Thursday, February 21, 2008

Substance-less-ness

FRIDAY UPDATE: An Obama supporter is getting nervous, really nervous.

UPDATE: Thursday afternoon while doing errands, I was listening to talk radio in my car and heard for the first time the wild allegations that in November 1999, Barrack Obama, while still a state senator in Illinois, had a late night rendezvous/fling with a man in a limo in which he smoked crack cocaine and then went on to have a tryst..... with the same man. This was news to me. The man who made these allegations and also allegedly had the sexual encounter with Barack evidently has agreed to a lie detector test. He's probably a sleaze bag, but if there's any truth to it, Obama could be farther from the finish line than we think.

Meanwhile, it's also noteworthy that while unsubstantiated rumors of John McCain's alleged romantic interest in a female lobbyist half his age in 1998 has flooded every airwave, newspaper and Internet outlet in the past two days, nary even a sparse word has been written about Barrack's possible escapade. My first question: Is Barrack's accuser a Hillary plant? And if not and there's a shread of truth to it, then katy bar the door.


When you're all style and no substance, isn't that just another side of the same coin? Too much, too little, it's still the same when it comes to controlled substance-less-ness: abuse. The placebo is called C-H-A-N-G-E, laced with H-O-P-E . It's an elixir that feels so good for a shorter and shorter time, yet delivers less and less. Except maybe for this.

We want specifics. Not just an emotional high. We want to know Barack knows something about history, and has experience that would inform his decisions as president.

Don't voters who are fainting for Barack and mainlining Obama seem like they've had a few too many? The more Barack talks---and talks and talks and talks---the more mesmerized people become from the mere sound of his voice. But no one stops to figure out what he's really saying and how substance-less it is.

We fail to pay attention to this vacuous substance-less-ness at our great peril. If we don't wake up, we'll soon elect a man-child to the White House and the learning curve will be steeper and more perilous to our country than any of us could ever imagine.

6 comments:

WomanHonorThyself said...

We fail to pay attention to this vacuous substance-less-ness at our great peril. ..you are right on spot with this hun..Heaven help us!

Anonymous said...

I feel your pain, Web. It's hard to find any information about what Barack Obama believes. I mean, there's his website, but frankly, the address is so confusing, it's hard to find. www.barackobama.com

Then of course, there's the 19 debates the Dems have had, including one last night that was pretty substantive. It was on CNN. I think they have a website - www.cnn.com perhaps? - and I'll bet you can watch the whole thing.

There are also mulitple daily newspapers that have probably covered the upcoming election in some detail. I know the Washington Post has covered all of the major candidates - on both sides - and they've had numerous articles about policy positions for all the candidates. Try www.washingtonpost.com. I'm sure the NY Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Seattle Times have also had some coverage of the election and will probably have stories about the candidates positions on the issues.

The information is out there if you want it, but I'm sure it's easier to shake your head and say "He's not substantive! He's got no policy inititatives! Heaven forfend!"

As to the Obama rumor, I'll bet it goes as far as the rumors about John Edwards' love child (not true) and John Kerry's girlfriend (also not true). He's already admitted to experimenting with drugs as a young man - something we all know is limited exclusively to communists, fascists, america haters and liberals. I'm curious to know program you heard that rumor on - Michael Savage?

And really, there's only one playa in this race with a "substance problem", and her name is Cindy McCain. Google her name and DEA and see whatcha come up with.

Webutante said...

Cindy's past problems with drugs are well known. However, she' not running for president. And from everything I read, she is drug and addiction free at this time.

As to your other protests, why don't you post for me/us what gives you the most hope about Barack? What lifts your spirits and inspires your vote the most?

I'll be back with more Barack bashing later.

Anonymous said...

Well, she'll always be a drug addict, much like recovering alcoholics will always be alcoholics. I do like the notion that because she's not running for president, her past isn't relevant. I don't recall Hillary Clinton, Teresa Heinz Kerry, or Elizabeth Edwards being off limits, but I'm sure that has something to do with the liberal bias in the media or something.

Why am I voting for Obama? Because this country needs a new way of doing things. Nearly 80% of Americans think we are on the wrong track. That's 8 out of 10 people that feel the United States of America - the greatest country in the world - is moving in the wrong direction.

Barack Obama is right - now is the time to start withdrawing our troops from Iraq. We will always have to have some troops there - but we have accomplished our goals: they have a democratic form of government (although they seem to enjoy electing fundamentalist Shia Muslims who are unfriendly to the US, but whatever), violence is decreasing throughtout the country (although it's rising slightly lately), the oli sharing legislation is making it's way through the Iraqi congress, and, most importantly, nearly 80% of Iraqis want us out.

I like what he says about the military: he'd like to increase the Army by 65,000 and the USMC by 27,000. I'd go farther than that (ideally with a draft), but that's a start. I like his idea of increasing the arabic speakers we have in the military - we simply do not have enough people who speak Arabic. It's criminal that we did not start a "Manhattan Project" for Arabic and Persian language speakers. I like that he says we'll be aggressive against the Taliban, whether they're in Afghanistan or Pakistan.

I'd like to think that a President Obama will not rubberstamp no-bid contracts that have cost the American people millions upon millions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I think a President Obama will not support legislation like NAFTA, which sent thousands of good paying American jobs overseas to non-Americans. America works best when Americans are working.

I think his proposal to revise the Bankruptcy bill to allow people dealing with catastrophic health care issues to file bankruptcy seems fair. I like that he's a Union supporter.

I know families who live without health care for themselves and their children, and I think the United States of America can provide health care for all of its citizens. Either Clinton or Obama seem to have reasonable approaches to that issue.

Do I like his stand on every issue? No. Do I think he'd be a better President than Bush or McCain? Yes. [As usual, if't important to remember that as an American, I'm entitled to that opinion, as you are entitled to yours. Not supporting the Republican does not mean I do not love America.] Frankly, a vote for John McCain is a vote for a 3rd Bush term. If you like what we've had over the past 7 years, and I know you've loved it, then by all means, vote for him.

I would urge you to check out his website and see where he stands on other issues. He's a strong supporter of Israel, which has gotta count for something, no?

Rita Loca said...

Goodness... down sizing the military? Didn't Clinton do that? And look where it got us...

Anonymous said...

Actually the individual who initiated the downsizing of the US military in the early 1990s was George H.W. Bush's then Secretary of Defense (and current VP) Richard B. "Dick" Cheney.

And Obama's not proposing downsizing the military, he's proposing INCREASING the size of the US military (McBush and Clinton are also proposing increases as well).