Tuesday - July 01, 2008

I’m tired of the timid

Not only is this election season never ending, it’s boring as hell. We had a solid year and a half of campaigning, maybe even more, before a single caucus was held or the first primary vote was cast. The primaries went on forever, nearly half a year. And we still have the conventions ... and it’s still 5 solid months until the election. GAK.

But what really drags on me is the pussy footing around. The tentativeness. The aversion to making a bold or strong statement for or against anything, and especially the same aversion to making even the most minuscule criticism of anyone else. And we see, nearly every day, another talking head getting “thrown under the bus”, usually for stating the simple truth, in a less than gleamingly polished manner. I’m not just talking about the freaks, haters, and other losers associated with the Obama campaign. They actually need throwing under a bus. Metaphorically. Or hiding in a closet. No, I’m also talking about the more normal talking heads who have been cut off because they spoke out on their own. Geraldine Ferrarro is one example. How many more have their been?

The latest victim of this “let’s play nice” nonsense looks to be Wesley Clark. Now Wes, in my opinion, is a few bricks shy of a load. He reminds me a bit of Ron Paul, only without the intellect and energy. Unless he has some other sterling qualities I’ve missed, the first word that comes to mind to describe him would be “surly”. So Wes comes out and says that John McCain’s military service - which seems to consist of getting shot down and spending years being tortured in prison camp - doesn’t qualify him to be president. Well, that’s debatable. Mostly. It does show that he is at least smart enough to learn to fly a fighter plane, which is an insanely complex thing. And his service shows some strong patriotic fervor, because I’m certain that McCain wasn’t drafted. And he did get to be a strike leader at least once, so when the opportunity for leadership appeared, he stepped up. And the word is that he resisted his torturers for an amazingly long time, which shows he can be one tough SOB when necessary. And I’d call all those good presidential qualities.

But the moment Clark made his snippy little remark, the great Obamessiah leaped to distance himself. And that’s my gripe. No one even loosely associated with this guy is allowed to have an opinion it seems. Obama has no respect for viewpoints other than his own; that’s my only take-away. Toe the line exactly and keep your mouth shut. Or else. Gosh, that’s freedom. Gosh, I can’t wait until that kind of Change is running the country.

Clark Attack On McCain Upstages Obama Speech

The fallout from retired Army Gen. Wesley Clark’s Sunday comment that “riding in a fighter plane and getting shot down” is not “a qualification to be president,” dominated campaign coverage yesterday. In today’s coverage, Clark is widely seen as having hurt Sen. Barack Obama by seeming to belittle Sen. John McCain’s well known record of service in the Navy and his experience as a POW. Moreover, the controversy distracted media attention from Obama’s speech on patriotism.

Last night’s network news broadcasts portrayed the controversy as a PR disaster for the Obama campaign. On NBC Nightly News, for example, NBC News political director Chuck Todd said Obama had hoped that his speech yesterday on patriotism would get as much coverage as his March speech on race relations, but the Clark episode overshadowed the long-planned event. Said Todd, “What Wesley Clark did yesterday, whether he meant to or not, whether he was trying to audition to be the number two to show how he can be an attack dog, it ended up stepping on this speech and really causing some political pain for Obama today. Now this speech on patriotism looks like a response rather than him trying to put to rest this idea of whether he’s patriotic enough, whether he’s American enough.”

... and of course now comes the bus-toss ...

a spokesman for Sen. Obama said Obama “honors and respects Senator McCain’s service, and of course, he rejects yesterday’s statement by General Clark.”

Of course Obama wants to ignore McCain’s military service. Because BO has none of his own. Because BO hates America, just like his wife does. Because the idiotic statement of a nut-job like Clark upstages his pathetic attempt to bullshit the public. Again.

So what does Mr. Excitement do for a response? Does he lambast Clark? Does he point out that Clark, a retired general, got there by pushing papers for decades? That the one time they let him in the field he nearly started World War III over a couple of Russian trucks at an airport? That Clark’s military service was mostly worthless? Hell no.

John McCain on Monday said he is proud of his military service and said recent critical comments by Barack Obama supporter Wes Clark were “unnecessary,” as Obama repudiated political attacks on military service and criticized a MoveOn.org newspaper ad that riled lawmakers last year.

“That kind of thing is unnecessary. I am proud of my record of service, and I have plenty of friends and leaders who will attest to that,” McCain said

BORING !! And McCain’s response makes me believe the guy is living on Xanax. “Fire in the belly”? Like hell. He doesn’t even have matches in his house, much less any in his pockets. DULL. But I’m getting sidetracked. It’s like I’m falling asleep even writing about this. Oh, that’s because I am. Where was I? ... ah yes ...

Let’s take the clamps off folks. Let’s unchock the wheels and get this thing rolling. This campaign is boring. Unbelievably boring. Duller than dishwater. I’ve turned off the debates to go watch the grass grow, just for the comparative thrill of it. I think we should give the PC Police a half year holiday and allow the mud to slide. Turn up the thermostat on the furnace of rhetoric. Get some excitement going in this damn thing before we all nod off permanently.

Posted by Drew458     on 07/01/2008 at 08:07 AM   
Filed Under: • Politics •  
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