About Me
- Name: Nick W.
- Location: Wisconsin, United States
Libertarian observations from within the Ivory Tower by an archivist, librarian and researcher.
Email me at
libertarian_librarian@hotmail.com
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A university is just a group of buildings gathered around a library. ~Shelby Foote
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Thoughts on the Primaries
I am happy McCain won. He has plenty of warts and I was very disappointed in his deal brokering with Bush that helped overturn centuries of U.S. opposition to torture. But I think he is far superior to any other Republican candidate-- including Ron Paul, who originally captured my imagination and then turned out to be nearly as loony as the pundits claimed. He actually does have foreign policy experience, unlikely Hillary, and he is the smallest government candidate outside of Paul. He is also not a raving Christianist moonbat like Mike Huckabee. So he's got that going for him. Which is nice.
I am thrilled that Obama is ahead. I just wish that the Clintons would go away and sulk in a corner somewhere. But that is not likely to happen-- they are too close to returning to power to abandon ship now, even when it would be beneficial for their party and probably for the country. I am hopeful that Barack will be able to withstand their negativity, mudslinging and machinations. To do so, I think all of the points listed here by Andrew Sullivan are valid and important.
Obama has run an amazing campaign and despite Clinton's "big" victories on Tuesday, he lost very little ground to her. It is very much his race to lose-- or Clinton's to steal. I suppose that last is what most concerns me. Once again, Sullivan probably sums it up better than I can:
The secrecy and paranoia also remind one of the Clintons' history, especially Senator Clinton's. From Whitewater through the long nightmare of cattle-futures through legal documents mysteriously "discovered" long after they were sought, to the secret healthcare task force that helped kill healthcare reform for over a decade, the Clintons are now following their long pattern. They hide stuff they need to hide and stuff they don't need to hide. What we are learning is that these people have not changed. And their sense of personal privilege, their boundless paranoia, and their constant lies about themselves must be front and center in this campaign. Do we want to go back there again? After Bush and Cheney, do we really want another couple of co-presidents in love with total secrecy and above-the-law personal privilege?
Why do the Clintons believe that they are somehow above the normal rules of other politicians? And why does the press allow them to get away with this? Why aren't there demands for them to fully disclose their financial details now? No excuses. No delays. Now.
For me, Hillary Clinton encapsulates nearly everything that is wrong about politics. More interested in power than the people. Secretive. Almost compulsively negative. Privileged. Willing to play the victim card. Feeling entitled. Blech. Double blech.
That would be cool.
Labels: Politics
After my guy dropped out (I really liked Edwards), I was willing to consider both Hill and Obama. Then came South Carolina and Bill's atrocious dismissal of Obama's victory there as a Jesse Jackson rerun. It was just so blatantly racist and derogatory. And, in my mind, even though Hillary didn't say it herself, she also didn't condemn it or dismiss it as she should have.
So, that's when Hillary kissed my vote goodbye. And since then I haven't really looked back.
I have to say, I wasn't surprised at all about the Ohio outcome... you can always trust Ohioans to f*ck up voting, or vote for the wrong guy (or gal). I remember quite vividly the last presidential election when things in Ohio were too close to call. I said "I'm going to bed. Nothing good can come out of this mess. It's OHIO." And I was right.
OK, ok, so maybe I'm on an anti-Ohio rant, but it's just so amazing that people fell for that 3am ad. The old let's-scare-'em-because-we're-desperate. The sad thing is, people are getting scared because they ARE so desperate. Unfortunately, the scarers are often not the ones who can actually find the real solutions-- they have a vested interest in keeping us scared, and why give that up?
During this race she has had a massive institutional advantage, a huge name recognition edge and, initially, a huge money edge. And yet she has played the race card, the feminism card and the victim card-- all depending on her audience and how well she was doing in the polls.
Frankly, there are very few people that I would like less as my president. I really hope Obama is able to carry this thing through to the fall. Really, really, really.
Couple of other quick thoughts: The fact that Rush Limbaugh is urging people to vote for Hillary should be reason enough for most Democrats/Liberals to vote for Barack. And, to shamelessly steal a line I found at Andrew Sullivan's place (and which he had found in the commentaries at Daily Kos: "Saying that Hillary has Executive Branch experience is like saying Yoko Ono was a Beatle."
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