Finally, somebody gets it.
We won't be healthy, we won't be educated, and we won't have safe reliable means of traveling or transporting goods across the country (It is the economy stupid, isn't it?)
But we will be safe.
/sarcasm
Has the man never thought about how an economy actually functions? This president is a prime candidate for the Snow Globe awards...for those who live and believe we all live, in a bubble.
-Nick
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
Meet the Clintons
First a disclaimer. I am supporting Barak Obama in the U.S. democratic primaries. It's not that I think he's the best person for the job, but of our choices...well, he's kind of the best person for the job. That's a shame I'll have to deal with in another post.
Now, however, I want to talk about the Clintons. I say the Clintons because that's who is campaigning, and that's clearly who we will get for the presidency. Not Hillary. Not Bill Part 2. Both of them. Together.
See, Hillary has abandoned campaigning in South Carolina, leaving behind her husband to do the job. This after a row between her camp and Obama's led to a statement to the effect of, "I'm the one running for president...not my husband." Wow. Fooled me.
It's a strategy, for good or ill, but it's part of a larger strategy that the press simply isn't acknowledging (and they rarely do, preferring safe stories about blown up conflict to actual analysis of the democratic process.)
Hillary wants to win by becoming the candidate of inevitability.
"But all the candidates want that," you say.
Yes, but not the way Hillary does.
She will fight tooth and nail. She employ any strategy to win. She will say anything. The key for Hillary is not what she would do as president. It's not about her policies, or ideas, or ability to lead. It's ability distracting the public from the real story long enough to win.
This is the nature of the Clintons.
Don't get me wrong. There's another president (currently presiding) who exercised a very similar strategy in gaining approval for certain overseas military engagements. This method is not exclusive to the Clintons, but it is central to their ideology.
They are politicians, and aside perhaps from their idealistic college days, they always have been.
The problem for Obama is that he is getting suckered in to it. You see, I think he really is trying to run a clean campaign, about ideals and ideas. I think he does have vision, and I think with the right experienced VP by his side he could be a fine president.
What Hillary is trying to do is create an environment where Obama is distracted. Where he stops talking clearly about issues. Where he sounds confused, and even...inexperienced. She's trying to lure away Obama supporters with the notion that she keeps pressing forward (hence her South Carolina departure) and Obama is on the defensive. Unready. She wants us to see her as the inevitable choice because he must be losing steam.
Some folks will say survival of the fittest, sure, but it's dishonest. It's a dishonest tactic from a dishonest candidate who is part of a dishonest team of politicos.
Come on, people. Haven't we had one too many dishonest administrations in the last 20 years?
CNN Story
Now, however, I want to talk about the Clintons. I say the Clintons because that's who is campaigning, and that's clearly who we will get for the presidency. Not Hillary. Not Bill Part 2. Both of them. Together.
See, Hillary has abandoned campaigning in South Carolina, leaving behind her husband to do the job. This after a row between her camp and Obama's led to a statement to the effect of, "I'm the one running for president...not my husband." Wow. Fooled me.
It's a strategy, for good or ill, but it's part of a larger strategy that the press simply isn't acknowledging (and they rarely do, preferring safe stories about blown up conflict to actual analysis of the democratic process.)
Hillary wants to win by becoming the candidate of inevitability.
"But all the candidates want that," you say.
Yes, but not the way Hillary does.
She will fight tooth and nail. She employ any strategy to win. She will say anything. The key for Hillary is not what she would do as president. It's not about her policies, or ideas, or ability to lead. It's ability distracting the public from the real story long enough to win.
This is the nature of the Clintons.
Don't get me wrong. There's another president (currently presiding) who exercised a very similar strategy in gaining approval for certain overseas military engagements. This method is not exclusive to the Clintons, but it is central to their ideology.
They are politicians, and aside perhaps from their idealistic college days, they always have been.
The problem for Obama is that he is getting suckered in to it. You see, I think he really is trying to run a clean campaign, about ideals and ideas. I think he does have vision, and I think with the right experienced VP by his side he could be a fine president.
What Hillary is trying to do is create an environment where Obama is distracted. Where he stops talking clearly about issues. Where he sounds confused, and even...inexperienced. She's trying to lure away Obama supporters with the notion that she keeps pressing forward (hence her South Carolina departure) and Obama is on the defensive. Unready. She wants us to see her as the inevitable choice because he must be losing steam.
Some folks will say survival of the fittest, sure, but it's dishonest. It's a dishonest tactic from a dishonest candidate who is part of a dishonest team of politicos.
Come on, people. Haven't we had one too many dishonest administrations in the last 20 years?
CNN Story
Sunday, January 13, 2008
One Sacred Cow
...by which I mean "The Government."
That perfect institution that we all know is imperfect. The body politic that drives change and progress, or at least says it does. Our glorified leaders who's careers live and die not by our votes, or our protest, or our anger, but by our press...whether we like it or not.
This is the "One Sacred Cow" I would like to knock off of its pedastool.
I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian, Constitutionalist or Reform. Nor am I bothered with Tory or Lib-Dem or Labor or Christian-Democrat. Liberal, Conservative, Ultra-Orthodox Extremist...not my concern, here.
In fact, I don't care if you are a Washington insider, a member of the House of Lords (and how did you come to be reading this, anyway?), a farmer in Mexico, a lawyer in Syria, an archivist, a fast-food employee, a member of the Chinese military (Ni Hao), CEO of Nokia or the Malaysian head-of-state.
These parties and philosophies are not football teams (regardless of what kind of football you play) or religions, but that's how these idealogues want us to treat them and it is absurd.
Whether you live in a proper or democracy, a nation pretending to be one, or at least a nation that has enough free speech that you are able to read this, it is you and I that are (and should be) in charge of our countries, our futures and our lives!
The difficult bit is convincing the pols. So many of them, once they have risen to power, begin believing in the mythology of their divinity, even though (most) would never admit as much. (Some just declare themselves direct descendants of deity.) Gods they are not. However endowed with wit, wisdom, intelligence, strength and courage they may (or may not) be, they are people like you and I, and they most certainly do not always know what's best for us or those around us.
The sooner we can knock them off their high horse, and the sooner we can restore vital powers to people and their communities, the sooner we can take back our respective cultures, lifestyles and communities. I am not (necessarily) advocated anarchy. I am advocated living our lives by the rules of our beliefs and choices instead of by those of someone deep in the ministries of some far away city.
I will be opinionated. Many of you (assuming more than one person ever actually reads this) will likely disagree with what I have to say. I encourage you to disagree...thoughtfully and vocally. That is the point of this whole exercise. We live now in a age we can communicate to complete strangers from all walks of life, all over the world. This is our chance. This is our voice. This is our choice.
Bring down this one sacred cow. It's time it "mooooooved" on.
That perfect institution that we all know is imperfect. The body politic that drives change and progress, or at least says it does. Our glorified leaders who's careers live and die not by our votes, or our protest, or our anger, but by our press...whether we like it or not.
This is the "One Sacred Cow" I would like to knock off of its pedastool.
I don't care if you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, Green, Libertarian, Constitutionalist or Reform. Nor am I bothered with Tory or Lib-Dem or Labor or Christian-Democrat. Liberal, Conservative, Ultra-Orthodox Extremist...not my concern, here.
In fact, I don't care if you are a Washington insider, a member of the House of Lords (and how did you come to be reading this, anyway?), a farmer in Mexico, a lawyer in Syria, an archivist, a fast-food employee, a member of the Chinese military (Ni Hao), CEO of Nokia or the Malaysian head-of-state.
These parties and philosophies are not football teams (regardless of what kind of football you play) or religions, but that's how these idealogues want us to treat them and it is absurd.
Whether you live in a proper or democracy, a nation pretending to be one, or at least a nation that has enough free speech that you are able to read this, it is you and I that are (and should be) in charge of our countries, our futures and our lives!
The difficult bit is convincing the pols. So many of them, once they have risen to power, begin believing in the mythology of their divinity, even though (most) would never admit as much. (Some just declare themselves direct descendants of deity.) Gods they are not. However endowed with wit, wisdom, intelligence, strength and courage they may (or may not) be, they are people like you and I, and they most certainly do not always know what's best for us or those around us.
The sooner we can knock them off their high horse, and the sooner we can restore vital powers to people and their communities, the sooner we can take back our respective cultures, lifestyles and communities. I am not (necessarily) advocated anarchy. I am advocated living our lives by the rules of our beliefs and choices instead of by those of someone deep in the ministries of some far away city.
I will be opinionated. Many of you (assuming more than one person ever actually reads this) will likely disagree with what I have to say. I encourage you to disagree...thoughtfully and vocally. That is the point of this whole exercise. We live now in a age we can communicate to complete strangers from all walks of life, all over the world. This is our chance. This is our voice. This is our choice.
Bring down this one sacred cow. It's time it "mooooooved" on.
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