Not so Subtle

The National Journal came out recently and declared that Barack Obama is the most liberal member of the Senate, according to a scientific nonpartisan formula that really isn’t as interesting as it sounds. Here is a breakdown of the issues that Hillary and Obama voted on:

http://nj.nationaljournal.com/voteratings/votes.htm

As you can see, their voting records are virtually identical. Barack chose not to vote on more occassions, presumably to avoid alienating swing voters. I have ranted on his not taking a stand on these issues before, so I won’t now. The real problem here is the problem of choice: that being there isn’t one. Democrats get to “pick” between a woman with experience and a black man with a silver tongue. These differences are skin or genital deep at best.

Should Barack Obama get the nomination, his cabinet is going to be chocked full of former Clinton aides; they represent the exact same “values” of the mainstream Democratic party. This means that once again progressives are left out in the cold with no candidate who actually has a chance of winning representing them. (Sorry, Ralph.)

The Journal can call Obama a liberal all they want, it doesn’t make it so. They are moderates, and by moderates I mean they aren’t going to really address the issues that matter to Americans. Bill Clinton opened up free trade and cut welfare: these Democrats are socially liberal and economically conservative, which is another way of saying that they have no values whatsoever. (See Obama’s disturbing vote on terminating fetuses that survive abortion.) (See Clinton’s attempts to get Michigan and Florida’s votes to count.)

My friends, we have been betrayed. Americans who really want change, who really believe in an ideology, be it progressive or conservative, have been betrayed by the parties. The Republicans have shamelessly supported their own who have been mired in gross sex or ethics scandals, but still claim to believe in family values. The Democrats have sold their revolution to the wealthy elite and abandoned those of us most in need.

The Republicans went big government and the Democrats have failed to stop the war.

My friends on both the right and the left, we have been hoodwinked, vamboozled, hornswaggled, and out right fucked in the ass by both the Elephants and the Donkeys. It’s time for a true revolution, where we stop voting for candidates because they’re electable or charismatic and start voting for candidates because they actually represent our values, no matter what they are.

I find stranger’s google searches to be the funniest information one can possibly come  across. Yesterday 3 people were linked to this blog by searching “William Buckley in Hell.” Chuckles.

I want it to be clear that I’m no expert on the man, so much of his discourse happened long before I was conceived. From most of what I’ve read, it seems he was a very charming, witty individual who was extremely gracious even to his opponents. I take issue with politics, not with the people who espouse them. (Except in the case of Obama’s supporters.) There are many things that I admire about Mr. Buckley and his work; he was, if nothing else, an excellent writer, regardless of his content. He wrote spy novels as well as political columns, painted, sailed, and had impeccable taste. Despite being a part of the establishment, he constantly rebelled against it. Buckley always spoke his mind, he did not care about party lines and was not afraid to break them if his intellect could not make the leaps necessary to stick to one idea despite facts to the contrary. In other words, he was willing to change his mind.

Buckley was the father of the conservative movement, so we have him to thank for  the likes of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity, but he seems to have executed his craft without the obligatory conservative bile. He was disenchanted with the war on drugs and came to oppose the War once he saw that it could not be won without “means that we would oppose.” I always admire people who will not stick to the line, who aren’t afraid to tell the truth even if their party disagrees with them. McCain and Lieberman, while I disagree with most of what they say, are at least not mindless sheep.

Every political test that I take paints me as a liberal or a socialist. I don’t particularly like the label, especially when appointed after 12 broad questions about my positions. The more in depth issues tests put me somewhere between center left and just plain old left, without the Stalinesque liberal fascist tendencies. They match me up with Dennis Kucinich more than anyone else, but even with him I’m at best a 67 percent match.

The most accurate labeling of my philosophy would be economically on the far left and socially center right. Here’s my positions, if you care:

1. The environment is the most important political issue to me. Every other issue pales in comparison to this problem, because every other issue will be rendered moot if we don’t address it asap. There will be no society to defend from terrorism, there will be no immigrants to stop at the border, because we’ll all be dead. We need to invest trillions of dollars in feasible green energy alternatives and immediately cut carbon emissions by 75 percent within 5 years if we’re going to have any chance of maintaining our way of life for the next century.

2. The War: where do we get all that money from for green energy? Answer: we stop spending it in Iraq, for one. I am of the opinion that the Surge has worked and it would be a damn shame to pick up and leave immediately after all the damage we’ve caused, but I feel that it’s too little too late, and it’s time to leave. Take the defense budget and slice it in half, and invest in safe alternatives to oil and gas. The Iraqis are going to have to fend for themselves once we’re gone.

3. The economy: one man’s ideas can never fix or break the economy, it’s simply too big and anyone who claims they can really steer this mammoth is delusional. Bill Clinton took credit for the boom of the 90s when it had nothing to do with him or his free trade policies. As far as the market is  concerned, I am staunchly against free trade and Nafta- corporations should have a responsibility to the planet, not just their stockholders. I don’t believe in communism, but we do need to seriously address the imbalance of wealth and reigning in the wild hog fuck of open globalisation is a start.

4. Immigration: Conservatives who feel we should patrol the border and shoot the Mexican’s down before they can take our precious tomato picking jobs really need a reality check. This country thrives on the cheap labor that immigrants (legal or not) provide. I am morally opposed to the subjugation of these people by the Walmarts and Burger Kings of the world, but the fact is they’re still getting paid much more here than they would be at home. I believe in amnesty and open borders for everyone.

5. The war on drugs: this is another war that needs to be stopped because it can’t be won and we’re spending way too much money on it. I believe in decriminalizing drug users; our prison systems are overrun with non-violent offenders and it’s time to stop punishing them for an abuse problem. Addicts are suffering enough without being inducted into the criminal world. Take the massive amounts of cash that we’re wasting trying to stop blow from coming in over the border, and spend it on green fuels.

Those are the major issues as far as I’m concerned. I am more conservative when it comes to gay marriage; I think that civil unions are ok but it should be stopped at that. I don’t believe that the public should have to pay for abortions, but I also don’t believe in making them illegal. On guns, I believe every American has the right to own a weapon, but that they should go through extensive background searches, and there should be no assault weapons available. (You can’t tell me that you need an uzi for self defense.)

I haven’t found a party or a politician that really aligns with my thinking, (the Greens come close) but when I find one, I’ll certainly let you know. I do not believe that the answers to our problems will come from a Democrat or a Republican, no matter how charismatic they are.

So perhaps you’ve heard of Roger Clemens. Perhaps you’ve also heard of his steroid controversy. The problem is so bad, SO BAD, that Congress has decided to intervene yet again regarding abuse in professional sports.

Who are you kidding?

My tax dollars are going to fighting steroid use in major league sports? I care as much as anyone about this issue, I believe in the purity of sport and the use of PED’s should be banned, but I don’t care how many hall-of-famers confess to doing blow off a hooker’s tits while shooting up andro and cussing the name of the lord, I don’t want to see Congress investigating this.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/news/story?id=3267634

Srsly.

On August 29, 1997 at 2:14 AM Eastern time, Skynet became self aware…

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080227111811.y9syyq8p&show_article=1

Srsly.

The founder of the National Review, William F. Buckley Jr. has passed away. He was born the son of a rich oil tycoon and is pretty much the father of the conservative movement. To his credit, he denounced the war in Iraq as a failure. However, one cannot forget his stances on segregation, and women’s rights. You can enjoy his contribution to our society here:

http://www.nationalreview.com/

Where do people get off claiming that Obama is not a cult?

http://www.tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=a559152f-70db-4183-8a8e-ed818ce6df7c

Look at the media coverage!

They compare him to Adam for goodness sake!

Barack is a human being, as far as I know, not the second coming, not the first man on earth. He’s a democrat who won senate seats through charisma and the profound incompetence and corruption of his opponents.

I have a question for the collective media,

does your throat hurt yet from trying to swallow Obama’s manlove for so long?

Ralph Nader has decided to run since every other progressive candidate has either been frozen out by the media or sold out to a more popular candidate.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-02-24-voa18.cfm

He has my write-in any day.

Don’t think for a moment that you owe the Democrats anything. Their rubbery spines helped get us into the shape we’re in now. The party establishment who have backed either Barack or Hillary have shown their true interests lie with corporate alliances and the free market, not the American people.

Ralph Nader is the last real choice of change in 2008.

I have not been outside to speak of since Tuesday. Yesterday I read of the collapse of civilization and stared at the corner of my room for 45 minutes at one point.

This week’s guest performers include:

Oseltamivir phosphate aka Tamiflu

Benzonatate

Guaifenesin

Dextromethorphan

And of course, Acetominophen

I have been craving to write something not political for a few days, but haven’t had the energy and/or something else.

Long pauses in writing this post. My brain is searching for words in an endless sea of mucus and chemicals, and finding little to show for it.

Have you ever really watched fish? Like, really, watched them? Neither have I. Why would you? They’re fish. What are they going to do? Dolphins make cute noises, fuck all the time, and can leap out of the water. Sharks can inspire terror in every living creature on the planet. Whales are an enormous wonder of nature that inspires. But fish? Fish swim.

I have been watching the fish in our aquarium for about 20 minutes now, and I have become convinced that they must all be slowly going insane.

I do not know their species’ names, I am not a Fishologist, and I can’t imagine why anyone else would want to be, either.

There is a slender silver one who I will refer to as Sword. He does not move around very much. His fins flap lazily at about the same speed, propelling him towards the edge of the tank at about half a mile per 5 hours. He stares out at either our fridge or the window at all times. I certainly hope he’s staring out the window, but even then it’s only a view of a gray brick wall. We are all in captivity, perhaps.

The twins are orange with black stripes and they follow each other wherever they go, which is generally in an endless loop around the stream of BUBBLES in the middle of the tank. Sometimes they dart back and forth from one end of the aquarium to the other, only to turn back around, seeming despondent. Perhaps they thought that by swimming very fast in one direction they might find something new. Perhaps I’m giving the fish too much credit, and they’re not capable of any thoughts at all beyond impulses for food.

There are two little goldfish who are quite cute but they seem morbidly depressed to me. Both of them drift aimlessly along the bottom of the tank, occasionally scraping the bottom filled with tiny red, black, white and beige rocks. If they care where they’re going, they don’t seem to show it.

The moral of the story is that I need to get over this flu and get the fuck out of this apartment.

After winning Wisconsin last night, Barack Obama is on a clear path to win the Democratic nomination. In order to beat him, Hillary must win BIG in both Ohio and Texas on March 4, and given his momentum, that just ain’t gonna happen. So, all you hope mongers rejoice, because it’s more than likely that your man is going to be our next President.

Is it too early to call this one? Maybe. There’s still alot of time until November. But given the absurd groundswell that has come up around Obama’s campaign, I really don’t see any way he can lose the nomination or the general election. Of course we will see some very very dirty tricks by the Clintons, and some very entertaining “debates” between McCain and Obama, but I’m comfortable in calling this one right now. Obama takes the White House by at least a 60-40 margin.

So, what now?

I could jump on the bandwagon. I could put aside my doubts about his substance, religion, and experience and join the ranks of the weeping teenyboppers. (I know not all of Obama’s supporters fit that description.) But I will not.

Why?

First of all, I’m a cantankerous ass. Whenever a popular phenomenon rises up, I’m usually the last one to get on board. I go the other way.

Second of all, I think it’s time we stopped looking up to politicians. It’s fairly common knowledge that most, if not all, have no moral scruples and are only interested in money and power. Obama might be the exception. He might mean every word he says about ending the war, working with Republicans, and changing the country.

And on the other hand, shroomed out flying purple monkeys might fly out of my ass.

Get real people.

Where is the African American community’s healthy sense of doubt about the government now?

Why do young people who have never given a thought to politics all of the sudden believe so firmly that we can change this country through one man?

I will not jump on this bandwagon. I believe that Barack Obama and every other politician needs to be held accountable. When did we forget that these people work for us, not the other way around? It’s called public SERVICE, because they’re supposed to be SERVING us. That’s Democracy.

Until I see a senator without a massive messiah complex trying to actually work for the American people and not the elite establishment, I will never cave in.

I will not support any candidate who will continue to serve the industrial military complex. If you think that Obama has any plans of reducing our half a trillion (at least) war budget, you’d better wake up and smell the bodies that have been left in our wake for the better part of 60 years.

Michelle Obama caught some flak for saying that this is the first time she’s been proud of her country in her life. I admire that sentiment. Let’s be completely honest about this. Since the end of the war we have had no reason to be proud of America.

As to whether Barack actually believes that he can change that, well, we can only hope.

Yesterday Mitt Romney endorsed John McCain despite ideological differences and bitter personal exchanges during the campaign. Why?

http://www.newsweek.com/id/111827

The Republicans always, always, always come together and get behind their candidate, no matter how much they loathe them personally or politically. Because the GOP is not a party of ideas, as it once claimed to be, if it were a party of ideas, there would be a much greater fight for purity within the party, there would be a healthy debate between Evangelicals, National Security types, Libertarians who’ve sold out, and Neoconservatives. We see no such quarrels within the right’s well oiled machine, because when it comes down to it, the only thing that matters to the Republican establishment is power.

Retaining power in Washington is the sole purpose of the Republican machine. If they were true Evangelicals who believed in compassionate conservatism, they would get behind one of their own in Hukabee. If they were true military patriots, they would oppose foolish interventions. If they gave a fourth of a flying fig about the American people, they would not have stood behind Bush and his plethora of foreign and domestic disasters and crimes for so long.

I have argued that John McCain is not a sheep for the GOP; as President he would govern moderately and speak his own mind on vital issues, and I do believe that. McCain represents the most reasonable mainstream elephant left in the running. However, the more that this campaign drags on, I find it harder and harder to swallow the idea of electing anyone who is still supporting the war in Iraq, regardless of whether the surge has worked or not. (BTW, the war is still going on, even though the media has completely forgotten about it.) Because if there’s one thing that the Republicans care more about than preserving their power in Washington, it’s preserving their power in every single corner of the globe, no matter the cost to the people here and in every region of the world.

The last few days I have been feeling a pull towards Obama, now that he’s finally starting to spout specifics about his economic plans. (Thank you John Edwards for pushing these issues so SOMEBODY would pick them up.)

I don’t know if I can pull the lever for Barack in November, but I do know that the Republican party needs to be punished for its legacy of calloused indifference towards everyone who doesn’t own their own private jet.