Politics: March 2008 Archives

One thing I'm loving about this election is how it's bringing the country back together. You may laugh, but for the past 8 years, it's felt like Democrats stood on one side of a gulf, Republicans on another, and we've just glared at each other across the void. You say, "Mission accomplished!" I say, "Quagmire." You say, "Attack on the American family," I say, "Civil rights." You say, "Let the people keep their money!" I say, "How are you going to pay for your stupid war, then?" And so forth we merrily go. It's been like living in a funhouse.

But now, all the boundaries are being erased. Take the conversation Michael and I had yesterday with a random guy in Long's Drugs, who overheard us arguing about John McCain and informed us that there's no way he's voting for the guy, he'd take Hillary Clinton over him any day, because McCain is too liberal for him. All I could say is,"I don't think you have to worry. McCain is plenty conservative." You've got to love it.

Now about that crack everyone's smoking. I'm hearing more and more people say that they'd rather vote for McCain than Clinton. And a new poll reveals that this is a big trend these days, albeit with a big percentage of Clinton supporters threatening to vote for McCain over Obama as well. Others are threatening to just not vote this year.

I am definitely a fan of Obama, and the more I see of the Clintons this election, the more I despise them. I don't want to see bad behavior rewarded.

And yet? I can never, never bring myself to not vote, or vote for a Republican. It's not the personalities, it's what the parties stand for. Michael points out that the Democrats don't deliver what they promise, that the death penalty will stand whether a Democrat or Republican is in the White House, that our nuclear weapons programs will continue under either party, that the War on Drugs shows no signs of stopping under either party. These things are true.

But I've watched the Republican party strip away civil liberties, pretend environmental degradation wasn't happening, laugh at science, gut funding for social programs, legitimize torture and chip away at Roe vs. Wade (call me a one-issue voter, I admit it, but for me, Roe v. Wade represents a universe of attitudes about individuals' rights to make their own decisions, the imposition of other people's religious beliefs, the rights and status of women, and society's attitudes towards the family.)

John McCain served our country and sacrificed a big chunk of his life in war, and I appreciate that. But that doesn't mean I want him to be my president, sorry. He's got too many negatives for me, and on top of that, he promises to continue most Bush administration policies. He's jettisoned the positions that I admired, from campaign finance reform to opposition to waterboarding.

Look, I know it sucks to feel like you're always faced with the choice between two evils. But the truth is, there are major policy differences between Clinton and McCain (though, alas, not major character differences, it would seem.) I'm not condemning myself to another MINUTE under Republican rule if I can help it. If you're not a Republican, you shouldn't want to do that to yourself, or to your children, either.

I hope Obama wins the nomination, for everybody's sake. And if he doesn't, I'd like to find some way to punish bad behavior without punishing ourselves in the process.

When I was in college, I spent a semester in England. Now, dorm food enjoys (is that the right word?) a notorious reputation for being not so good, as does English cuisine. Combine the two, and, well, you get me living on a diet of Yorkie bars, tinned Heinz baked beans, tinned spaghetti, toast, and green apples. Hell, even pot noodles were better than the food in my hall's kitchen.

In another fun combination, we can observe that college students are sometimes guilty of simplistic or even wrong-headed thinking, and Republicans are likewise prone to these errors...

So if you put 'em together, you can just imagine the geniuses you end up with.

• "I support McCain because he is committed to doing what is best for the largest number of people," said Wolf, 21. "He will protect small businesses, won't raise taxes, and does not make guarantees on health care and education that he can't keep."
• "No matter what statistics you look at, we're making progress both militarily and politically in Iraq," said the San Jose native. "McCain wants victory and the Democrats, with their commitment to pulling out, are promising defeat."
• "I am a Christian, and believe strongly that human life is sacred and needs to be protected," said Joy, 21, a business and economics major. "I also believe in traditional marriage to ensure liberty. (Otherwise), the government is essentially sanctioning relationships that are not in accordance with natural law."

I weep for the future.

For some reason, I keep reading Andrew Sullivan. Even when he comes up with gems like this.

For me, this is an epiphany of sorts. Not that I have changed my mind about the things I wrote in "The Conservative Soul." Not that I have stopped believing in limited government, individual freedom, personal responsibility, pragmatic change. But I have come to believe that large swathes of today's conservative movement truly are hateful.

Gee, yeah. YA THINK!??!!

In honor of Obama's speech on race today, I link to this song from Avenue Q:

I lack the skills to do this, but I would love to see a video on YouTube with all the talking heads singing the lyrics: Wright, Ferraro, Clinton, Obama. (A pity Trekkie Monster doesn't appear in this number; he'd be amply played by Bill Clinton, I think.)

"We need a cleaning in that White House, and, we need a woman to clean it up, and that woman is Hillary Clinton..."

then the appallingly lame rap starts. Check it out.

President Clinton ran a campaign ad bragging about signing the Defense of Marriage Act.

Here's the full thing.

Date: Wed, 16 Oct 1996 09:33:35 -0500 From: logcabin@cais.com Subject: CLINTON DEFENDS ANTI-GAY ADS, WILL NOT PULL THEM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: David Greer
October 15, 1996 (202) 347-5306

CLINTON WON'T PULL AD

Clinton-Gore Spokesman Says Anti-Gay Ad Will Continue to Run As
Is

(WASHINGTON) Despite rumors among gay Democratic activists that
the Clinton-Gore campaign would soon alter, pull or repudiate an
anti-gay radio ad running on Christian radio stations, a campaign
spokesman defended the ad and confirmed that it would continue
running unaltered.

In an article in today's Washington Times, entitled "For
Christian Radio, Clinton Changes Tune on Gays, Abortion," it was
reported that the Clinton-Gore campaign "shrugged off" angry
calls to shelve the radio ad. The article cited reports from gay
and lesbian groups that the campaign might delete the portion of
the ad which boasts of Clinton signing the anti-gay Defense of
Marriage Act (DOMA), but "Clinton campaign spokesman Joe Lockhart
said there are no plans to alter the radio ads, which will run
for 'a few more days.'"

After boasting about Clinton signing the anti-gay DOMA, the ad
concludes with the line: "President Clinton has fought for our
values and America is better for it."

"After flip-flopping on gay issues for four years, President
Clinton seems to have made up his mind in the last days of the
campaign to go anti-gay," said Richard Tafel, executive director
of Log Cabin Republicans. "These ads reveal exactly where gays
and lesbians stand in his vision of America -- we're completely
expendable."

Disgusting. Really, really disgusting.

Remember how excited I was that Samantha Power was Obama's foreign policy advisor? No more. She had to resign because she called Hilary Clinton "a monster" during an interview with a reporter.

While my post heading may seem like a dramatic overstatement, bear in mind that the 20th century has seen one genocide after another, with the United States rarely stepping in until it was too late. Sure, we won WWII, but six million Jews were dead by then. The Rwandan genocide happened in a matter of weeks; we did nothing. Darfur? Still happening. And there are others that don't get the same attention, whose locations I'm ashamed to say I can't even recall at the moment.

When Bush got elected, he was briefed on this sad history of inaction. Supposedly he scribbled "Not on my watch" on a piece of paper. But really, it's been the same old, same old. And he's squandered our remaining moral authority and influence, not that we were using them well to begin with.

The selection of Samantha Power sent a signal that Obama was serious about 1) educating himself on foreign policy and 2) really doing something to halt current genocides and prevent future ones. It would be impossible to have such a person in your campaign, or administration, and not do something about these issues. She just wouldn't let you!

And then with one intemperate remark, she blew it all.

I'm sure she's kicking herself really hard today for what happened. But in the meantime, an invaluable opportunity has been lost. What are the chances that whoever wins the race for the White House is going to let her back in? And how many people are going to continue to die for their ethnicity as a result?

If John McCain gets elected, we should friggin' invade Canada.

I'm mostly joking.