posted September 10, 2008
I was recently stimulated by a campaign discussion with my daughter to consider deeply about precisely why I am for Obama - what are the deep seated reasons that bypass all the hype that flies by every day.
International Policy -
The U.S. must change the way it interacts with the world. I am really sympathetic when it is said that U.S. is widely regarded as imperialist. The Iraq war was fought with almost no support from other countries. Saddam was a heinous dictator, but I recall clearly thinking at the time "What does Iraq have to do with 911 and terrorism? Won't this defocus us from addressing Al Qaida and terrorism?" And it did. We need to repair our relationships with other countries and work jointly on international issues that affect all countries.
I have a good friend who is a surgeon, and he verified to me something I had long believed. If you ask a surgeon how to solve a medical problem he will generally recommend a surgical solution even though surgery may not be the best or safest solution for you. People tend to use the tools they are familiar with. Likewise if you ask a seasoned military man how to address a world problem he will tend to favor a military solution.
McCain is a warrior from a military family. He talks just like Bush about good and evil as a black and white issue. And he says openly that what you do about evil is to destroy it. Note how belligerently he has come out against Russia over the Georgia invasion. I am no supporter of Putin; he is a dangerous, power hungry person with dictator envy. However, the Georgian president Saakashvili is an inexperienced leader who is a loose cannon. He triggered this disaster with a very unwise incursion into South Ossetia. The Russia-Georgia conflict is actually a complex issue requiring a thoughtful approach.
McCain never mentions repairing relations with other countries. I worry that as president he not emphasize diplomacy, not make an effective effort at changing our international relations, and he will fall easily into war.
Obama is a person who studies history, and analyzes today's issues in the context of that knowledge. His recent international trip was belittled by Republicans as a celebrity stunt. To me it showed a person who makes an effort to understand others (both people and countries) and to favor diplomacy. Obama's relentless seeking of knowledge from experts is also belittled by the Republicans, and his education and experience are interpreted by many as elitism. Why do so many Americans minimize the importance of being smart on being a great president?
The belligerent approach to the world has failed to contain terrorism, instead it has inflamed it. Bush is lucky there have been no more attacks on American soil. He has actually not done much to prevent it. And terrorism worldwide has increased dramatically under his watch (particularly with the entrenchment and growth of Al-Qaida and the Taliban in NW Pakistan) I see Obama's more diplomatic approach as far more likely to secure our security in the future, and I see McCain's Bush-like simplistic good vs. evil approach as downright scary.
Economy -
I believe in a market economy, but I also believe the wealthy are enormously good at using their power to tilt the playing field in their direction. The deregulation that was started by Reagan has had a lot of good effects, but in many cases it has been taken too far. The mortgage debacle is a good example. It is time to re-assert some government control.
The healthcare industry is another example. The profit motive puts health insurance companies at odds with the objective of good health care for everyone. They are driven by market forces to limit health care in order to increase profits. I feel that quality health care should be provided to every American.
My eyes have really been opened by working with poor blacks in my downtown Chattanooga construction projects. And my wife has similar experiences downtown on her volunteer job at Volunteers in Medicine. We see that very hard working people (we are not talking about lazy, chronically idle types) are unable to pay their utility and rent bills and have no health insurance. These are not isolated incidents; this has become endemic in America. An economy that results in this is out of balance.
To fix these things requires determination to push back against the entrenched interests and the smarts to figure out what to do. This repair effort needs to be guided by intelligent study of the situation, as well as of history to avoid the pitfalls of old mistakes. This is exactly what Obama brings. He is extraordinarily intelligent person with the natural interest to study deeply, consult experts and make informed decisions. He takes a balanced thoughtful view toward everything; he is a strong believer in a market economy; he has studied and understands the benefits and the limitations of the economics of the recent past - Reagan as well as Clinton. I trust Obama to guide us through a rocky economic change to a better economy.
McCain is no deep thinker. He was fifth from the bottom of his class at Annapolis. (... and I thought a C student at Yale was bad). McCain admits that he is an impetuous decision maker (but he feels he always works things out later). McCain avoids talking about the economy; he thinks there is nothing seriously wrong. He avoids talking about healthcare, and when he does he mutters generalizations about how we need to reduce costs without any mention of how that might be done. Look at the RNC convention - there was a complete avoidance of a discussion of issues. I do not trust McCain to provide thoughtful leadership on the economy.
Experience -
It is ironic that the Republicans have argued that Palin has more executive experience than Obama. If you examine the argument, they are just saying that a governor has more executive experience than a senator. That is true. That is probably why very few senators have become president. The weakness in the argument is that it applies equally to McCain. The logical conclusion from this argument is that Palin should make a better president than Obama, Biden or McCain. That (fortunately) is not the choice we are facing.
It is interesting that McCain has tried to capture the 'change' mantle. However, the change he embraces (enthusiastically, I might add) is legislative ethics and integrity, not the economy and international policy. This is personally consistent for him; he has long been an admirable proponent of legislative reform. However, this is not an intelligent choice as a major focus for a president. The executive branch has limited power over the legislature. And, besides, this country has more important fish to fry at the executive level.
Obama admittedly lacks the length of experience which would make us completely comfortable he can pull off what he proposes. There is risk here. But, then again, it takes a fresh perspective to even recognize what the real problems are, and a fresh, non-entrenched view to see innovative solutions. The young do this all the time to their elders. The old see the young as too eager, too unaware of the dangers, too hasty to see that what they propose cannot be done. The young see the old as too entrenched, too careful, and too hesitant to make the changes that are required. In my generation the young prevailed and we ended the Vietnam War and segregation. Once they are energized the young usually prevail. That is one thing that keeps this country vibrant and ahead of everyone else.
Obama represents the new generation. Embraced by the young, he is also, interestingly, supported by many of the old. But not by the entrenched. Not by the business elite. (Isn't it ironic that the Republicans, the home of the wealthy business elite, can successfully label Obama as elite.)
McCain represents old thinking. It is time for a change.
William Johnson
Collegedale
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I have to respectfully disagree with Mr. Johnson on several counts. Who really started the Georgian conflict? The South Ossetian thug militia started it on Aug. 6 when its fighters fired on Georgian peacekeepers and Georgian villages with weapons banned by the agreement hammered out between the two sides in 1994. At the same time, the Russian military sent its invasion force bearing down on Georgia from the north side of the Caucasus Mountains on the Russian side of the border through the Roki tunnel and into Georgia. This happened before Saakashvili sent additional troops to South Ossetia and allegedly started the war.
As far as Obama, this guy has little more experience than I do in governing. He has missed nearly 46% of the votes in the Senate. From the day he became a U.S. senator he has been running for President. It is no surprise he would sit down with countries that harbor terrorists to talk. He could probably find Bin Laden by asking Rashid Khalidi, whom Obama worked alongside as a paid director on a Arab group that mourns the establishment of Israel as a "catastrophe". As if that is not enough, he has also worked with William Ayers a member of the Weathermen terrorist group which has sought to overthrow the U.S. government and took responsibility for the U.S. Capitol bombing in 1971.
Where I disagree is where you say Obama is for change. I seriously doubt he would change anything that would actually help the majority of our citizens. Is higher taxation going to help most of us? Is a weaker military going to help us with Russia on the path of aggression and China spending more than we can imagine on defense? Without more money how is Obama going to give everyone healthcare? The only reason he has been embraced by the young minds at their liberal schools is because all he can yell is "change, change, change", and those who cannot think straight immediately say "that is what I want".
For all those who talk about talking out our problems, it really worked well with Jimmy Carter, didn't it? You mention Obama talking to these so-called experts. Does that list of brilliant minds include George Clooney, Matt Damon, and Oprah Winfrey? Clooney has been overheard offering advice on the middle east to Obama, and reports are that Obama is working to keep it quiet. That is really comforting that someone who does not even live in the U.S the majority of the time is giving advice to a presidential candidate.
Is Obama really for the poor? Is that why his wife worked at her $350,000 a year job at a hospital turning away those without insurance or referring them to clinics for lesser care?
What is even more interesting is that she got a $225,000 a year raise right after her husband took office. Must have had to do with the $1 million he secured for this private institution where his wife was employed at the time.
Obama is an eloquent speaker who has publicly addressed his way into the presidential campaign. Hopefully, people will remember the haunting pictures and old film of Adolf Hitler when he mesmerized the German people with his tongue. Look what happened to those zombies because they wanted change. I pray for the sake of our country and our children the same thing does not happen to us.
Patrick McBride
East Ridge
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Well, Patrick, there you go again with those pesky 'facts'. It never ceases to amaze me how some people can be so wrong and mis-informed. Thanks MSNBC and CNN. I would add a few more points to what you said:
1) International policy - Obama's European trip was a photo op for him to be shown by all three corrupt networks as adored overseas. The fact is, we feed and protect a great majority of the world and it is time the Europeans were more worried about what we think about them. I am not saying that as a threat, but we saved Europe and I certainly don't want to start running this country like they run Europe...talk about unemployment and high taxes. Why would we ever think of following their lead?
As for good vs. evil, I would suggest you wake up, Mr. Johnson. The terrorist threat was hatched and executed largely under the Clinton Administration, and it was treated as a law enforcement issue. The USS Cole, the first Trade Center bombings, marine barracks bombed, and the U.S. embassy's bombed, and it resulted in 9/11. I am sick of hearing how bad President Bush is, and I will never claim that he hasn't done the right thing as far as securing this nation. I would remind you that he has had to deal with an issue that has never before been dealt with, 3,000 dead civilians on our soil, and a billion dollar hit to the economy...seven years later we still have not been attacked again, and yet people like you have forgotten and have buried your head in the sand..and the insidious harping of the Keith Olbermanns in the media.
Might I ask why Al Zarquiri was recovering in Saddam's hospital from leg injuries suffered in Afghanistan? Why was it that we killed or captured a whole list of top leaders in Iraq? There was all kinds of support for Al Qeida in Iraq and documents were recovered that prove it, though CNN didn't dwell on it like they did the daily death toll.
I would also remind you that we had over 20 allied countries fighting along side of us, and many from Europe. And, I would remind you of 17 UN resolutions that were ignored by the fine leadership of that worthless organization.
2) Economy - Mr. Johnson surely you are joking? Obama believes in the market? He is an avowed Marxist. Everything he talks about is solved by government. His earliest political influence according to his first book was a friend of his mothers, and he was the founder of the American Communist party, and, yes, his mother was a member. He also like Hilary had his closest relationships in college with his socialist professors. That is what he believes and what he is...government holds all the answers. He says we should be more like China, but never mentions the squander that the majority of Chinese live in, and their slave wages.
Might I remind you that the Fannie May problem is because the politicians in Washington were running the program? Do you realize that we are talking corruption on a much larger scale than Enron? Are we going to demand the senators go to jail as did the Enron executives? The very same Democrat senator that wrote the bailout legislation had a sweetheart deal on his mortgage through Country Wide, yet he still chairs the committee.
Do you realize that Obama has changed every major position he has held through the primaries including just this week that he would not raise taxes if we were in a recessive economy. Does he not also understand that if he raises taxes in a good economy he will kill it...evidently he knows that now, but he is only about buying votes form the mindless masses that hate that their neighbor has more than they do...yet they maybe earned it?! I would remind you that John Kennedy believed in lowering taxes to boost the economy, and it has long been proven that this brings in more revenue than increasing taxes. The more the economy grows the more taxes are paid through business as opposed to our personal income taxes.
I know one thing, a poor man has never given me a job, and the assault on "big business" is the wrong tack to take at a time that more people than ever have 401k's invested in these companies. Obama wants to take down "big oil", and he will kill the retirement for every police officer , teacher and union worker that has a retirement. It will be a huge mistake.
3) Experience - Obama is an empty suit on this for sure. He has not authored any major piece of legislation in the State House or the Senate. He voted over 100 times "present", which is not really standing or anything now is it! He has missed the majority of votes in the Senate because he has been campaigning for the Presidency, and his whole Senate career can be summed up as 143 days, most of which he wasn't there. As for "community organizer", surely you know what that entails don't you? Try looking up AKORN. That is the group he worked with and it is under federal investigations in multiple cities for organizing voter fraud among other federal crimes. He was a part of the Chicago political machine and not a past that we need to bring to the oval office.
Yes, Sen. McCain is only a senator, but one that has a long history of doing what he thought was right, not his party. Trust me, I have been very frustrated with his antics in the past, and I was not at all happy about his nomination. Since his selection of Gov. Palin I am excited about it. Yes she is only a short term Governor of Alaska, but what a job she has done. You want to talk foreign policy experience? She called British Petroleum back to the table to renegotiate the contracts of her predecessor. She ended up bringing 50% of the gas revenues back to the people of Alaska.
She also beat an incumbent Republican in the primary and defeated a three-time governor on the Democratic side. How do you think she gets an 80% approval rating? Talk about the change we need in Washington...Palin and McCain seem to have a history of taking on their own party...Joe Biden is an old relic of what is wrong in Washington, and Obama is going to owe so many if the relics he will have to do as told once they put him in power.
I hear so much about Obama's intelligence, yet when his teleprompter goes out he stutters around like he can't string two sentence together, and it has been reported that Gov. Palin's went out in the middle of her speech at the convention and she never missed a beat. Dick Morris said last year that Obama is a political infant and Hillary would kill him in the primaries...he was only wrong about the latter. Why do you think he backed out of the town hall meeting he said he would do with McCain? He can't go without a script.
All I ask is for people to turn off MSNBC, before whatever is running down Chris Mathews leg makes you slip and fall, and please inform yourself. It is scary how little the American people know about the candidates, shouldn't our votes be taken more seriously than that. I think of the Iraqi's that turned out at over 80% under threat of death to vote... we should be ashamed.
Keith Roberts
East Ridge
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