[lbo-talk] Engelhardt on Obama

[Carrol Cox]

On 7/12/2011 5:20 PM, Marv Gandall wrote:
>
> It is not so simple. Not all capitalists regard Obama as a "true friend" of the system, as my recent post indicates. Capital is not monolithic. Otherwise it would not have spawned two parties in the US, more in some countries. Some administrations are truer friends of capital than others. For you and some others on the list, this is an irrelevancy. But the parties have different taxation and spending policies which have an impact on economic growth and living standards, and they have the power to appoint regulators and judges which affect the rights of organized workers, national minorities, women, and the other constituencies we support. The conflicting policies and debates within the ruling class are worth following - moreso, I dare say, than the debates on the far left, the outcome of which, at least for now, has no effect on the population, which neither hears nor considers nor is moved by them.

Then we will simply have to disagree. I think it is that simple.

The context of the judgment of course is not that of arriving at a 
judgment of Obama but that of  claiming that criticism of him (such as I 
would be offering if I were to argue with you over him) is of no 
political use. Or not quite that even; rather , of inquiring why others 
thought it was useful.

The President of the United States is a friend of capital, regardless of 
who he/she is. Not really very intersting.

Carrol