The Closing Arguments

"In one week, we can choose hope over fear, unity over division, the promise of change over the power of the status quo," …"In one week, we can come together as one nation, and one people, and once more choose our better history. That's what's at stake." – Senator Barack Obama
2008 is an election that will change all of our lives. All across this nation, we have a choice to make, we have to choose hope over fear, we have to choose unity over divisions, we need to bring the change this country desperately needs. It is up to us to choose the course of our history, and we do not get second chances to make it right. I used to hold Senator McCain in a high regard, and would have voted for him in 2000 when he ran for President, had that John McCain showed up this time, then I might still be one of his supporters. But John McCain has sold out, he has sold out his principles, he has sold out to the religious right, he has sold out to the neo-cons, and he has turned this from an election about real issues facing real people and tried to take it to the lowest common denominator playing off people’s fears and prejudices, and it is time that Senator McCain take his final curtain call because his 15 minutes are up. But who we vote for as our next President we need to look at ballot propositions. In five states there are proposed amendments/propositions that would deny rights to gays and lesbians and ban gay marriage, California (VOTE NO ON 8), Florida (VOTE NO ON 2), Arizona (VOTE NO ON 102), Connecticut (VOTE NO ON 1), and Arkansas (VOTE NO ON 1). This is an election that will have consequences, consequences on our economy, our nation defense, our foreign policy, and our basic fundamental rights to equality. As I said we don’t get second chances, we don’t get do over’s, this is the defining moment of a generation to stand up to the fears and prejudices of the past, this is our chance to overcome division and take a stand for equality. This is our chance to have our shining moment in the sun. We are at the crossroads of American History, and our destiny is of our own choosing, so make the choice, make the choice that will ensure a better tomorrow for all of us.
CALIFORNIA: Vote No on 8
FLORIDA: Vote No on 2
ARIZONA: Vote No on 102
CONNECTICUT: Vote No on Question 1
ARKANSAS: Vote No on Act 1

Politics Unleashed

I have found a new political blog that looks like it could be interesting, it only has one post as of right now, but I think this one is worth keeping an eye on.

http://politicsunleashed08.blogspot.com/

BW

Time of Trials

“We live, my dear soul, in an age of trial. What will be the consequence, I know not.” – John Adams 2nd President of the United States - 1774

Those word where written 234 years ago in a letter that John Adams sent to his wife Abigail. The American Revolution would not begin for nearly another year, and the United States, consisting of the thirteen colonies, did not declare their Independence until July 4, 1776. Today, more than two centuries after those words where used to describe the tumultuous times leading up to the American Revolution, those words could not more accurately describe the time we live in. Gas prices continue to rise, global warming continues to grow worse, home foreclosure on the rise, the economy going down, this is a new age of trials and the consequences of our actions. As I watch the developing campaign, I see two choices developing. The first is John McCain, going back in time 8 years, I would be right there with the man. Eight years ago, McCain was the maverick; he was the man who would stand against his party when it was the right thing to do. The John McCain who ran for President eight years ago died when his campaign was crushed by the establishment backed Bush 00 campaign. Then there is Barack Obama, on the surface he brings a fresh face with a message of hope can change we can believe in. However one question remains, is Barack Obama the real deal that so many have staked their hopes and dreams in, or is he an opportunist saying what he feels the people want to hear, not what they need to hear. As far as the current situation, I will say this. A former boss of mine was fond of the phrase “doing the right thing wrong”, to me that is the perfect description for the current administration, and albeit I also agree in several areas, he has been just flat wrong. However, in terms of the war on terror, national security, and domestic intelligence, has he not done what the people demanded? Did the American people not demand retaliation for 9/11, did the American people not demand the government take measure to know about and prevent such attacks, and did the American people not demand a feeling of security and safety? The American people got exactly what they asked for; they just did not realize the price they would have to pay for it. As far as the war, I agree something needed done with hostile countries who actively sought to inflict pain and suffering on this country. The Iraqi War should never have been needed if the original dessert storm had been fulfilled to completion. As my boss used to say, it’s doing the right thing wrongly, we went into Bosnia claiming human rights violations, could we not have made the same arguments against Iraq, god knows the evidence was and is there, could we not have made a case that after nearly two decades of UN resolutions it was time for action, we didn’t need to fabricate anything. This is indeed a new age of trials, and as we continue on, I cannot say what the consequences of our actions will be; I cannot say which candidate is better. Do we put our faith in trust in a man who was sold out, and has sold himself out over the last eight years, do we trust that he will go back to be that man? On the other hand, do we trust the young Idealist to be the man we all hope he is?

The political reality

As I watch the current race for the Whitehouse, I find myself, shocked, appalled, and even disgusted by what is going on, even as a major in political studies, I am finding this current situation to be stupid. When is America and American voters going to get their heads out of their asses and pay attention? When can we have a campaign that is about issues, ideas, policy, not about the petty bullshit that a tabloid media and the intellectually lacking people who thrive on it push down our throats? Senator Clinton is still in the Democratic race for the nomination, despite trailing in money, pledged delegates, popular vote, and loosing super delegates by the day, and no mathematically possibly way to catch up. Her claim is that she, not Senator Obama can win in November, well Senator Clinton after the hatchet job you, your husband, and your daughter (who yes, you have pimped out on the campaign trail) have done, no wonder he is going to have a tough fight in November. Senator Clinton has had the nerve to say shame on Barrack Obama, well senator, SHAME ON YOU. You have made this race not about issues, but about Race, Gender, who can where a flag pin and call themselves a patriot, and who can sell out their friends the quickest. Do I agree with what Senator Obama’s former pastor has said, NO, I do not, but I also don’t think that you can judge Obama based upon it. I have friends who are racist, I have friends who have done some really stupid and wrong things, but they are still my friends, they know I do not always approve of what they say or do, and I most certainly do not always think the way they do. This race has accused Senator Obama of being a Muslim because of his name, hinting he may be a terrorist agent trying to infiltrate the government. Others will not even listen because he is black. Well people, NONE OF IT FUCKING MATTERS. It’s not about if your black or white, male or female, Christian or Muslim, Wealthy or Poor, what matters is what the next person to hold the Presidential Office will do to fix what has gone so terribly wrong over the last 8 years, what they next President will do to ensure a safe future. Everyone seems to want to know that, but it’s not the policy speeches that get attention, it’s not the ideas that get debates, it’s the tabloid garbage that is discussed around the water cooler so to speak. Senator Obama was correct when he spoke of American voters. People have become apathetic , and they cling to whatever they can that makes them feel safe and comfortable, guns, religion, “family values”, whatever it may be, and anything that comes along and challenges that apathetic security blanket is attacked, no attention is paid that the grass may be greener on the other side, and that the world could be a better place, we have all become to disinterested to care, to scared to dare to find out. Hopefully, some day we can have campaigns that focus on issues, and not what a candidate had for breakfast, or what an old friend of relative did, but unfortunately that day is not today, and by November millions upon millions will spent destroying the records and reputations of both candidates. Imagine what a campaign would look like if those millions got spent educating voters on issues, and ideas, that is real politics.

The Obligation of a Generation

With a presidential election less than ten months away, as a nation we are faced with history in the making. No matter who is nominated, you are going to have a first, the first African American President, the first woman President, the oldest president ever. No matter what choice America makes in the primaries and ultimately in November, one thing is certain, we are watching history unfold in real time. As a generation the events happening around us signify one thing, our time is approaching. We have seen the effects of failed policies. We have seen the failure of those elected to lead to do so. We did not have a defining event for our generation such as World War II for our grandparents or Vietnam for our parents. Our generation had 9/11 and a war on terror that has led to a quagmire in Iraq and a failed economy at home. It is our generation who must now answer the call and start to prepare ourselves for our day, when it will be our responsibility to lead and to repair the damage done before us. It is the obligation of each generation to leave behind a legacy to the next, what that legacy is varies greatly. In today’s world what was applicable sixty years ago isn’t applicable today, that doesn’t make it wrong, it doesn’t necessarily make it right, it does make it part of our collective history thought. The responsibility of the subsequent generations is to look at those policies and determine based upon them what to do next, to make adjustments along the way. Unfortunately, many of our generation do not feel the need to be involved, they think it is someone else’s problem to fix, but those days are running out. For the first time in recent memory the under thirty generation is inspired. The man who has sparked that inspiration is a man who little more than four years ago was a State Senator in the Illinois General Assembly, and who two years before that was not even known on the national scene. Senator Barack Obama has inspired a generation who for the last several years has been uninspired; who have been along for the ride hoping things would work out before it was their turn to make the hard decisions. I have listened to mother talk about being a teenager and listening to JFK inspire her generation and RFK after him, both men who inspired the uninspired whose lives were cut tragically short. I can say I have been a republican voter my entire life, but for the first time ever, I have a candidate who excites me, inspires me, lets me believe that hope and change are not impossible ideas. Our generation might not have World War II or Vietnam, we might not have JFK or RFK, but we have Obama. It is time to excite the unexcited, inspire the uninspired, give hope to the hopeless, change to the unchangeable, and to lead a generation to its place in history. I’m not going to tell you who to vote for; I’m not going to debate records or who’s more experienced. I am going to ask you to vote for the candidate who inspired you, the candidate who you think can and will lead this nation to be more than it is, to achieve more than it believes possible. In 1961 Kennedy said this nation would land a man on the moon before the end of the decade, people thought he was crazy for such an assertion, but this nation committed itself and in 1969 we landed a man on the moon. As Kennedy said, we do not choose to do these things we choose to do them because they are hard. Every time in this nation’s history when we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge we realize that capacity may well be limitless, and we reach for the stars.

BW

I’m back to my old self.

So I am getting back to my political commentary here. Earlier today I was reading the post by Matt over at Debriefing the Boys (seriously go read it, it’s good). I though he made a good, albeit slightly flawed, argument. But he said something about Voters not being stupid. And now we have the purpose of my post.
Let’s look at the average American voter shall we. IF the average American voter was an informed voter then candidates would not need Oprah (Obama), Chuck Norris (Huchabee), or her Husband (Clinton) to campaign for them, their positions on issues would be enough. Voters don’t look into candidates for the most part anymore, they take exactly what is spoon fed to them and like good little trained dogs they digest it and shit it back out. Anymore it’s all about who can get the celebrity endorsements and the money to make the fancier ads. When did it become more important in American who Ben Affleck is endorsing for president, rather than the candidates position on the issues. I find polling data interesting, but I think a more interesting question would be to ask why a person in supporting a candidate, I guarantee that for about 75% of responses the answer would come down to either a celebrity endorsement or pre-packaged issue that if you spent 5 minutes looking at the candidates record you could prove to be bullshit. Moreover, it all comes down to the dumbing down of America, its happening in our schools, if the kids can’t pass the standardized tests, we don’t try to make the kids smarter, we make the test easier (look up the Illinois Prairie State Achievement Exams, after more than half the Juniors in the state failed to pass the test the revamped the test, making it easier). It is also happening in our entertainment, reality shows like wife swap, and who can fuck who on some desert island are getting viewed more than the news, more than television shows that involve engaging the brain. If a celebrity wants to use their influence to promote something, why not promote to our students safe sex, values that don’t include getting sent to rehab for drug and alcohol abuse, why don’t they encourage kids that there is a difference between a healthy life (eating right and exercise) and an eating disorder to look like a size 0. I don’t ask my mechanic why my e-mail don’t work, I don’t ask they guy at Deli why my cars anti-theft isn’t working, so what qualifies a movie star, or a musician to tell people who to vote for, why does a celebrity have more influence in politics than people who have PHD’s in the fields of Political Science, Public Administration, Economics. The truth is that the American people don’t want to think on their own, they don’t want to research a candidate and become an informed voter, they want to take whatever pre-packaged sound bite they are given and go with it without even checking its validity.

A Modern Revolution

I was riding around town with a friend last night, now keep in mind he has his BA in Political Studies, Im working on mine in the same field, we are both former republicans who are totally disgusted with the party, and if you ask us both to name our favorite President you will probably get an Answer of Theodore Roosevelt. Well last night while riding around town we got into a political discussion about the future of the Republican Party, and of the country as a whole. Based on polling numbers right now, with the top three Republican candidates for president not being high on the favorite list of the evangelicals, I made the prediction that another schism could be coming in the GOP. Historically this is nothing new. Theodore Roosevelt split with the Republican party in 1912 and ran on a progressive bull-moose ticket against his handpicked successor. Roosevelt ran again for the presidency because he was fed up with the ultra conservative shift the party had taken. I will spare a lot of the boring (to most) details of the conversation but we came to a point where we were talking about the ultra conservatives today who are pushing all of the moderates and progressive members of the party right out the door. And the question came up, if their where to be the rise of a new third party between the ultra liberal wing of the democrats, and the ultra conservative republicans, if it was put to you to lead the movements, could/would you do it. Now historically this has happened before, the old Whig party ceased to exist after splits in the democrats and wigs formed the Republican Party. Could this be the beginning of the end of the GOP, is this all just a repetitively vicious cycle. The other, far more horrific outcome we came up with was that things are going to continue to get worse; the government will become the Hobbs model of a leviathan that ensures obedience by just scarring the hell out of the people. Now ideally the model would be that of Locke where the people are the leviathan and the government should fear the people and be obedient to the people. The horrific part of that is in order for that kind of “revolution” to happen it would require the vast majority of the population to unite in one voice behind one person/entity to lead the population in this revolution, and in order for that to happen would take a massive and catastrophic catalyst that would pale 9/11 in comparison. So again the question posed, could you be that person, could you be the one to lead the country to a middle road, and not even the country could you do it on a state level, could you be the one to lead? And honestly neither one of us could say yes to that question.