by James Corbett
corbettreport.com
November 10, 2018
Well, another cycle of (s)election hysteria has come and gone in the disUnited States of Amerikkka, Inc., and, as you well know, everything in the world has transformed overnight. Now that the Demopublicans are in control of the House and the Republicrats have kept the Senate, we have all seen the drastic changes in our...
Haha. Sorry. I couldn't keep a straight face while typing that twaddle. But in honour (that's right, honoUr!) of my American brethren and their recent political ritual (meant to absolve them of any substantive action for another two years until they can once again stuff a piece of paper in a ballot box and go back to sleep), I thought I would engage in that age-old game that seems to be America's other pastime: debating who was the greatest president of all time.
You know what I'm talking about.
"I think President Whiskey Rebellion was better than President If I Could Save The Union Without Freeing Any Slave I Would Do It!"
"No way! President Japanese Internment Camps was better!"
"Nuh uh! What about President He Kept Us Out of War?"
"Come on, guys! You're all forgetting about President Kill List!"
As I say, you all know how that game goes.
Now, full disclosure: I'm not American. Heck, I'm not even a statist. As an anarchist, it would be physically impossible for me to care less who 51% of the 41% of the population that votes (s)elected to rule over everyone else. And as a Canadian, why would an American care what I thought anyway?
So I've decided to broaden the scope of this little debate. This is no mere American political argument about whether Millard Fillmore or William Henry Harrison was the G.O.A.T. of the Oval Office. No, that would be silly. Let's expand the list a little and include executive office holders from around the world. Heck, let's include off-worlders, too. And when I say the greatest of all time, I mean ALL TIME. Past, present and future. Real OR fictional.
With all those caveats in place, I think we can all agree that the greatest president of all time (and space) is . . .
Zaphod Beeblebrox!
Of course! Zaphod Beeblebrox! You know, Zaphod Beeblebrox! That two-headed, Betelgeusian "adventurer, ex-hippy, good-timer, (crook? quite possibly), manic self-publicist, terribly bad at personal relationships, often thought to be completely out to lunch."
Oh, you don't know Zaphod Beeblebrox? Well then you really must grab a copy of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and read up on the President of the Galaxy. Or, more technically, the "President of the Imperial Galactic Government," who, the Guide tells us, is the de facto leader of the galactic empire since the "hereditary Emperor is nearly dead and has been for many centuries." You see, the poor, sickly Emperor is now "locked in a stasis field which keeps him in a state of perpetual unchangingness," so an "elected governmental assembly headed by a President elected by that assembly" rules in his place.
Or, at least, that's what everyone thinks. In reality, of course, the President doesn't do much of anything. As the Guide informs us:
"The President in particular is very much a figurehead – he wields no real power whatsoever. He is apparently chosen by the government, but the qualities he is required to display are not those of leadership but those of finely judged outrage. For this reason the President is always a controversial choice, always an infuriating but fascinating character. His job is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it. On those criteria Zaphod Beeblebrox is one of the most successful Presidents the Galaxy has ever had – he has already spent two of his ten presidential years in prison for fraud."Hmmm...a purely figurehead president whose job "is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it." Does that sound like an accurate description of our current political circus?
I've talked about Plato's Allegory of the Cave as a way of thinking about politics many times before. For those who know about the JFK assassination or 9/11 Truth or the central bank scam, it seems obvious: The political sideshow that we see unfold in the 24/7 news cycle is just a series of shadows on the cave wall designed to distract us from the real world that is right behind us, just out of sight.
But perhaps the Allegory of Beeblebrox is just as apt a description of our political reality (and a fair bit more entertaining to boot). The presidents (and prime ministers) that are dangled before us as the "rulers of the country" are no such thing. Their only job is to distract us from the real decision-makers in society. In the world of the Hitchhiker's Guide, we are told rather intriguingly that "Very very few people realize that the President and the government have virtually no power at all, and of these few people only six know whence ultimate political power is wielded." Now, I don't know about "only six," but the idea of very few knowing who really wields the power behind the throne seems about right.
And if the president's job is to distract us from the most important political matters facing us (the military-industrial complex and the information-industrial complex, the technocratic slave state being erected around us, the monetary prison that has been constructed by central banks and their controlled currencies, etc.), then you've got to admit they're getting better and better at their job.
I mean, who cares about ending the Fed when there's much more important things happening in the White House—like fake news journalists getting their credentials stripped in press conference altercations? Who cares about the continuation of never-ending wars halfway around the world when the size of the president's penis is a source of non-stop news coverage?
Idiocracy was a mundane documentary about the not-so-distant future, and if you think it's here now, wait until we get President The Rock. Or President Kid Rock. Or President Yeezy.
It's all downhill from here, folks.
"Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! Don't you see? Zaphod Beeblebrox is stealing the Heart of Gold! Pay attention to him!"
The funny thing is that, once again, the extent to which the powers-that-shouldn't-be go to distract us from our real political predicament shows just how important we (and our focused attention) are and how much power we could really wield . . . if only we weren't distracted.
Power to do what? Oh, power to build communities. Power to create community organizations. Power to start a local currency and to support your local businesses. Power to plant the seeds of revolution both literally and figuratively. Power to put aside petty differences and realize that it really is us (the 99.9999999%) against them (the 0.00000001%) unless we fall for the divide-and-conquer shenanigans of the real rulers. You know, that sort of thing.
But who can be bothered with all of that when the greatest show of our lives is playing out on the nightly news these days, am I right? Just grab your popcorn and enjoy, that's what I say!
All hail President Beeblebrox!
What a great post. Very amusing and a veritable treasure trove of hyperlinks. Nice job :)
All hail President Beeblebrox, the beeblest of the broxes.
I loved the 70s version of that movie!
Another great one. I agree and tell people all the time that the presidents don’t matter. People obsessed with either side get annoyed with me when I tell them that there’s no difference between the policies that trump uses versus the policies that Killary would have used and enacted. They don’t like to think about that, they think that the previous president has all the power and makes all the decisions. Ha!
If you think there is no difference between someone like Trump, who paid for his own campaign, and Obama and the Clinton's - who have taken huge amounts support from the likes of George Soros - then you are a hopeless contrarian.
Too bad there isn't contextually, they are all puppets that don't make their own decisions. You dismiss somebody but don't think about it in a larger context. I am well aware of the Soros connection for them and various democrats. Somebody doesn't get to be a billionaire without toeing the line. Trump was not allowed to become president if he didn't comply.
That all ignoring the fact that the president is largely a superfluous position anyways, they don't do a whole lot except put a nice face on TV and pictures.
I think Trump may not be a puppet, but an actual genuine player in the game. He financed his own campaign, and seems to actually want to improve the US's situation domestically, as well as internationally. It seems clear to me he is having a positive, anti-Globalist influence. The absolute shitstorm he has incurred from the controlled corporate media is just one piece of evidence that he is not simply another shill.
He has encouraged growth in the US economy, is creating jobs, is getting tough on illegal migration and is even putting China in its place. He has even been publicly critical of the Federal Reserve. A little credit where due would not be inappropriate.
I certainly don't disagree on some of those points. What I don't like is the increased war efforts that go unchecked despite his campaign trail rhetoric of not getting into more conflicts. Perhaps he was given some control over the economy but in exchange the other powers get absolute control over the war machine. I do admit that he is a fresh perspective than Obama was. I have mixed feelings about him but I still think he is controlled as any president was and is, but the extent of his being controlled is up for debate.
His economic and business views and strengths are important and have had a positive impact. I find it to be more of a mixed bag than the previous presidents were.
Which increased war efforts?
What other powers are you talking about?
I don't see any strings being pulled. Who is he working for. If you are so sure, you must have specifics to present.
I guess you missed this when you talk about Trump being genuine.
P.S. Don't want to get into a debate, just thought I'd share this in case you missed it.
By forces that want it to be perpetually at war yes. Average people like myself and billions others in the world don’t have a need for conflict but the military industrial complex wants perpetual war so it creates those opportunities to sell it. Hopefully that’s not something you don’t think is a reality.
Follow my channel. You might like what I have to say. I update it regularly, and just posted my first podcast interview (with The Iconoclast from Youtube).
But, be warned: we are a little more hardline than James is on a number of touchy issues.
Just my opinion of course, I would love to be able to prove it but just my analysis after reading and watching various content. I am not a trump hater but I am also not in major support of him and his policies. There are certainly components I like such as some of his economic views and business views, while others I think are just the same old, i.e. his war policies.
Thanks for the dialogue though! It's nice to have a dialogue on topics without it just spiraling down to a flaming battle.
Hey James, excellent material as always. No matter which puppet they put in power, We The People always get screwed. Your post is well-timed as this needs to be stated now more than ever. I wanted to share with you my newest piece on the White Helmets. I spent about two months going through their individual Facebook and You Tube accounts and came up with quite a lot of unseen highly revealing videos. Best regards and thanks for doing what you do to help wake this world up.
Now Playing on DTube : White Helmets Exposed - Collated Video Evidence of Terrorist Collusion - Over 50 Video Clips
https://steemit.com/news/@clarityofsignal/now-playing-on-dtube-white-helmets-exposed-collated-video-evidence-of-terrorist-collusion-over-50-video-clips
Great article as always form James with a perfect analogy reference to the Hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy.
Though, why would anyone care about what a Canadian things about Amarican politics? Very much actually, as according to one of the latest videos from Press for truth, people are organizing so that Americans living in Canada can vote in the US elections... Perfectly logical, right? (is Americans only form USA? Isn't America the continent? I may be mistaken there....)
G.O.A.T eh.. So; I,pet GOAT II ? As that video from heliofant is called.
Great article, James.
One thing, though: do you not think 'populists' like Trump are at least a little different, even superior, to Globalist-aligned shills like the Clintons? I appreciate the fact that you are an Anarchist, and that 'the lesser of two evils' is still evil. But, isn't someone who is not directly funded by large corporations and financial institutions - who has even been publicly critical of the Federal Reserve - infinitely superior to the minions of Soros and the financial elite?
Don't get too hung up on my use of a figure of speech. As far as I gather we are actually in agreement. ;)