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Sunday, Nov 8, 2009
Is his faith justified? I for one am very glad that he's willing to test it. Because as long as everyone keeps pandering, there'll be no way of knowing whether the pandering is politically necessary, or just politically expedient.
"Nobody actually knows which of these views are right because there hasn't been a serious national campaign in a very long time that has attempted to elevate itself above the Drudgian muck ..."
I'm inclined to give Obama a shot, if only because he does seem to be willing to try things that other politicians have dismissed as hopeless or useless. Our politicans have been trying the same old crap over and over again for as long as I can remember, and look where it has gotten us.
Is his faith justified? I for one am very glad that he's willing to test it. Because as long as everyone keeps pandering, there'll be no way of knowing whether the pandering is politically necessary, or just politically expedient.
I agree with all of this. But it's also necessary to keep in mind how profound the risk is. Because if (assuming Obama is the nominee) he's wrong in these assumptions, then you're looking at President John McCain for the next four years -- with all of the disasters that brings with it.
Maybe it will fail this time but it gives us somewhere to go....
This is what change is about. It is about having political leadership that is not scared of having discussion about important issues. It is about having politicians who go beyond simple sloganeering and selling themselves like candy bars.
For too long the whole idea of American electoral politics is that elections are won and lost by getting the swing voters, who on average are not too bright or well informed, on board via simple "four legs good, two legs bad" slogans, keeping your real thoughts about anything as secret as possible, and using the machinery of power for personal enrichment and to suppress discussion of issues and opposing views. We are seeing this now with the Jeremiah Wright scenario.
This is no way to run a democracy. It is bringing us to ruination.
Can Obama bring about some change? I hope so, because there is nothing else out there.
I agree with all of this. But it's also necessary to keep in mind how profound the risk is. Because if (assuming Obama is the nominee) he's wrong in these assumptions, then you're looking at President John McCain for the next four years -- with all of the disasters that brings with it.
If that happens, then we deserve it. If the majority of the American Electorate gives in to the Drudgian Discourse in politics when someone tries to actually go beyond it, then it's a failure of our republic and our citizenry.
If this becomes the Swift-Boating of this election cycle, then it proves that we have learned nothing from these last few years except the fear we've been fed.
"But it's also necessary to keep in mind how profound the risk is. Because if (assuming Obama is the nominee) he's wrong in these assumptions, then you're looking at President John McCain for the next four years -- with all of the disasters that brings with it."
Isn't that exactly the kind of argument the Reich Wing has been using to persuade people to support their agenda?
And this, then will bring us to the stark choice Kerry v. Bush could not: are we adult enough as a nation to actually listen to what the candidates say, rather than what our compromised media want to show us? Can America resist the siren song of form over substance offered by the guardians of all that has failed us? And finally, in the battle between reason and instinct, can we as a nation rise above the muck?
If this speech -- perhaps the best and most courageous in a superb and brave campaign -- cannot do it, nothing can. If this speech does not stop the Wright madness, America will then truly be the place Jeremiah Wright accused it of being.
I no longer question whether Obama deserves to be president. The question is whether America still deserves to have him.
As for me, I will hope, and I will pray, that FINALLY, America is indeed ready to "turn the page." I've been dealing with issues of race since the 60's. I was not raised to be racist, even though my father's generation was inherently racist. He viewed himself as enlightened and "liberal" on issues of race and in some ways, he was. My mother taught me to judge people on their merits ... without regard to race, social status, or gender. In that, I believe I was blessed. It's hard to believe that we are STILL dealing with these issues but racism is deeply woven into the fabric of America. I am a Yankee living in the South. There are people in my adopted family who are lifelong Democrats who will not vote for Obama and for all their protestations, it is primarily because he is Black. I find that to be very sad and VERY discouraging. But as Obama said in his speech today, I can understand where they are coming from; their generational and regional biases; and the fact that they may not realize just how much their personal histories influence their views. I would like to believe that Obama's reasonable discourse and faith in the American public will be rewarded. Unfortunately, none of us will know until November 5, 2008.
Politicians like Obama- if they really love this country- cannot wait for the country to catch up to them intellectually. Only leadership such as his can make that even happen.
I truly believe that America is ready for President Obama. The Republican method of using race to whip up its base is not as effective as it once was. I'm listening to the audio version of Paul Krugman's book, The Conscience of a Liberal, and he makes the point about how drastically opinions have changed re interracial marriage. We've come light-years from where we were when I was in high school (in the south, late 1970s). I don't remember the exact numbers, but today something like 60-70% of Americans are fine with mixed-race couples.
And I personally am soooo ready for a politician who doesn't speak in bumper-sticker slogans. I doubt that I'm alone.
Much of the initial coverage about Fort Hood turned out to be wrong. Is there anything wrong with that?
The accountability imposed by another country for the CIA's kidnapping and torture reveals much about our own.
Fox News' morning show plays to type, talking about whether Muslims in the Army should face "special debriefings"
219 Democrats and one Republican join in favor of the legislation, which passed by a narrow margin
The survivor and author is upset about comparisons some on the right are making to genocide
Salon headlines in your mailbox
