I was planning to write here, expressing my thoughts on why I must see this particular Democrat in the White House, when I heard of this column from Peggy Noonan. I really like the way she writes, and while I won’t be adding the McCain parts, I will add a link to the essay in case you want to read the rest of it:
OCTOBER 31, 2008
Obama and the Runaway Train
The race, the case, a hope for grace.
By PEGGY NOONAN
The case for Barack Obama, in broad strokes:
He has within him the possibility to change the direction and tone of American foreign policy, which need changing; his rise will serve as a practical rebuke to the past five years, which need rebuking; his victory would provide a fresh start in a nation in which a fresh start would come as a national relief. He climbed steep stairs, born off the continent with no father to guide, a dreamy, abandoning mother, mixed race, no connections. He rose with guts and gifts. He is steady, calm, and, in terms of the execution of his political ascent, still the primary and almost only area in which his executive abilities can be discerned, he shows good judgment in terms of whom to hire and consult, what steps to take and moves to make. We witnessed from him this year something unique in American politics: He took down a political machine without raising his voice.
Ken Fallin
A great moment: When the press was hitting hard on the pregnancy of Sarah Palin’s 17-year-old daughter, he did not respond with a politically shrewd “I have no comment,” or “We shouldn’t judge.” Instead he said, “My mother had me when she was 18,” which shamed the press and others into silence. He showed grace when he didn’t have to.
There is something else. On Feb. 5, Super Tuesday, Mr. Obama won the Alabama primary with 56% to Hillary Clinton’s 42%. That evening, a friend watched the victory speech on TV in his suburban den. His 10-year-old daughter walked in, saw on the screen “Obama Wins” and “Alabama.” She said, “Daddy, we saw a documentary on Martin Luther King Day in school.” She said, “That’s where they used the hoses.” Suddenly my friend saw it new. Birmingham, 1963, and the water hoses used against the civil rights demonstrators. And now look, the black man thanking Alabama for his victory.
This means nothing? This means a great deal.
…
But let’s be frank. Something new is happening in America. It is the imminent arrival of a new liberal moment. History happens, it makes its turns, you hold on for dear life. Life moves.
Well, I hope you’re right. I just can’t get there. I know it’s all about the electoral college, but that’s what scares me. Florida is even. PA is margin of error. Ohio is close.
The states Obama may take away are all close except for Virginia.
Schmidt (evil) – the student of Rove (evil) – the student of Atwater (evil) ran an awful campaign and still there is “a path to 270″.
My heart would break if we have another 4 years of these wretched, greedy, insincere and even “nefarious” (I just got that off the tv) and especially lying and selfish people who use patriotism as a weapon and charge any who may think differently with being at best unAmerican and at worst evil or stupid.
We can’t have 4 more years of “the REAL America” and the “other America”.
I didn’t know they were around that long ago. But then again, maybe it was just that Ethan Allen was a religious guy. This was in Ft Ticonderoga. Pretty sad I think. I like Lincoln’s idea better. Let us hope that we are on God’s side [or something very similar].
I know all you Obama people are seeing the same thing I am. Poll after poll showing Obama in the lead. Obama in the lead in Ohio. In Pennsylvania. In Virginia for god’s sakes!
I’ve seen the trendline too. It got wide. The two candidates popularities going in opposite directions. Well, they’re going in opposite directions again. Only this time their supporter levels are heading toward each other. Again.
And remember around September McCain’s line was ABOVE Obama’s. This lead is soft. And whoever isn’t really decided … maybe the thing that they can’t say is “I’ll vote for a black man.” And then there’s the Wilder/Bradley affect. Maybe ALL these undecided’s will vote McCain. Can’t say they’d vote for Obama. Can’t do it either.
And then there’s Florida. Right now that’s a dead heat. Not a margin of error dead heat. I mean 47 – 47! On election day that goes Republican.
And, yes it gets worse, there’s that one poll. I think its Abc/Zogby. Which shows the race 5-7 points tighter than all the others. There was one that showed things tight in New Hampshire, just before Hillary surprised everyone and beat Obama!
McCain’s stupid message about Socialism and his incorrect message that he would be better for Joe The Plumber (for god’s sake again!) seems to be taking hold.
And will the kids vote? Yes they want Obama, but kids tend to not vote when it comes time. All that registration at home, vote at school kind of stuff.
And if all that weren’t bad enough. McCain under the ironically titled Help America Vote Act, has scrubbed 200,000 voters off the rolls in just Colorado alone.
Recently, I resubscribed to cable tv, after watching morning tv on free tv. Yikes!
On another subject, I’ve been paying attention to commercials lately. There are a couple that I would like to comment on. The first is the new Budwieser advertising slogan. “Drinkability”? Really? The best thing that you can say about Bud is that it is potable? Drinkable? Really? Its capable of being consumed? I think Bud’s new masters in Belgium think so little of the product that all that they can say about it is that it WILL go down.
I LOVE the AT&T commercial where the mother tell’s her kids to use the “minutes” even though they supposedly have milk spilled on them. She says her sister’s family would love to have those milky minutes. So the husband asks if her sister is lactose intolerant. The kids snicker and then comes the best part. The mom, who doesn’t speak again in the commercial, starts to speak, and then just wags her finger. I think the actress is spot on and really subtle and funny and just perfect with her finger, and communicates so much, without even saying a word. I always watch that commercial. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgFw7o5hQtc Its a great spot.
And finally we come to the propaganda add. From “Energy Tomorrow .org” These ads talk about how 60% of our oil and natural gas come from “North America” and that we have enough energy to heat our homes for the next 60 years. These are misleading claims. Oil AND natural gas, are not “oil”. And “North Amercia” is not The United States. There IS a lot of natural gas in Alaska (and a lot of hot air and yes, despite Todd Palin it is still part of the US) and Canada’s oil shale has become a major resource of “friendly” oil.
But we still produce just 3% of our oil and these commercials are terribly misleading.
It seems that some people think that Obama calling McCain eratic, the same thing as McCain calling Obama a terrorist. The thing of it is is, McCain IS angry. Obama is not a terrorist. You can make the case that McCain is eratic, but don’t concede that calling Obama a terrorist, is the same thing as calling McCain eratic.
Congresswoman Michele Bachman of Minnesota has, just tonight, asked for a media investigation of Congress itself, to see who is “pro America” and who is against America.
When I mentioned the in my Oct 14th entry that we had see everything except loyalty oaths, I was trying to be outrageous. You just can’t be more outrageous than these Republicans.
Shameful! And really really ignorant. And kinda scary too! Check out the last 57 seconds!!
Chuckles: Well Dr Evil. Now that we’ve made our profits, destroyed the constitution and wrecked the military and got away without being impeached what are we to do?
Dr Evil: Don’t forget wrecked the economy!
Chuckles: Right, wrecked the economy.
Dr Evil: No I mean it. We really really wrecked the economy. Usama couldn’t have done this much damage to the US in a thousand years!
Chuckles: Yep. Wrecked the economy.
Dr Evil: And the Constitution. Can’t forget the Constitution. We really did a number on that old Constitution.
Chuckles: I said that!
Dr Evil: I mean we blew up Habeas Corpus, instituted torture, blew up any distinction between spying and surveillance! We did that too. Hmm…. But we never got to Fealty Oaths. Oh and we forgot Katrina. That was a big one. Oooh ooh! And greenhouse gases. We really promoted greenhouse gasses. Oh Yeah! I almost forgot. $4.21 for a gallon of gas! We pretty much had them begging in the streets.
It seems this economic crisis is real. And its big. No, I’ve now heard about a 62 and alternately a 55 trillion dollar disaster that is waiting for us. 55 trillion dollars?
What did the man say? “A billion here, a billion there, pretty soon we’re talking real money!”
The economy of the U.S. is about 14 trillion dollars a year. This would mean that if everyone in the U.S. gave all of their income to the government we still couldn’t pay this off in 4 years!
Credit Default Swaps. Something someone made up to get around rules against trading insurance the way I understand it. Where were the regulators? I’ll tell you where they are. George W. Bush in his simplistic ways believes in “the market”.
That’s fine if we’re not talking about a government looking after its people. He’s talking about unfettered capitalism. Its a game. When you have a game you have a winner. The thing is, what the world needs (yes, I said it) is a game that is controlled so that no one entitiy EVER wins. Competition for its own sake is necessary. The game needs to be rigged so no one ever gets to win.
“The Washington Post’s Dan Balz has an article today perfectly illustrating how the modern journalist’s conception of “balance” leads them to distort the truth. Balz’s article is about the increasing use of “character attacks” in the presidential race, and rather than state the truth — that the McCain/Palin ticket is now relying almost exclusively on some of the ugliest and most outright dangerous character smears seen in a modern presidential election — Balz instead pretends that this is a phenomenon of which both sides are guilty in equal measure:
…
McCain’s code is to suggest something sinister about Obama, to say there is something lurking in his past that Americans should fear. Obama, by using the word “erratic” to describe his rival seems to suggest that he is in some way unstable and therefore unacceptable.
Saying that McCain has been ”erratic” over the past couple of months is plainly true and, even if it weren’t, it is a claim about McCain’s behavior as a leader, as a candidate, and his ability to lead the country. By obvious contrast —as Balz himself says — “McCain’s code is to suggest something sinister about Obama, to say there is something lurking in his past that Americans should fear.” Those accusations exist in different universes.”
Weekend at the Adirondacks. Tuesday with Paula. Wednesday fishing with Doty. Today I’m gong to meet my old friend Gesele. I almost don’t have time to be lonely.
![[Declarations]](http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-CP189_oj_noo_D_20081031114054.jpg)
Ken Fallin
