Читать книгу Livin' la Vida Barroca. American Culture in an Age of Imperial Orthodoxies онлайн

28 страница из 84

Should you have any doubts about the ironclad, “‘til death do us part” nature of the deal, consider the following. Until a few days before its passage on the 7th of November, the congressional version of health care reform contained an amendment that would have shielded those states interested in setting up singlepayer programs of their own from anti-trust lawsuits brought by insurance companies. The provision was stricken from the bill at the last moment after heavy lobbying pressure from none other than the White House itself.

When this White House makes pledges to big industry its word is truly its bond. That a bunch so evidently craven in its dedication to corporate interests is often successfully labeled as “socialist” speaks to the truly delusional nature of much of our public discourse. This is not an isolated incident. Rather, this way of operating is deeply encoded in the D.N.A. of the post-Clinton Democratic party in general, and the Obama White House in particular. These are the Placebo Politics of a Placebo Presidency.