Barack Obama
As for me, I've always considered myself a bit of a conservative. Definitely not the kind of conservative espoused by Bill O'Reilly and his kin, but a fiscal conservative. I make a good amount of money, I'd like to make more, and when I see the pitiful refund I get from the IRS, I do tend to get depressed. But a social conservative? Never. I defend the woman's right to choose, I'm on the side of science, and I don't really care about the institution of marriage. I believe in God but dislike religion and its practices.
The presidential season however, has at least outed one of these controversial subjects from the closet, namely politics. Especially amongst the most disaffected lot of them all, the youth. Politics was never considered to be cool, nor chic, and to watch CSPAN2 rather than the latest season of "American Idol" was considered "oh so not cool". Over the last few months however, a lot of things have changed. And in my mind, the one responsible for this is Barack Obama. I can just see my friends frothing at the lips at this statement, but bear with me for a few more paragraphs.
I never thought I'd support a neophyte, but Obama to me, is special. People look at him, especially the so called political elite, with disdain. It is almost as if they can't understand why their choice for the Democratic nomination, Hillary Clinton isn't being ushered in with a minimum of fuss. To them, this is inexplicable, and they sure are sending that message across.
Barack Obama has one quality that makes him stand out amongst the present crop. He is intelligent. Maybe not on the MENSA scale, but he is extremely smart. Folks might make a big deal about his oratorial skills, but I must, I repeat must, emphasize his intelligence. I've seen him give a stump speech, talk about change and everything associated with it, but I've also seen his repartee at a debate and trust me, he's good. Sure, he repeats himself with words. I ask you, why shouldn't he? It works dosen't it? :)
I'll take a Columbia/Harvard grad anyday.
My friends think he's all style, no substance. Well, I'm prepared to take that risk. Being the President of the United States is not a job interview. It is not being an implementer of policy. It does not require an MBA, nor military service. It is a PR job. The person chosen, is the face America chooses to show to the outside world and a candidate like Obama, is priceless. Economic policy, foreign policy, healthcare, infrastructure, they are all instruments of an idea, the tools required to implement a vision, and he has a vision. Folks argue, he'll make mistakes, he'll blunder along. I refute that. The president has probably the best staff possible. In the end, it comes down to judgement. Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld had probably the largest resume possible when it came to government service. Why then, the enormous blunders in Iraq till date? They imposed their own personal biases that perhaps clouded their judgement?
Folks don't realise he's run a near perfect campaign to date. He's bested the best political machine in town, the Clintons. At the very end, don't the rules state that you nominate the one who wins the campaign? If he's run the better of two campaigns, shouldn't the debate stop at that?
posted by orphean at
7:54 PM
1 Comments:
I am not sold on Obama - especially the fact that he is intelligent. So assuming that we gauge his intelligence based on what he says in public - interviews and the like, I don't see intelligence in anything he says. If a person is truly intelligent he should have some intelligent ideas. Let's get a bit more specific with what ideas I have heard so far from him, ideas that are associated to his promises:
Promise # 1: Bring about change in politics - He keeps saying that Washington is too full of special interests - no one is denying that. But some of these special interests work for companies,countries and special groups. In fact unions are part of this too....they are represented on Capitol Hill. So to say that I am going to eliminate these groups is promising too much. What he may say is that we are going to reduce their influence... even that seems really difficult to achieve because here is the hard fact - there aren't Obama's in the congress and senate. Sorry! The congress and senate rely on these people to get their money.Sure he brought about ethics reform but then after many hard struggles. So to promise a big thing like changing the system is promising way too much....its too idealistic, we all know that.
Also, what about the job losses in throwing away these lobbyists and special interests.....DC has a lot of people working for them...what about that?
His method of doing this: Bringing together republicans and democrats in doing so...well, see above for comment. When the republicans and democrats cannot agree on the welfare of the soldiers...are they going to cut their source of income? Also, his policies are liberal-minded so either he has to shift his policies or ask republicans to support his liberal policies...either of which won't happen! So I am looking for an idea to support his promise......his policies are not going to help him so some thing else should...wonder what?
Promise/Idea # 2: Talk with foreign leaders without preconditions as soon as possible: Okay he has become more nuanced in his approach but strategically one never talks with an opponent without gauging him/her. Does he really think people outside the US are waiting to embrace him as soon as he goes and talks to people? Will Hezbollah, Hamas give up claims to destroy Israel if he goes and talks to them? Is Iran going to stop pursuing nuclear weapons if he is going to talk to them? The reason I bring this is because when dealing with an opponent on a tactical level, you need to have a component of threat at the ready - and use it as an incentive for cooperaton as much and as long as possible. If the US is going to open its arms and talk to the opponents, then what is the reason for cooperation? One modern day example is North Korea - It was the effort of US diplomacy putting pressure on Russia and China to form a coalition based on common objectives. All of these partners had a stake in seeing North Korea give up its nuclear arsenal and it worked. We need to build coalitions if work has to be done...unilateralism - be it unilateral attacks or unilateral peace don't go a far distance, at least not when the problem is truly of an international nature.
Idea # 3: If the top brass of Al-Qaeda is seen in Pakistan, he would strike unilaterally without seeking consent. Where do I begin with this? Unilateral strikes - have they done anything good so far? Attacking a sovereign nation? Attacking a nation where 70% of the nation doesn't like the US, is that really coherent with his idea # 2? Its naiive!
I have much more to write but I will let go here.
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