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Tears of Frustration| Posted Thursday, January 10, 2008 at 11:02:29 AM | I don't buy into the sympathy ploy discussed by many pundits as the rationale for Hillary's brief display of emotion. I do believe that the campaign is a long grueling affair and I'll accept the fact that the strain sometimes shows. For some of the candidates it might be in the middle of the night, for others it might be at an awkward moment. But, I think for all the candidates there is a moment of self doubt or overwhelming frustration. I don't believe this simple glimpse of Hillary's humanity will be enough to propel her forward through the balance of the campaign.
However, her brief display did start me thinking on another level.
Whoever eventually gets the nomination for President and whoever eventually wins the office will have to deal with some very shady characters on the world stage. Chinese Pres. Jintao, Kenya's Pres. Kibaki and Iranian Pres. Ahmadinejad come to mind immediately. You could add Saddam Hussein to the mix before he was executed. These people all rule with an iron fist and use terror as the primary tool to enforce their rule. I use the term terror deliberately; to them it means gassing their own people, state prison camps, stonings and on-going acts of terror against their own people, even as the world watchs.
We look at this abuse as sensitive(?) Westerner's from our elevated civilized positions on the world stage and cry foul. We tell these Presidents that they must show self control and stop the abuses and yet the abuses continue to happen.
Are we, as a people, too far removed from this sort of tribal retribution to understand it's very nature? Are we too civilized to be able to relate, one on one, with these leaders that we try to rationalize with? Do we understand that Kenya's Kibaki is one uprising away from having his own throat cut open? Did we ever understand the loyalty felt to the evil emperor Saddam Hussein? These people live and die by the rule of force, not the order of law.
So we, as sensitive westerners, look at Hillary and say now, now, take a breathe and relax. We, as a civilized people, consider water boarding an extreme form of torture. We are considering whether lethal injection is an extreme form of punishment in our Supreme Court.
Do we have the capability of understanding what the rest of the world considers to be terror, or an unjust act. Recent history says we do not have the same rationale as the rest of the world. Who amongst all these candidates has the ability to see the world as it is, instead of through our own rose colored glasses? | |
Political Pundits| Posted Wednesday, January 09, 2008 at 11:27:00 AM | Well, it would appear that pundits fall into the same realm as weather forecasters. They can be wrong 50% of the time and retain their job.
Everyone wrote off the Clinton machine in the hours before the NH primary. Hour after hour, for five days, all we heard was the same old tired routine from the professional pundits. And what did we get?
The Clinton's squeaking out a victory. Not a decisive win but a strong enough showing to state that Bill and Hillary are not to be written off.
I think Obama can take pride in his showing against this formidable machine, after all it wasn't that many weeks ago that Hillary was being referred to as the presumed nominee.
What a difference a day makes! | |
N H Primary| Posted Tuesday, January 08, 2008 at 11:11:29 AM | Here we go. Today is primary day and we'll see just how correct the political pundits really are.
For the last five days all we've heard is that Hillary is done and Obama has the Democratic nomination wrapped up. I will not be upset if that turns out to be the case, but even I, inside my little cocoon, believe that the Clinton's are a more powerful force than that. As Hillary has stated, I believe we'll see them in the race until the last possible minute.
I do believe that there is a chance that we will see the Republican candidates start to retrench after the New Hampshire showing.
As the ranks dwindle I'm hoping that we will start to see some hardball questions instead of fluff. A year into this campaign and all anyone is addressing is the broad spectrum of questions. It's time to get down to specifics on how the individual candidates would handle the pressing issues of our nation. | |
Candidates For President| Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 at 10:33:01 AM | "She's So Yesterday" wrote the Boston Herald on Sunday describing Hillary Clinton. I agree wholeheartedly and say good riddance to the Clintons.
Contrary to what most think, I don't see myself as a Hillary basher.
I do see myself entirely opposed to machine politics and the Clintons are a prime example of such. I believe that the party's place is not to determine the candidate of the party, instead it should be the party members that determine who best represents what is good for America. Instead, we have back room politicking determine what candidate is most electable and they become the nominee. It is more important to the two major parties that they win the election than it is to represent the members of their party.
So I see this as a good day for America and the American people. It is refreshing to see these candidates properly labeled.
I hope the NH primary and the following primaries and caucuses continue in this direction! | |
Two Pointed Questions For the Candidates| Posted Sunday, January 06, 2008 at 11:41:24 AM | I attempt to watch the news every day in order to stay current with events. To date I have not heard any of the interviewers ask two questions that I believe will shed some light on the candidates.
1. To date Gravel, Biden and Dodd have dropped out of the race. Richardson is consistently placing well down in the polls and in the caucusing to date. All of these candidates have relied upon their years of Washington politics to be their prime propeling factor. Shouldn't the question be asked that the voters in general seem to be voting against such experience as prime criteria to become President? The voters seem to be saying that Washington politics per se are broken and seem at this time to be rejecting the status quo. If this indeed is true, what do these candidates bring to the contest other than years of useless experience?
2. The second question might be directed towards the front runners. In hindsight I can't think of a more honest individual than Jimmy Carter. He had the best of intentions but was totally ineffective as President. I didn't vote for him but give him due credit for attempting to buck the system. If the front runners indeed propose to change the atmosphere in Washington, how do they propose to do it? It is all well and good to say they'll change the way Washington does business, but how will they accomplish it? Will they have a bipartisan cabinet or will they have a VP from a different party? Let's hear some facts from these contenders before we vote for someone who offers a platform of empty promises. | |
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