am i mistaken? i thought i was invited.

The entire fight over healthcare in the United States gives me a source of never-ending entertainment. As fun as it is, something came up last night while I was eating a chicken satay that I think is important enough to mention here.

Obama is, in some ways, worse than Bush. Sure, he wants to pass this healthcare thing, he has nice and cushy social programs. But is it not just feed for the trough, painting himself a populist while he silently continues the same illegal wars? At least Bush was stupid enough to make an unpopular war the centerpiece of his administration, which caused a lot of anger.

It is also, for lack of a better word, depressing to see the voices that were so critical of Bush become sudden defenders of the status-quo. The arguments, the protests, the anger—they were politicking. Maybe I knew it back then, on some kind of lower-cerebral level, but wouldn't admit it out loud. Hoped for the best. Turns out it's true. There is no such thing as a critical voice anywhere near the American mainstream. When Chomsky goes (he's getting old, sad but true), we're on our own.