Letters to the Editor
PreviouslyCRL
Published Letters: 218 Editor's Choice: 34
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To both sides of this debate/argument
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton's Texas-size moment ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'd like to try to step back from the raging arguments going on here about Clinton and Obama and try to offer some perspective.
I'm 50 years old and have seen politicians of many different stripes. Some I've literally loathed (like the current occupant), others I've been lukewarm on, and yet others I've been very happy to have representing me (Lloyd Doggett, my current U.S. representative is an example). But the longer I'm around and see how difficult it is to build coalitions to get things done for the greater good, the more that I agree with the maxim that, "Politics is the art of the possible."
To each side, I'm delighted that you're passionate about supporting your candidate. I'm also dismayed at how many of you can't emotionally distance yourself from your candidate long enough to consider the degree to which the policies you hold most dear would be implemented by the other candidates. That is, what would be possible given other choices forced upon you by necessity.
No one is going to perfectly represent you except yourself, not even your preferred candidate. So given the possibility that your candidate might not be the nominee, do you really think that
a) refusing to vote for anyone,
b) voting for McCain
is really going to
a) get you closer to what you feel most strongly about
b) be best for the country as a whole.
Personally, I can't see how that can be true. We've been very fortunate this election cycle to have a strong set of Democratic candidates for President. And I'm not interested in subjecting the country to another four years of Republican "leadership" just because my Democratic candidate doesn't get the nomination. Please think about how you feel about this before you launch into anyone here or in any other context who does not support your choice.
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@ anonymous 01:59 PM
[Read the article: Hillary Clinton's Texas-size moment ]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not sure why you think what I said is a pipedream. If anything, my statement was about stepping back from being fixated on a particular, perhaps unrealistic, outcome to ask, "If I don't get my first choice, who will be the best second choice."
That's not a pipedream. That's the art of the possible.
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A shudder of recognition
[Read the article: Greed, water and poetry]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]National news and films are usually about someplace else. So imagine the shudder of recognition when I immediately recognized the aerial photo as Barton Springs Pool, a mere half mile from my home. Being more than passing familiar with our struggles to preserve what is best about Austin as the city seems to inexorably grow despite our best efforts, I look forward to seeing this film. Malick is one of the modern greats of film, so I expect nothing less than a deeply moving and thoughtful view of what has happened and is happening here.
Many of us here in Austin desire to preserve our home and its natural areas, but we have been thwarted by a conservative legislature that seems to take delight in undermining our local control. It's a metaphor for the hypocrisy of modern conservatism. Get the government off our backs except when the people choose something that stands in the way of business.
I hope the film comes to our local theater, the Alamo Drafthouse, soon.
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Late to this discussion
[Read the article: Ferraro resigns from Clinton campaign]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I know I'm jumping into a discussion that has been going on for 20+ pages of posts already, so please bear with me on this. Rather than try to account for all that's already been written, I'm going to jump in and simply try to clearly express my views and my reasons for them.
While I may not be the typical Obama supporter (I have no way of assessing that), I can say with complete confidence that I am not supporting him because of his skin color or any other superficial characteristic that our society had historically used to exclude or include folks from office. Similarly, Hillary is not my first choice, but not because of her gender.
I started by supporting Richardson, then Edwards, and now Obama. I think my first two choices show pretty clearly that skin color has not been uppermost in my decision making. I have chosen who to support based on their stated policies and my judgment of whether they would be able to undo the damage done over the last 7 years and move the country in a new and better direction. At this point, for me, Obama is a better choice, particularly because, I think he stands a better chance of healing the wounds inflicted by the Republicans since the Contract with America in the 90s. For me, Obama is simply the better choice irrespective of his color, sex, religion, etc. I also think he has run a remarkably good campaign with a minimum of sniping toward Clinton.
Prior to the nastiness that creeped into the Clinton campaign in the run up to the March 4th primaries, I was perfectly happy to accept the possibility of a Clinton nomination. Hillary's policies are very similar to Barack's in most cases, and I'll be damned if I want to have any more Republicans in the White House. I will still vote for Hillary if she wins the nomination, but I do think that she has revealed that her desire for the Presidency can override her need to not only do what is best for her campaign, but also for the Democrats and, to some extent, the country.