Empire Rebranded

"...we assume it to be a makeover, a brand alteration, an attempt precisely to +reduce+ pressure on the system to change." Precisely. The ruling elite knew that pressure from below would start to mount from many easily identifiable forces, so they turned to their staunch allies in such times. The role of the Democratic party in the U.S. has always been to act as a lightning rod for social discontent. Soaring rhetoric diverts dissident forces into safe channels where the potentially disruptive energy can be safely drained off. The rising energy of change becomes enervated through its redirection toward party structures that use it to prop up a failing system.

A recent posting on this blog helps clarify the issue: "The gushing enthusiasm over Obama has been manufactured in order to evoke the illusion of change. This illusion is extremely useful for many purposes, but primarily because it allows the same policies to be pursued with different apparent justifications. The masses by necessity live on hope. Nurturing this hope is a key factor in the continuing dominance of the command and control system of which Obama is now the visible symbol. Decent people will endure hardship as long as they believe that those at the top truly have their best interests at heart. Obama symbolizes the intelligence, compassion, and unruffled endurance that are required to realize this drama."

The troops will not be withdrawn from Iraq until the system consolidates its control - it's that simple. The urgency of controlling the resources in this region becomes more pressing by the day, so what is unpopular, particularly during the economic crisis will be relabeled. In the immortal words of Chomsky, "The basic principle, rarely violated, is that what conflicts with the requirements of power and privilege does not exist.”

Therefore the war in Iraq will soon cease to exist. Reporting will decline to a fraction of a percent of news coverage and Iraq will be forgotten. Rather than complain about the lies in the news media, I prefer to approach them in the way John Pilger suggests. If studied intently, their pronouncements are an excellent barometer of where elite sentiment is trending at the moment. In the case of Iraq, the trend is toward silent domination.