Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Man from Hope

Nope, not Bill Clinton - Barack Obama.

I don't have the time or brain capacity to really think about this, but as I read another asinine comment about how Obama must be a bad candidate (or false idol, depending on your preferred level of histrionics) because he talks about hope and change, I realized something:

The subtext of attacking a candidate because they talk about the values of hope and change is pretty monstrous.

Specifically, by attacking Obama's platform in such a way, people are implicitly suggesting that we can't hope for a better future, that we don't have the capacity to work together to solve problems.

It's a near-genius and completely FUBARed (and Orwellian!) tactic, because it suggests the opposite: That the good life can only be achieved by hate and war.

Herbert Marcuse is laughing his ass of somewhere right now.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

But what if we really don't like him? How can we express that? Can't say it is because he is black, gonna get in trouble. Can't say it is becasue of his religious beliefs, that only counts if you are a republican. What about his connections to terrorists who are proud of their previous actions and who actively campaigned for him? What about rezko and Obamas connections to him? Sorry, some of us don't want him as president. Some of the crap he talks about is bogus. So to here him talk about hope is like listening to Carter and his "How I whipped Inflation". When he talks hope, but you look at the person, you can easily tell he is FOS. I don't like any of 'em, but Obama scares me bad, and I HOPE he goes away.

Dennis said...

Ask Obama what his specific ideas are regarding hope and change (how will you put these values into action?), and then be willing to admit he has some. Follow up. I see many people mock his rhetoric and never bother to ask whether or not he has any policy positions. He does.

One hopes that it's never actually occurred to you to criticize him solely because he's black, though the tone of your comment suggests otherwise.

Anonymous said...

That didn't come out very well. Let me re-phrase. Listening to him once several months back, I was impressed at how articulate he was. At the same time, someone mentioned how articulate Obama was on TV and immediately the poor guy was cast out for being racist. "By saying he is articulate, you must be implying that most african americans are not articulate, and therefore you are a racist." People should be allowed to disagree without having it thrown back at them.

I really have a rough time with the people he hangs with, including his preacher. They truly are racist. So, if his preacher can preach hate against whites and the USA, how can others be expected to like him? I know, he disavowed his preacher, but for 20 years he must have agreed, or he wouldn't have stayed in the congregation. He has a rough time in non-black voting areas, and he knows it. Does that mean all those people are racist? Or do they listen to Obama and his "advisors" and realize that Obama really doesn't understand our (rural, poor, white, blue collar, etc.) values? The guy is pretending to be a hunter, and talks about out drinking Hillary, and feels our pain, and it is all BS. At least Bill Clinton sounded believable.

I don't have a problem with Hope and Change and all that, but when he and his wife talk about how this is the first time they are proud to be Americans, I do have a problem with that. I think he is a very well educated liberal individual who will be happy telling us how to live our lives.

Of course, I also know it is a campaign, and the president can't do all that they promise they'll do.

Anonymous said...

please tell me how Reverand wright will have an effect on the policy of Barack Obama? Im interested to know, because i hear that is a quite popular topic on the 24 hour news channels (i dont have cable).
i'd also like to know your sources for your rhetoric, specifically "what about rezko?" "connections to terrorists.."
as for the statement "I think he is a very well educated liberal individual who will be happy telling us how to live our lives"
what exactly do you mean by this? do you do everything president Bush tells you to do? when he and his echo on Fox news say or insinuate all good Americans attend church and wave the flag, do you immediately load up and head to sunday service?
do you understand how illogical the anti-obama rhetoric is?

 
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