"Imagine if next year was different."
Barack Obama responds to the State of the Union address.
A word on the aesthetics of this video. I'm getting a real 1960s vibe from the gray suit and the gray curtain in back. It seems to evoke lo-fi black-and-white TV. I kept thinking: Rod Serling. But then I realized what they want you to think is: JFK.
January 29, 2008
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111 comments:
"It seems to evoke lo-fi black-and-white TV."
Can't quite put your finger on it, can you?
Think Louis Farrakhan. Think Malcolm X.
For a guy trying to convince us he's not a Muslim, he should avoid being photographed in their uniform.
1. Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sore will be the storm
That will abash that little bird.
2. Schopenhauer described capitalsim as creative destruction. Obama's economics embrace socialism, aka destructive creation.
3. I see Obama X.
Oh goody, gifts for everybody. But...who pays?
Empty rhetoric...
Hello, Pot. This is the Kettle.
But then I realized what they want you to think is: JFK.
Do any Democrats who genuflect at the altar of JFK actually realize that he was hardly the model of progressivism? Vietnam? Massive tax cuts? Strength through a forceful military? Dared Soviets with a nuke standoff? Attempted regime change in Cuba? (talk about incompetence)
Think anyone in the MSM would ever ask Obama what he thought of how JKF's handled those issues?
Gosh, I don't have speakers here at the office but for giggles I watched a few seconds of this. I thought it was a clip from a Dragnet episode...
1. Is it constitutional to legalize drugs by executive order? That'll help.
2. Nice suit, though. For some reason I was reminded of Sean Connery in “Dr. No” or “From Russia with Love” or “Goldfinger.”
But when I checked I also found this and this.
3. Enjoy.
He's not a serious reader. There are no books laid on their sides on the tops of shelved books.
What is with the double cross in the background? Is it some symbol of a strange Crhistian cult? Is it a symbol of what he really is going to do? Is there some other signifigance?
Or is it just a book case?
The words don't flow. But yes, the suit, the hair, the curtains: very 1962.
Same old nanny state Dem rhetoric. Obama seems like a nice guy, but his politics offer nothing of positive substance. Change schmange. Any new president represents change by definition. The only change he really advocates is himself and the usual tax increases to fund give-away programs to buy votes.
Watching the Dems during he SOTU address was a hoot. (That's one of our talking points. OK to applaud. This one, nope, sit stoically. etc. etc. etc.) I wonder if they received acting notes beforehand.
P.S.
Barack and Teddy were cuddled up during the address. Warms the cockles of your heart, doesn't it?
I did not watch but just listened to audio.. What did he really say? "Vote for Me and I will Unite the Country?"
Obama needs to add some substance to his soaring rhetoric which was also missing in this case IMHO.
It's not an early 1960s vibe, despite the grayness.
He's pushing that "I'd Like To Teach the World to Sing" '71 Real Thing goodness vibe...
Post '68 assassinations and Altamont, but before the '73 recession, Watergate, and the choppers on the roof—Everyone was tired of the War. Tired, tired, tired, and Coke hit a grand slam with an ad promising universal peace and harmony. Made Lennon like a fascist.
"Imagine, if next year, the entire nation had a president they could believe in, who could rally them around a common purpose...I'd like to build the world a home and furnish it with love. Grow apple trees and honey bees and snow-white turtle doves. I'd like to teach the world to sing in perfect harmony...for peace throughout the land."
Hoosier: when people start yapping about JFK, I always remind them that he looked a heck of a lot more republican than democratic. I think it is telling that the mythology surrounding JFK has seeped so deeply into the American psyche that very few people actually know what he accomplished. George Bush policies delivered with a boston accent. Although clearly JFK was a great orator, unlike our current President. And I cast my very first vote in a presidential election for JFK. In retrospect, I had just turned 21 and was responding to his rhetoric.
At least he didn't have one of his campaign posters propped up behind him. Like he did in this clip at 5:55.
Yeah, we get that Kennedy had faults. A lot of them. He's not a hero to me, as I was too young. Those of you who are doing this would have a cow If every time someone compares a Republican to Reagan, I were to say, "You mean he's in favor of liberalizing divorce laws, selling arms to Iran, deficit spending, and pulling troops out of Beirut?"
This may sound cliche, but if Obambi wins, we, as a nation, are screwed. His supporters always crow about how he opposed the Iraq war from the start. Which is exactly why he is dangerous. He, even more than Hillary, cannot be trusted with the national security of this country.
I thought it was a clip from a Dragnet episode...
Oh, that's funny. I went to the IMDB page for Dragnet and an ad with Obama's face was there! :) I actually think Obama's face is close to a blend of Jack Webb and Harry Morgan's. He's got Harry Morgan's facial shape and ears, but Jack Webb's facial structure, and maybe even a hint of Jack Webb in his voice.see for yourself...
I want to hear more about how he plans to rally all of us around his crusade against Wall Street, given that "all of us" includes Wall Street.
The focus on seniors is definitely aimed at Florida.
The whole surge not working claim diminishes his credibility, but it actually costs him nothing since his opponent has the same political stance and we'll be into a new stage of Iraq by the time the national elections happen.
The imagery and bringing people together work very well. But I think he's ultimately a losing candidate for the Democrats for a very simple reason: Middle America is annoyed with Bush not because of ideology, but because of a perceived lack of competence (Iraq, Katrina, economy). The candidate with the strongest argument for competence will win as long as the ideology is somewhat mainstream. That's not Obama.
For a guy trying to convince us he's not a Muslim, he should avoid being photographed in their uniform.
For a group of people trying to convince us that Obama is a lightweight with nothing to say, y'all's criticisms of him sure tack toward the "dumber than a box of hammers" end of the spectrum.
Oh now come on, I thought our Dragnet comparisons were kind of clever :)
I know this could sound misanthropic, but I could do without the mythologizing a
purported one-time prevailing national, and by extension, global optimism. This coming from people resolutely determined to be miserable in the present amounts to continuous whining.
So, if not misanthropic, than surely Republican. No. I just don't care much for political families and the attention they attract.
You people sure get up early.
Those of you who are doing this would have a cow If every time someone compares a Republican to Reagan, I were to say, "You mean he's in favor of liberalizing divorce laws,
Yeah, no-fault divorce ranks right up there with Nam and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.
selling arms to Iran,
As opposed to selling missle tech to China but I digress.
deficit spending,
I forgot, who controlled Congress?
and pulling troops out of Beirut?"
Personally I thought it was a good move considering we shouldn't have been there from day 1.
Better to leave Camelot to Arthur.
Doug...
Black and white are the GOP envy colors. ... as is green (green with envy). They have no one and they hate Hillary and slur Obama but it is all because we have all the toys and they are left to play in an empty sandbox.
Also remember George's bright blue tie and Cheney's bright red power tie during the address. Both of them had as much curb appeal as the blowup co-pilot in an Airplane movie and after Bush's brush with the English language even if Obama broke into Rap lyrics it would sound better and make more sense.
On a night when Bush pounds the final nail in his lackluster political coffin we have only Obama in low res to talk about.
It makes two rhetorical mistakes early (as far as I've gotten)
1. He mentions empty rhetoric. This raises an unfortunate question right off.
2. He mentions no progress on earmarks. As Maureen Dowd has pointed out, he has big ears. Who will fail to remember that?
3. The speech has gone on while I typed that. He's planning on bombing Pakistan, I gather, and elminate the failed policies in Iraq. (take the fight to al qaeda)
4. Decent wages for doctors
5. Maytag workers? Nobody mentions the Maytag repairman. That was the Maytag ad in the 60s.
6. Common purpose. It sounds like the end of the speech.
7. Yes! live commented before your eyes.
8. Just send your laundry out to the Chinese laundry.
They have no one and they hate Hillary and slur Obama
Evidently you haven't been paying attention lately since all the slurs to Obama are coming from your pal Bill & Hill. Unless of course those are just fairy tales.
Evidently you haven't been paying attention lately since all the slurs to Obama are coming from your pal Bill & Hill. Unless of course those are just fairy tales.
Ok I'll bite. Name some slurs.
Think Louis Farrakhan. Think Malcolm X.
For a guy trying to convince us he's not a Muslim he should avoid being photographed in their uniform.
Let's count the flaws in this assertion, shall we?
1. The faith of Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X is not Islam, but a black supremacist belief ginned up mostly by the former Elijah Poole. "X" was used instead of the black man's slaveowner name, to signify his unknown tribal name.
2. Like George Will, Black Muslims were invariably seen wearing bowties, which Obama is notably not wearing.
3. If a dark suit and tie is the uniform of a Black Muslim, then my dad (and Ann's, too, probably) was a Black Muslim. Because he invariably wears a bowtie, by slim logic, on dark suit days George Will is signalling his Black Muslimhood.
4. If a dark suit and tie is the uniform of a real Muslim, then how do you explain the dishtowel that Arafat always wore on his head, absent from Obama's?
garage said Name some slurs.
No need.
Even Al Sharpton has asked Bill to shut up.
I forgot, who controlled Congress?
Republicans controlled the Senate for part of Reagan's presidency and they always had enough power to run a balanced budget if they had wanted to. They chose to run the biggest peacetime deficits in history and they chose to triple the national debt.
Reagan is the hero of fake conservatives because he was a fake conservative.
rhhardin: After building washing machines for more than a century in Maytag, Iowa, new owners Whirlpool laid the workers off, shut the plant down, and moved production from Maytag, Galesburg, Illinois, and Omaha, Nebraska down to Reynosa, Mexico. All credit to Bill Clinton for making this possible.
garage said Name some slurs.
No need.
Even Al Sharpton has asked Bill to shut up.
I'm shocked, shocked that the Reverend Sharpton would tell the former First Black President to shut up. What's the party coming to?
Well George, I guess slur is a pretty subjective word although I'm not sure who hdhouse was referring to when he said we GOPers were slurring Obama. Considering the Bill & Hill tag team seems to be doing a fine enough job attacking the poor fella there's no need for the GOP to join thier circular firing squad.
The response to the State of the Union is always dreadful, a poorly-rehearsed dirge taped either in a cramped office or on a cardboard set. It is a bit like Rod Sterling popping up at the end of the Twilight Zone, but wretchedly off. After the carnival pageantry of the State of the Union, Rod's dismal complacencies come across like the mutterings of a crank trapped in an elevator.
It's the worst kind of hackwork and I would think most politicians would want to avoid it.
You couldn't have paid me to watch either speech last night.
All credit to Bill Clinton for making this possible.
The economics of it are however correct, and it makes more people better off than it hurts.
Audio here if you're interested.
The moral argument is that if you live by the benefits of trade, as we all do (do you make your own pencils?), you have to live by the consequences, that sometimes the buggywhip industry will shut down on your job.
The Mexicans don't to it better than we do, but we do something else better and need the workers there.
Garage: at the risk of over parsing, I don't think slurs is the right word. Bill is smart enough to be indirect and Hillary is smart enough to use surrogates so she can take the high ground. But some examples of Clinton sleaze might be: references to cocaine use by surrogates prior to NH; Bill comparing Obama to Jesse Jackson (indirectly, of course); Bill's injection of race and gender into the campaign in SC; Hillary's use of robo calls to Edwards voters arguing that edwards supported NAFTA while, of course, not mentioning that it was WJC that signed NAFTA into law. And the clinton's campaign use of attack ads in the Tues and Wed run up only to withdraw them on thursday after they had poisoned the well. "I'm Hillary Clinton and I approved this ad" (that I am now withdrawing because it is too negative.) RIGHT. Technically, I suppose,there isnt a slur in the lot personally delivered by the Clinton's themselves--but there is a whole lot of sleaze and innuendo that some in the the liberal establishment seem to have no trouble seeing.
Re: the cryptic Maytag reference...
A mixed bag...
Just this year, Iowa lost about 1,800 jobs when appliance-maker Maytag, now owned by Whirlpool Corp., shuttered its plant in its home town of Newton. (The jobs moved to Ohio, but foreign competition was a key reason Maytag was acquired by Whirlpool.) Wages haven't kept pace with inflation, and employers here, as elsewhere, have been paring health and retirement benefits.
Many Iowans blame their difficulties on global trade....
Iowa's ambivalence is all the more remarkable because the state is on the whole a big winner from global trade. "Iowa, as much as any other state, is on the plus side of the ledger," says James Leach, a 30-year Republican congressman from Iowa who now runs Harvard University's Institute of Politics. "It would be highly ironic if pro-protectionist candidates prevailed in the Iowa caucuses."
WSJ, Nov 07
freelunch said...
"Republicans controlled the Senate for part of Reagan's presidency and they always had enough power to run a balanced budget if they had wanted to. They chose to run the biggest peacetime deficits in history and they chose to triple the national debt."
The quintessential liberal cold war delusion: we were at peace with the Soviet Union.
Considered for your approval...you're about to enter a land between shadow and substance...
Maybe the Twilight Zone reference is more apt than you thought!
Riffing off Simon's valid point about the cold WAR (vs the cold PEACE), some of that deficit went into anti-missile defense and deployment of GLCM and Pershings as part of the theater nuclear forces into Europe--two moves that at least according to the Soviet Military led to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union. The remarkable thing is really how little it did cost to win the cold the cold war.
But Hoosier Daddy, the press can't ask him hard question. He won't allow them---plus David Axelrod will sick Arianna Huffington and Andrew Sullivan on you.....and who really wants to be on the receiving end of the nagfest with those two old cows?
Just a thought...
Well George, I guess slur is a pretty subjective word although I'm not sure who hdhouse was referring to when he said we GOPers were slurring Obama.
For a guy trying to convince us he's not a Muslim, he should avoid being photographed in their uniform.
If calling Obama a Muslim when he clearly is a Christian isn't a slur then I'm not sure what your definition of slur is. I'm not particularly happy with the Clinton's myself, but I'm not so deluded to know that they're crap will seem minuscule compared to the whisper campaign by Republicans.
I'm not so deluded to know that they're crap will seem minuscule compared to the whisper campaign by Republicans
That's fine. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.
Well when that whisper campaign heats up let me know. Right now I can't hear anything over the din of Bill's voice.
The quintessential liberal cold war delusion: we were at peace with the Soviet Union.
The quintessential wingnut delusion: we're at war with any regime we don't like.
Personally--and I do recognize the danger--I've been enjoying losing myself in Obama's rhetoric. The musicality of his delivery floors me every time. But y'all criticize him for that. What's a guy to do? Appear more studious, apparently, and stand calmly in front of some books.
But in answer to Ann's question: Yes. Very much so, indeed.
"The quintessential wingnut delusion: we're at war with any regime we don't like." Hmmmm...to paraphrase WJC: depends on what the definition of war is. Our military was certainly much much larger than during the cold war than it is now.
Hoosier Daddy,
The whisper campaign has already started if you haven't noticed in these comments alone. I'm not sure what you think I'm denying exactly or if you just heard that Egypt quote for the first time a few days ago and decided to use it.
I have zero problem seeing the racial tone of some of the Clinton's campaign, but the Muslim stuff isn't coming from them. We can thank you Fox News Republicans for that uplifting addition to this campaign season. And I'm sure a quick search of this blog alone, with "obama" and "Muslim" would provide you a quick answer.
Simon said...
The quintessential liberal cold war delusion: we were at peace with the Soviet Union.
Check up on the WWII budgets and get back to us about what a wartime budget looks like. Reagan's deficits were far higher than the Korea or Vietnam ones. By the way, Roosevelt didn't cut taxes during the war and Republicans weren't demanding tax cuts, either.
Reagan was a fake conservative
Freelunch: again, I think it depends on your definition of war. WWII war time budgets give you a wonderful example of basicallyl starting from scratch to fight a two front war simultaneously. But, I think a better numerical analysis might be the cost of maintaining a standing military to account for a potential war with the soviets from 1946 to 1989 to the cost of the WWII buildup for a hot war. That would put the cost of that effort in considerably more focus.
Roger said...
again, I think it depends on your definition of war. WWII war time budgets give you a wonderful example of basicallyl starting from scratch to fight a two front war simultaneously. But, I think a better numerical analysis might be the cost of maintaining a standing military to account for a potential war with the soviets from 1946 to 1989 to the cost of the WWII buildup for a hot war. That would put the cost of that effort in considerably more focus.
From 1950 to 1981, the real debt of the country stayed at about 2.2 trillion dollars in today's dollars. In the next eight years, Reagan increased that debt to 4.8 trillion (Nominal $1.0 T to $2.9 T). My understanding of history is that the demands on the Pentagon were not greater from 1981 to 1989 than they were from 1950-1981.
If obama is secretly a muslim, giuliani and gwb must be hyper-devout imams considering their love of all things saudi.
Defense spending as a fraction of GDP decreased to about 3% at the end of the Carter administration. It had been as high as 15% at various times between the end of WWII and the end of the Vietnam war. It rose to about 6% of GDP at the height of the Reagan military buildup, which was still quite a bit smaller than during the Vietnam war. It is now about 4% of GDP. Whatever deficits are attributable to President Reagan, they most assuredly had little to do with the amount of defense spending.
I am reminded so much of a time Ricky Nelson appeared on Saturday Night Live. He said probably no one recognized him in color, so NBC promptly turned the broadcast color off for a moment for the benefit of us Ozzie and Harriet holdovers.
The whisper campaign has already started if you haven't noticed in these comments alone.
Oh, sorry. I wasn't aware that the postings of anonymous commenters on Althouse constituted that campaign. I was expecting something more, you know, showy.
I have zero problem seeing the racial tone of some of the Clinton's campaign
Why do I suspect if it came from a GOP candidate you wouldn't be couching it as a 'racial tone' but flat out racism?
but the Muslim stuff isn't coming from them.
My guess is that the only ones who still think Obama's muslim ties have credibity are on par with the 9/11 Truthers. Seems the only ones parroting the story are the fringe believers and those who seem to bring it up to demonstrate the Clintons aren't so bad.
We can thank you Fox News Republicans for that uplifting addition to this campaign season.
Indeed, it ranks right up there with Memogate.
Richard Fagin--thanks for crunching the numbers--I confess to being too lazy to do it; and whatever the impact of the defense budget, the single biggest component of that budget is personnel and not hardware--even star wars hardware.
Ruth Anne,
You nailed it. What is this guy for except "change" and stuff? I think of the end of Shane and the little boy keening Shane into the wilderness.
Oh, yeah, surrendering in Iraq just when it looks like we and the Iraqis may win, and nationalizing the economy.
Oh, yeah, "turning a page"--backwards, to the '60s.
Invisible--
Not sure why you say I 'slur' Obama...
The best line in his speech--and maybe most subtle--is we must "immediately begin the responsible withdrawal of our combat brigades so that we can bring all our combat troops home."
Notice, of course, that the withdrawal must be "responsible." That's what Bush said his policy was last night. No timetable.
And only a minority of the soldiers are "combat" soldiers. Under Obama, we would still have, I dunno, 50,000 or so non-combat soldiers Iraq in "support" roles. Forever.
He also says he will "increase" our commitment to Afghanistan...so the "combat" soldiers fly direct to Kabul from Iraq.....?
If he gets elected, he'll just break the hearts of all his supporters. Personally, I'd like to spare them that heartbreak.
Man, I am loving this election cycle. It’s better than anything on the tube except reruns of “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Andy Griffith Show.” BTW Don Knotts as Barney Fife is the greatest second banana of all times.
Obama as King Arthur seeks to revive Camelot versus the more experienced, two-for-one, evil, mighty, my husband’s blacker than you Hillary as Queen Mab with a cameo by Princess Caroline as The Lady of The Lake.
But this is the reality of what’s going on right now and I love it.
I had a breath of nostalgia just now:
"surrendering in Vietnam just when it looks like we and the Vietnamese may win"
Those Commie peaceniks!
"surrendering in Vietnam just when it looks like we and the Vietnamese may win"
Nostalgia doesn't exactyly equate to historical facts though. We actually got a peace deal from the North Vietnamese and those Commies turned around and done broke it.
See we left Nam in 1973. North Vietnam broke the Paris Peace accord and invaded South Vietnam in 1975. We just ignored it. Well not quite ignored, Ford issued some strong words but that was about it.
Those Commie peaceniks!
Indeed.
There are a lot of conservative blogs that are linking Obama to his cousin Odinga in Kenya who is leading the murderous uprising there since he didn't get the vote to go his way. Some hint that Obama will react the same way if he doesn't win, which I think is ridiculous, since even if he doesn't win this round, he will probably win in the future.
BBC has a story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7176683.stm
I don't know if any more serious coverage has taken place in terms of this link between Obama and his purported cousin. The cousin claims that Obama has called him several times in the last two weeks. How factual is this link?
It seems we still don't really know anything about Obama. His cousin is apparently in favor of Sharia law.
I haven't seen much on this in the legitimate media outside of the BBC coverage.
I listened again. Obama said:
He opposes Bush tax cuts.
He Favors middle class tax cuts.
He Favors More unemployment insurance.
Banks have run amock in America.
He will get More money for seniors and workers.
He Has a PLAN.
Surge is NOT working.
Iraq govt failed.
He will bring troops home.
He will fight MORE in Afghanistan.
Wall St. is bad for Main Street.
He recognizes evil of Lobbyists -saw them in the 1st Exorcist movie.
He will eliminate Fear & Ideology.
He will bring back Hope & Common Sense...including health care, good wages & common purpose.
Of course, details to follow.
Senator Obama is much more ashamed of his first cousin Richie Cunningham Dunham who lives in a small town in Kansas. He has red hair and blue eyes and is often mistaken for a Mormon.
Kirby Olson said...
"[E]ven if [Obama] doesn't win this round, he will probably win in the future...."
Isn't that what people said four years about Edwards, presently an also-ran with delusions of being a kingmaker?
Actually, this is the person I want to be listening to a year from now. And after voting R for president for way too many years, it's time for a wholesale change.
I'm willing to put up with the bad videos (this is one of them) and the promises to act like a liberal if it gets rid of more of the same. I'll only hope the country has a enough sense to turn down the volume on the 'we're screwed' fear mongering going on here.
I'm all in, and frankly these comment threads (OK the dragnet and muslim uniform comments were funny) pretty much reveal the fear the GOP has when it faces wholesale cleansing from James Dobson on down.
I mean, you could just run on your record of the past 8 years.
Oh, wait.
Did Odinga really name his eldest son Fidel after Fidel Castro, as Wiki says?
In any event, the mob violence in Kenya is horrible....
"On Saturday, hundreds of men prowled a section of the city with six-foot iron bars, poisoned swords, clubs, knives and crude circumcision tools. Boys carried gladiator-style shields and women strutted around with sharpened sticks..... According to witnesses, a Kikuyu mob forcibly circumcised one Luo man who later bled to death. Circumcision is an important rite of passage for Kikuyus but is not widely practiced among Luos....
“We’re angry and they’re angry,” said John Maina, a stocky butcher, whose weapon of choice on Saturday was a three-foot table leg with exposed screws. “I don’t see us living together any time soon.”
That is the reality across much of Kenya, and it seems to be nothing short of so-called ethnic cleansing."
fyi...Odinga is a Luo; President Kibaki is Kukuyu.
Danny says:
"If obama is secretly a muslim, giuliani and gwb must be hyper-devout imams considering their love of all things saudi."
I guess you "forgot" that Rudy turned down millions from some Saudi sheik after 9-11, money that Cynthia McKinney (D- Moon) said she would take. You just make this shit up as you go along? Asshole.
Some hint that Obama will react the same way if he doesn't win
That's because some people are either insane or maliciously manipulative. Best not to give them even an ounce of credibility.
The cousin connection was mentioned in the actual press a couple of weeks back, I could swear, though without the innuendo and such speculation, I believe.
Obama's cousin Richie Cunningham Dunham was involved in vandalism with his pals Potsie and Ralph. They repeatedly spray painted the water tower in town and rolled boulders off Lookout point. They broke the window at Arnold's drive-in. But the main skeleton in their closet is the gang bang they had with Pinky Tescadoro on top of the pin ball machine in the pub. Now that happened on a weekend Senator Obama was visiting his grandmother. For some reason, Richie and his running buddies all refer to the Senator as the "conductor." The BBC is investigating. More to follow.
Pogo wrote,
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
Great, now I have the tune from "The Yellow Rose of Texas" stuck in my head.
As for Obama's speech, he should stick to the "can't we all just get along" material and skip the partisan attacks. They just don't work for him.
Mail it in like they used to do--then we wont have to listen to the speech, the democratic party response, and now, apparently, some of the candidates.
rossi wrote,
And after voting R for president for way too many years, it's time for a wholesale change. [...] I mean, you could just run on your record of the past 8 years.
If this is the first time you're voting for a non-Republican in "way too many years", how can you honestly refer to the Republican record in the second person?
You should have said "you could just run on our record". After all, you supported the policies in question just as much as the people you're addressing did.
The Obama campaign is also covering up the fact that the Senator can't dance, likes to wear Bermuda shorts with a fanny pack, and the fact that his favorite condiment is mayonnaise.
Slim999 said...
For a guy trying to convince us he's not a Muslim, he should avoid being photographed in their uniform.
Been away for a while, so it's nice to stop by and see that thinly veiled racism remains a constant here.
Ann must be so proud of her cultists.
Somehow Rossi, apropos Rev's comments you need to sort out the use of your pronouns to convince you were ever a republican. Tell us when you had your epiphany!
Been away for a while
You posted here six days ago, dude.
Been away for a while, so it's nice to stop by and see that thinly veiled racism remains a constant here.
Coming from a person with the pseudoname 'jeweejewish' you're either being ironic or a hypocrite.
I'm betting the latter.
Isn't that what people said four years about Edwards, presently an also-ran with delusions of being a kingmaker?
Fantastic stuff! If "people" said A about B several years ago, and it turned out to be false, that means when "people" say A about C, it must also turn out to be false! It's perfectly cromulent reasoning!
I guess you "forgot" that Rudy turned down millions from some Saudi sheik after 9-11, money that Cynthia McKinney (D- Moon) said she would take. You just make this shit up as you go along? Asshole.
The same Saudi government Rudy! lobbied on behalf of his firm? The same Rudy! that accepted Pat Robertson's endorsement who claimed America deserved 9/11 not because of it's policies, but it's sinful ways? Seeing Rudy! fade into oblivion has to be the most satisfying thing in this election to date.
Re Edwards, I am suspecting he could very well be a king maker depending on the major primaries. If no candidate goes to the convention with a majority, Edwards (and the super delegates) is going to be huge. He has every incentive to stay in this primary season until somebody goes over the top. We havent heard the last from him, I think.
Rev, Roger,
That confused me at first, too, but then I realized, rossi wasn't referring to personally voting for (R) candidates, but to the nation voting for (R) candidates.
Or, he's the worst Moby ever.
Somehow Rossi, apropos Rev's comments you need to sort out the use of your pronouns to convince you were ever a republican. Tell us when you had your epiphany!
Musta been when James Dobson finally joined the GOP last year after voting D for president for way too many years.
Fantastic stuff! If "people" said A about B several years ago, and it turned out to be false, that means when "people" say A about C, it must also turn out to be false! It's perfectly cromulent reasoning!
This is the problem with partisans. A reasonable person might have read the original statement and said, "Yes, it's true: The conventional wisdom of four years ago proved to be false, so perhaps we should be suspicious of it today."
A little trite, sure, but in response to the notion that Obama's future prospects are somehow secure, not unreasonable.
It's doubtless more fun to torture the enemy's statements into syllogisms, but it doesn't lend itself to actual communication.
If communication's an interest of yours, of course. It's not of some regulars here.
Hoosier Daddy said...
Coming from a person with the pseudoname 'jeweejewish' you're either being ironic or a hypocrite.
I'm betting the latter.
You wouldn't know from irony if it bit you in the ass.
First of all, I've been bar mitzvahed. Second of all, the name is a borscht belt parody of a borscht belt comedian who might have been on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW.
"And right now...before the comedy of young Jewee Jewish...."
[J]eweejewish is steve simels.
Mr. Simels has botched previous attempts to use alternate names to circumvent his banishment.
He is obsessively envious of Althouse, has referred to her commenters as cultists, and has evidenced a preening moral vanity in matters concerning identity politics and left-leaning causes, in general. He considers Althouse the enemy.
He is a WORLD FAMOUS POP MUSIC CRITIC. He's probably Jewish.
[J]eweejewish has commented at Mr. Simel's blog. He's deeply envious of Althouse and calls it cult-like. He evidences a condescending familiarity with pop culture and , well . . . that's enough . . .it suffices to say he's an asshole.
[J]eweejewish is steve simels.
A reasonable person might have read the original statement and said, "Yes, it's true: The conventional wisdom of four years ago proved to be false, so perhaps we should be suspicious of it today."
And a thinking person might have thought "Why did it prove wrong of Edwards, and do those reasons also apply to Obama?" But forget about that, actually thinking about what you're saying gets in the way of the all-important exchange of banalities.
I think he likes her. This is the cyber equivalent of running up and pushing her books out of her hands. Of pulling her pigtails. You know the dating rituals of third grade.
Or he could be John McCain. He's the only other person in America old enough to remember the Ed Sullivan show.
In this ad, Obama comes across (at least to me) as prosaic, flat, deflated, as grey as his tie-suit-curtains. And a bit of a sourpuss to boot. He's better when feeding off the energy of a crowd.
"Imagine if next year were different." OK, let's give that a shot. He says that the R team has failed completely, Bush is a fiasco, the surge has failed (he said that before it even started), etc. Sounds like pretty standard, partisan stuff to me. So how is that going to make next year "different"? Obviously, it will be different in that there will be a newly elected president, but that's hardly his point. His "I'm a uniter" theme only makes sense if he starts taking (and is seen to be taking) the best from both sides, however he cares to define "best." To be the "uniter" he says he wants to be, he needs to project himself as Obama-the-synthesizer who can get us beyond the worn-out dichotomies of the past. Without that, it's just a "we're right, you're wrong" message that's more likely to achieve the opposite of what he says he wants.
In another weird twist to this election, Ms. Hillary may be the better "uniter", in the same sense that Bill was -- e.g., by signing on to R proposals like welfare reform (after having been vehemently opposed). Bill was masterful at co-opting just enough of the R team's proposals to force them to go along, so Bill could be seen as a guy who transcended the usual partisan gridlock. Like Bill, Ms. Hill's willingness to compromise any principle in order to triangulate her way to power, is more likely to result in a messy kind of "unity" than the standard-issue, down-the-line partisan stuff Obama was talking about. His ostensible theme may be unity, but his message keeps coming across as "I'm the pure of heart, the true believer, no spineless triangulator here."
Richard, I can actually shorten that: to believe that Obama will be the uniter he says he'll be, you have to be willing to assume that on taking office, he will completely repudiate everything substantive he's said and done in his political career (including this campaign) to date. If you don't accept that, you're stuck with evaluating him in light of those materials, and when you look at those materials, the claim that he'll be a uniter not a divider falls apart, because they all indicate that substantively, he is every bit as much of a partisan liberal as any of his rivals. He'll compromise, for sure - but while adopting a policy halfway between what he'd like to do and what MoveOn.org wants him to do may be a compromise, it isn't going to unite the country.
Yeah, no-fault divorce ranks right up there with Nam and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.>
Socons probably think it was worse.
From a new Washington Monthly essay explaining why BHO is no JFK....
"...Except for a brief stopover in London, returning from Russia in 2005, [Obama] has apparently never been to Western Europe since launching his political career. What renders this gap especially surprising is that Obama is Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on Europe. Not only has the Senator not visited the region his committee oversees, but...Obama’s committee has not held a single policy-oriented hearing since he’s been chairman."
Senator Obama has also served on the Labor committee for his entire tenure, but has never been with child. However, he claims to be pregnant with possibilities.
On a related note, in recent weeks Rudy Giuliani has claimed that he is really and truly pro-life. However, most observers have termed his campaign an abortion.
Good looking guy, intelligent and well spoken. I hear he's a heck of a nice guy. I wish he'd move in next door and marry my sister.
He's also wrong and a Liberal.
Did anyone save any of Richard Nixon's DNA?
There's a rumor that there is some on a good blue Republican cloth coat in the Nixon Library. But that's just a rumor. I might have the presidential libraries mixed up.
You wouldn't know from irony if it bit you in the ass.
Well I would know from whence it came.
First of all, I've been bar mitzvahed.
Congratulations.
Second of all, the name is a borscht belt parody of a borscht belt comedian who might have been on THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW.
Who might have been? You mean you're not sure? If not Ed Sullivan perhaps Johnny Carson? Or are you just MAKING THIS SHIT UP AS YOU GO?
I'm still betting the latter.
Pogo,
Sorry, Schumpeter is the creative-destruction guy, not Schopenhauer.
Pogo,
Sorry, Shmuckposter is the creative-destruction guy, not Schopenhauer. But he really is jewish if that helps.
Yeah, no-fault divorce ranks right up there with Nam and the failed Bay of Pigs invasion.>
amba said...
Socons probably think it was worse.
Could be -- along with Obama's most ardent supporters - under 30 yr olds, more than half of whom are children of divorce who probably know little about the USSR and the Cold War but plenty about the pain caused by their no-fault Boomer parents waltzing out on their families.
And a thinking person might have thought "Why did it prove wrong of Edwards, and do those reasons also apply to Obama?" But forget about that, actually thinking about what you're saying gets in the way of the all-important exchange of banalities.
All the thinking in the world does no good if all you opt for insulting others rather than communicating those thoughts.
You could have said exactly what you said above in quotes, and explained why you thought the reasoning didn't apply, but you chose to misrepresent what was said as an excuse to mock someone.
That's worse than exchanging banalities, that's trolling.
Trooper/Neff: I hope this damn writers strike ends soon and you get off this blog--Where do I send the bill for monitors and keyboards I keep spraying trying to drink and read at the same time--you are evil, sir--funny as hell, but evil!
"Let's count the flaws in this assertion, shall we?
1. The faith of Louis Farrakhan and Malcolm X is not Islam, but a black supremacist belief ginned up mostly by the former Elijah Poole. "X" was used instead of the black man's slaveowner name, to signify his unknown tribal name.
2. Like George Will, Black Muslims were invariably seen wearing bowties, which Obama is notably not wearing.
3. If a dark suit and tie is the uniform of a Black Muslim, then my dad (and Ann's, too, probably) was a Black Muslim. Because he invariably wears a bowtie, by slim logic, on dark suit days George Will is signalling his Black Muslimhood.
4. If a dark suit and tie is the uniform of a real Muslim, then how do you explain the dishtowel that Arafat always wore on his head, absent from Obama's?"
I can see why you are a former law student. You have the logic skills of a 9 year old.
I would refer you to the Wikipedia entry for Malcolm X, where it describes him as a Muslim, an adherent of Islam, a one-time spokesman for the Nation of Islam ... the organization founded by Wallace Ford Muhammad.
Hmmm. Muhammad. Where have I heard that name before.
Notable in the Wikipedia entry is the photograph of Malcolm X, in a gray suit and black traditional tie.
Louis Farakhan sometimes wears a bow tie, but sometimes wears a traditional tie.
I reiterate my original assertion: If Barack Hussein Obama is trying to convince people that he's not a Muslim, perhaps he shouldn't wear their uniform on national television.
"Socons probably think it was worse."
Probably not. I think divorce rates are about the same among Socon populations. Certainly the churches I've seen have had their fair share of men and women finding different "romantic callings".
If Barack Hussein Obama is trying to convince people that he's not a Muslim, perhaps he shouldn't wear their uniform on national television.
Let's not forget Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. he wore their uniform too. He was probably a muslim.
As far as Malcolm X goes, he was an adherent of Islam but not while he was a member of the Nation of Islam.
I think back to the 60's too when I see this but I don't think of JFK. I'll grant you there are the books, JFK 'authored' one as part of the liberal intellectual persona, had 'macho' ideas appropriate for the time (though he crippled their implementation, see Cuba, VN). Obama has current style: thin, minority blend, 'macho' against Iraq. But when he says the surge hasn't worked after some doubtful economic statements, I think of SDS, Students for a Democratic Society, and leftist cant which won't change regardless of what your lying eyes behold.
slim/florida: because you have access to wikipedia you can read (and possibly understand) the difference between Islam and the Nation of Islam.
An enigma for you to ponder: you wear boxer shorts; Farrakhan wears boxer shorts -- and yet you are not trying to pass as a Black Muslim!
This is kind of scary, and indeed it's a "vibe" thing. First, I've never heard anybody so oddly say that the Surge hasn't worked, when it, uh, did, and then he calls for ALL our troops to leave at once after saying the Iraqi government isn't ready for that yet. But if you look at the death rate of Iraqi's over the last month, it's much less than it was when Saddam was killing 10K a month, claiming he had to in order to maintain order over an unruly bunch of mixed religious types and miscreants. And if you look at the death rate of soldiers there in the last month or two, its lower than when they are merely in training. He ignores the "flypaper theory" of invading Iraq in order to give Osama's cult followers a place to storm into other than the USA.
Besides that though, and whatever, politics is lately all about striking poses, facts be damned, was his call for *all* Americans to come together for a *common* cause. And what would that be? A libertarian one like I'd prefer?
The top 10% of income earners already pay 90% of tax revenues, but he wants it to be 99%? That'll really stimulate the economy and motivate genius types to invent new computers or medicines. Take away their business (reinvestment growth revenue) and their Ferrari.
But, that's not even it, that's just talking points from the contemporary left. It's that unlike Bush, who nobody would compared to Churchill or William Buckley in having a flair for oratory, he's kind of scary. I mean, he never smiles, and seems, well, full of rage, or at least meanness. He's no optimist and populist Bill Clinton, who was indeed a centrist at heart instead of a massive activist like Hillary (and I now assume Obama).
What I fear most is the loss of motivational speeches such as Bill or even Bush gave, not to mention Reagan. I see more Carter than JFK in him.
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