Bush Three Is Wrong -- Is Clinton Three Any Better?
I had once considered John McCain an ultimately acceptable choice for president.
I thought that, compared to the other Republicans in the field earlier, McCain was a man who had lived a serious life. He had faced serious problems and offered respected solutions to issues such as campaign finance reform. McCain was a war hero, a US Senator and maverick in a party that often didn't know what to make of people like John McCain.
But mavericks don't make it to the highest echelons of the GOP. That is how we got stuck with this Bush. In order to ascend to the highest ranks of the Republican Party, you have got to realize that the current size and scope of the budget of the federal government is the greatest opportunity for the personal enrichment of the upper class in this country since the turn of the previous century or the period around World War II. As much as any industry that brings its products to market, selling your goods and services to the US government, and particularly the military, is a chance to make staggering and heretofore unseen profits. The current budget of the US Defense Department is the most shameful misappropriation of American tax dollars in our nation's history.
There are cycles in American history wherein the richest and most powerful people who actually own and run this country make there greatest effort to elect a true corporatocracy candidate. They literally steal the election, if need be. They install their witless, pliant factotums and they start skimming. They order even more expensive things we don't need. They relax regulations to the point where there are essentially no regulations at all. They might even start a war, if the can get away with it. If questionable people happen to be in the country taking flying lessons without learning how to land and you don't bother to investigate them, you increase the chances you may get away with it.
There are periods in American history when the haves just knock the have-nots to the ground and say,"Enough." They push the government into greater debt. They sign unconscionable mortgages for future generations. They lie and tell the American people that to get out of the convoluted military quagmire would only threaten us more. Threaten our children. Their future.
When their friends run into trouble, they bail them out. No, I mean we bail them out. They decide. We simply do the paying. Bill Clinton killed welfare as we knew it. Maybe its time had come. I was hoping that both Clintons would have condemned the Bear Stearns deal in the harshest terms. No such luck.
John McCain has changed. He drank the Kool-Aid, the one they served as baby formula in the Bush home all those years ago. McCain will be Bush Three. I was wrong about him. He has velcroed his lips to the ass of the elephant and he's gonna keep kissing until a second term would end.
But, if Bush Three is wrong, terrifyingly wrong, then is Clinton Three any better? Who do you think really has the guts to stand against the most potent special interests who truly care more about the dollar than the flag? We don't have a draft in this country in order keep politics out of military policy. For too many Americans, the truth is that, "My child isn't over there. That's all I care about." The fact that there has not been one great, national day of protest against this war will surely come back to haunt us all.
Who will end this war?
Obama will end this war.
I encourage the Democrats of the state of Pennsylvania to cast their vote tomorrow for Barack Obama.
I sweated this a lot. I admire both Bill and Hillary. But the shame and disgrace of how we have treated our own fighting men, not to mention many innocent people in Iraq, weighs more heavily on me now.
This country is in deep trouble. We not only need something effective, we need something new. I believe Obama will bring that more that Mrs. Clinton.
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you want to end the war start a draft . i had an idea last year of course i did not follow through with it there was 3000 or so american dead , i thought what if we went to washington one day as a survey crew , and stake out the wall that will be built for these souls, i thought that we would stake off enough for 3000 but steak out another area next to it , or leave enough room for 10,15,20000 soilders i did nothing thinking what can one guy do , now we area at 4000+ dead and room at the wall for more. will i ever get mad enough to go to washington i dont know i thougt i was plenty mad last year the truth is i am responcible for for my part for doing nothing . i want this war to end , but i do nothing to help end it . im i just as bad as the bums who started it . peace dotofats
I agree. Start a Draft.
Everyone will shut up then and let some Democrat get us out of there.
Thank you Alec for your comments here. I laughed so hard at last week's 30 Rock and your character's escapades so glad to see you have changed your views on McCain, as have I!
I would have voted for him in 2000. He is a disappointment and a scary guy now. No change from Bush, only a continuation and that in itself is scary.
I urge voters in PA to put aside everything but their own self-interest when voting today. Obama will change the way things are done in this country and we will all benefit. It won't be easy and he will need our support but he is far and away the best candidate and we really need to deserve him.
That is the bottom line. Change is essential, there is no argument on that.
We have an opportunity to put fear and doubt aside and move forward, not status quo. We have an opportunity to end the war and take better care of our citizens. We have an opportunity to be a good nation again and to raise hope all over the globe.
Put aside the MSM version of Obama, the Clinton camp version of Obama. Listen and read.
Don't let yourself be swayed by the right, the Clinton machine or fear.
Vote for change. Vote for a return to sanity. Vote for Obama and choose a future that works for the many, not the few.
Great post ,wisechild. lets carry on.
Oh he'll end the war when the powers that be let him. This war will continue Alex, make no bones about it. No career politician is going to change that. We had a chance at backing people with fresh ideas, but we chose a couple policy twins on the center-left, and a status-quo old fart on the far right.
Thank you Alec for being a thoughtful and caring Obama enthusiast. I would like to add to your recommendation that Pennsylvania voters support Senator Obama in today's primary. Obama has many outstanding qualities but for me, the one that sets him apart from the other candidates, both Bushes, Ford, Carter and Reagan and others is his incredibly keen intelligence and the way he applies this great gift. Obama has been at the helm of a brilliantly run campaign and is winning against an opponent who was wearing the crown of victory long before the throne had been vacated.
The long campaign has exposed Mrs. Clinton's intellectual weaknesses and is there anyone in this sagging economy and home mortgage and gas price crisis who wants to trust her with what is left of their money? Has ber bungling and flubbing and inability to remember when she was shot at by sniper fire make anyone feel they would be safer with her looking out for their lives? Has her outbursts of temper and Zelig-like change of persona to jibe with her location caused anyone to praise her stability?
Smarter is better, and Senator Obama is smarter.
great post ,Shela88 carry on.
Second that!
Obama has many outstanding qualities but for me, the one that sets him apart from the other candidates, both Bushes, Ford, Carter and Reagan and others is his incredibly keen intelligence and the way he applies this great gift......
Great gift ... my a_ _ !
Alec, I am a huge fan of yours but on this point I think you are dead wrong. Sounds like you may have been dipping into the Obama Kool-aid a bit yourself. Obama voted for the Patriot Act, Obama has voted for every war funding bill since he's been in the Senate and the fact that he was not in the Senate when he made his proclamation against the war while campaining in an area of Illinois that was anti-war is hollow and means nothing.
If the media had done their job more people would know that Obama owes much of his success in politics to shady dealings with Resko and allegience to Exelon Corp. of Illinois pushing nuclear power. Instead they talk about flag pins and trash Hillary 24/7.
Clinton owes her success to the name Clinton, that is, her husband's name. And, but the way, what is her voting record? You fail to mention that. Guess you support her vote for Kyl-Lieberman as well, as her vote to allow cluster bombs. How about her cosponsorship of the bill to criminalize flag-burning? If you like all of this, then she's your gal!
Hillary had an enormous name recognition advantiage, I used to like her but after her conduct in this campaign- I can't wait until she is out of the primary so we can get on with our lives- without "It's all about US" Clinton drama. I have not a shred of respect left for either one of them.
Weren't the war funding votes about caring for the troops over there, not so much continuing the war?
When did the Dems at that time have the votes to do anything about the war?
Wasn't the WH issuing dire warnings about how the troops would be affected if not approved? Wasn't Rumsfeld threatening those who voted against with the same BS?
Your attempts to link Obama to the Resko scandal have failed. It's been vetted already.
If you like Clinton, vote for her. I suppose HIll's vote for the war doesn't both you so much.
Glossed over and vetted aren't the same thing. The dire warning from the WH could have and should have been questioned and debunked by both of these candidates but there was no opposition from either. A protest vote by either would not have taken anything away from the troops as they had money in the pipeline far into the future for immediate needs.
Personally, I don't want to vote for either of these candidates and a vote for McCrazy is, well, Crazy. Once again the media picked our candidates and gave us our "first" rather than giving us our best. And, once again, Democrats will probably grab defeat from the jaws of victory. We should have had our candidate long ago that all Democrats could get behind and be poised to mop the floor with McCrazy. It will take everything in me to drag my very unhappy self to the polls in Nov.
"Obama voted for the Patriot Act,..." Senator Obama was in the Illinois Legislature when the Patriot Act was passed. Nice try, but that's strike one.
"Obama has voted for every war funding bill since he's been in the Senate ..." You're right on this but not for the right reason. He voted to support funding to support the troops, not to support booosh. That strike two!
Dang, old baseball should have allowed more strikes before the batter is called out. So, I'll use this one: " Instead they talk about flag pins and trash Hillary 24/7." Actually Senator Obama has been the only candidate to call BS such as "flag pins" as ......BS. Strike three, you're out, TROLL..
I do believe that the Patriot Act came back up for a re-vote. Your strike two is illogical as well as your strike three and if you've been around for anytime at all you would know that I am about as far from a troll as you get. Ever thought of reading my profile? You sir are a Moron and I don't think anyone would dispute that. Now - shoo!!!!
OK Huff Post - what's going on? This fool called me a troll and I responded respectfully and you deleted my post. I will try again.
markus x 2 - You have no idea what you are talking about. Try reading my profile and I think you will understand that I have been posting here for quite a while and I am about as far from a "troll" as anyone can get. Your points are not only wrong but illogical.
So Shoo - Shoo I say!
You are wrong on so many levels here. Calling someone who has been here a long time a troll only makes you look foolish. Try reading my profile before letting your keyboard overload your butt.
I'm sorry Mr.Baldwin
why?
all good sheep love to be fleeced!
Hi Alec! Thanks for being so politically active. And smart!
Sorry, I'm still for Hillary. If you can get past the the lying sniper fire stories, you can see she's still the one most ready and able to take on all the incredible challenges left by the Bush administration.
If it were any other time---with no war, a time of peace and prosperity---I'd say, fine, Obama.
But these times are too serious for having the Black issue in full bloom while we have all these other problems. Hillary will help Blacks too. Barak is in no way proven as someone who can even know how to turn our economy around.
And we have an even more serious issue at hand, and nobody's talking about it. We are going to be out of oil very, very soon. I watched "A Crude Awakening: The Oil Crash" on the Sundance channel last night. We've got a catastrophy right around the corner. That's why we need the astute and experienced, Hillary. Not the puppy, tho warm, sweet and kind.
So, since oil is the lifeblood of the nation, we did need a military base in the Middle East. Too bad the greedy, sick, morons in the White House decided on a war instead of just paying some Middle East country for us to build one there.
Maureen, I'm with you, except Alec has now lost all credibility with me. NO POTUS will be able to end this war right off the bat. The Democrat we elect will be under high pressure and scrutiny to end this war now as they promised in their campaigns!
Make it so!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What exactly is Hillary going to do to help the oil crisis? Sleep with a Shiek? Oil is the main reason our gov't continues to support unrest in the region.
What experience does she have? Can Hillary out-experience John Mccain?
After the 3am ad, a reporter asked the Clinton campaign what exactly in her background prepared her for the 3am phone call and they were rendered speechless and then gave very vague answers. It basically boiled down to that she survived the Monica scandal. They were the ones who created the ad, you would think they would be prepared to have a specific list of what made her ready for that call. The problem is that Clinton's entire argument is experience, but she isn't more experienced than Mccain or Dodd, Biden, or Richardson. Obama focuses more on judgement than experience, which is perfect foil for Mccain and Clinton.
So far Obama has shown that he is better strategic thinker than Hillary. He has managed his campaign where he has 40 million he can use for the primary alone and plenty of resources to draw from. Hillary is in debt.
What are these Black Issues. The economy, the war, the price of gas.
We worry about the same things you do. She we be concerned with Hillary and the women issues being a problem? I am so tired of people thinking that the only reason black people are voting for Obama is because he is black.
It really is a shame that we can't even have the respect that we think about issues just like everyone else.
Clarnece Thomas is black, I won't vote for him!!!!
Alec,
I am flabbergasted that a stereotypical Hollywood liberal like you would support Obama. And I am now homeless.
You see, I bet my house that you would support McCain.
My bad.
Nice visuals, Mr. Baldwin.
However, a proven candidate with "his lips velcroed to the ass of an elephant" - is preferable to a novice politician with his lips smeared with the end trails of a jack-ass.
Your logic is based on the illogical. You seem to believe that Barack Obama will end the war because Barack Obama says he will end the war. How trusting. Yes, Obama claims that he voted against the war from the beginning - but since Obama had no vote - he conveniently has no proof of his stance. The reality is that we do not know what Obama would have done and more-so we do not know what Obama will do in the future - and I am not willing to take the chance that a man with Marxist ideology and a growing list of misstatements, will keep the promises he makes during a heated political campaign. But Mr. Baldwin seems to thinks he knows Mr. Obama. Clearly, it takes an actor to know an actor.
basic4matt -
I think the problem is not that we don't know what Obama will actually do when he is president. The problem is that we know what Hillary or McCain would do.
About 2300 years ago Sparta "won" the Peloponesian war against Athens. The conclusion the Spartans reached was, hey, we won, we were victorious, let's just keep doing what made us successful. That is exactly what Clinton/Bush dynasties have set their minds on after the end of the cold war. It was a big mistake then and it is a big mistake today in our case. While the Spartans sat secure in their "knowledge" that they would rule the world with a force of 6000 elite warriors, each with a spear and shield, the Athenians turned to the Periclean idea of peace and prosperity and good will among neighbors.
Today Athens is the capital of Greece with a population of 4 million and Sparta is a small village of about 6000 inhabitants buth their spear and shield is in their museum.
Obama gets it. Hillary and Bush and McCain don't because they are blinded by corruption and ignorance
Alas, ... Barack or Hillary, it won’t matter. McCain is going to win a victory of remarkable proportions in November. And this after eight years of a Republican White House and a hugely un-popular war.
Democrats couldn't win the one they couldn't lose ... Alas.
What a horrible, horrible thought. I can't think of a more horrible existence than another four years of republican dictatorship. There needs to be election reform so that this type of thing does not happen!!!!!
Appreciate the humor!
obama is the only person willing to take the necessary steps to move away from washington politics and lobbiests think....w
obama'08
Try the past 28 years, bub.
You know McCain and Clinton well. Maybe too well. You have drawn conclusions, based on their past behavior, as to how they will govern in the future. You have done this because one, you are human and two, you are familiar with their past.
You don't know barely anything about Obama, so I guess this is where HOPE comes into this, you are going to assume he is better. He is the better choice based on . . . . the fact that he gives great speeches? Or is it because . . . he wants CHANGE too?
I wish I could find the damn Kool-Aid and become a part of this movement based on nothing.
If I have a choice between someone whom I knew is bad, and someone I knew nothing about, I would chose the one I knew nothing about. Giving the benefit of the doubt is a blessing.
The odds are in your favor with the person you know nothing about (50% chance he might be good) versus 100% certainty with someone you already know is bad. Better odds with the unknown person that he might turn out to be good. Say for example, you have a spouse who beats you everyday, and one day you meet someone else who promises to treat you with kindness. Which one would you pick?
Would you rather have a dumb president or a lying president? FYI, Obama is not part of this question.
Alec, I think you lost a lot of us with that first sentence.
If that's what you thought, then you really haven't devoted too much brain power to thinking.
As to the difference between Sister Yoda and McCrazy, how about Sister Yoda is less likely to
(a) appoint more right wing crazies to the Supreme Court and Federal bench
(b) give more undeserved tax cuts to the already too wealthy
(c) engage in reckless fiscal policy
(d) gut regulatory agencies' oversight of critical areas
(e) start wars based on ideology
McCrazy on the other hand is likely to compound the considerable damage done by Pan already by following his failed policies and delusional ideology.
You may think Brother Neo is the better candidate but Sister Yoda is light years ahead of McCrazy.
Mr. Baldwin, this column was amazing to read, and frankly I didn't realize you were this good of a writer. (Sorry--guilty of handsome actor stereotypi
Well-reasoned and argued. Thank you for writing it. From your keyboards to God's ears.
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