HERE WE GO AGAIN….
Previously I wrote about my confusion about having to choose between Clinton and Obama. Yes, I know that sooner or later the decision will be made for me, but from what I’m seeing lately, that may be too late.
Originally I posted about the things I liked and disliked about each of the candidates, about my misgivings and concerns. Obviously I wasn’t the only one with such thoughts, but I thought in the end the debate would turn out to be a good thing. Having the press and the public carefully scrutinize each candidate would certainly result in the Democratic party having the best person, the most qualified person, running for President in November…..
Well, that’s what I thought, and you know that I’m certainly no optimist. It just seemed logical. And then….
Suddenly the world heard Reverend Jeremiah Wright’s tirade of hate and bigotry , and then…..Obama didn’t seem to be in much of a hurry to distance himself from his former pastor, or to denounce his remarks. Yes, he made some noises about not agreeing with everything Wright said, and also claimed that if he’d been sitting in the church when the remarks were made he would have walked out, but still, he seemed more intent on reassuring the public that the Reverend Wright was a good man, and someone who’d been his trusted spiritual advisor for many years. So here we are, the liberals, having trouble putting all the pieces together, trying to make sense of it all, and all the while wondering: holy shit, what will the Republicans do with this news, and what about the conservative Democrats who may have been sitting on the fence? And then…..
Hilary spoke not just once, but several times, about a visit she made to Bosnia back when she was the First Lady. She described landing under gunfire, running for cover. And then….the news media stepped up to say, “Excuse me, but no, that’s not quite the way it happened! Not only were we there too, but here’s the newsreel footage to prove it.” And Hillary said yes, she misspoke, she was sleep deprived; she was sorry. Okay, that would work if it had just been one time, but of course the media dug up footage of Hillary telling the same story over and over.
And so history repeats itself. We shouldn’t really be surprised. The only thing the Democratic Party finds more difficult than recruiting candidates with experience, education, charisma and a fighting chance to win is not imploding! What the Democratic Party seems to do best is to collapse in on itself, to self-destruct, to become so obsessed with in-fighting that they seem to forget that they’re supposed to be working together, for the common cause, for the greater good….which is supposed to mean electing a Democrat to office.
Back when I wrote about trying to decide between Obama and Clinton I was truly torn. I thought each candidate had good qualities, but I just wasn’t sure which candidate was the better choice to run for President. And now, after watching history repeat itself, after realizing that the Democrats are doing what they do best….fighting amongst themselves while the elections slip by….I find that I’m not having such a hard time choosing between Obama and Clinton. I don’t like either one of them right now. They both seem to have taken the low road, preferring to attack each other, to exaggerate, to back away from standing up for what’s right.
Right now I’m wondering how this will all turn out. I feel as if I’m watching the Democrats take this wonderful opportunity to reclaim the White House and throw it away. Wait, that’s wrong….I don’t even think they’re smart enough or aware enough to realize that’s what they’re doing. I think they’re so busy fighting that they don’t even see what they’re doing. I think the race for the White House is slipping through their fingers, and right now, I don’t like Clinton OR Obama. I don’t think either one is qualified to run the country, and I certainly wouldn’t be proud to claim either one as our commander-in-chief. Now what????
posted by Barbara @
3/27/2008 04:20:00 PM
Spina Bifida
6 Comments:
You have lived in the South so you should be aware that many churches there preach bigotry and hatred. We have a preacher here who is a syndicated pastor and a very right winged Christian who preaches the same type of message as Rev. Wright but on the other side of the coin. You can turn on the TV every Sunday and I suppose, every day, where ther are preachers who preach hatred and bigotry to their flock. Jesus, himself, preached hard against the government and the social injustices of his times, much like Rev. Wright does. Until I heard Obama's speech, which I considered a very good speech for our times in America, I never considered that religion is the last bastion of segregation in the USA. No wonder there is still so much hatred from the pulpit. By the way I consider myself a strong Christian but my church at last look was all WHITE. Therefore I don't agree with your take, Barb. Democrats have always agreed to disagree. That is why we attract so many splinters of America into our party.
I say go back to picking candidates at the conventions. Back in those days we were only subjected to one week of all of this non stop nonsense. This has been going on for over two years.
I didn't find Wright's comments to be full of hatred or bigotry at all. I think he was right on the money, but in the US, people get hysterical when people speak the hard truth in a loud and assertive way.
Nevertheless, those video snippets were taken many years ago, and Rev. Wright is retired. And Obama is the one running for the nomination for president, not Reverend Wright. I wish people would remember that, Reverend Wright is not running for president. And Obama's speech on the subject was a fantastic and thoughtful speech---he cannot denounce Wright any more than he can denounce his kind grandmother who at times said racist things about black people.
Barb, being from Kentucky (and I'm from Tennessee myself, so I know), I'm sure you've run across some kind friends and family members in your life who have said some things that made you cringe, but I doubt you felt the need to go on national television and denounce them strongly.
I feel saddened that you're turned off to Obama simply over a few seconds of video featuring snippets of someone he knows that were recorded many years ago. Obama is far more than his former pastor. This was a right wing smear campaign against Obama led by Sean Hannity of Fox News (Bush's own private Pravda), please don't fall for it. America would be extremely lucky to have Obama as president. What a message that would send to the world about us!
And speaking of pastors, have a look at one of the lunatic pastors McCain has endorsing him, John Hagee, who likes to say that the Catholic church is "the great whore." I think that's far more hateful and divisive and insane than any forceful thing Rev. Wright could say about race relations and oppressive US political polices.
Thanks for the feedback. What I need to do is regroup and try to sort thru everything that's been said and written...and that's certainy not easy. It's also not easy to find the hidden agendas, or to know what's been 'leaked' on purpose, what's not being said, or what's being pushed to the front in order to divert attention from something else. Did I mention that I really don't like politics? Suddenly I remember why!
Anything that Sean Hannity is for, I must be against....I can't imagine there's anything I could ever agree with him about. Altho I'm not familiar with Hagee's commnets about the Catholic Church, I'm certainly not one to sing their praises.
I will be doing more reading, and hope that in time one of the candidates will do something extraordinary to win me over! Wouldn't that be wonderful...to think that a candidate would actually be interested in impressing the 'average' person? Do you think it's possible? Let's all hope and pray for inspiration!
Barb,
I understand your dilemma between the 2 dem candidates, and congratulate you for your attempts to make an informed decision. You have stated that you are a dem, however, have you considered looking closely at the repub candidate? Personally, I don't vote party lines, but analyze the candidates, whether for dog-catcher or pres. I am not campaigning here for either party.
A person, honest with themself, would not agree 100% with any candidate, but select the one that best suits their views and ideas of integrity.
The below link is for Thomas Sowell, an economist who I admire for his intellect and integrity. You may want to read the article he wrote...however, I don't think it will help you with your dilemma.
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/ThomasSowell/2008/03/26/the_audacity_of_rhetoric?page=full&comments=true
Yes, I'm now a registered Democrat, but for many, many years I was registered Independent, not wanting to be too closely associated with either party....as someone who doens't particularly like politics, I tend to lump most of them into the same (low) category.
Altho I do agree with more Democratic policies than Republican, I always believe in voting for the candidate rather than for the party. thanks for the link.
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