After the Debate? Angry & Frustrated.
October 3rd, 2008
I’ve studiously avoided the topic of politics since my feckless peers threw Hillary Clinton out with the bath water. I’ve bitten my tongue against denigrating phrases like “the bubba factor” to describe the working class. I’ve sat on my hands to prevent myself from writing diatribes against poisonous but persistent Republicans, and vaporous, elitist liberals.
I’ve tried to get behind the Democratic nominee, even though he was not my first choice. Maybe, I think, Obama’s two year campaign for the nomination while in the Senate wasn’t as calculated as it seems. Perhaps he was right when he said he couldn’t accomplish what he wanted politically while in Congress. Maybe his lack of national and international experience isn’t such a bad thing. In any case, as a lower class, gay, liberty-loving, pro-choice, pro-peace, uninsured Democrat who is swimming upstream in this corrupt, leaden economy – and who doesn’t want her government, courts, and schools ruled by religious dogma – Barack Obama became the only choice I could make, regardless of my reservations.
I knew that, so I un-bookmarked my favorite news sites, determining that outside of casting my vote there was not much else for me to do. The professional pundits would have their say a million times over, darts would be thrown and re-thrown, minds would be made-up fairly early, but barring another voting disaster like the one that was created in 2000, we would know who our future President was in November. I had, and still have, confidence that it will be Barack Obama.
Then again, I remember the polls which had Gore leading significantly, and I will never forget that we ended up with a President who did not win the popular vote. There was corruption at some polling places, problems with machines, and disputes over absentee ballots. The hanging chad debacle in Florida brought us televised images of Republican thugs, looming over vote counters like second-rate Mario Puzo characters. In the end, it was an “activist court” – the same kind of court Republicans say they despise – that handed George his imperialist crown, and allowed him to bring this country to where it is now – on the brink of a major meltdown across every board. Still, the vote was close enough to be in dispute. It was close enough to leave delegates and the courts breathing room.
As I drive around the wealthy suburbs in the heartland of Minnesota, I see the McCain-Palin signs that those living closer to the city don’t see in any appreciable number. It worries me, but more than that, it leaves me feeling angry in a way that maybe only someone else who has really struggled in the past eight years can understand.
I watched Sarah Palin and Joe Biden politely dance with each other last night. Her folksy charm, his bleached smile. Her giddy smile, his gentlemanly charm. Her soccer moms and “Joe Six Packs” to his Scranton coffee shops and gas stations. It was an easy debate, mellow and slowly paced, and from where I sit – in the living room of my rented apartment (where I’m a month behind on rent since my hours got cut) – passionless. Neither candidate exhibited a sense of urgency over any of the issues facing us today, and both seemed out of touch with a large portion of middle America – who aren’t just worried about sending Billy and Suzy to college, but about being able to provide them with essential basics, like food and shelter.
Yet the increasingly poor working and middle classes weren’t really addressed in the debate – except that Palin wants to make sure that they can’t declare bankruptcy. Here in Minnesota, bankruptcy reform included a provision stating that attorneys must be paid their fees up-front before the paperwork is filed, at an average cost of $1600. It’s a law that allows wealthier filers immediate relief, and that prevents those who are living in poverty from filing at all. That was the Republican solution to what they perceived as massive bankruptcy fraud – to give richer Americans an out while further crippling the poor, whose jobs are the first to go, who are the least likely to have medical or disability insurance, and who cannot afford to stop judgments and wage and tax garnishments against them.
Palin said there were some “good lessons” to be found in these corrupt, predatory, pro-wealthy, anti-poor times. People, she said, shouldn’t live above their means. They shouldn’t buy a $300,000 house when they can only afford a $100,000 house. Which might be good advice, if a $100,000 house truly existed as anywhere near the average anymore. Instead, a vastly inflated real estate market has left Minnesotans with $230,000 “starter homes”, and in some new developments, the tiny tract of land those homes are on aren’t even included, but are to be bought after the home mortgage is paid off. This was one of tactics used in order to create the appearance of “affordable” housing, which, in actuality, has ceased to exist. A two-bedroom rental apartment in the Twin Cities metro runs about $1200 without utilities. My daughter’s first mortgage, on a three bedroom town home, is $1600 and that doesn’t include the association fees.
In the meantime, the minimum wage is still less than $7 in most states, Target employees are still starting off at $8.00-$10.00 per hour, and bus drivers make $10-$12. The starting pay for a public school teacher in Minnesota averages $29,907. Factoring in 30% for taxes, and the cost of health insurance (if available) it is easy to see how and why so many Americans are living “above their means”. It’s the economy, stupid, and buying a cheaper brand of toilet paper and clipping coupons isn’t going to get the average working class American out of the downward spiral of debt.
The myopic Palin, though, doesn’t wish to “point the finger of blame” or “look back”. Which is odd, considering the blunders and transgressions of the Bush/Cheney administration, and the level of corporate corruption and political underhandedness during their reign. An unwillingness to admit these issues even exist doesn’t exactly bode well for a future of tackling them head-on. (Where are those missing Halliburton millions by the way?)
Someone will, I’m sure, take the time to count the number of times Palin said the word “maverick”. I lost count. McCain may have once had some maverick ideas, but his ideas today, on everything from health insurance to troop withdrawal, are ineffectual and stale, promising nothing more to the working and middle classes of this country than more of the same, for longer.
Then again, what we have from Barack Obama and Joe Biden is hope, and I feel scant little of that, particularly after Obama (and McCain and Clinton) voted yes on a (now) $800B bailout, filled with pork barrel spending, that EXCLUDED consumer protections that were part of original bill. Taxpayers will now not only be helping some of the most corrupt and predatory lenders on Wall Street, but they’ll also be shelling out $478M to the film industry for making movies in America, and $192M in rebates to rum producers in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
“It is completely unacceptable for any kind of earmarks to be included in this bill,” said McCain the week before he voted on the bill. Later, he said he “had to” support the plan because the country is “on the brink of economic disaster.” Eschewing Palin’s advice, McCain looked back and pointed a congratulatory finger at himself. “There were plenty of other bills that I fought against, voted against” because of pork, he said. This one, though, which takes corporate welfare to a whole new level, and which is the most massive gamble in U.S. economic history, McCain helped pass.
And Barack Obama voted right along with him, as did the majority of Congress, even while the public’s phone calls to Senate offices were running about 100-1 against. What can be said about politicians who ignore the will of their constituents, and who refuse to rise above the din of political panic to fight for what’s right, just, and proper? Even if one was to believe a bailout was the solution, there was no logical reason for the pork barrel earmarks, or the exclusion of consumer protections. I find it ironic that the two men who are promising to bring change to Washington – to end “business as usual”– have failed to do this as Senators. Instead, lesser known mavericks from both parties, willing to risk Wall Street’s disfavor and unpopularity among their peers, were the ones who stood up against the tide and said no.
There were no mavericks in last night’s debate and sadly it appears there are none on the horizon. There’s Obama-Biden and McCain-Palin – some hope for change, or more of the same. There are all the usual cliches from both sides, a disconcerting lack of substance, an unwillingness to fight the good fight, and there’s been no sense of urgency about anything other than Wall Street’s financial institutions.
As for the war, and spending for the war, I am amazed by the misleading rhetoric. Funding for the military has not just gone towards armor and equipment for the troops, it has gone to enormously expensive contracts for giant private entities like Halliburton. Voting against “funding the troops” isn’t always about the troops, but about who we’re choosing to rebuild parts of countries we have demolished, how much we’re willing to pay, and how accountable we wish to hold them.
Patriotically baiting one-liners such as “brave men and women who have died for our freedom” continue to be used to chill dissent. The awful truth is that many of our dead soldiers did not to save our freedom. Our freedom was not in danger of being taken away. While 9-11 was an unparalleled disaster on American soil, it was not an attack from another country, but from a group of Muslim extremists, most of whom hailed from our government’s ally, Saudi Arabia. Our freedom from terrorist attacks since that event can be attributed more to tightened security at our own borders than waging war abroad. Very few of the major extremists, including Bin-Laden, have been caught and even if they were, the destructive bane of radical Islam would not stop with their capture. Further, even if America and her allies could force democracy on Islamic states, there is no guarantee – and more than a strong likelihood – that it would be temporary. Islam does not separate the political from the religious, and Sharia law, which Muslims subscribe to as part of their faith, is at odds with American-style democracy.
Our want (and greed) of oil from these regions has, in so many ways, hampered the evolution of the Middle East. We have propped up dictators and made multi-billionaires out of royal families. We have funded madrassas, educated their scientists, and given technology and weaponry to oppressive armies. Our worries that the religious extremists in the Middle East will go nuclear are not without basis – yet we continue to pour money and other resources into the region for the sake of oil. At the same time, we have failed miserably in developing, producing, and promoting other forms of energy.
I am angry. Disgusted. Disappointed.
But I’ll vote for hope, even if scant and waning, because the alternative is just too frightening to consider.
51 Responses to “After the Debate? Angry & Frustrated.”
Donna L. Faber October 3rd, 2008 at 11:24 pm #
From Leslie … she is apalled that McCain went so far as to find a good looking woman that he could manipulate in order to conceivably manipulate the American public. And how insulting and contrived it is that he would do so. How demeaning it is for Palin that they put her in Debate camp, so she could learn canned responses. How demeaning! Granted, she is a smart woman, but let’s face it, she obviously doesn’t have what it takes to do the VP job. She just doesn’t have the experience. Does McCain think we’re stupid? What does this say to how he views the responsibility of the Vice-Presidency. How arrogant! He must think the women of America, the PEOPLE, are complete morons!
Hillary Clinton would’ve wiped the floor with her! Now THAT would’ve been a gloves off debate!
From the Faber Secretary,
On behalf of Her Main Squeeze,
Her Only Squeeze.
D~
Paige October 4th, 2008 at 12:47 am #
I feel your pain and share many of your concerns, however, I do have more faith that the Obama ticket will bring about change. It won’t be easy and I doubt it will be accomplished within one term, but I believe. I have to. I’ve lived the past eight years in fear and in my own personal recession with more expensive health benefits and raises that don’t even equal the cost of living, and, to be honest, I don’t think I can take any more. My needs, along with many others, are not being met by my government, but I do believe that Obama has a better understanding of the working class than that 7 house/13 car owning multi-millionaire who is running against him.
I, too, was appalled at Palin’s cavalier response to how American’s live outside their means. There are many times I look at people working at WalMart or Perkin’s and wonder how they get by. I make a fairly good salary and have encountered many times in the last eight years in which it’s been very difficult to make ends meet…many times in which I put off going to the Dr simply because I wouldn’t be able to afford any uncovered charges…many times I put off picking up prescriptions due to the cost of high co-pays…many times I couldn’t go grocery shopping and ate Mac-n-Cheese while counting the days until pay day…many times I’ve driven by gas stations because I didn’t have an extra $60 to fill my tank. Sadly, I am not the minority. I don’t know too many people who haven’t experienced this type of “recession” in the last eight years.
As for MN teacher’s salaries, please check out: http://extras.twincities.com/car/schlsalaries/default.aspx
My daughter’s teacher makes $72,000/yr, while her boss makes $107,000/yr and the St Paul superintendent makes $187,000/yr and gets a brand new car to drive, collects over $1,000/mo for insurance and receives a stipend for gas, not including other bonuses and benefits.
Julia October 4th, 2008 at 12:55 am #
I too am left feeling disgusted by this whole politics as usual. Sarah Palin showed last night that she is completely capable of regurgitating learned sound bites taught to her, but is this the type of person we would want to be in charge AGAIN? I for one would feel much more comfortable with somebody that is able to think more freely on their own than follow a canned bunch of answers and wink at the camera. I kept thinking the whole time, “JOE, where are your balls? Are they tucked up there so high that you can’t even tell her she’s just not bright enough?” All he had to do was ask her to explain some of her comments and she wouldn’t have been able to. For instance if he’d asked her what are the conditions that McCain wanted before he would sit down with people like Amadidajuba (I can never remember his name. lol). She wouldn’t have known for anything. He should of pulled a Katie Couric on her and let her show exactly how qualified she is. So frustrating.
I was reading a little about where the term “maverick” came from and it’s really pretty interesting. In a nutshell here’s what I read. One very wealthy political Texan, Samuel Augustus Maverick wouldn’t brand his cattle as everybody else was in TX so when a calf got separated from it’s mother then guess who got to claim it as his because it wasn’t branded??? This is just part of his story but it made me start to think so I’m not too sure I’d want to be called a Maverick if any of this story is true because then you’re kind of a sneaky thief taking things that aren’t yours right?
Here’s the WTF that’s bothering me most… my parents who lost almost EVERYTHING in the few investments they had hoped would be their retirement, don’t have health insurance, lost their home, etc… still will vote for McCain simply because he is a Republican. I almost can’t talk to them right now it’s so insane. Who in their right mind would think $5000 would be enough to pay for insurance and medication? Don’t they realize that McCain is going to keep us at war and drive us into further economic ruin? BS on not taxing us more. “US” meaning himself and his rich old white guy friends. Not my friends and fellow beans and cornbread eaters.
I agree about Hillary! She would of wiped the floor with that woman yesterday hands down!
Here’s hoping next month we’ll all be able to give Sarah Palin a wink back and say, “Thank GOD you didn’t get in the Whitehouse!”
Julia
Kate October 4th, 2008 at 4:38 am #
There is a link to an amazingly good (in my opinion) live hournal post about the phrase “Joe Six Pack” http://copperwise.livejournal.com/680972.html I think that you all will enjoy it or at least find some truth to it. I certainly did…I would have liked better to hear about Jane Single Mom or Joan Minimum Wage worker and how they are supposed to manage. I feel like the whole class of people where I am where we can only have aspirations to be part ofthe middle class are being lost and left behind by both parties
Jane Devin October 4th, 2008 at 6:33 am #
Paige, the average teacher salary is about 49K in MN, but 56% of our teachers have 10+ years of experience. Your daughter’s teacher must have a lot of exp. , an advanced degree., or both. And I hear you on the recession we’re experiencing — I don’t even have insurance, and to get it privately would cost $404/mo., not inc. dental or vision.
Julia, wacky isn’t it? There are some Repubs so entrenched in their beliefs that they’ll vote McCain no matter how they suffer, and they’ll blame whoever the Repubs. the blaming. Sadly, many of them are older.
Kate, I so agree — we are being shut out. They’d like us to believe that their make-believe “soccer moms” are somehow typical. More typical, IMO, are soccer moms who work, have daycare bills, and struggle to pay for the basics. As for Joe Six Pack, do people really believe this refers to abs? No, it’s another denigrating term to describe blue collar workers who, presumably, like their beer. Can you imagine the outcry if we began to refer to the rich as scotch swillers?
Elaine October 4th, 2008 at 8:22 am #
Jane,
Being from Florida, after the Repulicans voted to moved the primary, we got 1/2 of a vote in a state that so obviously would have went the way of Hillary in the primary. Honestly I believe Hillary WON the primaries so I think your call out on the corruption with elections is spot on.
We are all very naive if we think there won’t be some “scandal” in this one as well…
Anyhow, I am very disappointed and jaded just as you are, I crave Hillary, and to compare Palin to her is like comparing Paris Hilton to Meryl Streep.
Kim October 4th, 2008 at 8:24 am #
I am terrified. Scared beyond belief. Depressed, really.
The system is broken, and I really don’t see ANYONE fixing it, any time soon. I really *wish* that electing two people could/would make a difference, but then the system BEHIND those two people is as far gone as ours is, I am afraid it will really leave them as simple talking heads.
V-Grrrl October 4th, 2008 at 9:34 am #
Nothing ever changes. Not the government, not the politicians, not the bullshit mechanics of a campaign, not the knee-jerk voters who will vote based on some non-issue like race, gender, perceived religious fervor, carefully cultivated “authenticity.”
I sound so cynical when I say I don’t want to be inspired. I want a deal maker who is going to be tough and relentless and push hard and succeed about 80 percent of the time.
My big WTF in every election is all the talk about taxes. Everyone wants tax cuts. Everyone screams about tax increases. Left out of the discussion is what these taxes are buying/providing. As you wisely pointed out, the money voted to Iraq isn’t going to “support our troops.” The military and veterans aren’t getting all they need and neither are their families. No, the money to “support our troops” is going to support our CONTRACTORS who spend taxpayer money with little oversight or accountability.
Mary October 4th, 2008 at 11:15 am #
Though I’m often called a cynical, sarcastic, glass half-empty person, I still believe there is hope - hope that things can change and hope that my vote will actually get counted. (Sarasota County, FL ) I believe that Obama-Biden are more in touch with what the middle class needs and wants.
McCain’s choice of Palin is denigrating to men and women. She’s a parody of herself and I don’t see how anyone could take her seriously. What unnerves me the most is with everything that has transpired in the past 8 years, so many people still base their decision on winking, doggone its, and religious dogma, and it’s next to impossible to convince them otherwise.
A single mom for the past 13 years, I’m used to struggling and doing without. I just can’t seem to get beyond the plateau I’m on. It’s eroding and it’s a slippery slope. I pray (but not to Palin’s God) that and I don’t fall backward.
Jake October 4th, 2008 at 11:38 am #
I agree with everything you say here, Jane. It’s disheartening.
“Funding for the Troops” should start at fixing the conditions they come back to.
The Veteran hospitals are in shambles.
Injured veterans are left in these decaying hospitals by the government.
Many Troops are returning to duty with psychological issues.
We can’t be guided by blind faith. We can’t just believe and hope that the government that is elected into power will “do” if we somehow will it. “The People” need to keep their government accountable.
In fact, governments, globally, need to be clean slated and started off again from scratch. The present systems are so out dated which is why I think We, The People are so disheartened, viewed as “cynical” and depressed.
We’ve been (dis)placed here.
Guardian Angel October 4th, 2008 at 3:27 pm #
What you fine people should really be pondering is despite how you feel about Sarah she still has more experience then Obama. Who thinks he’s qualified to be our next President. Now that is worrisome. I know my comment will get me into a lot of bashing, but I had to speak my mind. Iv’e never been one to follow the crowd. Sorry
Jane- I love your blog. I am a frequent reader of your site. This my first time commenting. Love reading all the different characters of women you have written about. I am a little bit of each of them and then some.
jake October 4th, 2008 at 3:38 pm #
Guardian Angel:
While I agree that Obama/ Biden is not my first choice for the White House, neither is McCain/ Palin.
If you read back my comment just before yours, I believe that the entire system is dated. It needs a shakeup. We all need a shakeup.
It’s interesting that you state that you have never been one to follow the crowd: Palin’s beliefs and politics are the exact “crowd” that has been the status quo conservatism that generally dislikes a person like me and that I have been trying to get away from for my entire life. It’s funny how we all define as “following the crowd”; how that exact definition 20 years ago has seemed to have changed today for “either side”. We live in a 50/50 world.
In my humble opinion, there is no winner here.
Gia October 4th, 2008 at 4:48 pm #
I actually heard someone say last week that we must pass the 700 billion dollar bailout so that our Country doesn’t go into a recession. WTF??? Maybe 10% of the people in this Country are not hurting…but most of the people I know are feeling like the recession has been going on for years already. I’m tired of the BS.
Down here in the south, there are a lot more signs for McCain than their are Obama. When Hillary was still in it, there were more signs for her than everyone put together. But, we all know what happened with that. I think there’s a pretty good chance that McCain will win this state.
I was pretty much on board with Obama, giving him my full support until the vp debate Thursday night. Biden scared me. I’m beginning to feel that there will be very little change no matter who becomes President. But I will HOPE that I am wrong. Like you said, not voting is not an option.
Marcie October 4th, 2008 at 5:09 pm #
Guardian Angel, while you may not “follow this crowd” (I’m a straight, white 57 y/o married crippled female) we all follow “a” crowd whether we like to admit it or not.
I’m with Jake and probably 30% of Americans. I’m not sure about Obama but I’m damn sure about McCain. As I’ve been struggling with this issue most of the summer (along with many), I realized that one of our greatest if not our greatest president had less experience than Obama and that was Abraham Lincoln.
Maybe the shake up our government needs is really new blood, someone who’s not part of the belt-way and not completely “one of the gang” of either party.
Maybe he’ll be a dud, maybe he’ll be great, maybe he’ll be mediocre. I honestly believe that Sarah Palin will follow what she’s told to do should something happen to McCain which is what all of us are concerned about and no one actually wants to put into words. Sarah may be a great Governor of a small population state of people who would rather be back in the 1830’s and be trapper’s and traders with no rules. I’m not comfortable with her governing a people with widely varied ideologies and life styles.
Whether or not the political or religious conservatives like it or not, we are a varied people with different life styles, faiths, incomes, styles of dress (personally, I’m tired of seeing belly buttons and ass cracks) and a whole lot more. The men who founded our country and wrote our constituition disagreed vehemently and violently about almost everything. Why should we be any different. But we made a new country and while life is hard here, it just might be harder somewhere else.
So, I’m stepping out in faith that whoever (if there is a whoever) is out there will keep us safe from ghoulies and ghosties and things that go bump in the night. I’m crossing my fingers and toes and eyes and voting for Obama. And I will pray for him every night because he’s gonna need all the help he can get. I figure it can’t hurt!
Ann Parker October 4th, 2008 at 5:10 pm #
I was appalled that Sarah Palin had the unmitigated gall to stand before Senator Biden as though she were his equal in integrity, wisdom, experience, intelligence, capability and sincerity. She knows she was not chosen for any of those qualities and that if elected she and McCain will continue to do exactly what the Cheney machine tells them to so no qualifications are required except the ability to fool the stressed American people into voting for them assuming the people can afford the gas to get to the polls. (If not I suppose the Republicans will vote for them as they have done in the past). So we see before us a superficial woman who laughs at Biden behind his back and who really doesn’t give a rat’s behind about anything but her own celebrity. Yet people are planning to vote for her.
Everyone is afraid to attack Senator McCain too much because he was prisoner of war. Many were prisoner of war and are not qualified to be president. It isn’t a qualification and does not nullify the qualifications. How can people vote for a man whose wife flaunts her wealth when people are losing their homes by wearing 300,000 dollars worth of clothes to the convention? And this isn’t even mentioning the superficial ambition of her husband; Sen. McCain has wanted to be president for years. He reminds me of Nixon who was willing to do anything and sacrifice anyone to get it. He’ll do what they tell him to do, just give him the oval office. Now here is a good take on Joe Sixpack.
http://thefiresidepost.com/2008/10/03/respecting-joe-six-pack/#comment-3527
Donna October 4th, 2008 at 6:50 pm #
Great commentary Jane. WHEN will America have true leaders, who can think, who can work collobaratively and can assure that Americans who work hard are paid decent wages? There needs to be some uproar that we the Americans keep getting stuck with such incompenent leaders, time and time again. TIME FOR A REVOLUTION. Sarah has grit and extreme self confidence or one should say naracissitic issues. After all, she’s thrown her family in front of the bus when she accepted the VP nomination. (And yes I would say that about a man who had the same family drama happening and accepted the VP). What other woman if in Sarah’s position who appears to be strong, business-smart, driven woman actually turn down the opportunity to be the first woman VP? One would like to think if the opportunity came to you and you were not qualified you would say so…BUT…you never know what you’ll do. Is the media being too hard on Sarah, probably not. She should know facts, stats, etc., but being the narcissistic person she is…she really thought she could charm and woo the American people with her I’m just a soccer mom like you attitude…Well the boot camp helped her to be better poised, but her answers truly showed how inept she is!! Here is a funny link explaining the “flowchart” Sarah was “referencing ” from the podium. Its a good laugh! http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/10/03/sarah-palin-debate-flowch_n_131607.html.
Donna L. Faber October 4th, 2008 at 9:09 pm #
This Sarah Palin flowchart is making its way around the internet with some serious speed. I saw it yesterday! Gave me quite the chortle!
Pirate Queen October 4th, 2008 at 9:49 pm #
I’m sharing all the same frustrations, disappointments and incredulity as the rest of you, but my head is screaming: HIGH TIME FOR AN UPRISING!
Why is there so much hand-wringing and inaction? Are we all THAT defeated? Seemingly so. Why don’t I start the revolution? No one’s willing to follow me. I’ve tried. I tried in 2000, in 2004 and, frankly, if revolution ever came to sleepy little New Mexico, I’d be right up front.
We all SOUND angry enough to revolt. We are all SUFFERING enough to take to the streets. We are all certainly TALKING enough about the dismal offerings we have for ‘leaders’, but that’s ALL I hear anyone doing.
If I thought that even one person would take up arms alongside me I’d take to the streets tonight.
Now that I’ve effectively spit into the wind, my WTF for this Friday is: WTF has happened to Americans?
Donna L. Faber October 4th, 2008 at 10:47 pm #
Pirate Girl … it’s the greatest enemy since the last major World War. The mind killer. The child stealer. The pervert waiting in the dark corner for our daughters. It’s Satan, the very devil, in his truest, cruest form.
It’s fear … can’t you smell it?
kris D. October 5th, 2008 at 12:02 pm #
“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.”
H.L. Mencken (1880 - 1956)
i first came across this quote when W stole the gig. it’s hard to fathom how anyone finds Mrs. Palin qualified, let alone MORE qualified than her opponents. but ya know something Jane? lately i’ve noticed how sweeping this sickness is on so many levels. it’s the emperor’s new clothes….the man behind the curtain…and you know…YOU know…intelligence, talent and raw skill are not applicable.
now we will all foot the bill…this is NOT like the lend/lease deal ‘ole uncle frank signed. i don’t think we are safe from a complete meltdown. soup lines…staggering unemployment…yesterday i heard a story about a 96 year old woman that put a gun to her head because her 30,000 dollar adjustable rate mortgage had ballooned to 75,000 and her house was worth nothing. BANG!
so i’m with ya sistah. the only grace i seem to have is that since i have nothing, then, well, i have nothing to lose.
on a sidenote…
Pirate…i’d march with ya! when? where? i’m so there!
Donna…i love that you used the word ‘chortle’
Little Sun October 5th, 2008 at 6:19 pm #
For some reason, Janis Joplin keeps running through my head this morning: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”
Right there with you, Jane. And with Pirate and kris d…
Random thoughts… None of these politicians are really populists. Other than on her proposed health care plan, record-wise, Hillary has actually been less of a populist than Obama. We Democrats don’t like to talk about it but her hubby Bill balanced his famed budget on the backs of the poor and moved the Democratic Party hard to the right in many, many ways… He was so Moderate Democrat (translate: closet Republican) on so many fronts, I think the Republicans had to move further right just to distinguish themselves. The supposed prosperity of his reign never reached any of the working class people I knew…
I now make 2 1/2 times what I did in 1980 when I had no education. Now I’m a Master’s holding professional with a student loan to match and my paycheck seems to go about a third as far as it did in 1980. Home ownership? Hah. In whose dreams?
All of them, Republicans and Democrats, have stolen our Social Security (the only “retirement plan” most working people have). There would be no Social Security funding crisis if they’d kept their dirty mitts off of the Social Security Trust Fund. Democrat Johnson started it, I fear. And the Republicans have gone hog wild with all of our money and now want to privatize Social Security so when we lose it all on the stock market, they won’t have to explain our money had already been stolen and didn’t exist, anyway.
But, bottom line, under every Democratic administration since WWII, a few economic gains (wages, jobs) have been made for common folks and the gap between rich and poor has narrowed a little. Under every Republican administration, common folks have lost economic ground and the gap between rich and poor has always widened.
We working folks are still exploited regardless of which party has held office. But the Democrats have had the sense to make the Greedy Class throw us a few more bones while the Republicans have only squeezed us and squeezed some more.
Yes, the Republicans have recently ripped us off in stunningly bald-faced ways–using our poor soldiers as straw people. While the troops have gone without FOOD and ARMOR, their corporate friends have cleaned out our treasury and trillions more we borrowed from the likes of China and Russia.
But the Democratic politicians haven’t exactly revolted for us… Many seem to have largely gone along with the Republican destruction of the anti-monopoly laws and deregulation that have brought us Orwell’s one-voice media so that many of us don’t know about all the other lovely things they’ve been up to in regard to deregulating the financial industry, de-funding little things like OSHA (goodbye worker safety) and the VA (oh, yeah, we support our troops–hehe), gutting the EPA (goodby Earth and our general health) and the FDA (goodbye safe food and products and medicines, hello Chinese goods ande big Pharm), stacking the courts who’ve made one ruling after another against common people’s rights to sue or even safely whistleblow against crooked employers AND rulings that have quietly abridged one basic constitutional right after another, stacking the Attorney General’s office so they and their friends can do any illegal thing they want with no fear of prosecution, and, and, and, and, and, and…
Yeah, I’d still like to know about the missing Halliburton money, too. You and me, Jane, and all three other people who’ve heard about it and aren’t yet too benumbed by rest of the outrageous things our government has done lately, to care!
But, yeah, I’m voting. And I’m encouraged that Obama actually mentions those of us who’ve been suffering for years…
Palin’s riff about soccer families worrying about sending their kids to college and… their investments…?!?! Who in the working class has had money for investments?
“Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose…”
Pirate, once enough people realize they have nothing left to lose is when they begin to realize they are still free to revolt… But those who have been paying attention to something besides the Orwellian one-voice media did notice the powers Bush snuck into place in the Patriot Act and did notice Blackwater folks showing up in full regalia to contain the pissed-off poor people in New Orleans, post-Katrina… and we wonder if we’re still as free to revolt as we’d like to think…
But there always comes a time when desperation overrules fear… Every large civilization has fallen when the Greedy Class forgets to throw enough crumbs to the masses… I think they thought Entertainment, Distraction, and Fear-mongering about “Other” would suffice this time… Have they miscalculated? When Joe Six Pack can’t afford his beer……
Colette October 6th, 2008 at 11:39 am #
“What you fine people should really be pondering is despite how you feel about Sarah she still has more experience then [sic] Obama” [from a commenter above, GuardianAngel]
OK, I really have to say something here. I’m so tired of hearing how “Sarah” (what? is she your friend that you call her by her first name) is MORE qualified — more qualified HOW???? And for WHAT?? They never tell you, because she patently isn’t more qualified, unless you’re talking about stupidspeak. I have eyes and ears to see and listen to her, and I happen to have a brain that can think and reason.
Guardian Angel October 6th, 2008 at 1:42 pm #
First, for those who have come on this board an attacked my political views I thank you. For I love a good debate. Marcie, I am mature enough to realize in this society we all follow a crowd. To me that is just common sense. What I was referring to is the fact that I knew I would be an outcast on this forum because of my political views. Colette no Ms. Palin is not my friend.
Marcie, you are absolutely correct Abraham Lincoln was one of our greatest presidents. He also was known for is honesty. To try and compare Abraham Lincoln to Obama is just plain ludicrous.
Did you know Obama received 111,849 in contributions from Freddie and Fannie. John Mcain only received 16, 400. Joe Biden received $500 and Sarah Palin is Freddie and Fannie free.
Also, while Barack Obama tries to downplay his connection to Bill Ayers, (a co-founder) of the violent Weather Underground radical group new documents show the two worked much more closely together then previously known.
In the Vietnam era, the Weather Underground conducted a series of bombings of official sites. Ayers wrote in his 2001 memoir, “Fugitive Days,” that he helped with the bombings.
So think about all of the above facts when you decide to cast your vote. For those who decide to cross their fingers and their toes and vote for Obama anyway I hear the sounds of laughter from terrorists who can’t wait to strike out at us. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
kris D. October 6th, 2008 at 2:16 pm #
oh Guardian, you just go on thumpin’ that fear drum for as long as you like. the truth for me is i’m not really cool with a womanizing POW that married for money and a vapid hockey mom….nothing about their history makes for qualification to run this country.
i’ll take the Harvard Law Professor/community organizer, thank you.
LBJ October 6th, 2008 at 2:23 pm #
I like to check the facts, especially when they are accusing someone of something as outlandish as being friends with terrorists. So I did. And from
http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/10/05/fact-check-is-obama-palling-around-with-terrorists/ is this about Obama & Ayers:
The Statement: Republican vice presidential candidate Gov. Sarah Palin said Saturday, October 4, that Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is “someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect that he’s palling around with terrorists who would target their own country.”
Watch: Is Obama a terrorist’s pal?
Get the facts!
The Facts: In making the charge at a fund-raising event in Englewood, Colorado, and a rally in Carson, California, Palin was referring at least in part to William Ayers, a 1960s radical. In both appearances, Palin cited a front-page article in Saturday’s New York Times detailing the working relationship between Obama and Ayers.
In the 1960s, Ayers was a founding member of the radical Weather Underground group that carried out a string of bombings of federal buildings, including the Pentagon and the U.S. Capitol, in protest against the Vietnam War. The now-defunct group was labeled a “domestic terrorist group” by the FBI, and Ayers and his wife, Bernadine Dohrn — also a Weather Underground member — spent 10 years as fugitives in the 1970s. Federal charges against them were dropped due to FBI misconduct in gathering evidence against them, and they resurfaced in 1980. Both Ayers and Dohrn ultimately became university professors in Chicago, with Ayers, 63, now an education professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
Obama’s Chicago home is in the same neighborhood where Ayers and Dohrn live. Beginning in 1995, Ayers and Obama worked with the non-profit Chicago Annenberg Challenge on a huge school improvement project. The Annenberg Challenge was for cities to compete for $50 million grants to improve public education. Ayers fought to bring the grant to Chicago, and Obama was recruited onto the board. Also from 1999 through 2001 both were board members on the Woods Fund, a charitable foundation that gave money to various causes, including the Trinity United Church that Obama attended and Northwestern University Law Schools’ Children and Family Justice Center, where Dohrn worked.
CNN’s review of project records found nothing to suggest anything inappropriate in the volunteer projects in which the two men were involved.
Obama campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told CNN that after meeting Obama through the Annenberg project, Ayers hosted a campaign event for him that same year when then-Illinois state Sen. Alice Palmer, who planned to run for Congress, introduced the young community organizer as her chosen successor. LaBolt also said the two have not spoken by phone or exchanged e-mail messages since Obama came to the U.S. Senate in 2005 and last met more than a year ago when they encountered each other on the street in their Hyde Park neighborhood.
The extent of Obama’s relationship with Ayers came up during the Democratic presidential primaries earlier this year, and Obama explained it by saying, “This is a guy who lives in my neighborhood … the notion that somehow as a consequence of me knowing somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago — when I was 8 years old — somehow reflects on me and my values doesn’t make much sense.”
The McCain campaign did not respond Saturday to a request for elaboration on Palin’s use of the plural “terrorists.”
Verdict: False. There is no indication that Ayers and Obama are now “palling around,” or that they have had an ongoing relationship in the past three years. Also, there is nothing to suggest that Ayers is now involved in terrorist activity or that other Obama associates are.
Paige October 6th, 2008 at 3:19 pm #
I stomached about 15 minutes of Sean Hannity’s “investigative” journalism last night, in which he brought up the Obama/Ayers connection but, in the end, the only so-called connection was that they lived in the same neighborhood in Chicago.
After Ayers, they re-hashed the Jeremiah Wright scandal, forgetting to mention that Obama denounced Wright’s beliefs and left his church.
As for Fannie and Freddie, the McCain campaign has many ties to key lobbyists and advisers to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, including campaign manager Rick Davis and McCain’s Senate Chief of Staff Mark Buse. Read more about their extensive ties to Fannie and Freddie Newsweek (http://www.newsweek.com/id/160713), Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/02/AR2008100203812.html) and The New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/22/us/politics/22mccain.html?_r=1&oref=slogin).
It goes to show that the far right is scared and are resorting to their old tactic of injecting fear. It’s worked before, maybe it’ll work again…and sadly, there are always people who will fall for it rather than thinking for themselves.
In this day and age, with inaccurate political spin being spewed via TV commercials every few minutes, in order to vote for someone who truly represents your own personal beliefs, you must do your own fact checking. If you don’t, then you probably believe that Obama is a Muslim terrorist; Liz Claiborne is a devil worshipper and that little Mikey from LIFE cereal fame died from the explosive effects of mixing Pop Rocks and Coca-Cola.
Think, people! Don’t let the fear mongers instill panic and dread.
Donna L. Faber October 6th, 2008 at 3:31 pm #
OH, yes, Paige … we MUST think for ourselves now! I think it can be safe to assume that most of what the mainstream media feeds us is pablum.
Eat it, but don’t believe it.
And as for fear … fear is a mindkiller. When you cower in fear, you let the bad guys win.
D~
Little Sun October 6th, 2008 at 3:34 pm #
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae campaign contributions 2008
McCain 169,000
Obama 16,000
Both have had ties to these loan giants. McCain’s would appear to be more current.
The 2008 campaign contributions:
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2008/09/10/us/politics/2008_FANNIE_GRAPHIC.html
A balanced story detailing the ties of both McCain and Obama to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (including info on Obama’s past donations from them):
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/10/us/politics/10fannie.html?pagewanted=2&_r=1
Little Sun October 6th, 2008 at 3:43 pm #
If Obama and Ayers are best “pals”, I must’ve “married” Janis Joplin AND Billy Graham, Sr. since they both kissed me once 40 years ago. TOO silly! Notice no one is talking about McCain’s long-time relationships with the bad boys of the gambling industry….??
Still stunned by the lack of outcry over Sarah Palin declaring war on the Constitution during the VP debate. Chilling stuff.
Don’t know what I’m talking about?
Check out the videos on my latest blog:
http://www.myspace.com/little_sun_heard
Mary October 6th, 2008 at 3:55 pm #
Guardian Angel,
I’m totally not attacking your political views cuz I don’t even understand them, so please don’t take offense. I just wanna mention that Sarah Palin lacks experience with the English language and its pronunciation since nuclear is not pronounced nucular. Gotcha! Just jokin’ - okay, wink, wink. We orchestra moms just wanna laugh a little around the kitchen table before we go hide in the basement from the terrorists.
I like Obama’s voice and pronunciation. I’ll stick with him but thanks for the warning.
Guardian Angel October 6th, 2008 at 4:00 pm #
Overall, Obama took more money then he donated. That is the facts.
As far as Obama’s Radical-Left Ties Read the article I copied. It says it all.
Finally, this will be my last time posting on this topic. For I have other things to tend to. I also realize we all have our own minds and will vote the way we see fit. I enjoyed the debate. Look forward to possibly posting sometime again in the future. By the way I am not a register republican or a democrat. Just someone who likes to stir the pot.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/06/02/opinion/main4145761.shtml
Julia October 6th, 2008 at 5:13 pm #
Uhh GA you do realize that this article you posted is from June and it isn’t from CBS but really a commentary from NRO which is a biased source of conservative OPINIONS not researched factual unbiased information right? I guess what it comes down to for all of us is are you happy with our country as it is right now? Are you financially feeling no strain? Do you mind being at war for another 4 years? Do you have any sons that may be turning 18 soon because they may be needed sooner than you think.
Julia
Marcie October 6th, 2008 at 5:31 pm #
GA, I used to attend church with a man who prided himself as an iconoclast. He was a professor of something or other who never looked up the meaning of the word but he did like to “stir the pot” and create dissention just for the hell of it. He wasn’t well liked and finally his family left the church.
I hope you’re not like him but you certainly seem to have some of the same qualities.
Guardian Angel October 6th, 2008 at 7:28 pm #
Julia, yes I am aware that the article is from June and not really from CBS. If you can recall Obama was a member of the Trinity church . Everything in that article is factual.
Marcie, I correct myself I should have said I like to enlighten people. It so happens I am a very well liked person in my community. In fact I am a community leader. I guess people like me, because of my open mindness. You see I like to see all sides of an issue. Before I judge others. Something you should think about the next time you try to personally attack someone’s character. How it is not a very nice trait to have. I guess the old slogan never mix politics with money or love or whatever that slogan is makes a lot of sense. With that I am out of here. I hope you all vote. May the best candidate win.
Little Sun October 6th, 2008 at 9:06 pm #
Hey thanks for posting the link, Guardian Angel. After reading this, it actually makes me much more hopeful about Obama! The author clearly lacks any understanding of African-American culture and clearly possesses a great deal of interesting fear of African-American people and, thanks to these lens distortions, doesn’t “get” pretty much everything Obama was trying to say and do. But as a mixed-race progressive, myself, even in this wildly biased ignorance-based article, I did indeed “get” what Obama was up to and was greatly heartened by it. This article caused me to do a little more research that took away a few of my doubts that Obama might be too right-wing corporate-oriented for my tastes. Sounds like Obama might actually believe in economic justice. Thanks again even if that reassurance wasn’t your intent.
Pearl October 6th, 2008 at 11:01 pm #
Haven’t been to this site for a long time nor have I posted here. Many of the topics are excellent and many need to be read and re-read.
# 31 is just about how I feel. I do not trust most channels with their opinions especially CBS and most often take it a step or two further to research on my own for information. CBS appears to have glossed over a lot of information. Capital Research Center.com is interesting and full of information; and googled Saul Alinsky and Obama and Move on.org, who contributed over 38 million to his campaign, for more information on Obama; and William Ayrs and Obama. I’m still troubled because there is a stretch of time where information is not available about Obama and that is: Cannot verify his birth; a blank on info when BO attended Columbia and his connection with Franklin Raines and James Johnson the officers of Freddie Mack and Fannie Mae. Also looking for information on his trip to Pakistan after he graduated from university. I have less than 30 days to get some answers on BO. I have found the Resko deal to finance BO’s home in Chicago to be interesting. Resko is in jail now. There are just too many unanswered questions.
Pearl October 6th, 2008 at 11:11 pm #
#23
Thanks for the FACTS. I too have just checked out the facts on contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie. I have noticed that your facts seem to confuse some of the posters! You too like to deal with reality!
kris D. October 6th, 2008 at 11:23 pm #
i’m just partial to people that are smarter (and calmer) than i am…
http://blip.tv/file/1287551
and those that are well… hotter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_XgkeTanCGI
Paige October 6th, 2008 at 11:44 pm #
Hey Pearl,
Here’s Obama’s birth certificate:
http://fightthesmears.com/articles/5/birthcertificate
Barbara October 7th, 2008 at 12:05 am #
Jane, you know my feelings already, but as I read through the comments today I just got this sinking feeling in my gut that the kind of hate and fear the repub. pundits made fashionable in the last decade is far from over. I blame a lot of it on the disappearance of old style journalism, and Rupert Murdoch’s stronghold on the mainstream media as we now know it.
Too many people are taking opinion and misinformation as the gospel truth, without checking more objective sources, or even sources from the “other side”.
Thank you Paige for dispelling one piece of misinformation, though I suspect that somehow those who wish to will decry it a forgery.
Pamela October 7th, 2008 at 11:26 am #
Well, Jane et. All,
I’ve been preoccupied with health issues (for which, thankfully, my Canadian taxes still pay – until such time as Stephen Harper a.k.a. Bush Light, manages to fuck Canada over the way W. has fucked America over) and haven’t had the concentration to give this post and it’s responses the attention warranted.
Now that I’ve taken the time to read every word, without distraction, I’m a little sicker to my stomach over the state of the WORLD. Much of which has been influenced by Bush’s 7.5 years of Presidential Havoc.
I’m not contending that there aren’t evil participants abroad - there are plenty. What strikes me is that the definition of a terrorist seems to be someone who attacks and kills innocents without provocation: as long as they speak with an accent and wear robes. However, when Bush and cronies decided to EXTEND the war on Terror (without proof/ provocation/global support) over ALLEGED weapons of mass destruction it was called JUSTICE. There have been thousands upon thousands of innocent deaths over a family vendetta and natural resources. Anyone who argues this point, given ALL the evidence of wrong doing, is simply in denial about a corrupt President and VP who wear suits and speak with American accents: HENCE – they don’t qualify as terrorists. When white politicians sponsor the death of innocents it’s collateral damage. When dark skinned foreigners do the same it’s murder. PEOPLE COME ON! It is murder across the board.
Regarding Palin/McCain (A Republican pundit actually said, on CNN, yesterday, that Palin was qualified to be PRESIDENT and should be at the top of their ticket) and Obama/Biden: I STILL think we (connected/equally affected, citizens of planet earth) would be FAR better off with Hilary Clinton. Nobody is perfect – but the present selection of candidates is not a confidence builder. Obama has ambitious goals that can’t possibly all be achieved – but I hope he gets the chance to try. In Palin’s first interview – after being shielded from the press for 30 days – she confirmed that she would go to war with Russia if need be. MORE OF THE SAME, anyone?
As for GA’s comment about Freddie and Fanny NOT giving a cent to Palin. Umm – that’s because they never heard of her pit-bull/soccer-mom ass before McCain’s nomination stunt. If she had been a player on the major political landscape she would have ALSO taken what was offered. All funding, all banking, all political players are connected to someone who is corrupt (whether they know it or not). Big business is incestuous and the ties are far reaching. I seriously doubt ANY contributors outline all of the crooked acts they are involved with and then say to would be politicians: “That’s where we are corrupt, now - how much do you need?” We have all crawled into bed with someone we think we know and woken up with someone very different.
The bottom line is: John Q Public, world-wide, (Joe Six-Pack is SO condescending) is suffering crap wages, poor or NO healthcare, inflating prices on EVERYTHING, corrupt governments, disillusionment, apathy, and on and on… To contend that an inexperienced rookie like Palin has what it takes to fix this mess is absurd. To say she can take the lead if McCain falls ill is DOWN RIGHT SCARY!
There are NO Mavericks in the Republican Party. McCain IS a Washington Insider – he’s been there, voting along side his pal, W., 90% of the time for thirty years. Who is he trying to kid? Palin is a typical “Christian” who is all for guns and God, but not gay rights. On the other side – Biden HAS GOT TO stop referring to himself in the third person – he sounds like an idiot. Obama has to lose some of that cocky attitude – he is NOT as on top of things as he thinks he is.
These are frightening times on the world stage. The human race is running out of time to get IT right. I hope and pray, (yes – my godless homosexual, damned to hell, soul still prays), that America does NOT put McCain/Palin in office. 4 – 8 years of their leadership (or lack there of) could bring a first world nation to third world existence. Bush has started that course – they would absolutely finish it.
Little Sun October 7th, 2008 at 2:25 pm #
Always lovely to hear you singing it, Pammy…
You’re right about the Joe Six Pack thing… I fell into using it because Palin used it and I HATE the term. Such a mine field language is… Which brings me to “cocky” Obama…? I know you didn’t mean it like that and think I do know what you did mean but it still made me wince a little… can’t help it… so many words too close to “uppity Black man” are getting used about the fella. And the poor scared-witless people who are still tripping out over his name and wasting precious energy hunting up his BIRTH CERTIFICATE?!WTF? They don’t even have a clue just how xenophobic and racist they’re being… Yikes…
Then there’s the hair-raising stuff katy D. posted here (her second link above, Naomi Wolf) and that I posted on my updated blog about Palin’s declaration of war on the Constitution along with a CSPAN video of this: Rep. Ben Sherman claimed from the House floor that some House members were threatened that martial law would be imposed if they didn’t vote on the Bailout Bill for the Greedy Class!
Seems we may be in much more serious, serious trouble than I’d already thought and few seem to be noticing…
This leftist lesbian heathen is praying right along with you!
kris D. October 7th, 2008 at 2:31 pm #
katy who?
Pamela October 7th, 2008 at 4:08 pm #
Hey LS,
My saying Obama is cocky has nothing to do with skin colour. Sometimes he does come off as cocky and arrogant - which is no more attractive on a white man. I think he needs to make a serious attempt at being LESS quippy, at times, and more approachable to every man. I’ve not heard the references to “uppity Black man” - that sort of thing sickens me. Where I sit this election has only ONE race that matters: the human race.
Here’s hoping the debate widens the gap and puts Obama ahead.
Donna L. Faber October 7th, 2008 at 4:23 pm #
I think it would be a gross human error to under estimate the racist proclivities of this country.
Julia October 7th, 2008 at 5:25 pm #
I totally agree Donna. For instance sheriff Mike Scott from Lee County FL that was introducing Palin accentuating Obama’s middle name which the crowd then responded to says a lot. What says even more is Palin’s inability at the time to address that as negative but only later sends a press release saying the campaign and she does not condone this type of behavior. Bullshit these guys live for this covertly and overtly spreading of lies. That’s where all this terrorist crap is coming from as well.
I think what Pamela and a lot of American’s having been saying about Obama being “cocky” is really just misunderstood confidence and education. We haven’t seen a lot of that in the past 8 years and to some I think it’s hard to relate to. I’m not the brightest bulb in the pack but I definitely WANT confidence, education, and peacemaker attributes in our next leader. We’ve seen and felt what cowboy politics has done to this country and I’m ready for Obama and Biden to get in there and start to repair the damage done. Something tells me it’s going to take many years to repair what that bonehead Bush has done to us.
Eileen October 7th, 2008 at 7:44 pm #
I wish you weren’t, but of course you are dead on target with all your observations above.
Obama may be a good man and he is certainly our only hope now, but oh, how far from what I wanted he is!
I felt that Sen. Obama jumped the gun. At his young age, and with his so-short time as a Senator before he got caught up in the presidential race, he really could and should have waited and given a chance to the more progressive candidates who had been out there longer than he, and who not only “deserved” their chance, but would do a better job than he can, at least at this time.
I can’t tell you how much I resented him for letting his head be turned by the adulation from such as Oprah Winfrey and others. While I will give him the benefit of the doubt, and presume that he genuinely believed it was “his time” to run - it was not! I am sure that his decision was partly based on the fawning and slavering over him by the media - who mostly just loved the “fun” and novelty of having a black candidate and a woman at the same time.
I wrote letter after letter to the editor saying such things - all on deaf ears, of course. The Obama bandwagon, or the “Obamarama,” as I coined the word, took off and even - amazingly - overcame our poor Hillary. What a shame. Media hoopla and who-knows-what behind-the-scenes shenanigans trump real experience every time.
I often worried in the early days of his campaign that he had been bought by the big-money folks who donated to him, just as most others were. I don’t think he consciously feels beholden to them, but who knows what will happen in office?
For my money, there were two truly populist, progressive candidates who would work on the issues I am most concerned about: Edwards and Kucinich. Poor Dennis didn’t have a prayer because he spoke the bitter truth all along, and he was not preceived as “looking” presidential (oh, stupid country that cares about looks more than brains!).
Edwards, no matter how he has fallen in our estimation since, due to his foolish personal infidelity, was a true populist also. He was most likely to help the “little guy,” like you and me. His very specific and intelligent platform was the best one of all the candidates, especially in the areas of the environment, the economy, and the war. And it was even aamazingly acknowledged as such by the media!!!
It broke my heart that lack of money killed his campaign. He simply could not pay for working those primary 22 states all on the same day. Only Hillary and Barack had that kind of cash.
I know this because I was a volunteer on his campaign from day one - when he declared, months before Barack and Hillary had, by the way.
Oh, well. God help us - because the government won’t!
Of course, I’ll vote for Obama. But I know from what happened in 2004 and 2000 that we will likely be cheated again. I have researched and written articles on the voting machine and other fraud. Anyone can get details from the great Greg Palast, too.
Little Sun October 7th, 2008 at 7:51 pm #
Blush. Sorry kris D. ! Was typing quickly on my lunch break–didn’t mean to call you “katy D.” !
And Pamela, again, I know that’s not how you meant “cocky”… unfortunately it is how a LOT of others have meant similar adjectives… Funny, I don’t see Obama as you do. Where you see arrogance, I see a calm confidence, dry wit, and intelligent restraint that I kinda like. But likeability is way low on the list for me… I don’t want to hang out with any of them–I just want someone who can lead us in some sane, thoughtful, and careful direction!
Julia, I, too want to see the attributes you described above in our leaders. I’ve had it with folks like McCain who graduated in the BOTTOM of his class. Would you want a surgeon who graduated in the bottom of his or her class doing surgery on you?
Julia October 7th, 2008 at 11:27 pm #
Little Sun I totally agree about McCain’s education. To graduate 5th from the BOTTOM of a class of 900 is pretty pathetic really. LOL
Gloria October 9th, 2008 at 12:11 am #
Great, honest article Jane. You nailed it.
The last eight years have been the worst of my life economically and then it affects everything.It started with a medical problem. I had insurance–exclusions and deductibles killed me. I had owned my home for 10 years and had to sell it because the medical bills kept coming in. I was a single mom with two kids, one of whom had special needs. I couldn’t afford to get my teaching license renewed. There are no jobs…and I grew up with all the privileges most don’t have–private schools, college, graduate school….we the people have to make the changes and force them to trickle up–the money never did trickle down.
But on a bright note, check out the Sheriff of Cook County–he has refused to evict any more people. A working class hero? Hopefully the first of many.
Little Sun October 9th, 2008 at 8:12 am #
Hurrah for the Sheriff of Cook County. May more and more stand up for Economic Justice!
Anyone catch this bizarre little clip? Suppose McCain is trying to tell us something… Or….?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mBi7d6e5KI