The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same: What does General McChrystal's Ouster Mean for America's Longest Running War?

As Obama Relieves McChrystal Over Critical Remarks and Names Petraeus as Replacement, I find myself thinking about what will happen if Obama does not withdraw our war zone troops by July of 2011 as promised. Does it even matter any more? I mean, we all seem to have relinquished control to the point that we accept no responsibility for our elected leaders' actions once we vote them in. Are we responsible? Back in February I posted an essay by Michael Sandstrom (originally written in 2006), titled Boxing, Wrestling, and the American Dream, which attempts to unravel the smoke and mirrors of the entertainment complex that has become America (with references to Roland Barthes). It argues that after taking a backseat to the fake theatrics of of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), boxing was trying to make a comeback, and goes on to posit that perhaps the reemerging yearning for boxing (and boxing movies) along with the sudden dismissal of the smoke and mirrors of the WWE, was directly related to the hope and desire to relinquish the "no holds barred" attitude of the Bush Administration.

Yet, as I stated back in February...

Reprint of "Boxing, Wrestling, and the American Dream"

What follows is an unpublished essay written in March of 2006. It was written long before Barack Obama announced his candidacy for presidency of the United States of America. Reading this essay four years after it was written makes me summons an ironic adage: "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Indeed, it seems that in one regard the essay was quite prescient in its assertion that the American People were demanding fairness to return to the "ring." I do not think the author could have expected, however, just how in tune with the future his discussion about Jack Johnson's pardon at the end of the essay was in regards to the historic election of the first African American President. Unfortunately, the promise of change may end there. It seems even the calm and collected Barak Obama can only do so much to change the politics of this country. The middle class continue to get squeezed and pushed further down the ladder of consequence; the War in Iraq will soon replace Vietnam as the longest running war in American History; oil still rules our existence even as the promise for unlimited renewable energy lies at our finger tips; and the richest 2% still control 98% of the world's wealth.

Although the essay makes references to the politics and entertainment of the time in which it was written (i.e. former President Bush, Rocky VI, etc,) it is really intriguing to see how similar everything looks. The one minor difference seems to be a marginally better opinion of Americans amongst the rest of the global citizenry.