Dear President Obama,
by Schadenfreude
11/04/2008, 10:14 AM #
Some free advice.
1. Get out of Iraq. Remember Nixon. If you're not out in two years, it's your war. You do not want Iraq to be Obama's war.
2. The Cuban embargo. Puh-lease. End this hypocritical farce now. It hasn't worked and it's never going to work.
3. Raise taxes on the rich, but don't get carried away.
4. There is no earthly reason for the US to go to war with Iran. Leave Iran alone and they are likely to work their way into the 21st century sooner rather than later.
5. There is no earthly reason for conflict with Russia. When the USSR split apart, some parts of Russia left with it. Russia is just trying to put itself back together. Russia and Belarus will probably merge at some point in the near future. Ukraine should be encouraged to give some of its Russian bits back to Russia. There is no good reason for NATO to become involved with Georgia (sorry, Georgia, but it's true). Putin's no saint, but he's no demon, either.
6. Stop cozying up to Saudi Arabia - more specifically, to the Saudi royal family. They're a bunch of thieves and religious fanatics. Buy their oil because you have to, but you don't need to pretend that you like them. They don't care - they're only pretending to like you because the US has the money.
7. Israel. Support their defence - not their aggression. A tightrope, both internationally and domestically, but I'm confident you know what I mean.
8. Good luck.
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
Showing posts with label election. Show all posts
04 November 2008
21 October 2008
This election is dividing my family...
This election is dividing my family...
by butterscotch
10/21/2008, 4:17 PM #
I hung up on my mother last night. It was the first time in my forty-five years that I have ever done that. I was seeing so much red and hearing so much hate coming from her mouth in Florda that I just had to say "goodbye, Mother" and snap my cell phone shut.
She did not call me back.
What had she said that enraged me so? What could she possibly have said that would make me not want to talk to the one person I have loved so much and for so long?
It was several things, actually.
We started out the conversation rationally enough. It has been a few weeks since we had spoken and I was returning a call she had made to me last week and finally had some time to sit and talk to her.
We always talk politics. We usually can agree to disagree because we usally disagree on just about everything when it comes to our political views. She would tell you that she is an Evangelical Christian. I am not sure what I am, but I have not stepped foot in a church for over 25 years. She knows the issues I had with the church that I was raised in...she still goes to the same church now. We don't talk about religion.
She asked me if I had seen Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live and I told her that I had. I told her that she seemed to have a good sense of humor about herself and I thought that she was brave to agree to be on the show. My mother didn't like the rap song and her dancing to it...you know, "real Christians" don't dance.
I told my mom that I would be so happy when the election was finally decided and that I just didn't know how much more of the negativity I could take from the politicians and their respective supporters. She informed me that early-voting had begun in Florida and that there were long lines and problems with the machines and she wondered why they hadn't figured out how to fix it in the four years since the last presidential election. She then went on to tell me that from what she saw on her local news that night that most of the people in line were black and that they were probably all voting for Obama anyway. ISTRIKE ONE!) I called her on what I thought was a racist comment. She ignored my complaint. (although she knows how much racism bothers me and has for years.)
She went on to tell me that she was "really, really afraid of Obama". (not that he might be president, but just a general fear.) She said that she found herself getting physically nauseated whenever she saw him on televsion. She said she wanted to vomit when she heard his voice. (She was now wandering into the STRIKE TWO ZONE with me.) I was exasperated with what she was saying to me. She couldn't give me any explanation as to why she felt this way. At least not until I pressed her for some reason as to her discomfort with his "presence" in her living room on the televsion.
"He's a Muslim." she spat out. I said, "No he is not. He is a Christian just as you claim to be." "Oh, no he isn't. He is a Muslim, a Nazi and a Communist all rolled into one." (STRIKE THREE!) I told her she was saying some things that I found very offensvie and if she didn't change her tone and her language with me that I just might be using some language that she would find offensive. (Out of respect for my mother, I have never even said the word "Gosh" around her...since she finds even that to be "taking the Lord's name in vain".) I felt the "bullshit" and "fuck you" and "where the fuck" bullets on the tip of my tongue. She re-stated her original statement with an emphatic "Well, he IS a Muslim, a Nazi and a Communist..." and with that I just said "Good bye, mother!" and hung up.
I sat there shaking out of anger, hurt and amazement that she had just said those things to me. I began typing an email to her explaining my point of contention with her attitude and language. It took me two hours to write it and re-read it to make sure that my point was clear and that I wasn't being hateful towards her, but standing up to what I see as lies and misinformation that she has gleaned from her fellow "Christians" and from the Fox News/Rush Limbaugh shows that she cannot tear herself away from. I blame the McCain/Palin campaign for upping the hate talk. I blame the people who automatically call anyone who does not believe as they do "Un-American" when it is not based on actual values that America was founded upon...which is freedom for each citizen equally and without measure. No matter what color, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation one might be...the constitution protects all equally.
I sat and cried for a good fifteen minutes as I wrote to her how the one person who had stood up for me when no one else would as I was growing up had now totally let me down. She had to know that the hateful things she was saying to me were also about me since she knows good and well that I will be voting for Obama. She has let this hateful campaign get in the way of what she feels and thinks about her own children. It was such a slap in the face that I just don't know if I will be able to forgive her for it any time soon.
I called her back three hours later to let her know that I had written her an email. She sounded contrite. She said, "I didn't mean to offend you. But I wasn't offended when you said negative things about GW Bush these past eight years." I was aghast! I had never once called him a name or lied about his character or said anything about him that wasn't an opinoin based on fact and truth. I refused to get into it with her again. I just said, "read your email and we will talk later." She told me she would read it in the morning. I still haven't heard from her tonight.
I am crushed that anyone that I had so much respect for could have sunk to such depths of hate and fear. I have never known her to lie to me ever. I can only assume she really thought that she was speaking "truth" last night. As I told her in my email, I cannot associate myself with anyone who makes any decision based on hate or another person's skin color. I don't care who it is.
It may have been one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life.
butterscotch
by butterscotch
10/21/2008, 4:17 PM #
I hung up on my mother last night. It was the first time in my forty-five years that I have ever done that. I was seeing so much red and hearing so much hate coming from her mouth in Florda that I just had to say "goodbye, Mother" and snap my cell phone shut.
She did not call me back.
What had she said that enraged me so? What could she possibly have said that would make me not want to talk to the one person I have loved so much and for so long?
It was several things, actually.
We started out the conversation rationally enough. It has been a few weeks since we had spoken and I was returning a call she had made to me last week and finally had some time to sit and talk to her.
We always talk politics. We usually can agree to disagree because we usally disagree on just about everything when it comes to our political views. She would tell you that she is an Evangelical Christian. I am not sure what I am, but I have not stepped foot in a church for over 25 years. She knows the issues I had with the church that I was raised in...she still goes to the same church now. We don't talk about religion.
She asked me if I had seen Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live and I told her that I had. I told her that she seemed to have a good sense of humor about herself and I thought that she was brave to agree to be on the show. My mother didn't like the rap song and her dancing to it...you know, "real Christians" don't dance.
I told my mom that I would be so happy when the election was finally decided and that I just didn't know how much more of the negativity I could take from the politicians and their respective supporters. She informed me that early-voting had begun in Florida and that there were long lines and problems with the machines and she wondered why they hadn't figured out how to fix it in the four years since the last presidential election. She then went on to tell me that from what she saw on her local news that night that most of the people in line were black and that they were probably all voting for Obama anyway. ISTRIKE ONE!) I called her on what I thought was a racist comment. She ignored my complaint. (although she knows how much racism bothers me and has for years.)
She went on to tell me that she was "really, really afraid of Obama". (not that he might be president, but just a general fear.) She said that she found herself getting physically nauseated whenever she saw him on televsion. She said she wanted to vomit when she heard his voice. (She was now wandering into the STRIKE TWO ZONE with me.) I was exasperated with what she was saying to me. She couldn't give me any explanation as to why she felt this way. At least not until I pressed her for some reason as to her discomfort with his "presence" in her living room on the televsion.
"He's a Muslim." she spat out. I said, "No he is not. He is a Christian just as you claim to be." "Oh, no he isn't. He is a Muslim, a Nazi and a Communist all rolled into one." (STRIKE THREE!) I told her she was saying some things that I found very offensvie and if she didn't change her tone and her language with me that I just might be using some language that she would find offensive. (Out of respect for my mother, I have never even said the word "Gosh" around her...since she finds even that to be "taking the Lord's name in vain".) I felt the "bullshit" and "fuck you" and "where the fuck" bullets on the tip of my tongue. She re-stated her original statement with an emphatic "Well, he IS a Muslim, a Nazi and a Communist..." and with that I just said "Good bye, mother!" and hung up.
I sat there shaking out of anger, hurt and amazement that she had just said those things to me. I began typing an email to her explaining my point of contention with her attitude and language. It took me two hours to write it and re-read it to make sure that my point was clear and that I wasn't being hateful towards her, but standing up to what I see as lies and misinformation that she has gleaned from her fellow "Christians" and from the Fox News/Rush Limbaugh shows that she cannot tear herself away from. I blame the McCain/Palin campaign for upping the hate talk. I blame the people who automatically call anyone who does not believe as they do "Un-American" when it is not based on actual values that America was founded upon...which is freedom for each citizen equally and without measure. No matter what color, religion, race, gender, sexual orientation one might be...the constitution protects all equally.
I sat and cried for a good fifteen minutes as I wrote to her how the one person who had stood up for me when no one else would as I was growing up had now totally let me down. She had to know that the hateful things she was saying to me were also about me since she knows good and well that I will be voting for Obama. She has let this hateful campaign get in the way of what she feels and thinks about her own children. It was such a slap in the face that I just don't know if I will be able to forgive her for it any time soon.
I called her back three hours later to let her know that I had written her an email. She sounded contrite. She said, "I didn't mean to offend you. But I wasn't offended when you said negative things about GW Bush these past eight years." I was aghast! I had never once called him a name or lied about his character or said anything about him that wasn't an opinoin based on fact and truth. I refused to get into it with her again. I just said, "read your email and we will talk later." She told me she would read it in the morning. I still haven't heard from her tonight.
I am crushed that anyone that I had so much respect for could have sunk to such depths of hate and fear. I have never known her to lie to me ever. I can only assume she really thought that she was speaking "truth" last night. As I told her in my email, I cannot associate myself with anyone who makes any decision based on hate or another person's skin color. I don't care who it is.
It may have been one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make in my life.
butterscotch
04 September 2008
Victory
Victory
by august
09/04/2008, 1:12 PM #
A constant theme of John McCain has been that we are winning the war in Iraq, and that the Democrats would snatch defeat out of that victory. Recently, the AP released some statistics about the Iraq culled from a variety of sources and available here. They confirm that strides have been made to reduce violence and improve basic services (including water and sewage) to ordinary Iraqis. McCain and Bush can rightly point to the "Anbar Awakening", in which Sunni sheiks helped the U.S. opposed the Al Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. troop strength is down from its peak of 170,000 last year. Shiites, meanwhile, have made efforts to oppose or buy off the Mahdi army. These are the developments that lead McCain to claim that we are headed to victory in Iraq.
The problem with this claim is that McCain's "victory" is fully as scary as the defeat he fears. Present-day Iraq is such a bright, shiny place that over a million Iraqis choose to live in Syria. Even during the current relative lull in fighting, over 400 civilians are being killed each month. The Mahdi Army has been tamed more by cash than by force, and continues to stage anti-American demonstrations. The "Sons of Iraq" -- former insurgents now on the US payroll- have been declared outlaws by the Iraqi government and may soon resume their insurgency, depriving the U.S. of an ally against al Qaeda and reversing many of the current gains. The political solution that was supposed to be taking place as the security situation improved has not materialized. The current al Malaki government is insisting on American withdrawal by 2011, instituting exactly the sort of conditions that McCain claims would hurt his march to victory.
The U.S. has been played. American troops have been used to help particular sects of Sunnis and Shia win against rival sects ahead of a civil war. Millions of people remain fearful of returning to their homes. Oil production remains lower than pre-war levels, and it appears that one of the main beneficiaries of future gains will be China. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but China's gains come at a continuing cost of American lives.
The current situation is only "good" in comparison to the utter Iraq clusterfuck of 2004-2006, in which American mistakes (most notably disbanding an army that stood ready to help us maintain security) resulted in a terrifying insurgency. But by most other measures, Iraq remains a fiasco. Whatever government or governments emerge in the region are likely to be closer to Iran and Syria than the United States. Iraqis have not forgotten what happened to their country in the wake of the U.S. invasion, and do not feel especially grateful that the Americans have made things a little less bad (if a mugger stole $200 from you and then decided to give you back ten bucks, you'd still want the bastard to go to jail). The money and troops we devote to helping the Al Malaki government keep the United States bogged down when what we most need is the flexibility, resources, and speed to handle an invisible, changing enemy.
This is a case where McCain's experience leads him astray. He's fighting the last war, a war of armies, when the U.S. needs to be fighting the current war, one in which intelligence and diplomacy are key components of strategy. For the sake of rhetorical flourish -- of appearing tough to his domestic backers -- he would claim victory without offering even the foggiest vision of what "victory" in the case of Iraq means, of what the would look like and how it would help any of us. This is bravado masquerading as strength, a victory that suits the needs of a few of his key backers, that comes at the expense of millions of dollars and thousands of deaths, and that leaves you and me no safer than before.
Snolly G briefly posted the question of whether anybody on the Fray has ever changed anybody else's mind -- I thought not. Certainly I haven't converted anybody in my time here. What I do get from the Fray is different ways of thinking about particular topics -- different angles and readings. This post, then, is not so much about voting as listening. There was a time when I thought a vote for McCain might get us out of Iraq more quickly, because you could simply make an arbitrary declaration of victory, leave, and pass the buck. But the more I listen to the man, the more I think he simply wishes to replay his past to achieve a different outcome. The sad truth is that Iraq is not Vietnam. It's much worse.
august
by august
09/04/2008, 1:12 PM #
A constant theme of John McCain has been that we are winning the war in Iraq, and that the Democrats would snatch defeat out of that victory. Recently, the AP released some statistics about the Iraq culled from a variety of sources and available here. They confirm that strides have been made to reduce violence and improve basic services (including water and sewage) to ordinary Iraqis. McCain and Bush can rightly point to the "Anbar Awakening", in which Sunni sheiks helped the U.S. opposed the Al Qaeda in Iraq. U.S. troop strength is down from its peak of 170,000 last year. Shiites, meanwhile, have made efforts to oppose or buy off the Mahdi army. These are the developments that lead McCain to claim that we are headed to victory in Iraq.
The problem with this claim is that McCain's "victory" is fully as scary as the defeat he fears. Present-day Iraq is such a bright, shiny place that over a million Iraqis choose to live in Syria. Even during the current relative lull in fighting, over 400 civilians are being killed each month. The Mahdi Army has been tamed more by cash than by force, and continues to stage anti-American demonstrations. The "Sons of Iraq" -- former insurgents now on the US payroll- have been declared outlaws by the Iraqi government and may soon resume their insurgency, depriving the U.S. of an ally against al Qaeda and reversing many of the current gains. The political solution that was supposed to be taking place as the security situation improved has not materialized. The current al Malaki government is insisting on American withdrawal by 2011, instituting exactly the sort of conditions that McCain claims would hurt his march to victory.
The U.S. has been played. American troops have been used to help particular sects of Sunnis and Shia win against rival sects ahead of a civil war. Millions of people remain fearful of returning to their homes. Oil production remains lower than pre-war levels, and it appears that one of the main beneficiaries of future gains will be China. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but China's gains come at a continuing cost of American lives.
The current situation is only "good" in comparison to the utter Iraq clusterfuck of 2004-2006, in which American mistakes (most notably disbanding an army that stood ready to help us maintain security) resulted in a terrifying insurgency. But by most other measures, Iraq remains a fiasco. Whatever government or governments emerge in the region are likely to be closer to Iran and Syria than the United States. Iraqis have not forgotten what happened to their country in the wake of the U.S. invasion, and do not feel especially grateful that the Americans have made things a little less bad (if a mugger stole $200 from you and then decided to give you back ten bucks, you'd still want the bastard to go to jail). The money and troops we devote to helping the Al Malaki government keep the United States bogged down when what we most need is the flexibility, resources, and speed to handle an invisible, changing enemy.
This is a case where McCain's experience leads him astray. He's fighting the last war, a war of armies, when the U.S. needs to be fighting the current war, one in which intelligence and diplomacy are key components of strategy. For the sake of rhetorical flourish -- of appearing tough to his domestic backers -- he would claim victory without offering even the foggiest vision of what "victory" in the case of Iraq means, of what the would look like and how it would help any of us. This is bravado masquerading as strength, a victory that suits the needs of a few of his key backers, that comes at the expense of millions of dollars and thousands of deaths, and that leaves you and me no safer than before.
Snolly G briefly posted the question of whether anybody on the Fray has ever changed anybody else's mind -- I thought not. Certainly I haven't converted anybody in my time here. What I do get from the Fray is different ways of thinking about particular topics -- different angles and readings. This post, then, is not so much about voting as listening. There was a time when I thought a vote for McCain might get us out of Iraq more quickly, because you could simply make an arbitrary declaration of victory, leave, and pass the buck. But the more I listen to the man, the more I think he simply wishes to replay his past to achieve a different outcome. The sad truth is that Iraq is not Vietnam. It's much worse.
august
27 May 2008
It's Time to Stop Demonizing Hillary
It's Time to Stop Demonizing Hillary
by Archaeopteryx
05/27/2008, 12:01 PM #
Full disclosure: I voted for Hillary in the primary, and then changed my mind after hearing Obama’s speech on race.
Hillary Clinton is a liar. She’s a racist. She’s advocating for the assassination of Obama. She’s put her own personal ambition ahead of the good of the Democratic Party and the country. We all know these things are true, because we hear about them in the media, and read about them on blogs, and tell each other on the Fray.
Except that these things are not true. This is the same type of politics that turned Max Cleland into a traitor, John Kerry into a war criminal, and Bill Clinton into a raping murderer. Sure, Hillary’s ambitious. She wants to be President of the United States. So she’s exactly as ambitious as Barack Obama and John McCain. The other claims are reminiscent of those spread in the so-called liberal media during the Clinton Administration. When Hillary complained of a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” the press scoffed at her, but now we know the conspiracy was real.
Now these claims are being spread by Obama’s supporters. This is incredibly self-destructive. We in the Democratic Party have the opportunity to retake the White House and to build a filibuster-proof majority in both houses of Congress. For this to occur, we must have the votes of a large majority of Hillary’s supporters. Many of Hillary’s followers are fervent admirers who see her as a ground-breaking standard-bearer for women everywhere. These energized, politically active people are essential to Democratic chances in the fall, and this means that it is important to have the support of Hillary herself.
More importantly, the charges are just untrue. Hillary has made mistakes—she was wrong on the war—but she’s not evil, and characterizing her as such is just using what her husband called the “politics of personal destruction.”
So, Obama supporters, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to relax. We’re going to congratulate her on her win in the Puerto Rico Primary next week. Soon after, the superdelegates will put Obama over the top. Then we’ll salute Hillary’s service to the country, and a race well-run, and welcome her and her supporters into the most important campaign the Democratic Party has ever conducted. In the meantime, we’re going to quit claiming that Hillary is a racist, or that she’s just waiting on someone to kill Obama, or that she’d rather see McCain elected than Obama. We’re going to quit lying about the woman.
After all, we’re not Republicans.
by Archaeopteryx
05/27/2008, 12:01 PM #
Full disclosure: I voted for Hillary in the primary, and then changed my mind after hearing Obama’s speech on race.
Hillary Clinton is a liar. She’s a racist. She’s advocating for the assassination of Obama. She’s put her own personal ambition ahead of the good of the Democratic Party and the country. We all know these things are true, because we hear about them in the media, and read about them on blogs, and tell each other on the Fray.
Except that these things are not true. This is the same type of politics that turned Max Cleland into a traitor, John Kerry into a war criminal, and Bill Clinton into a raping murderer. Sure, Hillary’s ambitious. She wants to be President of the United States. So she’s exactly as ambitious as Barack Obama and John McCain. The other claims are reminiscent of those spread in the so-called liberal media during the Clinton Administration. When Hillary complained of a “vast right-wing conspiracy,” the press scoffed at her, but now we know the conspiracy was real.
Now these claims are being spread by Obama’s supporters. This is incredibly self-destructive. We in the Democratic Party have the opportunity to retake the White House and to build a filibuster-proof majority in both houses of Congress. For this to occur, we must have the votes of a large majority of Hillary’s supporters. Many of Hillary’s followers are fervent admirers who see her as a ground-breaking standard-bearer for women everywhere. These energized, politically active people are essential to Democratic chances in the fall, and this means that it is important to have the support of Hillary herself.
More importantly, the charges are just untrue. Hillary has made mistakes—she was wrong on the war—but she’s not evil, and characterizing her as such is just using what her husband called the “politics of personal destruction.”
So, Obama supporters, here’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to relax. We’re going to congratulate her on her win in the Puerto Rico Primary next week. Soon after, the superdelegates will put Obama over the top. Then we’ll salute Hillary’s service to the country, and a race well-run, and welcome her and her supporters into the most important campaign the Democratic Party has ever conducted. In the meantime, we’re going to quit claiming that Hillary is a racist, or that she’s just waiting on someone to kill Obama, or that she’d rather see McCain elected than Obama. We’re going to quit lying about the woman.
After all, we’re not Republicans.
22 April 2008
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