Muse
Or maybe it's cooler to say Ave bossa nova. Similis bossa seneca.
Still don't get it? How about Hail to the new boss! Same as the old boss.
So Barack Obama won. He is the son of a Black man and a white woman, so I guess that makes him Black enough for American historians to say that he is the first Black president.
Fair enough. After all I have seen Indian - I mean Native American - Princesses who were whiter than most White people. SO Obama can go down in history as whatever he wants. Of course this only proves something I have said since watching the 1992 elections. Americans will wote a black guy for president before they vote a white woman in.
So now we have Obama. Who hopefully will be a better President than the Shrub. But what have the Americans done, really? Is this as big a change as they think?
First off. I am not a McCain supporter. During the last election I was hoping he would win because he was the not-Bush.
And this time Obama gets my support because he is the not-McCain-and-thank-eris-Biden-is-the-not-Palin.
But really, is he any different?
The President of These United States (and yes, it is these
) is supposed to be about freedom. And at least according to his voting record, Obama seems to be fairly close to it. Or is he? I went to Project Vote Smart - an online archive of senate bills, who voted for them, what they voted, and a lot of other information about the candidates. And what I saw there was, not exactly pretty. Obama voted to pretty much carry on things as they were in Guantanamo bay, famous for torture and other activities against civilians from around the world. He voted that gun manufacturers can face civil cases for damages caused by their guns (kind of like cigarette makes being liable for civil cases brought on by people who suffered at the hands of others who smoke).
The way things are shaping up, Obama looks to be an anti-abortion kinda guy. Maybe not as much as Palin is, but definitely up there. He doesn't seem to respect gun rights, or the right to smoke.
Obama also raised US$639 million in campaign contributions. Of that he has spent US$573 million. The list of campaign contributers ranges from big organisations who donated from 500,000 to 900,000 USD to small online donations. I got that info from Open Secrets. What's going to happen when the time comes to pay the piper?
So what will Obama's term be like? Its hard to tell. But Right now he is riding a crest of popularity, buoyed on by the current financial crisis. He may not have played the race-card, but race is a factor in his election. In three months the honeymoon will be over. he will have to bring the economy back under control. He came in because the country was tired of what Dubya had done to it. The economy in recession. Gas prices high.
He's going to have to pull some serious magic tricks out of his hat to make it come together. And when he doesn't what will happen?
This is the TV generation. They want a sitcom ending. 30 minutes minus commercial time to solve any problem. And he can't. So like most leaders before him, he will engage in short term plans. Do some handwaving and try to make all the problems disappear.
Just like Dubya, Clinton, Bush sr., Reagan, Carter, Nixon, and so many others before him.
I hope I'm wrong.
Posts
3 comments:
Eh?
http://www.ontheissues.org/Barack_Obama.htm
"Obama voted to pretty much carry on things as they were in Guantanamo bay"
YES on preserving habeas corpus for Guantanamo detainees
YES on requiring CIA reports on detainees & interrogation methods
Quotes on that page:
Close Guantanamo and restore the right of habeas corpus. (Jun 2007)
"Obama looks to be an anti-abortion kinda guy."
Strongly Favors topic 1:
Abortion is a woman's right
(+5 points on Social scale)
(vote history and quotes are on that page)
"Obama also raised US$639 million in campaign contributions"
Any viable candidate would have to raise funds somehow; unless there's some evidence to show he's bowing to his contributors' corporate interests, this is a non point.
"doesn't seem to respect gun rights, or the right to smoke" <- personally, I'd take gun control as a plus point together with restrictions on smoking where it affects others who don't smoke, but if his stance is unconstitutional, that's fair enough and a strike against him. But given the veracity of what you wrote on Guantanamo and abortion rights, I'm going to leave this one as undecided.
And now, some Obama plus points:
ACLU lifetime score: 82%
(McCain: 22%)
http://action.aclu.org/site/VoteCenter?page=legScore&congress=110&repId=25424
Favors: Same-sex domestic partnership benefits
Science and Tech positions are good:
http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/09/obama-answers-y.html
Opposed Iraq war.
Favours diplomacy in general.
Isn't a religious fundamentalist and doesn't support creationist bullshit.
Agrees with scientific consensus on global warming.
Is Obama perfect? Hardly... he voted to renew the Patriot Act, and was against the surge in Iraq. But really, where are you going to find a candidate you can agree with on everything?
The idea that all these guys are the same - "same as the old boss" - is I think a canard that's easy to trot out.
"what I saw there was, not exactly pretty." <- This statement is not fully backed up by the subsequent argument!
Most things I've seen about the guy seem positive. He also seems to have surrounded himself with good people, which is always a plus and a sign of competent leadership (as opposed to nepotism and cronyism). And thus far, his talk has been far more cogent than the usual 'protect us from the terrorists' rhetoric.
Don't get me wrong, I'm no Obama fanboy. If I were a betting man I'd bet on you being right in the long run - "So like most leaders before him, he will engage in short term plans. Do some handwaving and try to make all the problems disappear." - But based on the evidence at hand, and considering the alternatives, I'm willing to say he deserves the benefit of the doubt; it's too early to excoriate him, particularly when some of the criticisms are baseless.
And really, out of all the viable candidates, I think he was the best one.
What he voted FOR:
- Requires a judicial review of an individual's status as an enemy combatant if the sentence is 10 years or more and that in all other cases review is up to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia
- Prohibits any US court, justice or judge from hearing or considering a writ of habeas corpus filed by or on the behalf of a non-US citizen who is detained at Guantanamo Bay
- Stipulates that only the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia can hear an appeal to determine if a non-US citizen has been detained properly as an enemy combatant at Guantanamo Bay
- Indicates that the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia is limited to reviewing whether a detainee was determined to be an enemy combatant in a manner that is consistent with the procedures submitted by the Secretary of Defense and whether those procedures are constitutional and consistent with United States law
Oh I don't think he's as bad as Mccain. I think Obama CAN do a lot. but his record on votesmart isn't that good. And I DO agree that his good seems to outweigh the bad.
And as for abortion rights, his checklist shows that he feels that abortions should be legally available in accordance with roe vs wade. In a place like the US where the cost of abortions are so high, Roe vs Wade is just not enough
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