Obama '08?

A few of the commenters above were asking exactly what Obama was going to do to transform things. Personally I think that's the wrong question to be asking (and might actually be symptomatic of the problem). It's not what he's going to do that transforms things, it's how he's going to do them that transforms things.

A very big problem we've been facing is one that not too many people in the public view have really acknowledged: the fact that over the last fifteen years nobody on either side of the political divide is listening to each other. We've gotten so that both political parties have been calling each other cowards, fascists, and worse. Senators and Congressmen have been talking at their colleagues in office, not talking with them.

Okay, so let them fight it out and the marketplace of ideas will determine which side was correct, right? Well, no. No human being is right all of the time; neither is a given group of human beings. Neither Democrats nor Republicans are always going to be totally right (or wrong) about everything. But if they refuse to take criticism from the other side; refuse to take the other side's ideas seriously; and refuse to budge one iota from the stated ideological base; then the public has to choose between evils. It's no shock to me that problems fester when this happens.

Obama is game-changing because he's trying to close the book on that kind of politics. What's he going to do that changes things? The same thing he's done in his campaign: treat his opponents with respect. Don't demonize them. Stand his ground when he disagrees; but be willing to learn. Approach the whole thing with a sense of humility. This works. This is good policy, this is good governance, and nobody else in the race is doing it.

The really amazing thing is that when you allow the possibility of dissenting opinion, the final decision you make - no matter what decision is being made - is much, much better. I don't completely trust Obama's ideas on all of the issues. In fact I disagree with quite a number of them. But I do completely trust his methods in arriving at policy. That's the kind of leadership we need right now. Not this servile "trust the Decider" nonsense that we've gotten with Bush and would get with Clinton.

It was multi-racial, mutli-generational crowd who were beyond enthused. It really did feel like a movement -- the excitement was absolutely palpable. On the line, everyone was chatting about how they used to support Clinton during his presidency. They loved him. They felt so let down and disgusted, as well as disgusted with those who shrug and explain away the Clintons' sliminess as simply pragmatic, as "what it takes." One said if you told her then that she would be rallying for a candidate running against Hillary for president, she never would have believed it. Everyone agreed.

I'm also interested in my privacy. I don't want to have to sign a goddam form along with id everytime i want some f*cking claritin.

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

I'm also interested in my privacy. I don't want to have to sign a goddam form along with id everytime i want some f*cking claritin.

Do you view Crystal Methamphetamine as a dangerous drug?



If I have to wait at a counter and sign a form to get cold medicine, it's a slight bother, but one that is entirely reasonable in light of the need (in my view) to curb meth manufacture in this country.

[/thread diversion]

Ticomaya wrote:

Bi-Polar Bear wrote:

I'm also interested in my privacy. I don't want to have to sign a goddam form along with id everytime i want some f*cking claritin.

Do you view Crystal Methamphetamine as a dangerous drug?



If I have to wait at a counter and sign a form to get cold medicine, it's a slight bother, but one that is entirely reasonable in light of the need (in my view) to curb meth manufacture in this country.

[/thread diversion]

meth addiction is a choice. a bad one, but a choice. People choose to manufacturer it. Execute them then. People choose to throw their lives away on it. Let the herd thin itself. I choose neither. Let me buy my f**king OTC meds when I'm feeling like ****.

Soz, did you see Obama after the SOTU? It was quite remarkable in that there was no trace of the preacher tone. He sounded like a news correspondent in comfortable banter with a colleague... It was a remarkable difference. (It's almost as if he heard all the nonsense about messiahs and deliberately veered away)

OCCOM BILL wrote:

Soz, did you see Obama after the SOTU? It was quite remarkable in that there was no trace of the preacher tone. He sounded like a news correspondent in comfortable banter with a colleague... It was a remarkable difference. (It's almost as if he heard all the nonsense about messiahs and deliberately veered away)

I didn't, no. Just read the transcript of his response now.

I think he has notably different modes -- the Speech mode, and the normal-talking mode. Glad that he had a chance to show off some normal-talking.

(Plus, looks like KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who delivered the official response, will endorse Obama today.)

When I composed that ("quit"), dyslexia was the last one who had posted.

You guys can squabble all you want elsewhere, but this thread is already so active that people who want to follow along find it daunting (me included!) so if you could keep your comments at least somewhat on-topic I'd appreciate it.

Thanks.

Her comments were great, but man - I couldn't imagine a more boring, robotic speaker. She oughta work on using a teleprompter better too.

Cycloptichorn wrote:

Her comments were great, but man - I couldn't imagine a more boring, robotic speaker. She oughta work on using a teleprompter better too.

Too true. That could have actually been a machine speaking, and she was just lip-syncing. I would expect more inflexion from someone who had never seen the script before. A LOT more.

Obama takes big risk on driver's license issue

It's a huge issue for Latinos, who want them. It's also a huge issue for the general electorate, which most vehemently does not. Obama's stand could come back to haunt him not only in a general election, but with other voters in California, where driver's licenses for illegal immigrants helped undo former Gov. Gray Davis.

sozobe wrote:

(Plus, looks like KS Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, who delivered the official response, will endorse Obama today.)

Her comments were great, but man - I couldn't imagine a more boring, robotic speaker. She oughta work on using a teleprompter better too.

Cycloptichorn