BARACK OBAMA
Barack Obama has that Bobby Kennedy thing happening. Have you noticed that? He speaks to everyone; or at least that's how it appears to me. Is it an act? Is he just another charismatic bullshit artist like all the rest of them? I'm at a point in my life where I've become so disgusted with American politics and politicians that it wouldn't surprise me in the least. And yet when he talks, people listen. But more than that, they seem hopeful - I'm hopeful! They look at the man and they see an symbol of righteousness and an agent of change. He reaches out across the racial divide and Americans from all backgrounds are responding enthusiastically. Think about it: who was the last person with that kind of cultural and emotional gravitas? Bobby Kennedy!
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You really want to see the guy succeed. You want him to prevail in what seems to be "The Impossible Dream." That was the song which was the unofficial theme of RFK's ill-fated 1968 campaign for the White House. It was a beautiful tune that the late actor Richard Kiley sang in the Broadway musical Man of LaMancha:
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This is my quest,
to follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right,
without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell
for a Heavenly cause
And I know If I only be true
to this glorious quest
that my heart will lie
peaceful and calm
when I'm laid to my rest....
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This is my quest,
to follow that star
No matter how hopeless
No matter how far
To fight for the right,
without question or pause
To be willing to march into hell
for a Heavenly cause
And I know If I only be true
to this glorious quest
that my heart will lie
peaceful and calm
when I'm laid to my rest....
`
It was a lovely piece of music that no one even remembers anymore - so cynical has our culture become. It is my humble opinion (for whatever it's worth) that Senator Obama should make The Impossible Dream his campaign's theme as well. That is not meant to imply that the possibility of his ever calling the White House "home" is an impossible dream, so to speak. It is simply that he has one hell of an uphill battle ahead of him. We shouldn't deceive ourselves by ignoring the fact that we are a nation chock full of nuts, racists and fools. Don't forget that this is the same country that thought that it was a really neat idea to send an idiot like George W. Bush and his evil, Darth Vadar/daddy-wannabe Dick Cheney to Washington. Barack Obama has mountains of ignorance to overcome. If there is any candidacy that falls under the label of "a glorious quest", it is his.
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The first volley of lies have already been fired over the bough. Leave it to good old FOX News! They've been reporting that Barack was raised by his Muslim (WOOOOOHHHH!) father and that he was educated at a fundamentalist madrassa in Indonesia. Not that it matters but that story is patently false. In fact, he was brought up by his Christian and (again, not that it matters) VERY WHITE mother and was educated at a private schcool in Hawaii. His father left the family when Barack was just a toddler and died in an automobile accident not long after. Quite frankly, I kinda like the madrassa story better but what can you do? Fiction has always been more convenient than the truth to the right wing. But it's not just the Republicans that are shoveling the dirt. Not surprisingly, in a fit of desperation, the campaign of Hillary Clinton is trying to blame Obama for some disparaging comments David Geffen recently made regarding she and her husband, the former president, Bill Clinton (Remember him?) We are now moving into the uncharted waters of the ridiculous. Wake me when they sight land.
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The newest point of stupid contention against the senator from Illinois is the fact that he is a smoker. Let me say for the record that I am a smoker and I'm in the process of trying to quit (as is he). My Doctor-in-law, Dr. Nick Pennings of Warwick, NY (married to my sister Carol), has put me on a marvelous little wonder drug called Chantex, which appears to be working - my ever-present cravings for nicotine seem to be decreasing. But the fact that I was a smoker for all of my adult life did not make me any less of a patriot. And it might be noted for the record that no one in his or her right mind ever questioned the patriotism of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - a smoker, just in case it slipped your mind. Trust me on this one, folks: those of us who smoke tobacco love America as much as anyone! The real problem is with the people who merely chew it. They're all just a bunch of gutless, heathen evil doers, out to destroy the peace and security of the free world as we know it. Heed my warning, campers.
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Will Barack Obama be the next president of the United States? It's hard to say; but one shouldn't be foolish enough to dismiss his chances outright. We live in desperate and extraordinary times and the American people, if only out of sheer desperation, might very well turn towards an extraordinary candidate. That very fact is enough to put the good senator over the top. We can only hope. Talk about audacity!
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Pray for peace.
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
For more recent postings on this perfectly un-American, commie-loving, latte swirling site (HAVE YOU NO SHAME???) please go to the following link:
"The Rant" by Tom Degan
There will be a law against this sort of thing someday!
FOR THE RECORD: I'm not kidding
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The newest point of stupid contention against the senator from Illinois is the fact that he is a smoker. Let me say for the record that I am a smoker and I'm in the process of trying to quit (as is he). My Doctor-in-law, Dr. Nick Pennings of Warwick, NY (married to my sister Carol), has put me on a marvelous little wonder drug called Chantex, which appears to be working - my ever-present cravings for nicotine seem to be decreasing. But the fact that I was a smoker for all of my adult life did not make me any less of a patriot. And it might be noted for the record that no one in his or her right mind ever questioned the patriotism of Franklin Delano Roosevelt - a smoker, just in case it slipped your mind. Trust me on this one, folks: those of us who smoke tobacco love America as much as anyone! The real problem is with the people who merely chew it. They're all just a bunch of gutless, heathen evil doers, out to destroy the peace and security of the free world as we know it. Heed my warning, campers.
.
Will Barack Obama be the next president of the United States? It's hard to say; but one shouldn't be foolish enough to dismiss his chances outright. We live in desperate and extraordinary times and the American people, if only out of sheer desperation, might very well turn towards an extraordinary candidate. That very fact is enough to put the good senator over the top. We can only hope. Talk about audacity!
.
Pray for peace.
.
Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
For more recent postings on this perfectly un-American, commie-loving, latte swirling site (HAVE YOU NO SHAME???) please go to the following link:
"The Rant" by Tom Degan
There will be a law against this sort of thing someday!
FOR THE RECORD: I'm not kidding
posted by Tom Degan @ 6:36 PM
16 comments
16 Comments:
Dear Tom,
I live in Texas and there a lot of the black population who do not think he is black enough and a lot of the white population who still are fighting the civil war and are against diversity and anything that smells of affirmative action. If he was elected to run I would support him.
My preference would be John Edwards who has spent the last four years helping poor people to get job and educations. He has a good insurance policy that gives facts and figures. He gives straight answers and is working very quietly in New Hampshire and Iowa, where he was leading in the poles a week or so ago. I trust him and that is a lot more than I can say of Hillary or Bill Clinton He did things I do not support and as his wife says you get Bill too, when you vote for her.
I really want a real change in the White House in 08. I am tired of democrats that speak in DLC language of the center. I want someone with the guts to stand up for what for the rights of the people who voted him in.
What about an Edwards-Obama ticket? OK, they are both "inexperienced", but then the current occupant had been governor of our 2rd largest, 2nd most populous state - ideal experience - and look at the train wreck that he has made of our once great nation.
If Barack Obama had 6 years of Senate experience under his belt, I would fight to get at the head of the line to vote for him. He does offer hope, a fresh start, a positive vibe. Perhaps that outweighs experience in navigating the jaded Halls of Congress. My own preference is for John Edwards. The average Jane and Joe need a hero and an advocate. I wonder, too, if Hillary and Obama wont cancel each other out in the Primaries. I do not like Hillary Clinton. She lost me with her vote and subsequent defense of the War in Iraq. She didnt change her position until after the election. She is an intelligent lady, but too calculating. That image may not be entirely true, but it is sticking to her like glue. Who knows what the next two years will bring. Economic chaos? War with Iran? WWIII? Another terrorist attack on U.S. soil? The Big One in California? All of these upheavals would have an effect on the next election. Bush couldn't manage his way out of a paper sack. If the next crisis affects the voter's pocketbook in a big way , my little Tibetan Spaniel DeDe could run and beat any Republican they throw in the ring.
I think Obama is for real.His biggests assets are his being new (in this case inexperience is an asset!) and he literally embodies a great US hunger for embracing racial and ethnic diversity.
Re- his smoking, I think in 21st century politics (unlike Roosevelt) that could hurt him but like you, Tom, I believe he is trying to quit? Good luck to both of you.
A wild card is Gore (whose sister died of tobacco induced lung cancer)wins Oscar tonight and comes in as late entry riding especially on the huge important environmental movement and his Neo-non-wooden Gore passionate personality.
My ticket Gore/Obama in 08
Dr. Rick Lippin
Hi Tom,
One thing about Obama that bothers me, and it is the same thing that bothers me about all the candidates so far, is their unhesitating support for Israel and a deliberate blindness when it comes to the sins of that country.
I was married to a Jewish man for many years and asked him one day, "What is it about Israel that the US supports it so unconditionally? What do we get out of it from them? They don't even like Americans. Every Israeli I've ever met hates us."
He was shocked at my question. He thinks that if we didn't support Israel, it would be overrun by Palestine in no time. And that's how politicians justify their support.
I think there's more to it though. I think there are shadowy organizations out there that exert pressure when needed to keep politicians in line with their agenda. I've seen it happen once and it was very creepy.
We need a candidate who is crazy enough to say "No" to Israel and bear the consequences.
Good luck with quitting smoking. We need you around for a long time to come, so please take good care of yourself!
Hi Tom,
A very good posting and some excellent comments. I too think that Obama has a lot to offer, but like you I also feel that he has a hell of a lot to overcome to get to the White House. It is going to be interesting to see how things shake out in the nomination of a Democratic candidate. I think that not only does Obama have a lot to offer, but also Edwards, and hold on folks, I also think Hillary has some admirable qualities. God knows she could not be any worse than Bush.
The main problem is that all of these candidates will get caught up like beef in a meat grinder. As you pointed out we are already seeing the rumor and slime machines cranking up. The sad thing there is that when lies are finally pointed out as such, retractions (if there are any) get consigned to small print on the back page while the big lie gets three inch headlines on the front page.
The most disturbing thing to me is how early the candidates are announcing themselves and how the news media, such as it is, devotes more time and attention to who did what over the weekend and how much money was raised than the scary facts that are actually happening in this world. Almost all of the presidential candidates at this point are senators and rather than staying in Washington and fighting the two idiots running the country, Bush and Cheney, they are being distracted by going around raising money and supporters. Given the egomanical narrow visioned attitudes of Bush and Co,we could very well not even have a country in which to have an election by 2008.
The only thing that we can be certain of is that the next race will be just as dirty as the former ones, if in fact Bush and Co allows us to have an election.
Anything that tells me to fight without question is of suspect value. Otherwise a good rant.
I wonder if Scialabba saw the passage where the “progressive” Obams praises the United States’ founders for “recognize[ing] that there were seeds of anarchy in the idea of individual freedom, an intoxicating danger in the idea of equality.” If “everybody is truly free, without the constraints of birth or rank and an inherited social order,” Obama asks, then “how can we ever hope to form a society that coheres?” (pp. 86-87)
How that’s for openly embracing authoritarian class rule?
That was said by Paul Street at ZNET.......Plus a lot more, but this was enough for me to know this a wanna-be-rich-and-powerful-and-willing-to-do-whatever-to-get-there.
Personaly, I'm a smoker too, but there are MANY things that one can smoke!;-) But all this HATE directed at the chewers!!! Can't we all just get along? LOLOL Fellow blogger Cyclone does the "smokeless tobaco" thing, and he's got a lot of Moxey on the ball (Yes I know what Moxey is, and I used to drink a lot of it untill I couldn't get it anymore!)
As far as Obamma goes, he should feel privlidged that the "Faux Noise" channel has decided to spew their venemous ire his way! That means he scares them, and when people get scared, they do stupid shit! (As this latest diatribe has shown us!) I think he too has a lot of Moxey on the ball! I'll vote for him! I like what he has to say MUCH better than Ms. Clinton, who is trying too hard to be all things to all people.
Oh! By the way! If you should ever run into Paul Tuttle Sr. of Orange County Choppers your way, tell him that Stoney Browning said, I'm still fat, and he's still ugly, but I can lose weight!!! And tell Mickey to get a haircut, and get a REAL job!!!!
I think Hills, Obama and Edwards are smart as whips. Could care less who smokes...not into the personal stuff. But I am against religion involved in politics and they all mention it. I guess it is a prerequisite now. If a person wants to say they are Christian (or whatever...again personal) find...mention it once...then it's off the table. Politics needs to be separate period!
I'm still hoping for a late Gore entry.
Good luck on the nix on nicotine. Believe me, I know how hard it is. 5 years free and still getting those twinges from time-to-time.
When you get the crave, think about those tobacco company CEO/SOBs.
Tom,
Very well written, ideas well expressed. The major point is, can Barack beat whoever the Repugs run?? I guess it will be determined in the primaries. Certainly, if he is the Democratic candidate, he'll have my vote. Pray that nothing bad happens to him for "the good, they die young".
I like Obama a lot, but I like Gore and Edwards better. The enemies we face are our own corporations, and I don't think Obama has the guts to risk his popularity/charisma enough to do what needs to be done. He's a lot better than Giuliani, but I don't think he can beat him. Hillary and Rudy are just two sides of the same corporate Yankee coin. Gore has the strength of experience and Edwards knows the real enemy is poverty, as propogated by the corporations. I have more to say about this subject on my blog:
http://sucktheboob.blogspot.com
Obama will probably be voted in again. He is following through on his pre-election campaign to crush Al Qaeda. OK he's not against cutting corners to do it but with his latest non-veto the ones living over here will be taken out of circulation and he is also finishing the job overseas. We will be out of Afghanistan by 2014.
I just hope he quits tapping our phones after "hostilities subside."
if smokers were really patriotic, lucky strike would not have replaced its red bullseye on the package with an army olive green, and announced "lucky goes to war!green
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