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Hope & Change You Can Be Bereaving

[ Comments Off ]Posted on January 21, 2011 by admin in Politics

Friday, January 21st, 2011

I’ll be watching the State of the Union address next week, but I’m bereaving hope more than I believe in it.

A couple of years ago, I asked When Did Americans Become Such Chickenshit Crybabies?, so it was kind of a relief when Patrick Smith, the “Ask the Pilot” guy, went public with a more serious and calmly reasoned treatment of the idea. Because if you look at the entire history of airline terrorism, things haven’t changed much over the years, only our reactions have. Which is at the core of just one of many reasons I take issue with the treatment of privacy rights since the terrorist acts of September 11, 2001. All along, I’ve been of the opinion – which I consider to be informed rather than paranoid – that various parties both inside and outside of government have capitalized on public fear, whether in the interest of invasive data collection or manipulating national sentiment. With President Obama’s State of the Union address coming up next week, I’m reminded of how profoundly disappointed I am with myself for falling for his campaign rhetoric and tone in 2008. One of the only reasons I voted for the man was that I foolishly believed he was sincere about troop drawdowns, lowering America’s hostile presence abroad, doing away with some of the Bush administration’s executive secrecy, and easing up on the incessant erosion of citizen’s privacy and freedom to move about. I was disappointed when Obama supported the FISA bill before he was even elected, but blew it off to a campaign-time necessity, and believed him when he said his administration would pursue a sincere review of wiretapping policies. Well, not only have none of these things come to pass in two years, he has completely contradicted himself repeatedly on almost all of them. Last year was the deadliest year so far in the Afghan conflict, with troop increases of 3,000, and a 134% increase in drone attacks and 54% increase in related deaths. The Obama White House has endorsed Bush era secrecy on torture and rendition, been worse about wiretapping issues than Bush, and made virtually no changes regarding the inept, out of control, and revenge-driven TSA, which many travelers have described as providing an experience they haven’t encountered since the Berlin Wall days. I could go on about how the Obama health care plan was a back door corporate sellout, but I won’t. The Republicans will be spending enough time deriding the plan as a dog and pony show in the coming months. No need to throw more sand in the gears of government; American politicians seem to have things pretty well ground to a halt on their own. I honestly hope to see something inspiring from next week’s SOTU address, but only because I’m idiotically optimistic about life in general. Not because I have any rational reason to do so.

Spiritual Growth Through Politics

[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 20, 2010 by admin in Politics

Thursday, May 20th, 2010

Maybe change DOES come from within. It certainly doesn’t seem to come from Washington. But I wouldn’t mind if Obama still ACTED like it does.


Maybe Small Change Is Good Too

As one of the early supporters of Mr Hope and Change, I have to confess that the last two years have been a real exercise in personal and spiritual growth for me, often inspired by politics. I’ve learned to accept that people can be even greedier and more irrational than I imagined, and that change doesn’t happen overnight. I’m usually cynical enough to read between the lines of the kind of talk the president served up on the campaign trail, but was still moved by his words and the upswell of hope that he inspired across America and around the world. Now, not so much. Mostly because he doesn’t come across as the same person I voted for in 2008. Strangely, all I really want from the president right now is for him to talk like he’s campaigning! I don’t expect that after the recently approved finance reform legislation takes the beating policy always takes moving through congress that it will fare any better than the health care bill did; Washington is just far too awash in the self-interest of the affluent elite that live and work there. So stop being so damned modulated and reasonable, will you Mr President? I don’t think we’re getting anywhere, and now Teabaggers are co-opting your brand. I have a friend who – when a street person asks him for change – actually uses the old line “change comes from within, brother“. I’m now learning a new truth in that. It’s certainly not likely to come out of Washington in a hurry. Maybe I need to learn that small change is a good thing too.

I’m A Recovering Hope Addict

[ Comments Off ]Posted on December 10, 2008 by admin in Politics

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Anybody Know Where I Can Score Some Change?

My Obama buzz is wearing off. Even though I was pacing myself, I got just a little too high on the idea of change he promised. So far, I’m feeling a little bit like I voted for a Clinton. As this November 14 CBSNews.com piece points out, 37 of 41 staff or transition team members have close ties to the Clinton administration. You’d expect a certain amount of this — it would only be logical to have some seasoned White House staff on board — but it appears I’m not alone in my concerns. I have to admit I’m not stunned by Obama’s weekly chats either. One would think his team would be more aware that he’s not campaigning any more, and can stop using the more moronic sound bites like “Wall Street vs. Main Street”. On the other hand, I’m excited that he seems genuinely focused on re-building both America’s infrastructure and its image abroad. I’d like to be more upbeat on this topic, but I’m really tired of saying to myself “at least this is better than [insert morally bankrupt politician name]“. He campaigned heavily on the theme of real change, and that’s exactly why I voted for him. Anybody else feeling the jones?

A Message of Change and Hope

[ 4 Comments ]Posted on August 17, 2008 by admin in Comics

Sunday, August 17th, 2008

And change. And hope and stuff.

Change You Can Be Bereaving

[ Comments Off ]Posted on July 16, 2008 by admin in Politics

Wednesday, July 16th, 2008

Feeling a little “voter remorse” because of Barack Obama’s recent FISA stance? Create your own Obama “Change” poster.

Remember back in the ’04 elections, when those pesky liberals turned the create-your-own-poster gizmo on the Bush-Cheney web site against itself? Well, in the interest of equal time, have at it, all you No-We-Can’ters. Just type your own phrase in the little box below Obama’s picture, and voila, your own campaign poster. This site doesn’t appear to belong to the official Obama campaign, so maybe it’ll be around for a while. Have yourself some fun, whoever your candidate may be.

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