White House Invades India
Posted by Darian Worden on Nov 4, 2010 in Commentary • 10 comments*UPDATE – about the same time that this commentary was posted, the Washington Post reported White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stated that Indian news reports were in error on several facts, including the figure cited below of 34 warships (Obama’s India trip clouded by election results and misinformation on cost). Discussion in comments.
President Obama is going to India with some corporate leaders. And he’s bringing an armada with him.
The Press Trust of India reports that jets, helicopters, more than 40 vehicles, and 34 US Warships, including an aircraft carrier, will be in the hands of the president’s guard force (“34 warships sent from US for Obama visit,” November 4). Over 800 hotel rooms have been booked for the occasion. American security personnel will number in the hundreds and Indian forces will be certainly be involved as well.
From the state’s point of view Obama ought to have protection on his visit. He’s the commander in chief of the most powerful military on the planet and, perhaps more importantly, a high-profile symbol of state power. But is it really a good thing for any person to have this kind of status in the first place?
While business executives often take serious security measures, the president is one person who is too important to mix among the people. The president is not quite an emperor residing in the Forbidden City, but his surroundings of armed forces and sanitized environments further separate him from society, leaving him mainly the company of elites he does business with.
But the Obama Armada is also a projection of state power. Just as a teleconference would not enable the same involvement with foreign leaders as a physical visit, a more modest security arrangement would send a different signal than the forces actually used. The world must know that America is a nation at war, and while the country is going through hard times the armed wing of the government can still make its presence felt in a big way. The president’s security will not be left to foreigners.
Who foots the bill for this political overkill? The taxpayers of the US and India will of course pay for a celebrated gathering of elites who are supposed to make decisions for the rest of us. The government will protect the important people by taking from you. And maybe we little people can make up for the environmental impact of 34 warships by living in the dark and driving less.
And how are Americans protected? Isn’t Obama in charge of the military that keeps us safe? The problem here is that the government is made of people who naturally protect their own interests first, and this does not always match the interests of the public in general. For example, aggressive foreign policies or occupations help breed resentment that sometimes explodes as terrorist attacks against innocent civilians. But in order to secure a position of global political leadership (i.e. protect the global influence of successful political leaders), the occupations must continue and deals must be cut with oppressive regimes. Those making the decisions command armored vehicles and warships, and those who are ordered to live by the decisions are allowed to support whichever faction of the elite seems to have the most in common with them.
Obama’s celebrity visit to India brings political power, military power, economic power, and cultural power. While contests among the powerful may vary in their friendliness or hostility, a frequently overriding belief is that it is better to share power than to lose it. Naturally power relations must remain in place, and if we little people knew our place we wouldn’t complain about how the powerful secure their place.
Center for a Stateless Society (C4SS.org) News Analyst Darian Worden is a left-libertarian writer and activist. He hosts an internet radio show, Thinking Liberty. His essays and other works can be viewed at DarianWorden.com.
Apparently the Times of India/NDTV story is in error. Rachel Maddow is currently citing this as an example of the vast right-wing myth-machine and conveniently ignoring that the mistaken story came from seemingly reputable Indian news media.
Just to be clear, the story came from the Press Trust of India. According to Wikipedia: "The Press Trust of India is the largest news agency in India. It is headquartered in Delhi and is a nonprofit cooperative among more than 450 Indian ne…wspapers and has a staff of about 2,000 writers spread across 150 offices nationwide. It took over the Indian operations of the Associated Press and Reuters soon after India's independence on August 15, 1947. It provides news coverage and information of the region in both English and Hindi."
So a story dated Nov. 3 from a seemingly reputable media outlet was both widely cited and denied on November 4th. But according to Maddow, basically, that's evidence of the tendency to create urban legends and live in a political myth-bubble possessed by everyone that isn't a card-carrying member of the Barack Obama Fan Club.
Note also, the Times of India, which picked up the story, is the most widely-read English language newspaper in India and the best-selling English language newspaper in the world.
Whether such an established news source was mistaken (perhaps treating US ships already deployed in the region as part of a dedicated Obama security force), or this was the original plan that is now being denied by the government seems equally plausible at this point.
In Mumbai, they're taking the coconuts off the trees to ensure BarryO doesn't get conked on the noggin (story).
"[The Press Trust of India] is a nonprofit cooperative"
Commies!
OBAMA FULFILLING THE BIBLE
Here are some Bible verses that Pres. Obama avoids:
Proverbs 19:10 (NIV): "It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury – how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!"
Also Proverbs 30:22 (NIV) which says that the earth cannot bear up under "a servant who becomes king."
And Ecclesiastes 5:2-3 (KJV) advises: "let thy words be few…a fool's voice is known by multitude of words."
Although Obama is not descended from slaves, he may feel that he's destined to become a black-slavery avenger.
Or maybe an enslaver of all free citizens!
For more on the Obamas, Google "Michelle Obama's Allah-day" and "Obama Supports Public Depravity."
(above web item was discovered by me, Lucy)
IMO, even if the 34 warship and $200M/day figures were correct — or even understatements — I think we might be missing an important point. Per Wikipedia, the US navy consists of nearly 300 ships, 3,500 aircraft, almost a half million people, and who knows what else. What's the daily cost of all THAT, whether it's escorting the emperor to distant lands, pulverizing people in said lands, or just sitting idle in San Diego Harbor? What kind of national sociopathy does such an armada signify, and what squandering of resources, on a mostly unnoticed daily basis?
[...] arrangements for Barack Obama’s latest trip in my Center for a Stateless Society commentary White House Invades India. My commentary was based on a story that the White House quickly stated was false. So how did I [...]
[...] *UPDATE – about the same time that this commentary was posted, the Washington Post reported White House spokesman Robert Gibbs stated that Indian news reports were in error on several facts, including the figure cited below of 34 warships (Obama’s India trip clouded by election results and misinformation on cost). Discussion in comments. [...]
[...] week I wrote a Center for a Stateless Society commentary, White House Invades India. President Obama is going to India with some corporate leaders. And he’s bringing an armada with [...]