On Tue, Jul 1, 2008 at 4:04 PM, Doug Henwood <dhenwood at panix.com> wrote:
> [from the M. Sliwa PR agency]
>
> Marxists, socialists, communists form group to plot on official campaign
> blog
>
>
> June 30, 2008
> 8:44 pm Eastern
> By Aaron Klein
>
>
> WorldNetDaily
> JERUSALEM – Marxists, socialists and communists have created a safe space
> online to congregate, exchange ideas – including a stated revolution against
> the U.S. "oppressive" regime – and support their favored presidential
> candidate.
>
> Their meeting spot? Sen. Barack Obama's official campaign website, which
> allows registered users to form groups and post content in online
> "community" blogs.
>
> One popular community group on the Illinois senator's official MyObama
> website calls itself "Marxists/Socialists/Communists for Obama."
>
> <http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/group/
> MarxistsSocialistsCommunistsforObama>
>
> "This group is for self-proclaimed Marxists/Communists/Socialists for the
> election of Barack Obama to the Presidency. By no means is he a true
> Marxist, but under Karl Marx's writings we are to support the party with the
> best interests of the mobilization of the proletariat," states the groups
> charter.
>
> "We support Barack Obama because he knows what is best for the people!"
> exclaims the group's online creed.
>
> And on Obama's site, the declared Marxist, communist and socialist bloggers
> rant against such varied targets as Republicans, capitalism and the Fox News
> Channel.
>
> In a posting titled "The Nature of the Proletariat ," one group member
> calls for revolution against the U.S. "oppressive" regime.
>
> According to Marxist doctrine, the proletariat is the only class that can
> overpower and vanquish the oppressive bourgeoisie. ... In America, the
> 'peasantry' is not scattered from each other but rather seem (sic) to be
> isolated in certain high-population areas. This then leaves the
> Petty-Bourgeoisie. Are they a possible force of a Revolution? I believe so.
> Not because I think that they could on there own, but because of the fact
> that they seemed to have assimilated with the Proletariat.
> The middle class is now made up of the laborers who must face the grueling
> task of providing the bourgeoisie with power and capital. This assimilation
> only proves that the Revolution is inevitable.
>
> "Eventually, the bourgeoisie controlled government will fail to keep the
> ever growing masses at bay, and the Revolution will occur," adds the
> posting.
>
> The user argues Obama will help advance the "revolution," which he says can
> be a physical revolt or massive governmental reform:
>
> "The Neo-proleatarian is now the bearer of the Revolution. That's why I
> support Obama. He helps destroy the paradigm of bourgeoisie government,
> which is best for the Proletariat. In the end, this will only hasten the
> Revolution even if the Revolution must come as a massive government reform."
>
> Another posting by a registered group member calling himself "The Chalk
> Graffiti Terrorist" argues on Obama's site against the "evils" of
> capitalism.
>
> "We can't just accept the evil side of capitalism. The nature of capitalism
> is to maximize profits, and this is often done by minimizing expenditure—in
> short, cutting costs. And cutting costs means less benefits, less pay, and
> poorer conditions for the workers. But capitalism has more evil in it than
> that. The profit motive drives the destruction of our environment, it has
> caused the current foreclosure crisis, and it exploits and basically
> enslaves those poor not protected by legitimate representative government."
>
> One group member urges Obama site readers to support the FairTax bill,
> which calls for the abolishment of the IRS and for the income tax to be
> replaced with a national consumption tax. The bill has some support across
> the U.S. political spectrum, including with some Republicans.
>
> "This bill was created to try and rectify the problems that have emerged
> from the Federal Income Tax and the IRS's existence. It would repeal the
> 16th Amedment and put in its place a national sales tax for the United
> States Government to collect revenue."
>
> It was not immediately clear whether Obama's website staff approves new
> groups registered on his site. His campaign did not return WND e-mail and
> phone requests for comment. While the website carries a disclaimer that it
> does not monitor all blog posts, the site doesn't state whether staff
> approve new groups.
>
> According to the MyObama site, there were 18,911 registered community
> groups as of yesterday, including such groups as "Atheists for Obama," "Jedi
> Knights for Obama," "Muslims for Obama" and "'The Secret' Believers for
> Obama."
>
> Obama spokesmen previously have stated the campaign cannot monitor all
> content posted on blogs, but it promptly removes content brought to its
> attention that is deemed inappropriate or hateful.
>
> Yesterday WND reported a blog posting on Obama's official campaign site
> urged Americans to take action to secure the release of imprisoned terrorist
> fundraiser Sami Al-Arian, comparing the controversial former professor to
> Martin Luther King and Malcolm X.
>
> The posting, which has been removed since publication of the story, is just
> a sampling of a large volume of racist, anti-Semitic and pro-Palestinian
> rhetoric published on the user-friendly MyObama community blog pages.
>
> One recently removed posting claims Jews control the media. Another
> referred to Jews as "puppet masters" and "war criminals." Yet another
> posting, titled "The Israeli connection to 9/11," claimed Israeli
> intelligence was involved in the mega-attack and planted "false flags" to
> blame Arab countries.
>
> Other MyObama posts have warned of "Judeofacists and their Neocon comrades"
> who "already destroyed America" and declare the "entire Congress should be
> overthrown by revolution for having sold America to the Israelis."
>
> A popular topic on Obama's site apparently is the so-called Israel Lobby.
>
> An Obama site search under the key words "Israel lobby" brings up a large
> number of pages with titles such as "Bush uses Nazi history against Obama to
> pander to the Jewish lobby" and "The Israel Lobby: bad for the world."
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