The first big figuring out stuff thing happened on Friday. I get Mr. Glenn Becks' daily newsletter. I used to get it because I liked the comedy and I was generally working when his show was on, so I couldn't listen. Lately I haven't been enjoying it though, and quite often it just irks me. I've been trying to figure out why, and this weekend I GOT IT!!!
It's not that Mr Beck is not honest, nor that I object to him sharing his opinion. The thing that has been bugging me, is the pettiness of the partisan debate. Mr Beck is a Conservative Republican, and as such wholly supports that view. I can't fault him for because I used to be the same way. What bugs me is just the weak arguments put forth as to why people shouldn't vote for Mr Obama. It's not just Mr. Beck though, it seems that anyone with a firm belief in either of the major parties suffers from this bias and tendency towards childish arguing.
Some other things I figured out:
- I am now confident in my ability to run the St George marathon next month, courtesy of Saturdays excellent 18 mile run.
- I think I'm going to vote for Mr Obama. I'm pretty sure he's not going to be able to come through on most of what he's promising, but I'd rather aim for the stars and miss that aim for the dung heap and hit it - and as far as I can tell, Mr McCain is the dung heap (See! I'm as childish as the rest!!)
- I figured out some religious stuff too, but I'll post that elsewhere, later in the day
Koda, I'm interested in hearing some specific reasons as to why you're leaning toward Obama. Other than him not being Bush or McCain, how could an Obama presidency possibly further your political viewpoints?
ReplyDeleteAlso, you argue that criticisms like those Glenn Beck is leveling against Obama are petty. Could you enumerate those and and tell me why you think they're petty?
Mr. Sirmize! I would be happy to. Give me a little while to gather my information so that I can back up my claims - I've been a little swamped with work lately, so it may take a day or two.
ReplyDeleteNo problem. I barely have time to take a bathroom break, let alone come up with a decent post lately. Take your time.
ReplyDeleteOK, I skipped my lunch time run today, and spent a little time going back through my emails trying to find the one that sparked the "I've got it" in my mind.
ReplyDeleteThe newsletter from Glenn that got me going was the one where he started gushing over Pallins nomination. I believe the transcript is here... http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/14589/
The thing that got me, is that from what I recall (And I could be wrong here) but for months now, all the conservative hosts have been pushing the idea that Obama doesn't have the experience to lead. All of a sudden Pallin gets elected and experience doesn't matter... Personally I would rather have someone with no experience than someone with the experience of screwing things up like most incumbent politicians, but what bugged me was the double standard.
There were a number of other things which I saw on TV the night before that got this going in my mind. One clip - I beleive it was Sean Hannity going on about how Hillary should be able to deal with the extra scrutiny of being a women, and another of Pallin saying the same thing about Hillary. Now all of a sudden when Pallin is in the spot light, the critics need to stop being sexist... That's not what they were saying when Hillary was being criticised...
I'm not singling out just the Republicans for this kind of two faced hypocrisy, since the Democrats do it as well. It just seems that rather than focussing on Mr. McCains economic plans or Mr. Obama's economic plans, they're arguing about the inconsequential stuff like Pastor Wright for Obama and Quotes from Pallins previous pastor about the war in Iraq being a war for God, just to give one example.
My reasons for leaning towards Obama at this point:
I would vote Libertarian, because that's where my primary beliefs lie. The problem is that I'm just not wild about Bob Barr. I like his platform, but I don't get the feeling that he's in it to win it - if you know what I mean. Had Ron Paul been able to run, my decision would have been much easier.
I could vote constitutional, but I need to do some more research there. My concern is that the constitutional party has a view of the constitution which differs from mine - That's just based on assumptions from things I've seen, and not an educated opinion.
So I'm pretty much left with McCain or Obama.
Having watched Mr. Obama speak, as well as his wife, I have been very impressed with the way he presents himself and believe that he is the best person to represent the country. Internationally, the current administration has trashed the image of the United States. My belief is that most of the problems in the middle east have been excacerbated by our policies in the region. I am hopeful that Mr. Obama would offer a better set of options to the various factions over there, rather than "Do what we say, or we'll bomb the hell out of you."
Mr. McCain just lacks the polished and proffesional presence that Mr. Obama has. That may all be superficial, but I'm not sure the President can make that much difference without the backing of the Senate and Congress anyway.
If you compare the ads of the two campaigns here in Utah, my opinion is that McCains ads have been based on "Obama is bad for this country because of..." While Mr Obama's ads have been more about what he would like to achieve. I'm not saying that the Obama campaign hasn't run negative ads of it's own, but I think overall the Obama approach appears to be a lot cleaner and more positive. I was especially impressed when he came out against Pallins critics for her daughters pregnancy. Mr. McCain would have been all over something like that, had he been given a similar opportunity with either Biden or Obama.
I could probably go on and on, but what I've come down to is this...
I don't think Mr. Obama will be able to make good on his talk of hope and promise, but I think he's going to try.
I suspect that Mr. McCain will continue much of what has been going on in the current administration. I don't think he has plans to improve anything, and I tend to agree with Jon Stewart from the Daily show when he said that McCain has gone from a Maverick Reformer to a reformed maverick.
I'm still not totally sold on Obama - his socialist policies do worry me some, but at the same time, I'm worried that McCains continuation of a pattern of fear and war will take away from our freedoms too.
As in the past couple of elections I guess it's going to come down to selecting the lesser of two evils.
Koda, thanks for elaborating. I didn't mean to make you skip your run, though!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your take, and let me give you mine on the issues you brought up.
Regarding experience: It is indisputable that Obama has no executive experience and very little congressional experience, comparatively. His resume, quite literally, could fit on one square of toilet paper. Critics were right to knock him on that.
Now we need to remember that 1) Obama isn't running against Palin. He's running against McCain, whose resume clearly trumps Obama's. 2) While Palin is young and relatively new to the political scene, she has solid executive experience as both a mayor and a governor. It's interesting that Obama mocked her time as mayor but failed to mention her governorship at all.
Experience is obviously not the catch-all qualifier for the presidency, but I for one would like to know that my candidate has at least some executive experience, made some decisions that might have major implications, run some kind of operation.
In my opinion, the GOP ticket has this experience. The Obama ticket does not. Period.
About scrutiny on being a woman, I think everything about Palin is fair game. What I don't like is how major media outlets like MSNBC and the NY Times repeated rumors about Palin in their supposedly objective coverage.
Those rumors were completely unfounded and have been debunked, yet by echoing them over and over again, these media outlets have done damage. This, as far as I can tell, never happened to Hillary (and I defended Hillary to the very end against Obama- I would have caught it if had happened)
About judgement, I disagree with you on this point. I don't think Wright, Ayers, and Rezko are inconsequential. I think Obama's relations to them are fair game and important to scrutinize. I'm planning an elaborate post on this subject in the coming days. I'll let you know when it's posted. Bottom line: I feel Obama has horrible judgment. His "friendly relationship" with Ayers alone is an automatic disqualifier for me
By the way, I think you're misinterpreting the Palin quote on the Iraq war being of God.
Another thing, one reason Obama might not want his followers scrutinizing Palin's pregnant daughter- Michelle was pregnant herself before she and Barack were married. Not something I personally give a rat's arse about, but I think Obama would rather steer clear of that subject.
What has me solidly in the McCain camp is the probable long-term results as far as taxes, energy, and Supreme Court justices are concerned.
I have yet to see any good reason at all for a conservative/libertarian to vote for Obama. I think all the talk about McCain's warmongering is a scare tactic. And the last thing that would ever weigh into my decision is what the world thinks of America.
You're a thinking man, Koda, and while I disagree with most of your take, I respect your honesty and forthrightness. You're somebody that puts truth above politics, and I'll favor you over a shallow partisan hack any day.
Thanks for the compliment... I hope that I would never let something stand in the way of getting to the truth, although it's very difficult at times - I'll be honest that I'm struggling with it now.
ReplyDeleteYou did raise some valid points. I can definitely see the argument about experience, and the GOP ticket definitely has the Obama ticket beat. But it's experience in a Washington that I think needs to change.
The other thing is Obama's judgment. The thing is, that for many years, Nelson Mandela was considered a terrorist by the South African government, but I have more respect for him than almost any other man. I don't know much about Ayres or Reznick, and I'm sure the news outlets are all spinning it in support of their various positions. I know that I did agree with Rev. Wright on a lot of what he said, but I could see why it could have been seen as offensive too. Perhaps it shows lack of judgment, perhaps it's the mark of a man who is willing to give everyone a second chance, or associate himself with those who have opinions contrary to his own. Or maybe it's a mixture of all of those.
I guess the bottom line is, that I wish that the debate was centered more on policies, goals and that kind of thing, and less on the little sides shows, which like you, I don't give a rats arse about either!
And don't worry about my run... I did a triathlon on Saturday - pushed myself really hard, got some good results, but my body is trashed. I think it appreciated the break!
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