pins and collars

its a slow day at work, so what do i do? read papers of course.

i read a couple of articles today, one on Obama's dismissal of the flag lapel pin and what it may symbolize. then i read a peice on Clinton's new look as a fighter and a blue collar candidate. you already know im for Obama, so i might as well cram some more reasons why im right and why you should listen to me in your bloated gullets. get out of the Fox News, mountebank is here, and i brought candy!!!

the lapel pin issue is a non issue. gluing a Cadillac hood ornament to a Geo Metro doesnt change the fact that its a Geo Metro. all it does is set Obama apart from those who play the pandering game. who say and do superficial things to gain popularity. the shitty thing is that it works. the good thing is that those who are paying attention realize that Obama is crafting his own brand, and not slapping on the sticker of a predecessor, or a vague ideal. patriotism is great. false patriotism is terrible. wearing a stupid pin or putting a 'these colors dont run' bumper sticker on your car dont make you a patriot. what makes you a patriot is defending what your country stands for and stands on.

Obama is willing to take a look at the ridiculous idea of a gas tax holiday, and call it what it is, a pander. he tells us that there is no easy answer. there is no quick fix. the country is in a rough spot. sure you can paint a rusty ass car, and it might look good, but 3 months down the line, the rust is worse and it looks like hell again. but if you take the longer and costlier path of body work and a good paint job, your ride will look nice for years.

have you noticed that i use a lot of car metaphors? its like im from detroit or something...

to me it seems that Obama is willing to take the hard look. to find the right path, not necessarily the easy path, and to tell us the truth. meanwhile mr straight-talk has flipped so many of his positions since 2000 that i have lost most of the respect that i had for him. he was once the rebel that Obama is now. and Hillary, Wellesley educated and Wife of a former president who has made $109 million since he left office 8 years age, has cast herself as blue collar, a woman of the people.

when Bill Clinton was running for office, he and Hillary were characterized as ivy league liberal elitists. now that label is being stuck upon Obama. the thing is, it can stick to both. i would say that Obama's past is much more connected to the blue collar, while Hillary's past is largely upper middle class. there is nothing wrong with either, but if were labeling things, lets apply the right one.

Hillary was only able to adopt the blue collar label once Obama knocked her off her high horse. now that she's had to fight back from as an underdog, she has recast herself as a fighter and a blue collar voice. look, as i said before, i want my president to be better than me. to be above blue collar jobs, but to care about all of America. i want my president to be well educated so he or she is smart enough to make the right decisions. i want a president who doesnt pander to popular issues just because theyre popular. issues are generally much more complex than black and white. i want a president who can look at the whole issue, and make a decision on the reality, not on preconceived notions or just because its a hot button.

the gas issue is more complex than just people bitching about the prices at the pump. fuel is where it is because of global demands for it, and an ever dwindling supply. a summer hiatus on the tax will only serve to delay the inevitable and delay real action on a way forward. Obama has indicated that he is willing to adjust or remove the ethanol minimums in order to reduce food prices.

while McCain is busy selling out to the religious right and the Bushies and Clinton is playing the role of Rocky, Obama is out there being who he is and doing what he does, addressing the real issues.

E J Dionne

Richard Cohen



my opinions are mine, but they arent necessarily correct. if nothing else i hope that they make you think. if you want to prove me wrong, please do. do some research and show me where i went wrong. ultimately we need to have an intelligent and engaged electorate to get this country back on track. if you plan to vote in november, do your research and know why you vote the way you do. voting for the sake of voting and without knowing can do more harm than good. of course i want everyone to vote, but i want them to do so well informed.

hold the McCain, please

Fareed Zakaria is a smart guy. McCain scares him. McCain scares me. he already announced to the world that he hasnt a clue about how to control and stimulate the economy- which polls indicate is at the top of voter's agendas. his platform is essentially the status quo, but with less torture. he is now the biggest war hawk the right has, while Bush's approval ratings are at or near all time lows, especially on that subject.

now McCain has given us more reasons to fear a McCain presidency: he has no idea what to do on the international stage. he wants to kick Russia out of the G8 and exclude China. he wants to create a League of Democracies that would, in effect snub the UN and NATO and pursue its own agenda. the problem is that isolating democracies from the rest of the world is just the sort of thing that makes those who live in non-democracies hate us. any global discussions need to include China. the ought to include Russia. how can any of this be productive?

i remember liking McCain back in 2000. i was disappointed that Bush beat him out for the nomination. but that free thinking straight talking McCain has yielded to political influences and has become a neo-con stooge. either that or the boxing, plane crashes, torture, and 80+ years of life have taken their toll and he is no longer thinking all that clearly. i dont relish bashing McCain.

i really did like him. but, now, the prospect of him being our next president terrifies me. i refuse to beleive that he will win. its like 2004 all over again. i thought that anyone but bush would win by virtue of not being Bush. somehow Kerry was nominated and showed how, if deftly handled, an election can be lost that should have been a cake walk.

now we have 2 strong democratic candidates. both are miles ahead of Kerry. either is a far greater choice than McCain. but, as you know if you have read this before, i think Obama is the choice. its not that McCain is a bad man. he has lost his way. i think he truly believes his agenda will better America. and if thats true he will stick to misguided decisions as tenaciously as Bush has. we have seen where thats gone.

ill take a new president please, but hold the McCain. do you have any of that new Obama? ive head good things...




oh, and if you missed it, read Fareed's article.