Name:     Michael L. S.   [E-Mail]
      Location:  Earth
      Website:  Middle East Resource Center

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So, Sen. Obama has gained considerable momentum and is far from the inconsequential underdog he was a few short months back. Once seen as the "inevitable choice," Hillary Clinton's campaign is in a state of disarray, indeed, in freefall. Hussein Obama has gone so far as to claim primacy in the contest and has issued calls for the Democratic faction to coalesce around him. So confident of an eventual nomination is he that he spent a considerable portion of rhetoric taking aim at Sen. McCain, the all-but-crowned Republican nominee.

One espies these developments with amazement and sadness. Certainly, it is amazing for an African American to have reached this stage when barely a few decades ago "niggers" were sitting in the back of buses, were not allowed to use public libraries and attended separate schools in large swaths of the United States. This progress is so giddying that one is tempted to endorse him just to "cock a snook"--as the English would say--i.e. give the finger to the racist America of old. Besides, his success would enthrone the U.S. once and for all as the land of liberty, opportunity and justice for all. Doing so though would be a mistake.

Let me come clean: I don't like the guy. A large part of the reason for this is that he has garnered support thru soundbites and style, rather than concrete policies and substance. Listen to his speeches: It's all about change. Even disregarding the fact that change for the sake of change is myopic at best, "change" is not a policy! Change what, from what, to what, with what, how and why are policies... - but you will not get these details from the Illinois senator. In fact, according to at least one background investigation, he has been exceedingly careful since his early days in politics, not to step on anyone's toes on controversial issues. He conveniently missed a welter of important votes (one most recently on whether Iran's revolutionary guard should be designated a terrorist organization, a vote, which had a broad cross-party Congressional support).

This quote, from a book, perhaps illustrates the situation better than any disquisition: "Obama is not a conviction politician. His supporters do not look to him to do something; they look to him to be something, to represent something." Oh dear...

"Yes, We Can!" is Obama's motto. We can... - WHAT, exactly???

Is it fair for such a person to prosper over a woman of stature, principles and a track-record to prove it? No. Which is why I fervently hope the Obama bandwagon gets derailed before too long. Having made two catastrophic errors in judgement in the past eight years, the American people can ill-afford to make another one. If they don't come to their senses in a hurry, we will have a septuagenarian hawk in the White House this time next year. That would be bad for the U.S. and for the world: From the economy, to the war on terror, to America's cultural supremacy.

Can we restore America's tarnished image to its former glory? With a Democratic president who actually stands for something and we know what that something is, YES, WE CAN.

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