In regards to McCains anger when asked about his military service, it's apparent that he is harboring secret demons that he is adamant no one should go near. He vehemently fought against groups of family members of MIA & POWs from Vietnam who were only trying to get the army to tell them what happened, declassify documents from a war long over, and do a proper investigation into unsolved cases. He didn't just politically block all of their efforts, he did it with unusual bursts of anger.

Here's an interesting example: http://www.buzzflash.com/articles/contributors/1670

Here's another on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CazKanlYDg

The theory circulating in the non-MSM, with some sources actually being some of his fellow POWs, is that McCains performance in Hanoi was not always honorable or befitting the description of hero and he was going to do everything possible to keep this information classified in order to preserve his political career.

I know this reeks of swiftboating, but it's odd how ultra-sensitive he is on this issue, how viciously he fought the MIA/POW families, combined with the stories and theories we get from some of his fellow POWs.

Here's a fascinating video on this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vFM1xqqTX_g

And just for the record, I have the utmost sympathy and respect for him and what he went through, but I don't see why we should tiptoe over all this when he's using it as part of his public image.

Posted at July 2, 2008 11:19 PM in response to A Different View on the Clark Kerfuffle

Good post.

Now maybe some people will get an idea of what Obama's up against while he's trying to get 51% of the vote. Throw in Fox News, a corporate media, and a Rovian smear machine and you're starting with a pretty narrow field of reference that can easily be tainted by those with unscrupulous intent.

(The term 'field of reference' here refers to knowledge that one can assume the speaker and listener (or writer and reader) share, therefore enabling messages to be properly decoded. I'm adding this because I'm not sure if everyone here majored in communication and it's in their "field of reference" :-))

These statistics clearly demonstrate the near impossible challenge Obama faces in communicating an accurate image of himself to certain segments of the population and the ease for those interested in distorting that image.

Recommended.

Posted at July 2, 2008 7:58 PM in response to How Politically Stupid Are We?

Though it all might seem pretty lame for most of us progressive junkies, I think in the overall strategy of positioning for the general election, the right messages are getting out to the low-information voters. And these are the easiest ones to sway with the fear factor, which is how Bush got his second four years and who McCain needs badly .

The simple-small-sound-bite messages that are getting out through all of the chatter is:

Obama is concerned about national security (the FISA cave)

McCain was just a hotshot pilot. Not a general or admiral.

Obama is defending McCain's service. He's staying on the high road.

These images should help Obama with the demographics he needs to win now. He's got the progressive base and the Democratic nomination. It's not going anywhere. It's the lower educated group that he has to appeal to now. Let's cut him some slack and let him play the media game for these voters. Like it or not, they do vote and they're block is crucial to winning the white house and making the changes we need.

It would be nice if the MSM played it straight. Then Obama could play it straight. But the full image of who he is will never get to this demographic in a way they can relate to. So it has to come from supporting doomed bills, or criticizing someone on one level who is actually making subliminal sense to them on another.

Ain't presidential politics in America fun.

Posted at July 1, 2008 1:55 AM in response to Obama Campaign Condemns Wes Clark's Comments About McCain

Excellent post. Thanks.

I think it would be helpful to many here to take the time to read Obama's books, particularly The Audacity of Hope, to get a better understanding of the man and his thought process. It would also be useful if more understood the dilemma politicians are placed in due to our two-party, winner-take-all electoral system. It's impossible to be a perfect champion of all of the issues required to get to 51 percent of the vote. There are undoubtedly going to be conflicts that the Rovian machinery on the right will exploit to their fullest advantage.

In a parliamentary system with proportional representation, we could expect our representatives to be more unwavering toward our party's objectives. But our objectives would be much narrower and the prime minister would be elected by a coalition of several parties therefore his devotion to each party's platform would also be slightly diminished.

Over the course of the primary campaign, I have identified three issues on which I disagree strongly with Obama. They are nuclear power, the death penalty, and uncritical support for Israel. But after reading his books and following his campaign, I can think of no other political leader that I would trust more to tackle all of the problems we are faced with today. In a representative republic such as ours, I think the best we can ask for is someone whose judgement you fully trust. I may not always agree or support some of the decisions that he will make, but if he becomes president, I will be content that we have the best brains with the strongest character on the job.

Posted at June 27, 2008 12:47 AM in response to Obama's Been Trying to Tell You

I'm in the middle of reading Obama's Audacity of Hope and it's inspiring me on to a mission of getting others to read it. It very much speaks to the subject of this post which is actually a symptom of a greater problem than just belligerence on a blog thread. There's a self-centeredness infecting all of us that keeps us from seeing another point of view. Obama dissects the entire political landscape and precisely identifies how a "deficit of empathy" is affecting our ability to have a successful deliberative democracy. It's a brilliant discourse that would make a great manual for a way to civil debate for a productive society.

The only thing, everyone needs to read it.

Posted at June 26, 2008 12:51 AM in response to Debating like Children

Thanks.

Posted at June 25, 2008 11:31 PM in response to Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security

I imagine we should go back and prosecute all of the military personnel that ran the camps and guarded the Japanese-Americans we interned during WWII. I'm sure many of them are still alive.

I agree that what Bush had the telecoms do without warrants sucks big time. I also see several precarious scenarios that could come about if there is not some type of FISA program in place now so that our intelligence agencies can do their work properly and within the constitution:

A. A terrorist act harms Americans that could have been prevented with information gathered under the proposed new law.

B. A terrorist act harms Americans that could have been prevented with information gathered under the proposed new law (but as the press disseminates) due to Obama's and other senator's opposition to the bill, the program was suspended.

C. A crackpot group of homeless "terrorists" similar to the Miami-Sears Tower gang pulls of a terror photo-op with the help of some secret right-wing black ops group and it's all blamed on Obama's opposition to the FISA bill.

This may sound like a lot of conspiracy theory stuff, but I for one think it's entirely possible. We're not in Kansas anymore and tough legislation in the middle of a presidential election with as much at stake to those with the most to lose is just not so black and white.

Posted at June 25, 2008 11:07 PM in response to Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security

I think that there is a certain urgency to get the FISA mess fixed so our intelligence agencies can do their job properly and within the law. And I think his point was that the immunity issue is important and it should be addressed. But the deliberative aspect of that should not put the country at risk.

Posted at June 25, 2008 10:28 PM in response to Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security

I think it would do us all good to read or listen to Obama's Audacity of Hope. I'm in the middle of it now and already it's quite a window into his thinking. (It's on audio at iTunes if you're like me and often too busy to sit down with an actual book.)
But what's quite apparent from this discourse is that he will most likely be towing a line down the center more times than many of us prefer. I think he sees his mission more as a mediator over quarreling opponents trying to help them find common ground rather than just a champion for one side's cause. There's already a short list of issues I have disagreements with him on. But I think the judicious manner in which he approaches each issue and the crystal clear logic that he applies gives me solid confidence in his leadership. And it may very well be this centrist quality that will enable him to achieve our most important progressive goals (which at their core are actually centrist.)

Obama has said this was a close call for him and that he will still work to remove the immunity, but at the same time, there's a tremendous amount of work to be done and we have to identify what's really important and move on. I see no weakness in that. I see intelligence and pragmatism.

Posted at June 25, 2008 10:06 PM in response to Obama On FISA: Telecom Immunity Issue Doesn't Override National Security

If you overesteem great men [or women]
people become powerless
If you overvalue possessions,
people begin to steal.

The Master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
She helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.

Practice not-doing,
and everything will fall into place.

-Lao-tzu in Tao Te Ching

Posted at June 9, 2008 10:46 PM in response to TWO MONKS AND THE BEAUTIFUL WOMAN