Yeah, it's definitely worth watching. I saw it sometime last year, along with dozens of other similar videos/articles, and it certainly didn't help my conspiracy-theory mindset.

Here's another good article (with good comments below) on Obama, if you're still riding that train:

http://www.truthout.org/article/obama-and-progressive-base
 

I must admit, I've been growing increasingly disappointed with Obama's recent pandering to the lowest common denominator. I still, however, cling to the hope that the ground-level excitement about Barack Obama's candidacy is more an indicator that a immense number of americans smell the trouble that's brewing and are looking to make dramatic change. Whether or not Obama is truly a harbinger of such change, or merely an indicator of a growing revolutionary climate obviously remains to be seen.

The problem with citing an article like the one you have, and pointing to the follow-up comments, is that such commentary reflects only the individuals who read such "blogs," and in no way illustrates any accurate portrayal of the sentiments of the "Obama camp" as a whole. It's no different than pointing to some fascist right-wing blog and suggesting that it's comment section is reflective of a legitimate portion of the voting public.

I am continually distrustful of both political parties, and certainly cautious about putting my wholehearted support behind anyone running under such a banner. The reality is this: Barring some unprecedented action to interrupt the election (Which I certainly don't put past the Cheney/Bush/Haliburton administration), either Barack Obama or John McCain will become the next president of the United States. There are about three ways to approach this:

1.) Presume that it doesn't really matter, that either candidate is simply a pawn of greater influences and will have no effect in changing the looming national/international catastrophe we inevitably face. Don't even bother. Sit home and wait for death.

2.) Be so naive as to think that the office of the President realistically has the power to institute dramatic positive change domestically and abroad and wholeheartedly throw yourself behind a candidate and his hypothetical policies.

3.) Cling to your last shred of optimism, recognizing by talking to people outside of your well-informed, well-read, educated, liberal corner of the world that while people are products of mass manipulation, fear-mongering, and concern for their personal wellbeing, many of them are still smart enough to see that bad things are happening, worse things are on the horizon, and they have to do something to somehow fight it. These are people like our parents, your mailman, the guy who drives the bus, and a 45-year-old who has never voted. These people are the real america - hell, the real World... You can sit back and say "fuck it," and presume that once these folks are appeased with meager financial gains and convenience, they'll disappear right back into their meaningless lives, as 20th century american history has suggested. Or you can look at the history of the world and hope that the masses are perhaps reaching their breaking point, and that bucking history by electing a young black man in the face of a long-standing militaristic regime of rich, old white men is a small step in a long fight against tyranny.

And, most certainly, Barack Obama, in the long run may be little more than a small piece of symbolism once his candidacy, presidency, career, or life is through. But, at this time, I'm still inclined to follow my hope that voting Obama means more that just putting a new guy in the White House, but a signal that the real, fighting-for-their-lives, blood-and-guts working people of america are mad as hornets, sick of being controlled by rich white guys, and they're not going to take it anymore. My support for Barack Obama, as it stands, is not so much an endorsement of the candidate as an endorsement of the larger implications of what this moment in history could maybe be. I honestly don't have a clue if getting these scumbags out of power is a real change of any sort, or a continuation of the same disaster we've been facing for decades. But at this point I think that, first and foremost, you've got to force a changing of the guard (even if it's a miniscule transformation), and continue to move forward from there.

Then, of course, you keep your fingers crossed and hope that all those folks who got riled up enough to elect an "unexperienced" black guy with a weird pseudo-islamic sort-of name in a time when we're all supposed to be looking over our shoulders for arabic terrorists keep at and don't go back to being complacent like the hippies did when the cops started shooting at white people.
 

I feel what brother PJ is saying: "Don't compromise your principles".

I also feel what brother Ryno is staying: "You got to be realistic with what you got sometimes".


But there is there any room in the middle between these two positions? I really hope so, because unfortunately the "game" is rigged enough as it is to favor the plutocracy, the elites of our society, and as much as it's is important to stick up for your core values and principles, there's still the need to work in tandem with the forces that will try to subvert your best intentions along the way. The problem here fundamentally is a lack of balance. You can't effectively bring change a system if you're outside it, nor can you deny being influenced by that same system you wish to change when you participate within it. What matters is that you are AWARE of what's happening from the start of your journey within, throughout and around that system. The more angles you can understand of your journey the better scope you will have wen trying to trouble problems along the way.

Unfortunately, the really sad part in all of this is that most people are happy not pay attention to what's going on around them in the world and at home, and it's partly their own fault (lack of civic duty) and partly by design (those in power LOVE a disillusioned public, easier to subvert their will and to manipulate them) but still sad nonetheless because as a whole we all suffer so long as one of us isn't free. Only 150 years ago in the United States were people still fighting to free themselves from slavery. It was mostly physical then, but today contrary to what most people want to believe, the same forces are still at work except now it's a battleground almost exclusively for your mind. As long as you THINK you're free, you can bounded up, shipped and sold like any other commodity. The illusion of freedom is thinking that you can "pay as you go", "have it your way, right way", "double your pleasure, double your fun" all while "Lovin' it" thinking you don't have to lift a finger to perserve your civil rights, while they cash you at the bank with your naiveté. Mental shackles are just as dangerous, if not more so, than physical ones. And there's too many people out there in the grand ol' Red, White & Blue USA thinking that they're "free". Well, sorry to say it but WE'RE NOT!

The good news is that as everyday people we don't have to be long for this b.s., and all it takes is to have the courage to speak up for what you believe is right. Not easy at times, but nonetheless a necessary component in any truly functional democratic society. I don't trust my government for one nano-second and I don't expect them to look after me, but I expect myself too, as well as my family, friends and community. Together we can put more pressure on our leaders (who come from typical American homes just like you and me folks) than they can ever put on us. So no matter who gets elected as the next President of the United States, it's up to us, the public to keep the pressure up on the government and demand that they respect our collective needs for a more just and socially balanced world. And what better way to send a polite reminder of who's really in charge of the country by watching the public vote in a third party candidate for POTUS? Improbable? Yes. But not impossible.

In closing, I'd just like to say that I don't think what has transpired to date in human history exhausts the possibilities of what can still be accomplished. But I know that, realistically speaking, change can never happen if you don't try to reach out for it. Even if that action seems only idealistic at times.

PEACE!
 

Sorry for some of grammatical errors above, been a long day...