Politics On Obama on Virginia Tech
posted by on April 18 at 1:33 AM
Zooming in on Barack Obama’s speech about the Virginia Tech massacre, Ben Smith at The Politico has a concise critique of the high-profile Presidential candidate.
Reacting to Obama’s speech— “there’s a lot of different forms of violence in our society, and so much of it is rooted in our incapacity to recognize ourselves in each other” — Smith says:
it captures what moves a lot of people about Obama, and bothers others: His instinct for abstraction and large themes, and his sense that America’s problems have at their root solutions that have as much to do with hope and process as with any specific course of action.
Kind of obvious, but it’s worth checking out. Smith says it well (“Many politicians would avoid, I think, suggesting that outsourcing and mass-murder belong in the same category,”) and there’s a lengthy-beyond-comprehension discussion in the comments.
Seems a hell of a lot better than the current "just do as I say", short-sighted, egotistical, pee-on-our-leg-and-tell-us-its-raining politics of the Bush administration.
Apparently safeguarding civil liberties granted in the Constitution and its Amendments is just fine, so long as the precious 'Right to Bear Arms' remains pristine. Why the fuck is that an exception to the BigBrother/PATRIOT act?
Just a dumbfuck rhetorical question, since God speaks through President Chimp, he is always right, by definition.
Josh --
Glenn Greenwald on Salon has an excellent post on this "abstraction" meme -- and how it is working it's way through the Washington DC punditocracy.
http://salon.com/opinion/greenwald/
Since we need to begin realizing that we experience shared struggles in order to make the world a better place, I would like to propose a candlelight vigil tonight in a nearby football stadium in honor of this breaking news story:
4 Bombs Kill 157 People in Baghdad
By SINAN SALAHEDDIN, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
(04-18) 07:16 PDT BAGHDAD, (AP) --
Four large bombs exploded in mostly Shiite areas of Baghdad on Wednesday, killing at least 157 people and wounding scores as violence climbed toward levels seen before the U.S.-Iraqi campaign to pacify the capital began two months ago.
I hope Mr. Obama would be interested in leading the vigil. Maybe Katie Couric can find another black cardigan sweater to cover her shoulders while she delivers the hushed voice over commentary wearing a very little makeup to prove her sincerity.
The Politico*, always follows the primary Republican/White House meme or talking point of the week, unintentionally(I think)revealing how formulaic the process is. They get super defensive when Greenwald calls them on it.
*Because its founders are long time beltway hacks, this site gets treated as a legitimate source by other beltway hacks. Also its Bush's favorite site to promote after fake Iraqi blogs about how great things are in Baghdad.
Josh,
So now that session is almost over have you gone from hating on Frank Chopp to hating on Barack Obama? Like it or not his message resonates after 6 1/2 years of fear and lies. Ben Smith has been cookin Barack's grits for months now so he is not very credible.
Ben Smith is an ITB hack, if you ask me. I imagine he and his type (your Mickey Kaus's, Mark Penn's, etc...) resent the way in which the Obama campaign correctly identifies their ilk as a cancerous growth on the electoral process.
and up jumped the swagman and sprang into the billabong while watching how his penis patches got wet at http://www.averagepenis.mysize.ws
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