A few days ago, I turned optimistic on the possibility that the tide has turned against the Empire, at least for the time being. It was the day before Pat Buchanan’s article that Obama was actually retrenching as the Empire hit resource constraints. But my feeling arose due to other cues. One was the letter to Obama written by Lon Snowden and his attorney, openly challenging the president on strong grounds. Another was the slow but sure rise in anti-surveillance sentiment among the public and in numerous articles. This issue has deep resonance among Americans. The notion of secret courts, secret law and secret rulings is deeply offensive to Americans. The election in Iran placed warmongers on the defensive. An Italian court had found CIA operatives guilty. Now an ex-CIA person has spoken out about the guilt of higher-ups. Obama’s defense of surveillance was weak and now official acknowledgements of the spying are trickling in. Today I looked at a Fox news polls on Snowden in which there are 67,757 votes so far, and 58% say that the U.S. should do NOTHING to Russia. The immense irony of Russia sheltering Snowden is not lost on Americans. An editor for the Chattanooga Free Times Press was fired for writing an anti-Obama headline. There are small signs that the press is waking up and willing to provide two sides, such as the New York Times publishing an eloquent letter written by Awlaki’s father concerning the execution by Obama of his grandson. Obama is trying to change the subject to a new jobs program. Also the government has resorted to announcing a vague but large-scale terror alert. The negatives of Obamacare are more and more being noted and talked about. More and more willingness to challenge the official story lines of enemies, wars, and terror is developing, even in Congress. The warmongers increasingly look like rabid and senseless extremists. The government has made a martyr of Manning, whose courage and endurance are extraordinary. The government has made a fool of itself internationally over Snowden. The critics of Snowden, increasingly shrill and extreme, cannot fend off the truth of vast government overreach. A switch is in the process of being thrown in which the Empire is going on the defensive. It remains to be seen whether this change in the current will become a turn in the tide.
1:07 pm on August 3, 2013