sour grapes
I know I'm going to get even more tired of it all than I am now, so the real eye rolls have yet to come, but...
I get so frustrated with what passes for an objective media in this country and the things they say. Last night I listened to several talking heads, in the midst of the love fest, say that Barak Obama won in spite of his color. I couldn't disagree more. I think, for probably 80% of America, his color wasn't an issue at all. The issues were the issues. George Bush was a huge issue. Of the other 20%, there's a small minority of hate filled nutbags out there who didn't vote for him because he's black, but he wasn't getting those votes anyway. Those people wouldn't have voted for him if he was white, either. The rest were people who voted for him because he's black. To emphasize that point, they interviewed person after person who celebrated the fact that black people in this country now believe they can do anything..that they can become president. Are you telling me it was coincidence that all those people interviewed just happened to be black, or that skin color was no consideration in their vote? On top of that, I think a lot of white America felt good about voting for him because of his skin color. They were enhancing their self-view and affirming that they're not racist, by voting for a non-white person. Voting for Obama made them feel better about themselves. All I'm saying is, if anything, his color helped him. It certainly didn't hurt him and he didn't win in spite of it. I am happy to hear that black people finally get it. I'm ecstatic that they have now figured out that if you work your ass off, anybody can be successful in this country regardless of color. Does this mean we can finally burn that race card, and stop playing it when we don't get what we want?
To be honest, I think Barak Obama won because most people in this country are way fed up with George Bush, and didn't walk, but ran, in the opposite direction. The baby went with the bath water. Dubya 's approval rating in this country is somewhere below sea level. Obama's best strategy was to saddle John McCain with everything George Bush did (or didn't do), and he was successful. He, very politely and eloquently, harnessed all that negativity and rage and turned it into victory. The economic disaster of the past few months certainly didn't hurt either.
I don't think John McCain did enough to help his cause. If I'm honest about it, I don't think McCain ran a strong enough or smart enough campaign. I think he spent too much time trying to bash Obama and not enough time making himself the better choice. McCain isn't a "run of the mill" conservative Republican, and that's one of the things I like most about him. Do you remember when he got the nomination? All those conservative talk show hosts were wailing and gnashing their teeth. There was a good reason for that...and I liked it. He wasn't very effective in making that distinction known, and Obama was far more effective in putting George Bush's face on McCain's body. Also, if I'm honest about it, even if he had been successful in distancing himself from Dubya, it may not have been enough.
In a perfect Lumberyard world (assuming we keep the outcome of the election), Obama wins the election, because that's what America asked for. He'd then appoint John McCain Secretary of State, or maybe a lesser post, but one that makes the most of his strengths. Sarah Palin could go back to Alaska and occasionally host Saturday Night Live. People want to say she hurt McCain's chances. I don't think so. I do think she didn't help as much as someone like Romney would have, though. She was a small fish in way too big a pond, but back to the point...there'd be a bipartisan cabinet that takes in everybody's strengths to make the best government possible. That won't happen. It wouldn't have happened if McCain won either and has never happened in the past, but I think we'd be better off if it did. I think most politicians put party first and the country second, and that's one of our government's faults. Just as the democrats started looking for ways to make Dubya look bad so they could retake the White House when he was elected, I'll bet there are Republicans doing just that right now, where their energy would be better spent trying to make the curreent government better. I'll give him this though. I think Obama will come closer to that Lumberyard ideal than any President has in the past, and I'm hoping he doesn't prove me wrong.
One other thing. At least I think I can count on the current administration to leave office gracefully, without some juvenile stupidity, like taking all the "O"s off the keyboards in all the offices.
I get so frustrated with what passes for an objective media in this country and the things they say. Last night I listened to several talking heads, in the midst of the love fest, say that Barak Obama won in spite of his color. I couldn't disagree more. I think, for probably 80% of America, his color wasn't an issue at all. The issues were the issues. George Bush was a huge issue. Of the other 20%, there's a small minority of hate filled nutbags out there who didn't vote for him because he's black, but he wasn't getting those votes anyway. Those people wouldn't have voted for him if he was white, either. The rest were people who voted for him because he's black. To emphasize that point, they interviewed person after person who celebrated the fact that black people in this country now believe they can do anything..that they can become president. Are you telling me it was coincidence that all those people interviewed just happened to be black, or that skin color was no consideration in their vote? On top of that, I think a lot of white America felt good about voting for him because of his skin color. They were enhancing their self-view and affirming that they're not racist, by voting for a non-white person. Voting for Obama made them feel better about themselves. All I'm saying is, if anything, his color helped him. It certainly didn't hurt him and he didn't win in spite of it. I am happy to hear that black people finally get it. I'm ecstatic that they have now figured out that if you work your ass off, anybody can be successful in this country regardless of color. Does this mean we can finally burn that race card, and stop playing it when we don't get what we want?
To be honest, I think Barak Obama won because most people in this country are way fed up with George Bush, and didn't walk, but ran, in the opposite direction. The baby went with the bath water. Dubya 's approval rating in this country is somewhere below sea level. Obama's best strategy was to saddle John McCain with everything George Bush did (or didn't do), and he was successful. He, very politely and eloquently, harnessed all that negativity and rage and turned it into victory. The economic disaster of the past few months certainly didn't hurt either.
I don't think John McCain did enough to help his cause. If I'm honest about it, I don't think McCain ran a strong enough or smart enough campaign. I think he spent too much time trying to bash Obama and not enough time making himself the better choice. McCain isn't a "run of the mill" conservative Republican, and that's one of the things I like most about him. Do you remember when he got the nomination? All those conservative talk show hosts were wailing and gnashing their teeth. There was a good reason for that...and I liked it. He wasn't very effective in making that distinction known, and Obama was far more effective in putting George Bush's face on McCain's body. Also, if I'm honest about it, even if he had been successful in distancing himself from Dubya, it may not have been enough.
In a perfect Lumberyard world (assuming we keep the outcome of the election), Obama wins the election, because that's what America asked for. He'd then appoint John McCain Secretary of State, or maybe a lesser post, but one that makes the most of his strengths. Sarah Palin could go back to Alaska and occasionally host Saturday Night Live. People want to say she hurt McCain's chances. I don't think so. I do think she didn't help as much as someone like Romney would have, though. She was a small fish in way too big a pond, but back to the point...there'd be a bipartisan cabinet that takes in everybody's strengths to make the best government possible. That won't happen. It wouldn't have happened if McCain won either and has never happened in the past, but I think we'd be better off if it did. I think most politicians put party first and the country second, and that's one of our government's faults. Just as the democrats started looking for ways to make Dubya look bad so they could retake the White House when he was elected, I'll bet there are Republicans doing just that right now, where their energy would be better spent trying to make the curreent government better. I'll give him this though. I think Obama will come closer to that Lumberyard ideal than any President has in the past, and I'm hoping he doesn't prove me wrong.
One other thing. At least I think I can count on the current administration to leave office gracefully, without some juvenile stupidity, like taking all the "O"s off the keyboards in all the offices.
John put this out here at 7:56 AM
1 Comments:
very well written.
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