War for Ukraine Day 1,546: The Cost
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Showing posts with label Case for Obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Case for Obama. Show all posts
Monday, November 3, 2008
Barack Obama for President
My favorite blogger, Andrew Sullivan, just wrote a new, epic must-read article explaining why we need Obama at this time in our country's history:
As someone once said, in the unlikely story of America, there is never anything false about hope. Obama, moreover, seems to bring out the best in people, and the calmest, and the sanest. He seems to me to have a blend of Midwestern good sense, an intuitive understanding of the developing world that is as much our future now as theirs', an analyst's mind and a poet's tongue. He is human. He is flawed. He will make mistakes. His passivity and ambiguity are sometimes weaknesses as well as strengths.Read The Whole ThingBut there is something about his rise that is also supremely American, a reminder of why so many of us love this country so passionately and are filled with such grief at what has been done to it and in its name. I endorse Barack Obama because I will not give up on America, because I believe in America, and in her constitution and decency and character and strength.
And the world needs that America now as much as it ever has. Can we start that healing, that rebirth, tomorrow?
Yes. We. Can.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Esquire Endorsed Obama; First in 75 Years
Esquire magazine endorsed Barack Obama today -- the first such endorsement in 75 years.
On Obama:
Senator Obama is the only one of the two candidates who seems to believe in the idea of a political commonwealth, that there are those things -- be they the guarantees in the Bill of Rights or mountains in Alaska -- that we own together. Barack Obama stands, however inchoately and however diffidently, for the notion that a common purpose is necessary for common problems, that "government," as it is designed in our founding documents, is our collective responsibility. It is this collective responsibility that built America into a great power without peer in the history of the world. And it is this collective responsibility that has succumbed to nearly thirty years of phony rightist populism, corporate brigandage, and the wildly cheered abandonment of a common American civic purpose. It is shocking that in America an argument for salvaging the common good is regarded as a radical notion by anyone, but that is where we are. And that is what Barack Obama seems to stand for. After all, as a young man with his potential, he could have headed straight to midtown Manhattan and made a fortune. Instead, he took a church job working for poor people in Chicago, and for his troubles, he and those poor people have been viciously jeered by the likes of Rudy Giuliani and Sarah Palin. Such is their regard for the common good. And such is Obama's promise. And in that, however inchoately and however diffidently, Obama stands not only against Bushism, but against Reaganism, which gave it birth. And that is more than enough.
On McCain:
[Obama's] Republican counterpart is one of the first presidential candidates in history to run as a parody of himself. John McCain has decided on a cheap and dishonorable campaign. He has embraced the tactics with which he was slandered in 2000, and he has hired the people responsible for them. In so doing, he has become something of a mockery of everything he once purported to be. He has stated that he wouldn't now vote for his own immigration bill. He has operated in violation of the very campaign-finance law that bears his name. And even though his own body bears the scars of torture, he has silenced himself on the issue of the torture sanctioned and designed by the government he seeks to lead, so as not to alienate "the base." The most underutilized trope of the campaign is the notion that John McCain is running against John McCain.
Read the Whole Thing
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Obama's 30-Minute Closing Argument Ad - Video
Here's the video from Obama's 30-minute closing argument ad that ran last night in primetime on seven networks:
Barack Obama 30 Minute Commercial Video Part 1
Barack Obama 30 Minute Infomercial Video Part 2
Barack Obama 30 Minute Ad Video Part 3
Barack Obama 30 Minute Speech Video Part 4
Monday, October 27, 2008
Top 10 Reasons for Conservatives to Vote Obama
A top-notch Top-10 list from the Daily Dish on why conservatives should vote for Obama:
10. A body blow to racial identity politics. An end to the era of Jesse Jackson in black America.
9. Less debt. Yes, Obama will raise taxes on those earning over a quarter of a million. And he will spend on healthcare, Iraq, Afghanistan and the environment. But so will McCain. He plans more spending on health, the environment and won't touch defense of entitlements. And his refusal to touch taxes means an extra $4 trillion in debt over the massive increase presided over by Bush. And the CBO estimates that McCain's plans will add more to the debt over four years than Obama's. Fiscal conservatives have a clear choice.
8. A return to realism and prudence in foreign policy. Obama has consistently cited the foreign policy of George H. W. Bush as his inspiration. McCain's knee-jerk reaction to the Georgian conflict, his commitment to stay in Iraq indefinitely, and his brinksmanship over Iran's nuclear ambitions make him a far riskier choice for conservatives. The choice between Obama and McCain is like the choice between George H.W. Bush's first term and George W.'s.
7. An ability to understand the difference between listening to generals and delegating foreign policy to them.
6. Temperament. Obama has the coolest, calmest demeanor of any president since Eisenhower. Conservatism values that kind of constancy, especially cmopared with the hot-headed, irrational impulsiveness of McCain.
5. Faith. Obama's fusion of Christianity and reason, his non-fundamentalist faith, is a critical bridge between the new atheism and the new Christianism.
4. A truce in the culture war. Obama takes us past the debilitating boomer warfare that has raged since the 1960s. Nothing has distorted our politics so gravely; nothing has made a rational politics more elusive.
3. Two words: President Palin.
2. Conservative reform. Until conservatism can get a distance from the big-spending, privacy-busting, debt-ridden, crony-laden, fundamentalist, intolerant, incompetent and arrogant faux conservatism of the Bush-Cheney years, it will never regain a coherent message to actually govern this country again. The survival of conservatism requires a temporary eclipse of today's Republicanism. Losing would be the best thing to happen to conservatism since 1964. Back then, conservatives lost in a landslide for the right reasons. Now, Republicans are losing in a landslide for the wrong reasons.
1. The War Against Islamist terror. The strategy deployed by Bush and Cheney has failed. It has failed to destroy al Qaeda, except in a country, Iraq, where their presence was minimal before the US invasion. It has failed to bring any of the terrorists to justice, instead creating the excresence of Gitmo, torture, secret sites, and the collapse of America's reputation abroad. It has empowered Iran, allowed al Qaeda to regroup in Pakistan, made the next vast generation of Muslims loathe America, and imperiled our alliances. We need smarter leadership of the war: balancing force with diplomacy, hard power with better p.r., deploying strategy rather than mere tactics, and self-confidence rather than a bunker mentality.
Those conservatives who remain convinced, as I do, that Islamist terror remains the greatest threat to the West cannot risk a perpetuation of the failed Manichean worldview of the past eight years, and cannot risk the possibility of McCain making rash decisions in the middle of a potentially catastrophic global conflict. If you are serious about the war on terror and believe it is a war we have to win, the only serious candidate is Barack Obama.
Obama's 'Closing Argument' Speech in Ohio - Video
Here is the video of most of Obama's "Closing Argument" speech, which was delivered today in Canton, Ohio. It brought my dear mums to tears:
Here's my mom's assessment:
Just finished watching Obama's speech this morning,
absolutely moving, on point, and fantastic.
Holy Cow, Batman! Hope brimmith over!
Did you watch it? If not, see it soon.
Who needs prozac when we'll have him?
Update: Here's a gem of a quote from the speech (full transcript here). I'm sure you'll agree that it's chock-full of fiery, radical, tax-and-spend, liberal rhetoric:
Now, I don't believe that government can or should try to solve all our problems. I know you don't either. But I do believe that government should do that which we cannot do for ourselves -- protect us from harm and provide a decent education for our children; invest in new roads and new science and technology. It should reward drive and innovation and growth in the free market, but it should also make sure businesses live up to their responsibility to create American jobs, and look out for American workers, and play by the rules of the road. It should ensure a shot at success not only for those with money and power and influence, but for every single American who's willing to work.
That's how we create not just more millionaires, but more middle-class families. That's how we make sure businesses have customers that can afford their products and services. That's how we've always grown the American economy -- from the bottom-up. John McCain calls this socialism. I call it opportunity, and there is nothing more American than that.
Quote of the Day: Ungodly Hubris; The Sin of Pride
Great quote from Minister Oliver Thomas:
My father, who was a Baptist deacon as well as a World War II veteran, was such a patriot. Pop taught me that true patriotism is not a contest to see who can fly the biggest flag. True patriotism exists where citizens love their country enough to hold it accountable. That means working to make certain that the president we have elected and the government we have created live up to the words of our creeds and the dreams of our poets and prophets.
Newspaper Endorsements: An Obama Landslide
Editor and Publisher magazine has updated its list of newspapers that have endorsed either McCain or Obama. The results? A 3-to-1 Obama landslide, with a deluge of papers that backed Bush now in the Obama column:
Two more major papers that had backed Bush in 2004--the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and Providence Journal--came out for Obama, joining at least 35 others who had done the same thing already.
In another embarrassment for McCain, the Indianapolis Star, which also supported Bush in 2004, revealed that it would not endorse this year. At least two other Bush 2004 papers, the Ann Arbor (Mich.) News and the Fredericksburg Free-Lance Star, took the same route.
Another paper just now backing Obama: The Times-Picayune of New Orleans, which made no endorsement in 2004. He also earned the nod from the Financial Times and the Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.
Obama still leads by almost 3-1 in all editorial endorsements. Updated with the latest from today his lead stands at 180 to 75.
Sunday, October 26, 2008
Quote of the Year: Case for Obama
This is from last year but Andrew Sullivan's early case for Obama is as prescient and wise as ever:
If you believe that America’s current crisis is not a deep one ... if you believe that today’s ideological polarization is not dangerous, and that what appears dark today is an illusion fostered by the lingering trauma of the Bush presidency, then the argument for Obama is not that strong ...
But if you sense, as I do, that greater danger lies ahead, and that our divisions and recent history have combined to make the American polity and constitutional order increasingly vulnerable, then the calculus of risk changes. Sometimes, when the world is changing rapidly, the greater risk is caution. Close-up in this election campaign, Obama is unlikely. From a distance, he is necessary. At a time when America’s estrangement from the world risks tipping into dangerous imbalance, when a country at war with lethal enemies is also increasingly at war with itself, when humankind’s spiritual yearnings veer between an excess of certainty and an inability to believe anything at all, and when sectarian and racial divides seem as intractable as ever, a man who is a bridge between these worlds may be indispensable.
Friday, October 24, 2008
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Obamacon Quote of the Day
Larry Gellman opines on the state of the GOP:
This latest descent completes the utter destruction of the Republican party as a force for good in this country. Until eight years ago, Republicans had a deserved reputation for being more socially and fiscally conservative and responsible. When the party culture became infected with the Bush/Rove/Cheney virus, it began to morph into a divisive force that possessed none of those qualities.
Now the mass exodus is underway. Anyone who is fiscally conservative can't call himself a Republican anymore. Anyone who is a religious Christian can't honestly be part of this since Jesus preached about caring for the sick and the poor--not about eliminating reproductive choice or issues related to same-sex marriage. There's nothing Christian about the agenda of the Religious Right--it's a totally political movement focused on issues that Jesus never mentioned and they ignore the issues about which Jesus preached constantly.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Quote of the Day
From a Virginia Republican reader at the Daily Dish:
Ignorant Christian Fascism is not a recipe for success, it's Saudi Arabia under a different prophet. Count me out. Despite differing with the Democratic platform on a great number of policies, I will gladly vote for the Obama ticket because at a minimum it promises adults at the helm, a rational approach to policymaking, the return of science over theocracy, the restoration of the primacy of the rule of law, and the creative destruction of that assemblage once known as the GOP.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Wife of Sen. Chuck Hagel to Endorse Obama
Lilibet Hagel, wife of Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, plans to endorse Obama:
Lilibet Hagel has scheduled a 10 a.m. news conference in Alexandria, Va., on Tuesday with Susan Eisenhower, the granddaughter of Republican President Eisenhower. Susan Eisenhower also is an Obama supporter. [...]
She said it will be her first endorsement of a Democrat and that perilous world conditions were a factor. "The fact is we're in two wars, two of the longest we've ever been in. We've run up a third of our nation's debt in just the past eight years. We're in the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression," she said.
The Hagels know John and Cindy McCain, and she said her endorsement was not meant to slam them.
"This isn't anti-McCain. This is pro-Obama. I'm just convinced he's the right person," she said.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Bluegrass Legend Ralph Stanley's Radio Ad for Obama
This is the best radio ad I've heard yet. Bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley recorded this ad, which is currently playing across Virginia. Click here to listen.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Obama's Prescience on the Economy
The Daily Dish posted a prescient letter that Obama wrote to Hank Paulson back in March 2007. Won't it be great to have a President who actually sees stuff like this coming?
Read the Whole ThingWe cannot sit on the sidelines while increasing numbers of American families face the risk of losing their homes.
And while neither the government nor the private sector acting alone is capable of quickly balancing the important interests in widespread access to credit and responsible lending, both must act and act quickly...
[A] consortium of industry-related service providers and public interest advocates may be able to bring quick and efficient relief to millions of at-risk homeowners and neighborhoods, even before Congress has had an opportunity to act. There is an opportunity here to bring different interests together in the best interests of American homeowners and the American economy. Please don't let this opportunity pass us by.
Devastasing Analysis of McCain's Economic Plan
The Economist has a new article up analyzing the relative merits of John McCain and Barack Obama's economic plans.
The results are absolutely devastating. Read the whole article to get a sense of it but the following graphic pretty much sums it up:
John McCain's Favorability: Honor and Integrity Destroyed
This graph shows how John McCain's net favorability has plummeted over the last month. Pretty sad; and pretty shameless:
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Union Leader Denounces Voting Based on Racism
Andrew Sullivan points out this really powerful speech by the AFL-CIO's Richard Trumka. You need to watch the whole thing. Think about this the next time someone says they're "not comfortable" with Obama or "I heard he was Muslim" or some other "I'm not a racist but..." excuse...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Conservative Wick Allison Supports Obama
This is pretty remarkable. Conservative writer, former board member and publisher of the ultra-conservative National Review Wick Allison today wrote an article endorsing Obama:
Read MoreToday it is conservatives, not liberals, who talk with alarming bellicosity about making the world “safe for democracy.” It is John McCain who says America’s job is to “defeat evil,” a theological expansion of the nation’s mission that would make George Washington cough out his wooden teeth.
This kind of conservatism, which is not conservative at all, has produced financial mismanagement, the waste of human lives, the loss of moral authority, and the wreckage of our economy that McCain now threatens to make worse...
“Every great cause,” Eric Hoffer wrote, “begins as a movement, becomes a business, and eventually degenerates into a racket.” As a cause, conservatism may be dead. But as a stance, as a way of making judgments in a complex and difficult world, I believe it is very much alive in the instincts and predispositions of a liberal named Barack Obama.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
'Obama's Challenge': New Obama Book by Robert Kuttner
I got an email recently from the editor of Chelsea Green Publishing, a small progressive book publishing house in Vermont that recently published a book by economist Robert Kuttner titled, Obama's Challenge: America's Economic Crisis and the Power of a Transformative Presidency. They say that it's an "inspirational and intelligent pro-Obama book that is competing against a slew of poor quality anti-Obama books that are backed by millions of dollars and a conservative book marketing establishment."
Here's a video promo for the book:
The book is available nationwide at your local bookseller or, as always, you can order it on Amazon.
Update: Here's video of the author giving as good as he gets on Hannity & Colmes:
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