Revelations about US domestic spying and the NSA’s massive PRISM web-surveillance program have harmed not only trust in the Obama administration, but also confidence in US bond markets, which could have dire consequences.
In 1968, President Lyndon Johnson allegedly remarked — after CBS
anchor Walter Cronkite reported that the US had become mired in a
stalemate in the Vietnam War with no way out — “If I’ve lost
Cronkite, I’ve lost Middle America.” A month later, the
president announced he would not run for re-election.
I remember those years well. I was still very young, but I
remember how the mainstream media in America — principally CBS —
changed from simply reporting the government line to reporting on
what their reporters were actually seeing on the ground in the
war zone, and letting the pictures and video tell a different,
more truthful story. Although my young mind was unable to
articulate what I felt in words, I could feel and see the change
in the faces of my brothers and sisters, especially my brother
who was set to be drafted. These images have stayed with me.
Unfortunately, the lessons America learned in Vietnam — that we
should not get entangled in unfocused, un-winnable foreign fights
where only war profiteers are winning — were never learned.
Today, the technology has gotten better. The propaganda has
gotten better. And America has stormed through the Mideast with
relish (and death), but I wonder now if Barack Obama might now be
experiencing his Cronkite moment.
The ultra-liberal ‘Obamabot’ website Daily Kos, one of the
sites that put Obama over the top in 2008 and 2012, as well as
others in the Obama-can-do-no-wrong camp, have started to ask
some difficult questions about America’s domestic spying and the
PRISM program. Liberals are recoiling at the stench of Obama’s
actions.
Referring back again to Vietnam, at some point the truth about
the war become obvious to everyone. America had no business being
there, and the only ones who thought so were manufacturers of
helicopters, M16’s and napalm. Today, a growing number of
‘liberal’ Americans who would have followed Obama to the ends of
the Earth are realizing the war on terror is just another
war-profiteering boondoggle that hands trillions of dollars over
to defense contractors and mercenaries to fight shadows, no
matter how many people end up on food stamps in America. (The
number of families on food stamps just hit an all-time high.)
PRISM looks like that Cronkite moment: The moment when even the
staunchest Obama supporter admits they’ve been taken for a ride.
As this realization of a fake war to boost the ill-gotten gains
of a permanent kleptocrat class in America sinks, in look for a
loss of confidence in other areas of the economy as well, not
just Obama’s presidency. The bond market, for example. There is
already significant selling by the largest bond managers like
Bill Gross of PIMCO (the biggest bond manager in the world), who
sends out tweets regularly questioning the judgement and
viability of Obama’s domestic and foreign policy. He pointed to
recent revelations that he helped engineer a permanent back door
to databases and the sensitive information of up to 50 American
companies for use by high-frequency traders and market
manipulators, who almost monthly admit their guilt in
market-rigging and price-fixing.
And of course, after confidence in the president goes and
confidence in the bond market evaporates, don’t expect the stock
market to hold onto its recent gains either. It’s all looking
rather ‘toppy,’ to use the Wall Street jargon.
The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.
This article originally appeared on: RT