Guest Editorial
BY LAWRENCE SELLIN, PHD | APRIL 16, 2014
Obama Administration: Center of gravity in a corrupt political-media culture
Ambrose Bierce, a 19th century political satirist, once described Washington D.C. as:
"a strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles and the conduct of public affairs for private advantage."
Today few American institutions remain untouched by political malfeasance.
The United States is heading for a financial meltdown. Projected government spending rates over the next twenty-five years will drive federal debt to unsustainable levels from 50 percent of Gross Domestic Product in 2010 to 101 percent and 195 percent of GDP for 2021 and 2036, respectively. By 2036 every American citizen will own $135,547 in U.S. Government debt compared to $36,267 today.
The American military has been politicized by submitting to the agenda of radical Islam, attempting to suppress free speech and undermining public trust by allowing active duty personnel in uniform to engage in partisan politics through their participation in a gay pride parade.
Republican congressional leaders, particularly Senator John McCain and House Speaker John Boehner, endanger national security by refusing to probe Muslim Brotherhood infiltration of the Obama Administration and condemning those who legitimately request such an investigation.
Interestingly, Barack Obama has unintentionally done the nation a service by succeeding in one fundamental transformation of the United States. He has eliminated the pretense that there are any principles involved in the conduct of public affairs.
Watching American news channels, however, one could be forgiven for not knowing that the United States is in a Constitutional crisis, suffering under the most lawless and sordid administration in the nation's history; one spawned by deception, sustained by lies and protected by a political and media elite recklessly determined to maintain the corrupt status quo.
That is possible because Washington DC has made itself the epicenter of political procrastination and subterfuge, where the supply of rhetoric exceeds demand and political posturing substitutes for the concrete action.
In graduate school we joked that copying a scientific article was as good as reading it. In Congress holding hearings is as good as enforcing the law.
The March 21, 2014 Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just seven percent (7 percent) of likely U.S. Voters think that the US Congress is doing a good job, which is roughly the same as it was on August 27, 2012 at eight percent (8 percent).
Americans should disabuse themselves of the notion that they have representative government. National elections are not about Washington, D.C. responding to the will of the American people, they are about the distribution of power between the two political establishments.
The federal government is, in practice, a one-party state controlled by an oligarchy. It is composed of a relatively small group of financiers, politicians and journalists assiduously adjusting the levers of government and carefully regulating the dissemination of information to preserve their exclusive grip on power.
It is the single, most important factor that inhibits progress in addressing issues critical to national survival.
There is now a window of opportunity to challenge the oligarchy, expose the depth of corruption in our political-media culture and pave the way for reform.
Through his overbearing pride and arrogance, an overestimation of his own competence and capabilities and a loss of contact with reality, Barack Obama has made himself the center of gravity and the weak link in the corrupt political-media culture.
Americans have learned that hubris and narcissism are not solid foundations for a national strategy.
The liberal media, which have adopted the Obama agenda as its own, have artificially generated and sustained his popular support through censorship and manipulation of the news to prevent the American people from knowing who Obama is and the true nature of his political agenda.
It is the fear of criticism from the liberal media that has also intimidated Republicans and conservative commentators from exposing Obama and, consequently, allowed him to use government agencies to coerce political opponents.
In military operations, the enemy's center of gravity is defined in JP 1-02 as "the source of power that provides moral or physical strength, freedom of action, or will to act."
It can also be a source of weakness and provide a point of attack.
Undermining the near universal and unconditional support given to Obama by the liberal media will produce a frenzy of disclosures about the unconstitutional and illegal activities conducted by his administration.
Revealing the endemic corruption in Washington, D.C. is the first, essential step toward restoring the Constitution and the rule of law.
Without the collective and unqualified protection provided by the liberal media and the silence of conservative media and politicians, Obama and the corrupt political status quo cannot survive.
Lawrence Sellin, Ph.D. is a retired colonel with 29 years of service in the US Army Reserve and a veteran of Afghanistan and Iraq. Colonel Sellin is the author of "Restoring the Republic: Arguments for a Second American Revolution." He receives email at [email protected].
