I've already said I'll work for the Democrat who gets the majority of delegates -- whether Hillary, Barack, Edwards or Kucinich. But if Barack is such a breath of fresh air, why is he raving about Ronald Reagan?
Reagan -- the Hollywood red-baiter who rose from president of the Screen Actors Guild to president of the United States even though he was already senile. Reagan who gave us tax cuts and "trickle down" economics that didn't work -- except for the rich and richer and richest. Reagan who let "mommy" (Nancy) run the white house with the aid of her astrologer. Reagan whose horse was smarter than he was.
Give me a break. One of the most disgusting sights in recent years was the genuflecting before this total fraud that went on at his funeral. And the hypocritical bullshit being trumpeted by the networks! Where were all the actors and writers and directors whose lives he ruined? I guess they were dead. But -- what, me worry? -- in America nobody knows one crumb of history, so Ronald Reagan's vicious red baiting, how he rose to prominence by smearing other actors and writers and directors, was totally forgotten.
I suppose Mr. Obama has forgotten too--scholar of history that he is. Perhaps he was not alive in the 50s so he knows nothing about it -- the Army-McCarthy hearings, the smearing of creative artists who donated to Spanish Civil War Relief even though they were not "card-carrying" communists. They happened, like my parents, and their friends, to have given money to help little Spanish children, orphaned by the Spanish Civil War -- and ever after they trembled lest Ronnie Reagan and his ilk witch-hunt them.
What charity have you given to that some future McCarthy might call a "commie front"? What charity have you supported that some future Ronnie Reagan might out you for, claiming you were a disloyal American? Doctors without Borders? Is it a leftist sham? Or, since we don't have commies any more, is it non-patriotic because it started in France and before Sarko "the French were, cheese eating surrender monkeys"?
Remember "Freedom Fries" you guys?
So Mr. Obama is not such a new style politician after all. He's just a politician -- invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, using his name as code as the Repugnicans do, trying to pump himself up as a man of the people by mentioning this total fraud as a hero.
I don't mind. Politicians are politicians and they do their thing -- praising the popular, putting down the unpopular -- invoking Reagan for his geniality -- which was probably just dementia. But Americans don't remember the past -- so we are doomed to repeat it.
I want a president who is not a politician and not a hypocrite -- but I don't see such a candidate around.
They all pander -- except Kucinich -- but he probably panders too and I just don't know it because of the thin coverage in the so-called mainstream media.
Barack, I'll vote for you if you get the nomination. And I'll work for you, too. I'll talk to my right wing neighbors in south- eastern Connecticut where I have voted democratic for three decades -- (a very short line).
My neighbors vote for Representative Christopher Shays who we vainly tried to replace with Democratic/feminist/anti-war Diane Farrell, and Senator Joe Lieberman, who is not good for the Jews. And who is certainly not a Democrat. Nor anti-war, nor anything really but a cynical politician. So are they all. Who else runs the gauntlet of a punishing campaign?
My Connecticut neighbors may still think the GOP will protect them from radical Islam. They may still hope the GOP will get rid of inheritance tax. They love their tax cuts more than they love their planet. They love their children, but they'd rather leave them money -- because, hey, in America, money is all we have to keep the wolf from the door.
I will talk to them about greening the planet (for real not just oil company PR) and about the little children maimed and killed in Iraq and about who's really protecting America rather than just doing photo ops. I will try my hardest for the democratic nominee even though many of my neighbors have never voted democratic in their lives.
But let's get real: every politician raises money and every politician (including Barack Obama) wants to get elected more than he wants to tell the whole truth. A pure, new politician? I don't think so. The Ronnie Reagan reference gives him away. He knows the election will be a popularity contest in benighted America, and he's not giving up anything he thinks might get him into the pop-u-lar people clique.
He's running for president of the High School G.O. They all are. Let's not romanticize any of them --bnnot dead red-baiter Ronnie Reagan, nor almost-dead former POW McCain, nor hard-working feminist Hillary who failed to leave Bill because she loved him and she knew she'd never find another man as clever (and smart women like smart men -- even if they are sex addicts), nor rich-lawyer-populist John Edwards, nor handsome Harvard man Barack with his perfect white/black background and his adorable girls.
Hey --i f you want a non-politician, folks, you can't vote for anyone. And that's not a good idea either.
The only one that remains to vote for is Kucinich.....we'll just have to write him in!
Oh, Earth to Barack: One thing that Ronald Reagan did NOT bring to government was accountability.
Was Obama channeling Reagan's tax policy? No. Was he touting his terrific union record? No. Was he complimenting the way he handled... err... how he didn't remember... Iran-Contra? No. He's saying he changed the direction of the country in a way that not all presidents do. And if you're going to argue that, I think you're the one who needs the history lesson.
Oliver North was chief operation manager for the rescue mission, where the USA's best soldiers forgot to put the sand screens on the helicopters. Sure. Secord and bunch more of the Iran Contra gang were also part of the "rescue".
Thanks for reminding me that not everyone has gone insane.
Yours is a refreshing and rational look at a dubious process, where the real issues are buried underneath a patina of meaningless superficialities. Where inadequate candidates are propped up as mere packages, not unlike like Doritos or Ding Dongs.
We remove the wrapper, get a quick sugar rush- but ultimately is not good for us, is not good for anybody- that's particularly the case with Obama. His teeny boppers easily riled, emanating that arrogant whiff of those who think they know better, but don't.
Theirs seems to be a juvenile fascination devoid of insight and the harsh realities one finds when the jig is up and the manufacturing of consent is set forth.
Nobody can tell them any different- and so it goes- another round of deception, the Haudini Effect in motion - (10% or less might know the trick but can't convince the other 90% of it) .....yet again.
If anyone saw the clip I saw, Obama was giving an accurate, honest, and well articulated opinion of the last 30 years of US history. To imply Obama was "invoking Ronnie Reagan as if he were God Almighty, etc..." is clearly an over reaction that probably will have implications down the road for Hillary.
Back in New Hampshire Bill Clinton complained that the press was giving Obama a free ride and being hard on Hillary. The press did back off of Hillary as a result. However, that "back off" appears to have come to an end.
Just saying that Reagan was a transformational president doesn't mean Obama likes everything Reagan did. Or even anything Reagan did. Come on, stop being so knee jerk partisan.
Unlike you, I won't vote for bar or for hil. I would vote for Edwards or Kucinich but guess I won't have the chance. So, for the first time in my life, I won't vote. I just can't hold my nose and vote anymore - I cannot do it.