Letters to the Editor
-
Barack Obama, fighting corruption?
Maddie, I've no doubt there is plenty of corruption in all levels of government. But to think that Barack Obama is not a part of that system is to ignore where he came from--The Chicago Machine and radical dealmaker Alinsky, as well.
As soon as he went to Washington he got an earmark of $1000000 for the hospital where his wife worked--and almost overnight she got a $122,000 raise. Look, years ago, Obama elected President of the Harvard Law Review--on the 18th ballot! How did he do it? According to the writer who researched the story, by going to liberals and persuading them he was liberal, and by going to conservatives and persuading them he was conservative. I'm sure through the entire [rpcess. there was a background refrain of that old song, "the first black", to head the Harvard Law Review.
For a very long time, Obama has shown a lust for power and ability to play all those games you so dislike. Just for your edification.
-
@Zenhead……….and a few others
Finally, comments that go to the core of why people vote the way they do. Oh how we mocked the “idiotic, uneducated, morons who voted against their self interest and put into office a draft dodging nere-do well because they’d rather have a beer with him than an experienced, educated, decorated combat veteran.” But they did, and the scene is being replayed with variations of course, and that’s why Obama can’t put Hillary away. There’s a certain innate, guttural sense that, in spite of the many, many negatives she carries into the battle, she’s a fighter…..much like Joe Frazier was. The Obama worshippers had a field day when Hillary knocked down a shot of whisky in a Pa. bar, or arm wrestled a burly, plaid shirted, suspendered, unemployed steelworker in Pittsburgh, but she knew exactly what she was doing.
On paper, there’s no way Obama shouldn’t have wiped up the floor with Clinton by now. He outspent her three to one, her negatives are through the roof, He snaps his fingers and tens of thousands of insane, screaming “youths” pack a stadium and break out with ear splitting, delirium inducing chants of “Yes we can, yes we can, yes we can.”
You can sit and recite “the math” from now till doomsday, but the facts are telling us something different, and I believe a severe case of buyer’s remorse is setting in. Enter the Super Delegates.
If, by the time of the convention, a majority of the S.D’s feel that Obama hasn’t “closed the deal,” hasn’t won the requisite number of pledged delegates, and who’s support is suspect (idol worshipping kids, Hillary haters, effete liberal snobs, blacks, living primarily in solid “red states,” and unable to win a single large state, what should they do?
To win the prize, he has to knock her out; a T.K.O. won’t do.
-
Your paper looks different than mine. What's your recycled content?
On paper, there’s no way Obama shouldn’t have wiped up the floor with Clinton by now.
Hillary has her own core of die-hard supporters. I read their posts just about every day. She has raised over 180 million dollars. She started out as the establishment favorite and locked up a huge initial lead in favorable media coverage, polls, super delegates and endorsements, and big time fund raisers. She's leveraged connections built since 1992. Ed Randell (gov PA) is a good example of that. She has an ex-president as a campaign advisor and surrogate. I've read a lot of posts here of people who are critical of Hillary, but I don't think one of them has called her a lightweight.
Hillary has bought herself another two weeks, provided her fund raising is as good as it sounds like tonight. But she'll have to overcome Obama's lead in NC (134 delegates) and win big in IN (72 delegates). If she doesn't than her PA gains tonight in the delegate math and the popular vote count are most likely zeroed out.
-
What a great idea
NYShooter, it is such a simple idea which makes it so elegant.
Split the letters/comments threads into two categories: 1. reasoned, thoughtful posts that actually discuss issues or present information OR 2. Trolls with multiple online identities who spout hate and confuse name calling and personal attacks with actual discourse on the issues and/or candidates.
I have all but abandoned Salon and others because I am exhausted from wading through the drivel and pure crap. I tried for a while but I just don't have the inclination to pull out the hip waders and slog through pages and pages to find a few nuggets of useful thought.
When Salon did away with the anon. postings things were better for a while. Then the trolls shifted and took on multiple personalities. Others have identified those "posters" who think they are somehow bolstering their position by agreeing with themself.
Now if only Salon would take NYShooter's suggestion.
-
I clearly said
the LONGER YOU SPEND THERE the tougher it is to resist.
I'll tell you what NOBODY on washington has clean hands and i dont believe I said that in my post. I don't think i even implied it. I said it is harder and harder the longer you stay there and that his short time there was a PLUS in my book.
I also said that my support comes from his push for PEOPLES involvement in government. I guess i should have spelled it out: accountability. Including him. He seems to be able to get people motivate to hold elected officials accountable by becoming a partner in the political process.
That, to me, is central to an effective government and the one thing we've been lacking. For me he represents that fundamental shift.
Thats what I said. You read something else completely.
-
Thank you…..and thank you
Thank you “msdiscus” for your kind words; and thank you “Uncle Fester” for your cogent comments.
Msdiscus, it was a nice thought but, being a businessman, I realize it’s probably impractical. To stay solvent Salon needs “hits,” or however they score these things, to sell advertising. Unfortunately, a dollar bill doesn’t care if comes from a genius or an idiot. This is America, where we don’t have red states or blue states but green states.(and not the earth friendly kind of “green.”)
Uncle Fester, you’re absolutely right…….but the question is “when?” I’m the first to admit that Hillary hasn’t been a good campaigner; her staff is/was horrendous. Knowing how Americans (as I pointed out) latch onto trivial things, Mark Penn, Wolfson, and other "uglies" should never have been allowed to see the front of a camera. She has had to overcome her staff rather than get support from them. She allowed way too much money to be spent early on, and her staff is just too big and unmanageable. She does best when she ignores them and just goes out and “wings” it.
And, of course, before this thing got started Hillary (seemingly) had all the advantages. But Obama is a brilliant politician, and yes, he has been plotting this run since (kindergarten?) He was an ordinary student who, when the spirit moved him, used an affirmative action admission to Columbia and then a legacy admission to get into Harvard Law. By then, to his credit, his grades had improved and I’m not saying he didn’t deserve those, just saying that most folks aren’t so lucky. At Harvard he found his oratory skills very persuasive….and useful. After Harvard, he didn’t forgo big money at big law firms for any altruistic reasons; he just felt that to be a successful politician he needed a “base” more than money, and in Chicago that was to be found in “the streets.” That’s why he joined that church, and made those connections with sleazy characters. And they rewarded him with money, and some pretty awful campaign tactics, knocking off his rivals in becoming State Senator. (Rezco actually recruited him while he was still in Law School, then helped finance his campaigns up to, and including his senate run.) So far I don’t have a problem with that; many have had to follow similar roads to get a foothold in politics.
My problem with Barrack Obama, as with Elvis or the Beatles, he started to believe his easy rise was a birthright. After given the opportunity to make a speech at Kerry’s convention, and seeing its effect, the old tried and true way to get ahead wasn’t going to be Obama’s path. Drunk with his new found adulation, and impatient to capitalize on it, he knocked off a joke as an opponent to become U.S. Senator. So far, so good, so easy.
Once in the Senate, he literally started a Presidential committee before he knew where the men’s room was. The old, slow, stodgy debating society that is the Senate, wasn’t for him; he never convened his sub-committee where he could have showcased his advertised skills by holding hearings and helping with Afghanistan. He had a plan…..a brilliant plan, and he was anxious to put it into motion.
Every Presidential candidate needs a coalition of Americans to be successful. Nixon had his “Southern Strategy;” George Bush had his ”God, Guns, and Gays.” And Barrack Obama had his:
Hillary Haters; Naïve, idol worshipping, history deprived “youths;” Blacks, and guilt ridden, wealthy liberals dying to show how “progressive” they are by joining with a black man that looks like Denzel Washington…….not Al Sharpton, Marion Berry, or Clarence Thomas. How he implemented his coalition and transformed it into a solid voting bloc was a beautiful, brilliant piece of work. It was also immoral, indecent, and blight on the person he is selling himself to be.
That’s enough for tonight. I don’t know if he would make a good President or not. But what I do know is that the product he’s packaged, test marketed, and trying to sell to the American public isn’t what the public is getting. That’s why his wife, Michelle, is telling his followers hurry up, do it now, there won’t be a next time. Because by then the Messiah façade will have melted away, exposing just another, albeit brilliant, politician and our kids will remember him as an answer to a trivia contest much like The Cabbage Patch Kids, and Pet Rocks.