tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post8455883670755491956..comments2023-10-30T19:03:59.225+01:00Comments on David Seaton's News Links: Barack Gorbachev?David Seaton's Newslinkshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00269813419598042699noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-65777660837683989432008-05-21T07:32:00.000+02:002008-05-21T07:32:00.000+02:00The problem here isn't really Obama, as it isn't r...The problem here isn't <I>really</I> Obama, as it isn't <I>really</I> Bush, they are just symptoms. On one hand people reelect someone who was already clearly incompetent in 2004 and now they are about to elect someone without any practical experience of government. <BR/><BR/>America and Americans have become <I>strange-weird</I>.<BR/><BR/>Look at the reaction of the Chinese people (not just their government) to the earthquake and then look at the reaction of the American people (not just their government) to Katrina. 50 years ago, I think Americans would have responded like the Chinese. <BR/><BR/>I think the country has been somehow hollowed out.David Seaton's Newslinkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00269813419598042699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-29550602548497095992008-05-21T03:21:00.000+02:002008-05-21T03:21:00.000+02:00In defense of the empty suit:I perceive Obama as b...In defense of the empty suit:<BR/><BR/>I perceive Obama as being a natural politician on the level of Bill Clinton. He feels your pain, he has his finger on our pulse. He won't make any radical changes.<BR/><BR/>As compared to Bush junior who really was a radical - pre-emptive wars, privatizing social security, eliminating habeaus corpus, the "unitary presidency" and on and on.<BR/><BR/>Would it be such a bad thing to have a president who reflected the consensus? The country may need radical change - nationalize the health insurers, get the hell out of all the foreign bases -- but it would be huge improvement to go back to doing very little.<BR/><BR/>As opposed to McCain, who has stated he wants to appoint more judges like Scalia and Alito, wants to occupy Iraq for 100 years after the fighting stops, wants to increase gas consumption by lowering the price, has not objected to military commision trials, voted with the Republicans to make the telecom companies immune from wiretap lawsuits, thinks torture is OK if it is done by the CIA, etc etc.<BR/><BR/>So a vote for Obama is a vote for a return to the Clinton policies. Could be a lot worse.<BR/><BR/>By the way, I voted for Edwards.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-61356576936523372732008-05-20T22:33:00.000+02:002008-05-20T22:33:00.000+02:00I agree that the next Presidency will be about dis...I agree that the next Presidency will be about disaster management, that's what this one is already about.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-43818983187248415492008-05-20T07:10:00.000+02:002008-05-20T07:10:00.000+02:00What's your preference? McCain?My preference is/wa...<I>What's your preference? McCain?</I><BR/>My preference is/was Al Gore... Hillary has a health plan that might work... Obama doesn't. Do I prefer McCain to Obama... Sure.<BR/><BR/>Do I envy Obama?<BR/>I envy Scarlett Johansson's lipstickDavid Seaton's Newslinkshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00269813419598042699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-84424907407900755242008-05-20T04:47:00.000+02:002008-05-20T04:47:00.000+02:00ZO needs to ask Pakistan whether or not the old bu...ZO needs to ask Pakistan whether or not the old bullshitting bellicosity is so over.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Obama can almost always talk the talk, but it gets very instructive when you contrast it to his walk.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-43665970676772428612008-05-20T03:54:00.000+02:002008-05-20T03:54:00.000+02:00I just don't see that Obama even wants to try chan...I just don't see that Obama even wants to try change. As Jackyt notes in the comments to your previous post, Obama's half-hearted stab at a health care policy is hugely inferior to Clinton's, which is already light years from what is acceptable, i.e., a system resembling that which you describe in the addendum to Sunday's post.<BR/><BR/>Obama blindly supports Israel. No change there; just more bullshit bellicosity. How will this increase our standing in the eyes of the world? I don't think that Americans grasp at all what you plainly state-- that no one looks to America for anything anymore. Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, Hurricane Katrina, Bear-Stearns and our obscene level of energy consumption now define us for those who used to admire us. The novelty of a black president, should he win, will wear off very quickly. Before being an empty suit, Obama is just another suit.<BR/><BR/>You are exceedingly kind and gentle in describing him as a tranquilizer. He's marketed as a weight-loss program requiring no change in our eating habits; a self-betterment plan requiring no introspection;glory without sacrifice. "Dancing with the Stars" generates similar excitement.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36646589.post-90827302947337256382008-05-20T02:09:00.000+02:002008-05-20T02:09:00.000+02:00David, your endless stream of patronizing prose re...David, your endless stream of patronizing prose regarding Barack Obama has the distinct smell of envy. Just imagine, an uppity young black man doing stuff that you can only dream of.<BR/><BR/>Get over it. Your candidate is losing. It really doesn't help to try and drag the Obama down before he's even had one day on the job. What's your preference? McCain?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com