A lot of folks around the ’sphere are gnashing their teeth because Obama seems to be floating more and more to the right. The most recent thing is that he’s promising to expand on Bush’s faith-based initiatives1. People for the Fair Treatment of Hillary are laughing at the Obamabots and the Obamabots are trying extra hard to find the silver lining around this dark cloud.
Of course, they fail to realize that the O-man was in Ohio when he said that, so it was kind of necessary for his campaign. It’s not like it was a promise. Hello? He’s a politician therefore he’s a liar. No getting around that. He’s also trying to prove to the “faithful”2 that he’s not really a Muslim and those emails are FALSE and Grandma Ohio should see that as a true Christian he will do whatever it takes to get God back into the picture. Yeah, that’s exactly what the country needs.
Oh, man. I’m giving myself indigestion here.
At any rate, I wanted to take a moment to remind folks that if they really wanted a TRUE Progressive, they missed the boat. They were so caught up in identity politics that they completely overlooked the one candidate who was the most liberal guy in the race. I’ll just quote myself (from way back in February):
No, in my opinion, the Netroots ended when Kucinich was chucked under the bus because he was “unelectable”. Kucinich, though monkey-ugly, stood up for his principles and never floundered to look “electable”. He wanted what was best for the citizenry as a whole, not just the oil-controlling corporations. If the Netroots really, truly wanted change in this country, they certainly missed their opportunity. Sure, they wanted to prove that they love Blacks and women. So, they chose between Clinton and Obama: Kucinich obviously being a white male didn’t fit good enough for them. But they ignore the history of the two minorities running. It doesn’t matter the skin color or the gender of the candidate. It matters where they stand on the issues. I was under the impression, at one time, that the Netroots stood for equality and an end to this “war”.
My advice to those whining because “OMG! Obama isn’t liberal enough!” is shut the fuck up. And to the People for the Fair Treatment of Hillary: You can shut the fuck up too. If she would have won the nomination you can bet your asses she would have pandered just as hard (if not harder). Obama and Clinton are two sides of the exact same coin. Neither one of them are true Progessives/liberals. They both say whatever it is their current audience wants to hear. Neither one of them have any real principals3. You got what you deserve. The rest of us have to live with your idiotic identity politics. Thanks oh-so much.
I’ll be doing what I’m used to doing here in the Red state of Ohio- voting for the lesser of two evils. I learned the hard way that really believing the shit that politicians spouts will just give me sputtering fits in the end. I like Obama just slightly more than I like Clinton4, but John McCain scares the ever-lovin’ shit out of me. I don’t even care what the hell Obama stands for anymore. He’s better than the alternative and that’s my choice again. Shit, I can’t even cast a protest vote for Mickey Mouse at this point. I just want this crap to be over so I can bitch about the new President (whichever idiot that ends up being).
P.S.
I just realized that if you hover your cursor over the footnotes you don’t have to go to the bottom to read them. Awesome.
Popularity: 70% [?]
Sphere: Related Content- Makes my stomach churn just typing that. [↩]
- Mwahahaha!! [↩]
- This is how Kucinich was different, of course. [↩]
- I can’t stand Clinton, for real. [↩]
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6 Comments
A-fucking-men. Not that I would have voted for K, but it’s nice to see someone calling it like it is. Obama’s not some new wonderful thing; he’s the same old lying, phony Chicago-style politician we’ve seen a million times before. So he’s black, BFD. If I’m absolutely positive that California will go Obama, I may vote McCain just to lessen the mandate. I know it sounds wacky, but they all make me puke.
It doesn’t sound wacky at all. My preference for Kucinich is a direct result of his history backing up his speaking. He’s proven that he’s not afraid to piss some folks off to stand up for what he believes in- including standing up to private utility companies by refusing to allow them to jack up the prices for their would-be customers. My three issues are 1) Gay Marriage (K came out in favor of it and in favor of calling it “marrriage”)- I consider this an equal rights issue 2) ending the war (obviously) and 3) stopping the rewards for companies shipping their manufacturing to other countries (Ohio has lost way too many good paying jobs to NAFTA). None of the idiots running now are going to work hard on any of those issues. They make me want to poke out my own eyeballs.
I’m pretty sure Ohio will go for McCain, based on what I’ve heard on the streets with my own damned ears. Of course, the northern cities might be able to pull us through, but I’m doubtful considering how many rednecks are sniffing at the Republican balls. Obama and Clinton, though, are no different in their political philosophy. Neither one of them could or would change a whole lot of anything in the gov’t.
I’m not the slightest bit disappointed with the views Obama’s been spouting lately because I expected him to be this way. New shit is the same as the old shit. Hip-hip-hooray!
Thanks for freeing me up, JJ – I was going to post about this after browsing HuffPo and seeing all the “OMGs!” from the Obamaniacs. And of course it’s all Hillary’s fault.
Hate to say it girl, but I’ve been around the block a few time when it comes to politics and presidential elections. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s if you want to get elected, especially as a Democrat, you have to claim the middle. You can lean left, but you got to lean right as well. Clinton was a master of claiming the middle. He just leaned a little more right than he did left.
I think most voters don’t want a president that’s too far on either side of the spectrum, but as you said, they’ll pick the lesser of two evils so the closest to the center gets the job. How do you think Bush II won it (beside stealing the count in Florida)? Both Gore and Kerry wouldn’t lean right at all.
I used to be such an optimist when it came to politics. At best, I’m a pragmatist now. However, I’ll end with a quote from Harry Truman when asked if he would vote for the man or the party: “I always vote for the man. And the best man is the Democrat.”
O’Tim,
What’s cookin’!
I don’t blame any of it on Clinton specifically (though I do admit to not being at all fond of her). I think there’s a lot of ratfucking going on (Miss Conspiracy-Theorist still rears her head every now and then). I have never believed Obama to be as liberal and/or Progressive as some convinced themselves he is. Neither do I believe Hillary is all Progressive. I don’t either one of them are going to change a whole hell of a lot. But as long as McCain can’t get his greedy little paws on the SC nominees I’ll be all good.
And just a note: I personally blame it on the rain.
(Also, “two tears in a bucket, fuck it.”…Mwahaha!)
Vince,
Are you trying to say you’re old? You know I just turned 35 last week? I’m rounding that bend, old man.
Anyway, I wish I could be optimistic and get all down with this “Hope and Change” stuff, but I’m not. I don’t believe the hype. I guess that would make me a pragmatist too, huh? For me, after Kucinich, it was Obama v. Clinton: Who is the lesser evil? Now, it’s Obama v. McCain: Who is the lesser evil?
Also, I don’t believe that either Gore or Kerry were very left. As a matter of fact, if Kerry hadn’t been so badly “Swift boated” and the Diebold machines actually worked as they were intended (and Blackwell wasn’t the conniving, scheming bastard that he is) then he may have actually been sworn in. I think the people in 2004 were voting based on their fear of either gays contaminating the marital drinking fountain or us getting invaded. I know Ohio was a mess that year, so…
At any rate, whoever gets elected may be able to appoint two or even three SC justices. I think it’s important that McCain not get that chance. Ya know?
I can’t understand why more people can’t see it. McCain is the Frog Boiler!
What do I mean? There is an old allegory about how to boil a frog. It is said that if you drop a frog into a pot of boiling water it will immediately jump out.
But if you drop a frog in water that is slightly warm and turn up the heat gradually then the frog just sits there and lets itself be boiled alive, without attempting to jump out of the pot, without even knowing that it is indeed being boiled alive.
This allegory has been applied again, and again regarding the American people’s reaction to liberalism/socialism. And it is pretty clear who is who if you apply this allegory to this year’s election.
So let’s vote for the candidate who will make the frog jump out of the pot so we can have a true conservative in 2012. Otherwise we will all get gradually boiled alive.
After all it took Carter to get us Reagan.