I will certainly rub many of my friends the wrong way on this, but with President Obama’s announcement, today, to run for re-election in 2012, I am not looking forward to him blowing political smoke in the vicinity of my hind-quarters for two years (again). His message? How he needs my help to ‘continue’ changing America. Heck, I am still waiting for him to start a real fight for the change he promised on the run up to his 2008 victory. Let us not kid ourselves - the only thing worse than Obama winning was McCain, but only by a political whisker.Rather than fight to put this country on a new course, Obama has shown himself to be less of a savvy leader and more of a junior politician, in a town already up to its neck in tricksters. Today, he starts trying to wake all of those folks who left their seats in the stands in 2007-08 to literally pushed him over the election goal line. Once in office, he told the faithful to retake their seats, while he has proceeded to get pummeled playing politics the old-fashioned way – making deals with the devil until the two are indistinguishable.
I do not doubt that Obama will win in 2012, going in with close to a billion dollars raised to get and stay in office. However, we are playing the same old game of voting for someone who stinks a little less than their opponent. Wars will continue, people will die, jobs will go missing, corruption will skate freely, crime will not abate, schools will fail, and the trains will continue their lateness. However, and more importantly, the needed show-down around values and ethics erosion, whose absence encourages the often-selfish ‘haves’ of this country to prey upon the often-complacent ‘have-nots’, will have to wait for a true change-agent leader - whose name is definitely not Obama.
James C. Collier
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Technorati Tags: Obama 2012: Smoke and Butts, Announcement, Politics, President, Acting Black, Acting White
12 comments:
My theory is that it is such because the billion dollars has to come from somewhere. But why does the white house cost a billion dollars? Because the voters only respond to marketing :(
I have a singular problem with both parties: we are running a 1.7 trillion dollar deficit this year. There is no sign that we will stop running these size deficits any time soon.
IMHO, we have to drop the federal government's budget down by half within the next 2 years, or the bond market will do it for us. We can do it now, and perhaps make the crash landing controlled. If we do it with the bond market insisting on 20% interest, or with an Iceland-style currency crash, there won't be any control on the situation at all.
The Paul family are just about the only politicians even admitting that its this bad, and they are "too radical".
I had personally hoped that Mr. Obama might be the one to take on the Goldman Sachs establishment, but he sold out to them instead. Until we get a candidate who does, there will be no improvement.
Hi James,
I agree with your summary, although I’m not convinced Obama is necessarily a shoe-in either.
Problem is: I keep waiting for the fella I voted for in ’08 to show up. He hasn’t and I haven’t been greatly thrilled by the President who did.
I’m not sure what bothers me more at this point: Having to vote for Obama (who seems to possess such poor negotiating skills) and a party that won’t fully stand in the light behind him, or having to vote for Obama in an effort to keep the Tea Partiers from gaining anymore of a stranglehold on Washington.
I guess what saddens me most of all is that I too voted for a visionary, and it feels like the single most important person needed won’t fight the tough fight to make the vision happen: Obama himself.
Mhh… With McCain, at least, it would have been funnier. Mister Obama lacks the hilarious talent of his illustrious predecessor. Wars, civilian casualties, lost freedom, secret service politics, police brutality, erosion of law and ethics, banks-friendly management… all seem so tragic and sad, now. Before, it was like a very long, very strange sitcom. Now, it's as though it's really real.
Will mister president still push for the new nuclear plants his moneyboys want him to sell? Even after Fukushima?
Normal thoughtful compassionate caring Americans HAVE NO CHOICE BUT Obama in 2012. The election of 2012 will require all of us who fit even slightly into the categories listed above to do more than just grudgingly go cast our vote for a Democratic ticket. I still remember back in the day that the old folks had a saying that they would direct towards young people who would sometimes get angry and walk around all puffed up and pouting. The old foks would get in their face and tell them, "If you're sitting 'round here all mad, then you better git yourself up, scratch yo' behind and get glad!"
We need to pause now and then and marvel at the way things work in God's universe. Consider this. The Libertarian/Republicans have already started a public painting of the potential horrific situation for common people in America IF THEY get THEIR WAY IN 2012, namely winning the Senate and the White House. I for one will start my own personal search for property in Nova Scotia if the Republicans achieve their wet dream in 2012.
They will be taking everything they can think of away from middle and lower class Americans, except maybe their right to complain in public. Whoops, I take that back they just might pass a law against even bitching in public. Paul Ryan is positively giddy with his new plan to cut the budget by 6 trillion dollars over the next ten years. His euphoria has made him so silly that he thinks that he can actually sell America's seniors on his medicare "voucher" plan. (He's taking pointers from Florida's Guv Rick Scott's program to essentially privatize the medical care for the entire state of Florida, along with quarterly manditory drug testing for all of the state's convicts, the testing of which along with exclusive HMO services will all be done exclusively by one giant medical company owned by Rick Scott's wife.
Paul Ryan wants to do the same thing only on a nation wide scale. What the hell, there is plenty of money to go into the pockets of private corporations when you consider the millions of Americans currently on medicare.
With the entire government under the control of the Republicans in 2012, old P.T. Barnum will be rolling over in his grave wishing that he was alive so he could work some his grand con schemes.
So there it is folks. The game is on, and this is one contest we best not lose, that is if we plan on staying here in the good ole U.S. of A.
É's comment is a great example of why we need a better voting scheme (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tactical_voting). This "lesser of two evils" situation is not inherent to voting.
I completely agree, though I might add, I don't see Obama winning as easily as in '08. The only reason my family voted for him was BECAUSE we didn't want McCain to win.
McCain was scary. He was hell on wheels. But Palin? Oh God, Palin...no, no, we couldn't have THAT run the country.
If she tries to run, someone needs to throw shoes at HER. She's the scary one, way worse than McCain. I want to believe my fellow Americans are smarter than that but every once in a while I feel everyone gets together just to prove me wrong.
I think many people will agree with you on this... He has been unimpressive.
Time for a president, congress, and senate that will put into law hard realistic choices that can make this country great again.
We have the highest birth rate for teens in an industrialized nation.
Many teens that give birth before age 17 get pregnant again within a year.
People say education is the answer.
Didn't the education of JUST HAVING A BABY teach them ANYTHING?
Apparently not. sheeesh.
Answer.
Same qualifications for natural childbirth as for adoption.
For all women that don't qualify some type of birth control that they cannot negate.
Whine and cry now.
But if adopted children are worthy of having decent homes why not all others?
Why is it perfectly fine for anyone else to have a child regardless of their ability or intent to care for it properly so it does not become a weight on society rather then a contributor?
2400 teens a day get pregnant.
But that is ok huh?
BS.
We need someone to make the tough choices. It is way past time.
It wouldn't be perfect by any means.
Not all adopted children do well.
Not all children born to less then stellar women do bad.
But something needs doing.
Doing nothing is what has gotten us to the point where entitlements bolstered by illegitimate births and the social issues are driving this country and it's people straight into the poor house.
But who am I kidding, nothing will ever be done that is effective.
Can't go violating anyone's rights,
except of course the children that have no rights to be born to decent parents who will better their chances at having positive lives.
I agree with your sentiments, James, he has been a total disappointment. But more particularly, he laid out a wonderful and visionary path for NASA in the FY2011 budget and then simply walked away and let it get eaten alive by the Senators who wanted the status quo of wasteful pork to continue.
As it stands we will waste billions building a giant rocket that will never see the light of day, but will consume 80% of NASA's exploration budget.
I imagine this situation has been repeated across the board, and if he even cares to think about it, he wonders why his one inspirational speech on the topic didn't hold his policy together.
When all is said and done, Congress has disposed of "hope", and our President let it happen without a fight.
The only disappointment is you people, the man can't even get support from his own caucus he stands up they hide. Do i hear people talking about how they are not doing their jobs ? No and the sad part is i wonder if most of you even has a clue how government works, Please
I get so sick and tired of whiny left wing cry babies who got out-worked and yes out-foxed (pun intended) by the right and tea party folks. They (the right) elect leaders and fight with them; we elect messiahs and from the side-lines complain that they have yet turned water into wine.
Obama, flaws and shortcomings, gave us health care, wall stree reform, stimulus package that staved off a Great Depression, repealed DADT etc. He managed all of this with, as Jimmy Carter astutely observed, the most hostile congress since the Civil War.
We, sideline folks, just sat on our lazy ass (summer of 2009) when the right wing changed the nations agenda with their activism. They went from state to state, taking over state governments while the progressives did little or nothing. Grow up! Our leaders are empowered to bring the noise when we are the noise.
Oh, BTW, luv the blog.
visit me at harveysglobalpolitics.blogspot.com
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