Stoller is shrill.
About The Author
BooMan
Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.
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I have never understood the excitement surrounding Obama: from the minute he embraced Lieberman, I knew he was a fraud. His failures on the MCA only sealed the deal, but the the Lamont snub was to me utterly outrageous.
I never thought much of him either (other than, “Why is everyone so gung-ho about this guy?”). He’s always seemed like the Britney Spears of politics to me: a manufactured and carefully marketed persona lacking substance.
Britney’s been putting on substance lately.
Which nobody would be quite so awware of if she actually wore, you know, clothing once in a while…
built for comfort, not for speed…<rimshot>
lTMF’sA
I’d like to offer my own perspective on why people (at least, three) like(d) Obama.
In 2004, I was only marginally aware of national news. I was totally turned off by the sensationalist coverage of a bunch of crap that didn’t matter to me. I didn’t really read newspapers that much either, and hadn’t discovered blogs at all. I was primarily concerned with my life and getting it in order, and having fun hanging out with my friends.
(note – I have been a staunch Democrat my whole life and have voted as such, but that was due almost wholly to how my Mom brought me up. Republican was a bad word in our house, which I accepted, but I didn’t really know why)
I had a vague sense that the country was heading down the wrong path. Even with the scant attention I payed to politics, I knew the Iraq war was a crock of BS. I knew George W Bush was destined to be the worst President of my life, if not ever. And perhaps the most aggravating real life thing I learned after graduating from college was that major corporations had partnered up with the government to quietly and subversively wage fiscal war on the populace (examples being the war and my even-then skyrocketing health insurance premiums).
Anyway, I digress. Suffice it to say I was relatively uninformed and uninterested in the political scene. Slightly above the level of your standard sheeple, but far below anyone who had spent one minute reading a liberal blog.
And then Obama came along with his convention speech. I just went back and read it again, and after spending the last 2 years+ on liberal blogs, it’s much less impressive given what I now know. But back then, he blew the doors off of the house in which I and my 2 roommates were watching that speech. We were awestruck. Finally someone is saying everything that had seemed like banned words for the last 3.5 years. Good health care for everyone. Equal economic opportunity. Energy independance. Fuck yeah.
It gave us hope just to see someone just talking about these things on that kind of stage. And it inspired us to start getting involved and informed.
I guess it’s my long winded way of saying: To the people who had already been listening, maybe it was just a polished up, new marketing campaign for the same old tired conversation. But to the people who hadn’t been listening, all of a sudden we were pulled in to that conversation.
So, I have to admit I have a little bit of a soft spot for Obama because of that speech. I’m not supporting him in the primaries (I like John Edwards’ hair better) but would happily vote for him in the general.
Because so many people are enthusiastic about him, I’ve been trying to reserve my judgement until after hearing him speak in person. He just hasn’t knocked my socks off.
Judging by reaction over at dKos, even his ardent supporters have been pretty unimpressed with his leadership (or lack thereof) on the war thus far (at least, until today and the Grand Unveiling of Obama’s New Way Forward).
Seems to me Obama’s been running for the VP ticket the whole time. That’s a practical thing to do when the race is, from a practical standpoint, for second place behind You Know Who.
Problem is, running for second in a Presidential primary makes you look like you don’t have the huevos for the top job, so why should we give a damn?
And while getting out troops out in 2008 is a wonderful goal, I want to hear how Obama’s going to accomplish that …in 2008. With Bush still in the White House.
I will vote for a Democrat, but hopefully its John Edwards. I think Obama is fine, but charisma will only get you so far and as long as he’s sinking Hillary’s ship,Obama should stay in the race.
I think y’all shouldn’t count on Iraq being THE issue. I think some candidate should get out front on the economy. It can’t be Hillary or Obama or Dodd. That may be the WMD that actually has the possibility of bringing the war to an end and progressives to the fore. Unfortunately it may also bring untold misery with it.
I went to campus today to pick up the textbooks and supplemental resources for the two psych courses I’ll be teaching starting next Wednesday. When I got home, I set the stack on the table in front of the couch, intending to start going through them later today. On his way to pick up Daughter in Ohio from the bus, Demetrius said I should come take a look at my cat.
He said it looked like she was “holding court”. We find this behavior amusing in that it is so predictable. “Mommy brought home something new and important looking–I must perch on it!”
By the way, I feel compelled to note that Cat Girl does actually have eyes. It’s just that the flash on my phone’s camera is pretty weak, so her eyes don’t quite show up in this picture.
She’s a real cutie. It’s funny how cats simply have to investigate every new thing in the house. My cats’ weird habit is following me or my daughter to the bathroom. WE simply cannot even think about entering it without them both. If we shut the door on them, they will wait outside the door. If we let them in, one will perch on the garbage can on the left side of the toilet and the other on the sink on the right side. Talk about peeping toms! :>)
My dogs used to follow me into the bathroom. I would politely inform them that “using the toilet is not a group activity” before shooing them out and shutting the door. The cat, on the other hand, had his litter box in there and it was never a good idea to deny him access.
after that outrageous stunt they pulled during chimpy’s trip to Sydney for the APEC conference? Well, apparently the powers that be have taken offense, and eleven people from the ABC TV [Australian Broadcasting Corporation] program The Chaser’s War on Everything, have been charged with offences under the new APEC legislation.
a pretty cheeky bunch, they have a website where you can view some of their other “stunts“: The Chaser’s War on Everything. there’s some good stuff there. check it out.
lTMF’sA
Tell you what I think. This never ending presidential “campaign” will have worn out its welcome loooong before the primaries and conventions. They should be starting in, oh I guess, May of 08 for August conventions. Anything other than that is to keep low budget candidates on the sidelines. Since President Gore won’t run, right now I like Edwards and Kucinich. Obama a distant third. Hillary would be a good cabinet pick.
Dems need to be active in the governing thing right now, not campaigning. There is certainly enough that needs to be done that isn’t getting done to keep them busy.