Now, as is often said, they start with the dirty-talkin'. First up to bat: Hilary Clinton. Her campaign is starting to huff and puff a bit too much, causing those in the area to snicker under their breath, and in a few cases, leave the room. The one thing the Clinton's are great at is thickening the air.
In a quick desperate grab for this race, Hilary's slicing some tires in her attempts to seat the Michigan and Florida delegates at the convention, though no one was allowed to campaign in Florida and Obama wasn't on the Michigan ballot. To make matters worse, she's urging super-delegates to ignore the popular vote and decide for the people (who are incompetent) "what's best for the party." Obama is absorbing the blows and trying his damnedest to stay clean. One thing is certain at this point: Hilary won't win a fair fight.
And an eye-poke from Hilary accusing Obama of plagiarism for paraphrasing a section of a speech made by Deval Patrick a few years ago. Mr. Patrick readily stated that this was a ridiculous claim, as he spoke with Mr. Obama many times and they have talked about this issue in the past. Ease up, Clinton, it's starting to look petty.
Matters were worsened when Bill Clinton lost control of his temper a couple times, and struck a spectator in the face with his elbow, inadvertently or not. We can expect the attacks and low-brow efforts to increase dramatically in the next 14 days leading up to Texas.
John McCain has been fairly quiet, picking up polite endorsements now and then. The bastard just can't make up his mind now about his views anymore. Sounds like someone's making a mad dash for the presidency before it's too late. McCain should've started sooner, his pandering skills are very transparent and underdeveloped. However, I will give him major credit for not using his son's very recent service in Iraq as a cheap boost in the polls. Now that people are noticing, he's getting much more credit than he would have for keeping his dirty old mouth shut, the sly bastard.
Ahh, now for Obama. The glaring problem is not his fault, nor can he do much except enjoy it - for now. The dangerous game going on in this corner has everything to do with the voters. Sure he's getting a lot of support and everyone loves him. His charisma has worked too well. Now, I'm not going to say he's all face and no fist, because any informed person knows better than to take such a deplorable stand. No, no. The problem is that his charm has swept this fact from many of his own supporters' minds, and they've simply stopped caring for the fist. He's just so damn pretty!
This doesn't make much difference now, but it will in the future. According to the Obama Spend-O-Meter (I know it's from the GOP, but take heart - they've cited it all, o doubtful ones), Barack has proposed $874 billion in new spending initiatives at this point.
So we've got two roads to go down. The first, obviously is that he pulls it all off, against all odds, and the tax burden devastates the middle class (and the poor aren't much better off for it, either). The country goes into a horrific downward spiral and we take 40 years to recover, handing over the title belt for the Super-Power weight-class to the European Union!!
No.
Which leaves the other road. We all know that obviously these things will not happen. Maybe some will pass - hopefully health-care, if he likes the idea of a second term. But this is not what Barack Obama has got to do in the White House to survive, though. Listen very carefully:
Barack Obama needs to win the election, and immediately reign in the hope and the audacity and the rest of it, and send a clear message to the American people saying, "This is not all going to happen, calm down. Get real." And then he needs to keep a solid foundation of support underneath him to get done what he can. He knows he can't possibly accomplish all of his new programs and initiatives and reforms. However, a large portion of his followers do NOT know this yet. And if he doesn't handle this potentially volatile situation carefully enough, it's going to bite him in the ass, hard.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Everyone Throw One Back, We'll Be Okay
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4 comments:
The Iraq War will have cost the American people more than a trillion dollars, perhaps as much as 2 trillion, before it's "over." That tax burden, coupled with the Bush tax cuts, has not broke the back of your middle class. It has also done nothing good for them.
Obama's 4-year program is cheaper than this. His spending list reads like a laundry list of "it's about fucking time." If he "reigns in" exactly the qualities that make him more appealing than other mainstream candidates, you'd be pushing the fast-forward button on the transition to cynicism, apathy and Republicanism for young Ya Hey's the country over.
I want Obama to drive his big, long agenda right through congress. I want him to act like a Republican president, and stop fucking worrying.
The reason the tax burden hasn't broken us is that we're not paying for it yet. Remember, at the beginning of the Bush presidency one of his "pro" bullet point was the shrinking deficit, until 9/11 when everything went to shit. We can argue about whether having a large deficit is actually a big negative or not, but the average person abhors the idea, regardless of what it actually means for the economy.
I never said that any of the things on the list are bad things for the country, or that they wouldn't help. But I maintain the idea that spreading money around isn't going to end poverty. The way to end poverty is to make better communities and better school. It's social pressure that keeps people down.
Your point about the "war on loan" is taken. Why must it be a Democratic president with useful policies that is forced to cut them to bring down the debt? This war was not an investment, but many of Obama's programs are. A healthy, educated populace is the most one could ask for.
As for spreading the money around: that is precisely what is needed, as far as it is possible today. Obama is not a radical; "wealth redistribution" is not one of his bullet points. Money for school, including college, a person-not-profit based health care system, money is needed here.
Really, just think about civilian life in Star Trek. That's where it's at.
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