Flutterby™! : Good Rant 2008-10-16 01:05:29.942296+00

Good Rant

2008-10-16 01:05:29.942296+00 by meuon 4 comments

I heard a good rant this morning from a staunch Reagan-esque Republican that just might, when no-one is looking, vote for Obama because he thinks McCain/Palin is just too unpalatable. While rationalizing various things that I found both informative and entertaining, he hit a gem (approx quote):

"..and when Obama is elected, if any ______ tells me "The Man" is keeping him down, I'm going to tell him to shut up and get a fucking job. That shit won't stick anymore."

Independent of the President's roles as laid out by the Constitution (and perverted by George W. Bush), the office is that of a leader. I believe Obama will be successful in leading the impoverished out of their patterns of poverty.

The best solution to welfare problems is to get people off of welfare. You can try to force them or you can try to lead them. Obama is more of a leader in that sense.

Eric, the impoverished are there because they either can't or won't do the things required to get them out. Leading isn't going to change that.

#Comment Re: made: 2008-10-16 12:36:48.743565+00 by: petronius [edit history]

George F. Will said a few weeks ago that for every vote obama loses because he is black, he will gain 2. I think Will is onto something. There is a mood in the country that thinks that it is about time to get this over with. Will also thinks that Obama's election will leave Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton in the dustbin of history. hel, even uber-con Gary Bauer did an editorial in Politico the other day calling the election of a black man "exciting", even though he opposes pretty much everything Obama stands for. Actually, the dynamic that may change the most is that of the Left. They will be happy that Obama got elected, but deep in their hearts the discovery that America isn't irredeemingly rascist will be like discovering there is no Santa Claus.

A European immigrant at work commented about the election: "Americans... who understands you? You elect a foolish clown boy (meaning cowboy, I think, but perhaps not) twice? Only electing Obama, a black man.... part-African.... can save your face."

I believe that might be the greatest strength of Obama on the world stage. His name isn't George Herbert Walker or William Jefferson or George Walker or Ronald Wilson or James Earl, it's Barack Hussein Obama II.

What's in a name that doesn't drip with our Anglocentric past? The suggestion that perhaps Americans realize there's room at the top of the melting pot for someone of non-European lineage (and emphasized nicely if Obama taps Bill Richardson for a plum spot in the cabinet) and that perhaps America is finally ready to bury the notion of the last 8 years which suggested it is our globe and we just let the other country's live here.