By: Roberto Dr. Cintli Rodriguez
President Barack Obama is an enigma. No one quite seems to know what he actually stands for.

Most progressives saw in the election of Obama, a Nelson Mandela figure. Based on his first year in office, many are understandably disillusioned.

Conversely, much of the right wing of this country demonize(d) him as a Joseph Stalin figure, this in a “right-center” country.

The context of the 2008 election is important in making sense of these views; it was a landslide. Obama garnered 54% of the electorate compared to 46% for McCain (Apparently, someone forgot to tell the electorate that we live in a “right-center” country).

Understanding this, the 2010 analyses of McCain/Palin and their supporters matter little because it is their views that were thoroughly repudiated in the 2008 elections. And their hostile opinions of the president have not actually changed. If anything, they’ve been emboldened by now having 41 votes in the senate – compared to 59 for the Democrats (Apparently neither party can count as Bush never needed 59 votes to govern forcefully, albeit for the wrong causes). They would be quite happy with a Torquemada figure, someone who governs from a place of fear, with an iron fist, who is not afraid to employ torture.

The Obama enigma has more to do with the expectations of those who swept him into office. In truth, those who thought they had gotten Mandela – a liberator – were few because most understood that Obama was elected head of an empire, not head of the UN Human Rights Commission. Many more Democrats and Independents thought they had elected a Martin Luther King figure – someone who would fight for the rights and dignity of all human beings. Unquestionably, Obama indeed can speak like MLK, but his actions, especially on matters of war and peace and human rights, have been much closer to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas.

The Obama/Biden administration is clearly different than a McCain/Palin administration would have been. Obama has set a different tone worldwide, but he has not substantively altered the Bush-Cheney doctrine. And rather than investigate former administration officials for their roles in carrying out an illegal war, Obama unilaterally has given them “get-out-of-jail free” cards. Worse, he’s embraced most of Bush’s extra-legal policies in court. The only substantive difference has come in relation to Guantanamo. For conservatives, Guantanamo is Nirvana – a place outside the jurisdiction of U.S. courts. While he has moved swiftly to close it down, he has not repudiated its most reprehensible feature: indefinite detention of suspects without charges.

The context of the 2008 election was a clear repudiation of all things Bush-Cheney. Bush argued that September 11, 2001 had given him the right to ignore the U.S. Constitution, Congress and the U.S. Supreme Court, and international law. Beyond that, he crafted a circular argument for his assertion and exercise of dictatorial powers; we were a nation at war. That assertion depended upon a condition of permanent worldwide war.

That’s why people had hoped for an MLK figure. That instead we got a Clarence Thomas is not hyperbole. Time and again, the Obama administration has upheld virtually every Bush war policy in and out of court, including the notion of an all-powerful unitary executive, the right to permanent worldwide war, the right to hold prisoners indefinitely without charges and to rendition them and to illegally spy on Americans.

At home, Obama has bungled his electoral mandate, especially on health care, the economy and immigration. Rather than govern with a clear moral authority, he has instead governed weakly from “the middle,” as a naïve politician, appeasing the same right wing opponents that detest his every move. Ironically, Bush did not receive a decisive electoral mandate, yet he governed decisively. Contrarily, Obama was given a massive electoral mandate, only to govern timidly as though he owes his victory to the sore losers Tea Party Movement.

There are several precedents for governing from the middle. One came in the early 20th century in Mexico after the ouster of dictator Porfirio Diaz. The naïve new president, Francisco Madero, thought he could reconcile the nation by ignoring his own supporters while appeasing Diaz’s allies. He left them in power where they soon deposed him.

Hopefully Obama will not suffer the same fate. However, unless and until he begins to act upon his stated convictions, he will continue to find himself proverbially in the middle of the political highway as roadkill. He doesn’t have to be Mandela; the 2008 Obama will suffice.

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GLENN BECK STYLE LIES & COMMUNIST PARANOIA FROM THE JOHN BIRCH SOCIETY WEBSITE: “…….The ‘conservative‘ President George W. Bush awarded him the Medal of Freedom. Queen Elizabeth II knighted him. The Nobel Peace Prize committee awarded him their prize, just as they did Obama.

And, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics issued a commemorative stamp in his honor in 1988. This is a clue as to who Mandela really is.

There are many, many pictures showing Mandela at communist functions, standing below the hammer and sickle and giving the communist salute. Presiding over communist conventions and other events staged by the South African Communist Party.

For in truth, Mandela is nothing more than a communist terrorist thug, placed in prison because he was about to launch a terrorist campaign against South Africans, aimed more against the black population than the white……..” [ READ MORE ]

John Birch Society Exposed

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Bonus Video: What The Republican Birthers Believe

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In an apparent slap at President George W. Bush, the Nobel committee praised Obama’s creation of “a new climate in international politics” and said he had returned multilateral diplomacy and institutions like the U.N. to the center of the world stage.

Obama is the third sitting U.S. president to win the award. President Theodore Roosevelt won in 1906 and President Woodrow Wilson was awarded the prize in 1919.

Former Peace Prize winner Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, said Obama has already provided outstanding leadership in the effort to prevent nuclear proliferation.

“In less than a year in office, he has transformed the way we look at ourselves and the world we live in and rekindled hope for a world at peace with itself,” ElBaradei said. “He has shown an unshakeable commitment to diplomacy, mutual respect and dialogue as the best means of resolving conflicts.”

The Nelson Mandela Foundation welcomed the award on behalf of its founder Nelson Mandela, who shared the 1993 Peace Prize with then-South African President F.W. DeKlerk for their efforts at ending years of apartheid and laying the groundwork for a democratic country.

“We trust that this award will strengthen his commitment, as the leader of the most powerful nation in the world, to continue promoting peace and the eradication of poverty,” the foundation said. [ READ MORE ]

Today, I will be watching very closely — the Right-Wing Dumb-Nuts like Rush Limbaugh, who rejoiced last week when the US lost the 2016 bid for the Olympic games. Per these Republican ass-holes, the world had rejected Obama! I think NOT.

Congratulations Mr. President!

   [Courtesy: sarx88.com]

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Like a true African despot, Moammar Gadhafi yesterday proposed that Obama be granted the presidency of the United States for life! LOL!

After 40 years of shunning U.N. appearances, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi evidently had a lot to get off his chest. So he stepped to the world’s stage, armed with a yellow folder of handwritten notes, and basically emptied his mind.

For a mind-boggling 1 hour and 36 minutes on Wednesday, the “king of kings” was winging it.

Gadhafi’s speech was far from the longest: Cuba’s Fidel Castro spoke for 4 hours and 29 minutes in the 1960s, according to U.N. associate spokesman Farhan Haq.

After being introduced as the “king of kings,” to speak, Gadhafi remained seated for another 15 minutes as an awkward silence and confusion gripped the chamber.

Gadhafi didn’t seem to care. LOL!

He called the General Assembly “the parliament of the world” that should be dictating decisions to the Security Council. Gadhafi failed to note that his nation now holds a Security Council seat, though not a permanent veto-wielding one.

He slightly ripped the U.N. Charter when he was done with it, drawing a rebuke later.

That prompted British Prime Minister Gordon Brown to respond at the start of his speech: “I stand here to support the U.N. Charter, not to tear it up.”

“It should not be called the Security Council, it should be called the ‘Terror Council,‘ ” Gadhafi said.

At that, another wave of delegates left.

“I woke up at 4am, before dawn!” Gaddafi lamented about an hour into his speech, adding for the benefit of the jetlagged diplomats seated stony-faced in front of him: “You should be asleep! You’re all tired after a sleepless night!”

To be fair, this was a man suffering from severe sleep deprivation. The US state department, New York city council and Donald Trump had prevented him from laying his weary head in an air-conditioned tent in New Jersey, Central Park and Bedford respectively, and the resulting strain was evident.

But, with fellow Libyan Treki chairing the assembly, there was no stopping Gadhafi.

“Obama, at least, offers hope for the next eight years,” said the Colonel. After that, he said, “I’m afraid we may go back to square one. We are content and happy if Obama can stay forever as the president of the United States.”

At one point, he even demanded to know who was behind the killing of JFK.

Someone handed him a piece of paper, perhaps to get him to stop. He crumpled it up. He had worn out even the translators — a woman’s voice replaced the man who had been speaking. He paid no attention to the red light to the right of the lectern, which had long ago told him the speech should have ended.

Gadhafi seemed to be making up for lost time. And when he finally ended, delegates lightly applauded and no one stood.

But Gadhafi clasped his hands above him and waved in triumph as he left.

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Mandela Day launched as anti-apartheid icon turns 91

By Sibongile Khumalo

JOHANNESBURG — Anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president, celebrated his 91st birthday on Saturday with the launch of a special day for good deeds to be done in his name.

Surrounded by family and anti-apartheid stalwarts at his home in Johannesburg, the increasingly frail elder statesman was showered with messages of goodwill from world leaders to ordinary South Africans.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon led the international plaudits by describing Mandela as “a living embodiment of the highest values of the United Nations.”

“His commitment to a democratic, multi-racial South Africa, his steadfast pursuit of justice, his willingness to reconcile with those who persecuted him most — these are just some of the hallmarks of a remarkable man,” Ban said.

All South Africans Proudly celebrate 91 Years of a true Blessing. Their Father of Freedom and the victorious Struggle against hared and indifference. A man who lead the way and made the sacrifice that all South Africans may be finally equal. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MADIBA

The charitable foundation of the former South African leader called on people around the world to do good deeds on Saturday as it launched an official day in Mandela’s honour.

“Mandela Day is an annual celebration of Nelson Mandela’s life and a global call to action for people to recognize their individual power to make an imprint and change the world around them,” his foundation said.

The initiative received backing from senior UN figures.

“I warmly welcome the global campaign to recognize the birthday of Nelson Mandela, July 18, as an annual opportunity to celebrate this great man and the values and principles that he has come personify over the past seven decades,” said president of the UN General Assembly Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann.

“I hope that Mandela Day will eventually be celebrated as a United Nations international day to serve as an inspiration, in particularly to our young people, and as invitation to join forces in the ever-more complex and urgent campaigns against poverty, racism, ignorance and violence.”

Celebrations were to be held in Mandela’s honour from Johannesburg to New York, where Carla Bruni-Sarkozy was to join a glittering line-up led by Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder.

It will be the first time France’s 41-year-old first lady, a former model and musician, has performed in public since marrying President Nicolas Sarkozy in January 2008.

Throughout the day there was a steady trickle of well-wishers through Mandela’s home in Johannesburg’s well-heeled northern suburb of Houghton, where a white marquee had been erected next to the house, behind tall security walls.

Actress and co-founder of ‘Artists for a New South Africa,‘ Alfre Woodard talks about ‘Nelson Mandela Day‘ on July 18th and a special concert at Radio City Music Hall to celebrate Mandela’s 91st birthday.

Former African heads of state, Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and Hassan Mwinyi of Tanzania were among the few invited guests who came to wish Mandela well.

“It is always a great honour to see him, he is one of the great African leaders,” said Kaunda.

Renditions of “Happy Birthday” were heard, sung in English and Mandela’s own Xhosa tongue.

South African President Jacob Zuma praised Mandela as a beacon of hope, saying it had taken too long for the country to celebrate “this gold that is Nelson Mandela”.

Family also paid tribute to their beloved Madiba — the clan title by which Mandela is affectionately known.

“Granddad is in great spirits and enjoying the day, he is so happy to be surrounded by friends and family and the entire leadership of the ruling party,” said eldest grandson Mandla Zwelivelile. “It is a great day for him.”

This year’s birthday marks the inaugural Mandela Day, initiated by his charitable foundation in honour of the much-loved icon.

People around the world are being urged to dedicate 67 minutes of their day to volunteer their time for community service. The number reflects the number of years since Mandela took up the struggle for equality in South Africa.

Mandela was jailed for 27 years by the apartheid state but emerged from Robben Island prison in 1990 committed to democracy and negotiated a deal that led to universal suffrage and him becoming the country’s first black president.

In 1993 he shared the Nobel Peace Prize with South Africa’s then white president F.W. de Klerk.

Mandela served only one term as president during which he was seen as a multi-racial unifier amidst South Africa’s post-apartheid uncertainty.

He still campaigns extensively for children and AIDS awareness and is seen as one of the world’s most respected elder statesmen, despite having officially retired from public duty in 2004.

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