Columnist Charles Blow wrote his reaction: People Wept
Then I wrote mine in part to his column, in part to the history being made around us!
We can still believe in miracles. We can still believe in hope. We can still believe that humanity can call forth our better nature, that we can become those people that the Scriptures of all our traditions say that we can, say that we must become.
If one generation not so long ago has been called “the greatest,” and indeed their stand for liberty merits such designation, here today we have a new contender for the title. Today we’ve earned the right to compete for the title. How we grow, how we honor the trust, how we change, will prove in the future whether or not we can claim it.
As much as President-elect Obama is the result of hope, of dreams, of miracles, he is there for at least as much, if not more so the result of hard work, of dedication, of the commitments of time, money, energy by many Americans who together took the spirit of “we shall overcome” and rendered the verdict, “Yes, we can.”
Savor this moment. Note it well as what hopefully will be a watershed in our national discourse and for the benefit of the world. And when the body is tired from crying, when the body is exhausted from hollering and shouting praise of gratitude for what seemed so long to be impossible, pause in the silence. That place of dreams where all things have form that can be given life on this physical plane.
Then roll up the sleeves, we all have a lot of work to do! But let us do so looking at each other equally in the eye, looking to make real all the promise that this moment carries with it. The dawn of the new day is here. Smile.
Frank Rich wrote a good piece condemming the racist undercurrent in the Republican campaign. Opinion Link
The title of the article will only fan the flames on google searches. My reposnse that somehow or other failed to pass muster:
The Republicans stoke the fires of fears, real or imagined, as fear is one of the best motivators, especially when it looks like your campaign is going down, and in a big way. Fear of loss of jobs, of homes, of life savings, decimated in a week, of internal social stability, let alone the position of America on the world stage are all things people can see, all things very real. The irony that many people haven't seen is how can the Party in power that got us into this mess can possibly get us out? Not that the Democrats aren't without complicity in Congress. The approval of that presumed august body is as much in the tank as the President's, a dubious honor all around! Yet how many incumbents will be going back to Washington on 5 November for yet another term?
To this immediate misbehavior of the candidates playing the race card, "enough!" Too much already. Yet if you recall the conventions, the Republican was far more composed of gentrified, near geriatric white people, people for whom McCain's statement, "Obama will raise YOUR taxes" was probably very much the truth. And people for whom racial prejudice, whilst never so much outspoken as it might have been once upon a time, is probably a resident in some quarters.
Republican (as in a republic, not the party) democracy is one of the most fragile of political institutions, as it demands the most responsibility of its citizens, from whom power is derived. It is far too easy to appeal to the base instincts of people, stoke the fires of their fears to surrender their liberty for the promise of the strong State which will defend them from enemies, real and imagined, internal and external. We are always "that close" from turning political rallies that should inspire and bring out the best in us to devolving into the sort that become a "Triumph of the Will." We know the end of the road where that path leads, the world's been there before.
The only way we're going to exorcise this demon of racism from the body politic is to have a zero tolerance policy. Someone makes a racist remark, the politician should call them out, not give tacit approval, and security should remove the offender from the event. People should withhold donations anytime one of these instances slips through. The campaigns will feel it in the pocketbook pretty quickly. And nothing will insure corrective behavior more than that!
We owe ourselves a better future.
Roger Cohen in the NY Times has a good take on the largely forgotten writings of Rudyard Kipling Kiplin’ vs. Palin
My response:
With cutsey wink, bright smile, glistening eyes, Ms. Palin hopes she can disguise: That when she speaks to the issues, her mouth runs loose, But, you betcha, she can dress a moose! This is a campaign unusually serious, Over Sarah the Republicans are giddy, almost delerious! That the nation can be hoodwinked once more, To renounce civil liberties, still engage in endless war! Who's counting the cost, what does it matter? As editorials moan of Governor Palin's blather? But there may be hope, even this day, When Sarah championed equal rights for those Gay! So beware the serpent, in this beautious form hidin' At the polls, elect Obama and Biden! Then we may heed the warnings of which Kipling spoke, Lest we watch the whole world go up in smoke!
If history wanted to afford you the opportunity to see Eva Peron as a brunette, we got reasonably close last night with the Vice Presidential debate. A shame that the two campaigns have only allowed one of these. But perhaps that is wisdom enough.
One could see reasonably enough in the post-debate celebration the chants of the masses there assembled, "USA! USA! USA!" Not too far removed from "Peron! Peron! Peron!"
Like the Argentine counterpart, Ms. Palin has the physical beauty to get attention. Also the shallowness of actual knowledge and useful experience to make taking a high national-level governmental job dubious. Like Eva, she wants to appeal to her Republican-Conservative middle class descamisados, whilst despising them and their miserable existence the whole time. She casts Juan, I mean John McCain in the same light as Juan Peron, from "Evita:"
"There is only one man who can lead any workers' regime He lives for your problems, he shares your ideals and your dream He supports you, for he loves you Understands you, is one of you If not, how could he pick me?"
I've replaced "pick" from the original lyric "love," as that's more suitable in this context.
The tagline from "Evita" is the most telling of the similarities here, "she simply seduced a country."
Joe Biden will make a hell of a good Vice President in the Obama administration.
With all the uncertainty of this latest financial misadventure, Gail Collins wrote a good essay, Bring on the Rubber Chicken. Normally they'll print my comments, but for some reason this one didn't make the cut. Of course they'd already marked this one about the Republican use of the term Exceptionalism to describe America and Americans as an editors' choice, how many of my missives can they post in one day before I should be consided a columnist too? [grin].
So then, my comment to Ms. Collins' essay:
It's the game of "chicken" where the rubber is supposed to meet the road. Bush looked like the deer-in-the-headlights, doped up on too much Valium to have much response toward the oncoming train. A statement of leadership that has not inspired confidence, nor trust.
And it's the lack of trust and confidence (though this "bailout" seems more like a confidence scheme, with the taxpayers the recipients of the bill for the Ponzi-esque largesse); that allegedly is at the heart of this "crisis." The dotcom bust on steriods.
The fleecing of America has taken on new proportions. Gone are the days of even meeting basic sensibilities, "a chicken in every pot." Now there's not even the pot to cook the bird in! Or perhaps, to keep in a vein so fowl, for too many people, our goose has been cooked, and all the ducks that they're trying to line up in a row to solve this are all facing outwards, giving us the good view of their backsides, a "D.A."! Which we could probably use even more than the bailout, an independent prosecutor to go after the crooks, bringing those responsible to justice. And while the chicken littles of Bernanke and Paulson are squawking: "the sky is falling, the sky is falling," trading continues for yet another day. I've hope that most of this can be worked out by the market itself, with more regulatory oversight than an open hand into my wallet!
# # #
If ever there are more and more reasons becoming apparent why Barack Obama must be the next President, as Connie Corleone-Rizzi expressed with bombastic outburst to Michael in The Godfather, "Read the papers, read the papers!
As for the debate, all Senator Obama has to do is echo Ronald Reagan's question to the people during his debate with Jimmy Carter in 1980, "are you better off now, than you were four years ago?"
What an amazing two weeks we've had. Culminations of historic campaigns, enthusiastic supporters, political shows staged as well as the recent political, er, I mean Olympic sports show in Beijing. Now the hard work begins. And the work is more difficult for Democrats for the simple reason that having the Republicans' convention last, they are more in the mind of the general public. The news searches, the headlines, all of it have had Senator McCain and Gov. Palin plastered all over them. Which is fitting, this week being their brightest moment in the sun, basking in the glow of their 99% white supporters.
Now that the skirmishes to climb to the tops of the mountains are over, both parties look across the shallow valley of two months' time to the pinnacle of election day. Though my inner cynic chuckles at the thought that both election day and Thanksgiving are held in the same month so that we may vote for the turkey of our choice, the world situation and the gravtias of the stakes of this election keeps him on a very short leash.
John McCain reminds me of an old fox who's been pillaging the hen house for years. Now caught at it, he's swearing he needs to reform his diet and his behavior and gee how did all those nasty foxes get so out of control the last seven years in the first place anyhow? He'll take his job as "first fox" very seriously. Trust him.
Why?
And for those who have yet to be afraid of what Gov. Sarah Palin represents, do your research, do your homework, then be afraid. Be very afraid. And in such realization you will learn why she has absolutely no place in the US Government, let alone state or local. Nevermind the "troopergate" scandal, nevermind the hypocrisy of turning down the "bridge to nowhere," but taking our taxpayer money anyway to use on other projects. Nevermind her professed opposition to big oil, whilst her husband works for BP.
This is what scares me and should scare every American: She's running on a party that professes to advocate for more individual choices, less government intrusion and so on. Yet she advocated for censorship in the local public library, thinking that she should be the arbiter of what is or isn't acceptable reading, instead of allowing people to decide for themselves.
She's an anti-abortion extremist, again, taking away the rights of individuals to choose for themselves, in the privacy of their own circumstances.
As much as the Republicans decry Islamic fundamentalism, she would bring an equally cancerous Christian variety into the center of American politics, were she to be elected Vice President. This is not to disrespect her religion. She can believe whatever she likes. However, one of the guiding principles of the founding fathers was to have a strong separation of Church and State. When a candidate would focus on bringing to their platforms, their policies, their actions, views that would impose the values of a religious minority on the Country as a whole, that erodes one of the basic ideas that allows us to be a religously pluralistic and open society. Such must be steadfastly resisted, unless we would prefer an open theocracy, with one state religion as the dominant. It's happened before in Europe. And there are those who would wish us to return to this sort of past, instead of being a major multicultural player in the larger global arena.
The hard work, as I mentioned, begins now. We're dealing with the inheritors of Richard M. Nixon's "dirty tricks," George W. Bush's bloodless coup d'etat at the hands of the Supreme Court in 2000, an ocean full of Swift-boat riding propagandists. Separating to contend on the issues when the Republicans would rather take the fight to the gutter level of smears an innuendo will not be easy. But it must be done. The stakes are too high. We cannot afford four more years, lest the Constitution fade more into historical memory than it already has.
To claim the future we must elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden in 2008! Do ALL you can. The kids, grandkids, and generations yet unthought of and unborn will remember this as our finest hour, if we succeed. If we don't.... it's all up to you.
Well, my wife and I watched some of the Republican convention. One cannot know one's opponents unless one gives them the time to listen to their, um, spiel. Mrs. Palin comported herself well. Clearly she's used to making speeches and has been surrounded by 'spinmeisters' schooled in the traditions of Joseph Goebbels and the "big lie." Rudy Giuliani warmed the crowd up like some preening rooster getting all the hens agitated and excited.
The most obvious difference between the Democratic and Republican conventions aside from their different political views was just how almost perfectly lilly-white, like the Alaskan snow, the convention members are! Must be like the purity of Ivory Soap, 99 and 44/100ths percent! Also the average age of the attendees, as well as the average income, must be far greater than the prior Democratic convention. For the party to be claiming to represent 'all' Americans, they are lacking in representation of large segements of the population. Out of sight and out of mind seems to be how they operate.
Hanging over the convention like a palpable gloom is the weight of the incompetence of the last seven years of the Bush administration. Neither Giuliani nor Palin wanted to deal with that 800 lb gorilla. For all their talk of "change" my near constant question back to the set was "if your party didn't screw things up so badly we wouldn't need all this change, now, would we?" "If your party hadn't launched this misadventure into Iraq, Osama bin Laden would have faced justice by now, instead of being allowed to reconstitute Al Qaeda to live to fight another day."
And the mantra of "Drill, Baby, Drill" which one pundit likened to having the potential to enter [God forbid] the American lexicon like "I Like Ike" to me shows that these people are living in a parallel universe where denial is the truth and conformity a requirement. A universe where American power is not tempered as a last resort through use of diplomacy first. The number of Western style "cowboy" hats is indicative of the mentality of that parallel universe. Every individual for him or herself, society be damned. Darwinian social evolution at it's finest, though couched in a creationist rhetoric, lest their phobias be too blatant to ignore.
Be afraid. Be VERY Afraid.
And make sure that Barack Obama and Joe Biden are elected this Fall. They may live in their parallel universe. But I prefer the real world. Our seven year trip into their twilight zone's coming to an end, time to return to the reality channel we love and know, the United States of America, for all of the people, all of the time, not just some of the people some of the time.
In the various comments and blogs I've read since the Obama/Biden ticket has been formally launched and with Senator McCain's pick of governor Sarah Palin is an overwhelming feeling on the part of some Hillary supporters that they've gotten a bad deal in Senator Obama not selecting Hillary for VP. McCain's selection has served more to rub salt into this wound than to really serve to attract true Hillary supporters who are more issues-cognizant and not so easily fooled by a person who stands even further to the right than Senator McCain.
There is this sense of "coulda, woulda, shoulda" that somehow or other Obama and Clinton would have been a "dream ticket." Perhaps in another forty or fifty years such combination of both African-American and a woman running won't even raise an eyebrow. But not now.
First, like it or not, Mrs. Clinton's candidacy was too unique for the general electorate to deal with. The baggage of Bill's administration comes with her as well as Bill himself who can sometimes be a verbal "loose cannon." Second, there are those of us concerned also with the fact that the power in the Executive branch of government will have been influenced by, if not outrightly controlled by only two families in twenty-eight years, the Bushes and the Clintons. (George HW Bush 1981-1992, Clinton 1993-2000, George W. Bush 2000-present). That is too much power in the hands of too few. Third, she is a very polarizing person, people either love her or can't stand her. I don't think this is done of any deliberate thought on her part, rather it is reaction to the force of her personality.
While this country has made some amazing progress in the last forty-five years, from saying "I have a dream" to an African-American presidential nominee, that does not mean that racial tension no longer exists. Unfortunately a lot of "mainstream America" will have to overcome the legacy of learning centuries of racial prejudice to elect Senator Obama.
Senator Obama's intent is to win in November and assume office in January. To do this he had to pick a Vice President who best compliments his own candidacy, yet with whom "mainstream America" could be comfortable with. Hillary Rodham Clinton, despite all the interest of her supporters is not that person. She graciously called for people to be mindful of the larger goal of electing the Democratic ticket, even if she's not on it.
If all of us, working together can accomplish this goal, then we'd have the question some are asking now, become the burden of the Republicans, asking the questions as President Obama is sworn in, what coulda, shoulda, woulda we have done? A nice problem to have, eh? And with your help, it will manifest!
This campaign is starting to look like that place described so well by the late Rod Serling, "You're moving into a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. You've just crossed over into the Twilight Zone."
Certainly John McCain's selection of Governor Sarah Palin has opened the door further into a seemingly alternate universe from what had heretofore been "typical" campaigns. In one sense, the Republicans are now, some twenty-four years later, catching up to where the Democrats were in selecting Geraldine Ferarro as a VP candidate. Such progress contains within itself a purely retrograde motion in the sense that Mrs. Palin espouses views that are so right-wing as to make Senator McCain look liberal. Should he pass on, and, as the possible oldest potential president, as well as a so-far cancer survivor, his long-term health given the stresses of the Presidency, make his demise by no means certain, but within the realm of possibility in the first term. So the prospect of a President Palin is not out of the realm of consideration.
Senator McCain would rather have us downplay if not altogether ignore that possibility and her views by the majority who are not in such ideological alignment. He's counting on women, Democrats in particular who were staunch Hillary Clinton supporters to be so enthralled with a beauty queen epitomization of "God, Mom and apple pie (well maybe smoked salmon from Alaska)" that her divisive agenda will take a back seat to the simple fact that she's a woman!
Gail Collins in her 30 Aug 2008 column said it best, "Joe Biden may already be practicing his drop-dead line for the vice-presidential debate: 'I know Hillary Clinton. Hillary Clinton is a friend of mine, and governor, you're no Hillary Clinton.'"
IF we want to end the last eight years, and avoid the possibility of even further erosion of civil rights, separation of church and state, and who knows what else, it is even more imperative that we elect Barack Obama and Joe Biden. Don't let the all-American girl image fool you!
When I was a kid, one of the afternoon programs we'd watch was ABC-TV's Wide World of Sports. I mention that in particular for a couple of reasons. The timeliness of the Olympics starting today seemed a reasonable excuse, also the memory of the late Jim McKay as reporter for the Munich 1972 games... Some things in history might well be worth repeating, others, not so much.
In particular was McKay's opening narration of the TV program reflecting on "...the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." What bodes the prognostication of the posting is the still open question "What does Hillary want?" Sherlock Holmes might well remind us that "the game is still afoot, Watson." I've mentioned before how I'm a Yogi Berra follower, "it ain't over 'til it's over." And it ain't over yet.
These calls for full vote of both Michigan and Florida are good in one sense, allowing the residents of those states input into the process, which is a good thing. On the other hand, if they are allowed full votes, why bother to have a staggered primary system at all if states will shift their appointment on the calendar without consequence? One might as well just envision a national primary then a national election, end of the process. Such would save millions in cost and a lot of people's time too! The still open question "What does Hillary want?"
NY Times columnist David Brooks raised an interesting essay regarding why aren't Democrats much more ahead in the polls then they are when it seems that their presumptive nominee is leading them instead to a valid question: Where's the Landslide? By casting Senator Obama as a "Sojourner," he feels that Obama reflects everything that people want to see, but he himself is only using wherever he is to further his own progression. My reaction to his piece is taken from the assumed name of a 19th Century former slave and early feminist, "What is your Truth, Sojourner?" The still open question "What does Hillary want?"
Mrs. Clinton may be acting the part of the valiant warrior defeated, but just as Vito Corleone made a peace with his rival Mafia chieftains in The Godfather we know it was only a delaying tactic and that Michael would later restore the Family honor, and respect. Thus her official stance is one thing, but I don't think it an unreasonable speculation to suggest that this Convention may have as many fireworks in storage to go off as they've shot off for the opening of the Olympics in Beijing. The still open question "What does Hillary want?"
"Madame President." Plain and simple.
So if the Convention is going to serve in the capacity of Michael Corleone we may well indeed witness "...the thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat." The question is, for whom?
As The Brain, from the 1990's cartoon Pinky and The Brain would often ask his sidekick, Pinky, "Are you pondering what I'm pondering?," (the question often being asked just before some great insight into that episode's plan to "try and take over the world,") I find myself in a "Brainish" mode of pondering. Just pondering.
I'm annoyed at the speed at which Barack the Idealist has morphed into Barack the Politician. Even though we all knew that he had to be a politician to get where he is, it nonetheless has been something of a downer to see such a transformation come about so soon! The complicity of both Democrats and Republicans on issues such as the recent FISA domestic spying, giving both further erosion against the protections of the Constitution and yet another layer of justification for a bona fide police state, especially if the powers-that-be should allow another 9/11 "incident" to happen, makes me want to invoke a "plague on both their houses!" to quote Shakespeare. Disgust.
Then there's The New Yorker front cover of the 21 July 2008 issue. If it's supposed to be funny, why am I not laughing? I wonder how much the Republicans (or some 527 proxy group) paid the magazine to render such a cover? It's not the cartoon that's funny, it's rather the reinforcement of the negative imagery that has all the hallmark of a Karl Rove-ian strategy of spreading Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt to again new levels in the media, and then by extension to the largely ignorant masses. Stupidity, or calculated genius, take your pick.
Balance all of this against McCain and the various flip-flops others have posted in the blogs regarding his record and I'm not happy with the way this whole thing is going. My cynical side's responding to the late George Wallace who opined in his 1968 3rd party candidacy, "there's not a dime's worth of difference between the two [major] parties!" Since the Democrats, even since gaining control of Congress have shown themselves more to be collaborators with the worst of Bush legislation than legislators with anything remotely approaching a backbone, Gov. Wallace's words ring louder with more truth now than they did forty years ago! On the other hand, given the paucity of viable alternative in the third party arena, as well as their historical underperformance, there's no solution there, either. Narf.
I hope I may be forgiven for saying I want the inspirational Barack of the sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in January of 2008 back, I want the heir to JFK, the person capable of leading us in a new direction, a healer, a person of vision, not just another politician who plays us for fools and never was the "all that" that he said he could be. Frustration.
So, I'm pondering, just pondering. Sure is taking too long for the current to flow enough to light up the proverbial "light bulb" above my head to light the way forward. But I can hope, can't I? Or is that really too audacious an idea after all? Stay tuned.
For those who may feel that yes, at long last this Primary season is over and Hillary Rodham Clinton has given up the pursuit of the Presidency in 2008, a one-word answer: WRONG! If you carefully note in her "concession" speech, you'll note that she says that she is "suspending my campaign." This a crucial and $11 million difference instead of saying: "ending my campaign." If she were to end it, the taxpayers wouldn't be on the hook for the $11 million that she loaned her campaign and who knows what all else.
Watching her speech gave the strong impression of her morphing from outright candidate to La Femme Pinocchio a wooden candidate wanting so badly to be President, and willing to say anything to get there. The Democrats must feel as though they've been given a virtual colonoscopy with the amout of "brownnosing" on an increasingly long nose as the speech wore on. With this much pressure how can Obama not give her the Vice Presidency, as absurd as that is?
Her recent Freudian slip concerning RFK's asassination anniversary may well have just been that, but on the other hand, if she were VP, that means she's only one heartbeat away from her most cherished and desired goal. And remember her campaign is only "suspended," not ended. This may well just be a mirror of my own looking at the dark side of probable outcomes. Still, given the track record of the Clintons as "comeback" people, until Barack rightly names someone else as VP candidate, I'm sticking with Yogi Berra, "It ain't over 'til it's over". And it ain't over yet. Not by a long shot!
First off, CONGRATULATIONS! In the words of the song voiced so well by Hot Chocolate, I believe in Miracles!
That being said, and deservedly so, the question is still the same as it ever was: "Hillary?" Perhaps overnight others have posted to these concerns, but I want to put my proverbial two cents worth out here as well. There are many reasons why people may make the case for Barack to offer Hilary the VP slot, "dream ticket," "unify the Party" and so on. There are also good reasons for her NOT to be offered the spot:
1) It undermines the whole thesis of Barack's campaign. His main argument through the primary process of "why me" and not Hillary is that he represents real change, she's the political status quo. How much change are you really going to have if the very status quo you've just spent millions of dollars campaigning against is the other half of your campaign in the General election? This makes Barack look foolish and unable to decide his own stratgy and partnerships! Further, many of us may have trouble supporting such a ticket as we are tired of the Clintons, period.
2) Being President, not Vice President has been Hillary's campaign. Given her oft mentioned sense of "entitlement" to the nomination, how effective would she be as VP? Or would she, on some level, just be waiting for something, anything, to happen to Barack so the sun may fully shine upon her as it should have from the first? This point, whilst sounding perhaps extreme, is manifest in the simple fact that she did not do the honorable thing and conceed the race last night and give her support to the presumptive nominee, but is holding on with that pit-bull on the ankle tenacity, waiting for what? Something, anything, to happen to Barack so the sun may fully shine upon her as it should have from the first!
4) The possibility of Mrs. Clinton coming to the Presidency scares the heck out of those of us who value the Constitution of the US and are concerned with the fall into oligarchy at the hands of the dynastic Bushes and Clintons. Two families having control over the executive branch is too much power concentrated in too few hands for too long. The founders must be mortified!
I could go on, but I'm amazed I've gotten this far, even before the first cup of coffee! I suppose my real point is that we need to think this choice out VERY carefully as the selection of VP will give the general electorate the opportunity to see if Barack's decisions are as eloquent as his inspirational speeches.
I suppose I haven't written so much lately as I am, as the rest of you are, trying to remain calm and focused in the moment as we wait for the endgame to unfold for the nomination process. The question is the same as it ever was: "Hillary?" Graceful exit with recovery of some measure of dignity, or hang on with the tenacity of the pit-bull on the ankle. In the quantum sense both are happening at this same moment, so all we can do is be the observer of the moment. And wait for the Universe to decide whether, like in that Twilight Zone episode, the tossed coin lands neither heads, nor tails, but on the edge.
For this is where we are, on the edge of many alternate realities, each ripe with possibility and "the thrill of victory, or the agony of defeat," as they used to say on ABC Sports. What is disturbing is the amount of virolic bombast being posted in various "comment-on-this-editorial" blogs, with derision and support of BOTH Hillary and Obama running as is the vote overall - right there at 50/50 - all again on the edge again.
We all need to take a moment, chill, and be in the moment of peace. The vision to embrace is freedom from another Bushwhacking administration, even if the whacker no longer carries the name. As the maxim reads, "the beatings will continue, until morale improves." Embrace the vision of hope, of the positive future. Think on these things and that will be the reality that will manifest.
It's been one heck of a ride, though, and we can't dispute that!!!
Film at eleven... Stay tuned.
It is a shame that the wisdom in David Brooks' column, appearing on the day of two crucial primaries will likely largely go unnoticed by the people who will vote. It will be lost amidst the din of political spin. Resolution still unknown as I write this Tuesday morning, 6 May 2008.
If there was ever reason enough NOT to elect Hillary Clinton, [and HOW MANY blog entries have already been written to this end?] Combat and Composure makes one of the strongest cases I've seen. Given Mr. Brooks' assertion, a Hillary Presidency has the take of becoming a George W. Bush Presidency, only with the President on steroids, and with permanent PMS. To borrow Mr. T's line, "I pity the fool" who thinks otherwise. And I just hope that we can stave off so much national foolishness. We've had seven year's worth so far, time to choose sobriety instead. Time to return to coming together, instead of tearing each other apart. Time to bring the world together to solve our common problems (global warming being one, hello?). Time to return to diplomacy instead of our view, right or wrong at the business end of a gun.
Time to give Barack Obama the nomination, and later this year, the Presidency. Time enough at last for Hope, instead of gloom-and-doom. yes, we can, for indeed, we MUST!!!
Rev. Jeremiah Wright has exploded on the national stage, doing his darnedest to take down the one African-American candidate for President who's had more than the proverbial "snowball's chance" of actually winning the Presidency. Columnist Bob Herbert takes this into more details The Pastor Casts a Shadow. Payback's a well, you know, motherdog. The good reverend has it all backwards. Properly executed, it's always "business, not personal." But he's taken it personal and made it his business.
What bothers me about "the Wright stuff" drama right now is the timing. Coming just ahead of necessary primaries that will hopefully, finally, give Barack Obama the nomination and keep HRC out of the White House (please) the question is two part, "why now? and who's bankrolling the Reverend's bombast?" I see a not quite invisible Clintonian hand in the mix. Oh, not directly, of course, that would cause too much embarrasment and would really derail her campaign if found out now. But what promises are in the offing after HRC has firmly secured the nomination? A donation to Trinity - obscenely subsidized by us all as it can be written off as a 'charitable contribution'?
Okay, okay, maybe this is getting too far out on a limb. But I've said all along that I don't put anything past the Clintons, and for the racist set, how wonderfully ironic to use one black man to take down another, making a mockery of Senator Obama's ideas and speeches to confront the evils of our racist past, with still-bonafide echoes in the present, sadly enough.
I just wonder, if we as a people can take this as an offer we CAN refuse, not to buy into the lies, not to buy into the spite, not to buy into those who would undermine Hope and real change. That's the biggest issue we have to turn this around, for us, now, more than ever to keep on keeping on. Until January 2009 when Barack Obama is sworn in as President. Then we'll know it's not personal, it's strictly business, and President Obama can start to deal with all the business this country has to do!
The question being formulated in the halls of pundrity shows that the pundits are starting to question, and in a very honest and searching way, "does Barack Obama have the right stuff?" In Heading toward the Danger Zone columnist Bob Herbert asserts that certainly one of Obama's perceptual problems, at least "among some whites" is that he has, essentially too much of what I'd call in contrast, "the Wright stuff."
As much as most of us would rather Hillary Clinton stand down so people can have a better look at Barack, my earlier assertion of her being a tenacious "pit-bull motherdog" is, I find too mild, considering other expressions from some other people out there. They list a full litany of issues concerning Hillary both past, present and possibly future should she be elected. The comments on the Hillary Smackdown page will let you see a full rant.
So what, in my humble opinion, this campaign needs to do is for Barack Obama to get in touch with his inner John Edwards and speak solutions, specifics to the important issues. Otherwise we might not get where we want to be going, due to a loss on points, and the fall out from that has dire consequences. Most of you here will already know as I do that Barack Obama is the right person at the right time for the most difficult and challenging job on the planet. The right person at a time when the very survival of the planet, going into the future must be met with strong action, and not just empty words and filled corporate coffers.
The spinmeisters on all sides are using every trick in the book, every opportunity to derail us, to cast us in the most unfavorable light. PEOPLE, not only "yes we CAN, but indeed we MUST, lest we lose the future to the thrall of 20th century politics, "done deals" and corruption of the worst sort. As much as it is OUR campaign, it is also OUR responsibility to promote the Truth of Barack Obama against the lies of the Clintonistas and the GOP, who between them would rather have the status quo, than HOPE. Keeping people in FEAR makes them easier to control than if they can look up and face the world smartly, coming together to make the better future!
The Captain was right, in Cool Hand Luke, to paraphrase the line, "We can have... a pretty nice guy, or we can have one mean b**ch. It's ALL UP TO YOU!!!"
It's been a while since I've written one of these postings. Waiting, I suppose for the Pennsylvania shoe to drop. And it has, with a 'thud.' If one looks closely enough, you'll find that the shoe still contains the foot and the ankle of the body politic still within; the foot having been chewed off by the pit-bull motherdog from the State directly to the north of Pennsylvania. Blood's going everywhere as the Democratic Party seemingly wants to throw itself once again into the suttee of electoral might-have-beens instead of taking up residence at (appropriately enough) 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come next January.
Perhaps it comes down in one sense to fear. A saying of mine is "the status quo has the greatest inertia". After seven years of the Bush administration, the Country wants and needs change. Which is what it fears the most as change is disruptive of the status quo. Perhaps those people in Pennsylvania who went for Hillary felt that Obama represents too much change for them to handle. Through the rose-colored glasses they want the slow and predictable change that is the hallmark of Clintonism, forgetting the newspaper and media litany of "Clinton Scandals," "Clinton sexual escapades," "Clinton impeached!" How quickly they dim the memories of the work of the Clinton administrations that got into NAFTA, bad security, Chinese espionage, questionable campaign financing, and so on. All of these and much more set the stage for all the things they valued, jobs, health care, security to be taken away, shipped overseas or trampled away under the remains of the fallen World Trade Center and damaged Pentagon. How quickly they forget the Heroes of Flight 93, which ended up in their own backyards in Pennslyvania! People who might well be alive today if the security lapses made possible in the 1990's didn't bear such awful fruit in the new century!
It may well take the wisdom of another Illinois President, the first Republican, no less, who's words are quite prescient for the current state of the Democratic Party, though they applied to the Country as a whole in the mid-1800's:
"A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure permanently half-slave and half-free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved - I do not expect the house to fall - but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other." Lincoln's 'House-Divided' Speech in Springfield, Illinois, June 16, 1858.
The modern take in our current situation is that the Party cannot be half Hillary, nor half Obama. In our modern case I fear for the house of the Party to survive if it continues in the present course. Not, at least until 2012, by which time it will have squandered the best and most justifiable opportunity its had to come back to power in the White House in a long time.
The motherdog needs to be shown back to the kennel and put there. Her mate needs a muzzle and an equally short leash. Rush the body politic into the ER for reconstructive surgery on the foot! And let's make sure it's "Dr." Barack Obama doing the surgery, not "Dr." John McCain!
A comment I posted in answer to someone's speculation on a possible future had Richard M. Nixon been elected President in 1960, rather than JFK. His thoughts are the first paragraph, mine follow:
*Think how much better off the US would've been with Nixon in '60. No Vietnam, no Watergate, an understanding with Communist China a decade sooner which meant more stability in the Cold War. Sigh.
Interesting ideas. Possibly the whole of the Chinese Cultural Revolution may have been nonexistent or not nearly as destructive if engagement with the West had taken place earlier. Of course, if they'd been converted to some "neo-capitalism" sooner, their economic engine might be much further along than it is now, which in itself would have affected the future dynamic.
The story of the time between then and now would be certainly different in a parallel set of circumstances. We could have found some sort of tolerance and mutual respect, or we may have already unleashed Armageddon. All because the mob stoked the Illinois vote and gave us Kennedy instead.
We never know what turns on any election really. Would we have had 9/11 if we'd have had President Gore? Who knows.
The best we can do is put our collective heads together and try and best discern who among the candidates, who, through one circumstance or another, find their way to the top of each party; further, who speaks their Truth closest to what our perception of what truth is. All too often the choice for most people seems to be a reductionist "lesser of the evils." Which is a helluva choice of no choice at all.
Like stock market bubbles, housing bubbles, etcetera, the "this time it's different" will only carry you so far. For in the end any President must work with Congress, the Supreme Court and whatever dramas play out on both the international and domestic stages.
As with anything in life, we pay our dues, roll the dice and take our chances. But of all the current "crop" of candidates out there, Barack Obama speaks his Truth closer to mine - a better future, a chance to reconcile longstanding issues, replacing the long night of the last seven years of fear, with Hope again. Not to mention the wonderful concept of having a President who can speak intelligently again!
Yes, we can, for indeed, we MUST!
I just cast my weekly vote in the AOL "Straw Poll." AOL Straw Poll Right now, people, it's not looking good. I don't know if Hillary's got more of her people updating this thing than we do, but we need to get with the program. Right now there's not a single state with an Obama lead. In fact, she's up 56% to 44%! Not good!
If the "ordinary Joe or Jane" were to wander on to this site, Senator Obama's lead, in states, delegates and popular vote, are, according to this thing, nonexistant! So, please bookmark the site and, as the saying goes, "vote early and vote often!" POST this message far-and-wide and let's make this map ORANGE!!!
