Obama-mania! Oh, Man
by J. Anthony
I’m convinced. Barack Obama will be the next president of the United States. He’s inspiring, attractive, young, and…did I mention inspiring? What else does he need? While every candidate touts the c-word (“change”), it only sounds believable coming from the first-term Senator from Illinois.
Just this morning I heard the O-Man himself say, “We will change this country’s education system…We will change the attitude in Washington…” We’ll change this, change that. I thought, “What a cool concept!” Change. But if he really is new and different, why is he selling the same old stuff?
Change what, Barack? I challenge anyone reading this to give me one example (and provide your source) of a change that he has described beyond simply saying, “We will change _____.”
Even the liberal co-hosts of a Seattle radio show I was listening to this evening admitted that Obama’s following is largely uninformed and confused. I believe their term was, “Uninformed, 22 year-old, middle-of-winter flip-floppers.” Ouch! The u-word.
If you ask someone why they support Obama, you’ll likely hear, “He looks different from the other candidates,” or “He’s an African-American,” or “He’s inspiring,” if you haven’t already heard that one. Just last night I was burning the midnight oil at my local coffee shop when I heard a girl – who couldn’t have been older than 19 – say, “Like, he’s such a good person.”
Like, oh my gosh! And you arrived at that conclusion how?
Don’t get me wrong. I’m pleased to see the enthusiasm and interest from all political angles this election season. Believe me, I’m still scratching my head wondering, “How did we get stuck with the Ron Paul guys?” The vote is truly and finally getting rocked, one might say. But for the life of me, I can’t seem to figure out the logic behind the Obama Fan Club.
Would the real Barack Obama please stand up?
What is he for? I’m willing to be swayed. Anyone? You may wonder why it matters to me if it’s likely that I will vote for the Republican nomineee anyway. Not so fast, mi amigo. With all the conservatives now out of the race, I’m looking for just about anyone who can “inspire” my vote. And there’s no guarantee that I actually will vote for the GOP nominee, the way things are looking.
Senator John McCain certainly doesn’t represent any of my interests, nor is he interested in meeting me halfway. At this point I’m considering Tom Brady for Commander in Chief. Why not? He’s inspring, attractive, young, and…did I mention inspiring? Besides, he gets to impregnate supermodels. What else does he need?
We know what Hillary would do. She would force us all to purchase health insurance, most likely from Uncle Sam. She wants to increase taxes and redistribute our wealth (that I’m still trying to work toward making). And I think I heard something about cancelling Christmas.
But I say good on her! At least she’s forthright and tells us where she stands. She may not tell us from which particular angle she intends to drill, but we know we’d be getting the screw.
With McCain, we know we’d get someone who is weak on economic issues. He already told us this. Great! Thanks for making it easy for me, Senator. You’re weak in the one area that matters to me the most.
But what about the O? Where is he on…well, on anything?
See my point? This is precisely why Barack Obama has attracted a large following of vibrant young hipsters, many of whom live their lives by the minute, looking for instant gratification. No persuasion is necessary there.
He looks better than all the other candidates, and he says things that sound nice. As long as it feels good, it must be good. And when Obama speaks, I feel good. Therefore, he is good. Utopia at last! If this were a Liberalism 101 exam, I’d be acing it right now. Hey man, don’t ruin things with facts. Just give me a fix.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
Wake up, people. I think we’ve already established that voting in itself is cool. I was happy to see everyone out caucusing on Saturday, making their marks for Republicans and Democrats. That was pretty cool indeed. But so were bell-bottom jeans, mullet haircuts, JFK, and the World Trade Center at one time. Where are they now? Gone.
Actually, the mullet hasn’t yet officially died. A small contingent of the hairstyle’s guardians remain visible in some rural areas of King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties. But that’s beside the point. If the act of voting doesn’t evolve from simply cool to sufficiently informed in 2008, expect more of the same – regardless of who’s elected.
Amateurs wait for inspiration. You’ve got to stand for something or you’ll fall for anything.
February 12th, 2008 at 2:08 am
Well one change he wants to implement to unify the country is expanding community service. He wants to require it in high school and provide a larger tax credit (above the $4000 tax credit he’s proposing) for students who do 50 hours of community service per semester.
He proposes change on both Iraq and healthcare, but his and Clinton’s proposals are virtually identical.
On gay rights, he proposes making civil unions legal, a clear change from the status quo.
The changes I’m most excited about, though, are in anti-corruption. He (like McCain) wants to push campaign reform. However, unlike McCain (at least I don’t think McCain is for this), Obama wants to work towards publicly financed campaigns at all levels. He also wants to require earmarks, lobbyist visits, and contract awards be put online in a publicly-accessible website and database that will make it obvious when the government is wasting money on pork. Furthermore, he promises to allow citizens at least 5 days to comment on all non-emergency bills on the White House website before he signs them into law. This would allow public debate between citizens about whether or not a bill should be signed into law which will hopefully help the President make the correct decision. All of these together will help fight corruption by making influence and wasteful spending very public.
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February 12th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Obama is opposed to immediate withdrawl from Iraq, opposed to gay-marriage (though is pro-civil unions), he does not advocate universal healthcare, he opposes teachers’ unions that refuse to accept a pay-for-performance platform, he has not mentioned hardly anything about breaking the strangle-hold acadamia has on students or getting tough on colleges who unnessarily raise tuition rates while syphoning their ever ballooning endowments away from student aid. The only change Obama consistantly advocates is controlling deficit spending and paying off the National Debt…which I thought was the Republicans job!
I think the difference between Obama and Hillary is that Hillary offers a change in policies and politicians whilst Obama offers a change in perception – which I think is more valuable. But I still wish the enthusiasm around him had been channelled to John Edwards instead.
I’m a little bummed Romney is not going to be president. Being Jewish and thus – according to Mormonism – a blood relative of American Indians, i was planning to lobby the Romney Administration into giving my people in Crown Heights and Manhattan exclusive casino rights and tabacco-tax subsidies. It seems only right considering what the pale faces did to our people.
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February 12th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Clinton also opposes same-sex marriage. I believe I’ve heard them both say that it’s something they’d like to implement eventually, but they don’t think it’s possible now.
Obama wants to withdraw one brigade of troops per month so that our combat forces are out of Iraq within 18 months of him coming into office. The only troops that would remain would be to guard our embassy. To me that’s about as immediate as you can get.
The only reason Clinton’s healthcare plan is universal is because it’s mandated. But that mandate is not funded. Under Clinton’s plan you’ll be fined if you can’t afford it. To me, that’s not universal healthcare. To be universal, the government would have to pay for those who couldn’t afford it. Obama’s isn’t universal either, but it’s a very significant improvement other what we have, as is Clinton’s.
You’re right, though, that neither candidate has strong positions when it comes to college education. I personally think they both suck on it and I’d like them to take a stronger pro-student position.
Mostly, I think it’s unfair to say that the only change Obama consistently advocates is fiscal responsibility. He does consistently advocate it, but he has been consistent on removing troops from Iraq as quickly and safely as possible. He’s been consistent on reforming the healthcare system to make it more fair and to require minimum standards that all insurance plans must meet. He’s been consistent on providing relief to the middle-class by repealing Bush’s tax cuts for the wealthy and using the money to provide tax credits that mean millions of the poorest working-class Americans pay no taxes at all. These and many others are issues on which Obama has outlined clear policies. However, he’s also being realistic and pragmatic when he says that some compromises may have to be made. So maybe his health care plan won’t have as high minimum standards as some would like, but it will still have minimum standards and they will be much higher than they are now. This is a fact of life. When working with other people, you have to be willing to compromise if you wish to move forward. That doesn’t mean give up the things you believe in, but it does mean that you might have to take several steps to reach your goal instead of jumping all the way their in one go.
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