What We Learned Last Thursday
As I was watching the Vice Presidential debate last Thursday night, it dawned on me that not only does Sarah Palin want to continue Dick Cheney’s practice of stretching the powers of the office of Vice President, she also may be more like Bush than even McCain has been over the last eight years. It was clear in the debate that Palin is a politician that pretty much does whatever she damn well pleases. She refused to answer any of the moderator’s questions and almost acted as if Joe Biden wasn’t even in the room. It was the most bizzare political debate I have watched in my entire life.
We have had a leader in office for the last eight years that has pretty much done whatever he damn well pleased or at least whatever his masters have damn well pleased. Trust has been broken. Laws have most likely been broken. America has lost the respect of the world, and we’re all worse off for it. Do the American people really want another administration that will continue to ignore what is best for the country and only do what is best for the few? I do not believe that. I cannot believe that and still feel good about my Republican friends and neighbors. It is time for a new direction and a brighter future for all.
Obama/Biden 2008
Early adopting super geek, musician, father, resident tech guru.
Like I said Tim….Sarah Palin….we can't afford another bad BUSH in office!!!
Tim, if you're behind the Keating video, great job. I've been a Republican voter since July 1, 1971, and I voted for W in 2000 (only). I've been writing one or two blogs a day for the my.obama website (http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/blog/t…) since about last May, and I've received probably less than ten replies (not that I'm surprised by this fact).
I believe Senator Obama could still lose this election, and speaking from the perspective of a Republican/Independent, the openings he has left for McCain are glaring at him, and he seems not to notice them. The most obvious one has to do with which candidate is decisively better equipped to lead this country out of the “Little Big-Horn by the Tigris” before we find ourselves facing a nuclear-equipped terrorist state in Pakistan. (If I could afford to pay Senator Obama to simply read this post: http://my.barackobama.com/page/community/post/t… I would, but I wouldn't even know who to ask in any case.)
Hopefully, “the melt-down thing” will distract voters long enough that the unfinished business of disposing of the foreign policy/Commander in Chief issue won't matter. However, Senator Obama doesn't seem to notice that the failure of the markets to respond to a series of fairly dramatic moves by the “finance ministers” of the key western economic powers has meaning, and may precipitate what I would call “yet another crisis point” before November 4th, one which could erase his fragile lead overnight.
I'm a systems analyst, not a financial analyst, so I'll stipulate that my views might be considered sophomoric by those of you who actually do have expertise in these areas. Nonetheless, the more I see of Senator McCain (who I supported for many years BTW), the more I worry about the possibility that he might be elected. I see some serious psychological issues, as well as what I consider obvious early signs of something very common in his age group: dementia.
Had he selected Elizabeth Dole as his running mate (why didn't he? I guess we can all hazard a guess…), I wouldn't be so worried. But I worry greatly about having a President who is subtly impaired, or a successor who seems so out of touch with her own limitations. If you care to check out the above mentioned link (“Land Mines Between Here and Nov. 4th”), I'd feel better. Either you will conclude it's worthless, or you'll pass it along to someone else who might benefit from the perspective at least. Either way, I'd feel better knowing someone more connected than I gave it a read.
Thanks,
Ted in Portland, Oregon
Hi Ted! Thanks for the great comment! I'd love to say I had anything to do with the Keating video, but I didn't. The Obama campaign clearly had that video queued up for quite some time and decided it was time to pull the trigger.
I read your post, and you make some very good points. The Obama campaign needs to continue to be vigilant against unfounded Republican attacks by responding to them with a healthy portion of truth and reason.
As far as the coordinated moves by the economic powers around the world, I'm not sure how they have meaning good or bad for either of the campaigns right now. What we're seeing in the equity markets is irrational selling. Everyone is scared and is getting out in some cases at a huge loss. There is no way that all of these companies are really worth so much less than they were a couple weeks ago. That just doesn't make any sense. The equity markets are not indicative of the underlying issue which is really all about credit. When even banks won't lend to each other, you know we have a huge problem. Our government's job now is to help convince banks that they will get their money back when they lend it. That's the big challenge, and I think we have the tools in place to do that, but it's going to be a long time before we are able to really see how this will pan out. Like Barack keeps saying, this is just the beginning, and the rescue bill was just the first in what could turn out to be many attempts to resolve the financial crisis. We need to make sure we elect Obama and Biden so we have sound leadership in place to deal with what lies ahead.
Tim, I just read this quote from Obama in concert with his expanded detail on economic plans:
“CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn't have. Lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn't afford — and some folks knew they couldn't afford them and bought them anyway,” Obama said, as the crowd applauded. “We've lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits, to borrow instead of save.”
He conceded: “For many folks this was not a choice but a necessity. People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills. But we now know how dangerous that can be. Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt.”
This is very encouraging!
Tim, I just read this quote from Obama in concert with his expanded detail on economic plans:
“CEOs got greedy. Politicians spent money they didn't have. Lenders tricked people into buying homes they couldn't afford — and some folks knew they couldn't afford them and bought them anyway,” Obama said, as the crowd applauded. “We've lived through an era of easy money, in which we were allowed and even encouraged to spend without limits, to borrow instead of save.”
He conceded: “For many folks this was not a choice but a necessity. People have been forced to turn to credit cards and home equity loans to keep up, just like our government has borrowed from China and other creditors to help pay its bills. But we now know how dangerous that can be. Once we get past the present emergency, which requires immediate new investments, we have to break that cycle of debt.”
This is very encouraging!