the House, Senate and the White House.
I'm so glad I didn't fall for this Obama "change" thing.
AA-
@MK and Susanne, I've never bought into the whole Dem/Repub bi-party sham. The way the system has been framed with two ruling parties to the exclusion of all others is simply a farce.
@Osman, thanks for the translation. My urdu is not refined enough to have known that. :-)
@R, excellent point. Even while a potential revolutionary (from the outwards) may have occupied the White House, the system remains unchanged. And as long as that corrupt system continues, the status quo will rule the day.
@Susanne,
What I meant by the "damn republicans" is that if politicians were so divided along their party lines, they might actually support a bill contrary to the general view of their party.
If some republicans did that, we could get a bill passed. I guess the same argument applies to the Dems (sorta but the opposite since them against thier party would be going against the bill)
I wrote an article on this like almost 2 months ago, sorry if my info is outdated.
-MK-
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