in overseas cannot be separated in any way from the economic violence and repression which the US increasingly state directs towards the US domestic population. Both are a function of the economic decay of US capitalism and its increasing reliance on bubbles, swindles, naked criminality and, when these fail, public bailouts, to maintain its economic position. Politically Obama's function is solely to provide a human face behind which the US ruling class and state attempts to maintain its global dominance through rapacious wars against populations at home and overseas. Obama will this year probably raise in the order of one billion USD to finance his election campaign. The corporate criminals and swine who "donate" campaign money to Obama do so knowing full well that they will be receive their pound of flesh (from the public) in return. Think you're right to refer to The Lacanian Left. Stavrakakis and the writers he talks about should facilitate you and others to articulate the nature of this new beast and to develop a new politics of action in response without the almost useless rhetorical cliches of economic historiography. Wel, yes, Lacanian thought could be very useful here. I aklways find it strange, and frustrating, that the Lit Left is fond of quoting Zizek, but he's almost always decontextualised. Zizek is a commenter on Lacan, so it makes no sense to use Zizek to backstop one's arguments unless one has an interest in Lacan too. Left political thought doesn't work for me without a