Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Sad Truth

The truth is Obama has lost some of his shine for me too. I did do some due diligence before I became excited about him and knew his far left positions were much farther left than any of mine. I wasn’t surprised to find out that his minister was a racist. Obama’s claim that he would have switched churches of Rev. Wright wasn’t going to retire is basically saying 20 years of association with a whacko is OK but 21 years is just wrong. This response is a little weak. A better response would have been, “I was a politician from a largely black district and this church, although racist and wrong, represented my constituents in most other ways. Basically, my membership was a political move.” That sort of candor in a race against any Clinton would have been a breath of fresh air.

I’m not overly concerned with Obama’s association with Ayers. Yes, the weather underground was a terrorist organization. Ayers and the lot should have been tried, convicted and hung for treason, but they weren’t. The government, for no reason I can understand, has allowed Ayers to be a freeman. Ayers has become an important political fixture of the far left in Chicago. Obama is far left politician from Chicago. Of course they are going to associate. If the relationship was more regular and personal than both of them being on the board of some do-gooder organization, I’ll drop Obama like a hot potato made out of C4. Just think of all the losers and idiots you have to associate with just being a regular person. If you didn’t associate with any of them, you wouldn’t have a life. Multiply that by a couple thousand and you have a politician.

Bitter? Most of the media hasn’t listened to the whole exchange not to mention the rest of us. Put in context, it was still bad but not as bad as Clinton’s sound bite team would like you to believe. The truth is, and this is what Obama was referencing, the government has done a crappy job in a lot of segments of our society. There are people who have almost been left behind as manufacturing jobs left our country. Some of them are bitter. Some of them hope that by getting rid of the immigrants, the manufacturing jobs will come back. Some of them turn to religion for solace. Some of them fight to keep their right to bare arms because they feel everything else has been taken away. What Obama did not say is that anyone who is religious, who protects their second amendment rights or who wants immigration reform is bitter. It is like saying some women like to bake cookies so if you like to bake cookies you are a woman. I like to bake cookies. Both my brother and sister make great cookies. There is not generalized connection.

My issue with Obama is based on how he has used his ability to inspire. He is a wonderful motivational speaker and, even during the campaign, could have motivated common people to accomplish great things. Unfortunately, he has failed to try. This week is earth week. It is a perfect example. He could have called a press conference (or even paid for it with is war chest), and told us he is speaking not as a candidate but as a concerned citizen. Then motivate us to go plant a tree or some darn thing. His far left policies will never pass moderate congress, so his presidential legacy would not have been success through political means. It would have been based on his ability to make a new generation care again.

Since Obama is no longer the shiny new penny in my pocket, what do I do? Support Hillary? I can not. I have three issues with her. First, she is a warmonger (much more so than McCain). She supported attacking Iraq. She supported giving Bush latitude in Iraq. She said she would militarily punish third world nations who have terrorists in their countries. Many of these countries would collapse if they took on the terrorists. She said she would obliterate Iran if Iraq attacked Israel. While I support the action, saying so is politically irresponsible.

Should I support McCain? I don’t think I can. His history suggests smaller government and responsible fiscal policies, both of which I support. Unfortunately, McCain has been kissing up to the so-far-right-they-are-wrong crowd. His proposed tax cuts are not offset by significant spending cuts. He wants to continue to be a nation at war. In 2000, he said he supports building and tearing down other nations through training and supplying militants. That hasn’t worked for us. Ever. I just don’t think I can do it.

I haven’t seen a third party candidate really step-up yet. If Obama and Hillary destroy the democrats, I might find a third party to support on principal. Otherwise I’m left with Lefty Obama and a prayer that congress would prevent him from taking us too far into socialism.
Not a very bright picture.

No comments: