I’ll give you my two cents.
The voters of Florida are clueless, as usual.
A lot of Kool Aid must have gone down the pipes to inspire Demoquat voters to give the evil Hillary such a resounding margin in a toothless election that will result in no committed delegates to the Democratic National Convention. (The Dems, ever willing to cut off their own nuts, decided to punish Florida for moving up its primary election to a week in advance of Super Tuesday, the punishment being that Florida would send no delegates to the convention.) Still, the result says a lot about the people of Florida—the Democrats, anyhow.
“Change.” They want “change.” When was the last time you heard that? I harken back to sounds of 1992, when the master himself and potential First Hubby, Slick Willy, successfully employed that notion as a primary plank in his campaign platform. Change from what to what? No one knows, but change for the sake of change must be good, right?
The “change” mantra sounded so good to Barack Obama that he has adopted it as the premise for his entire campaign. We can do better than business as usual. We need change. Bill Clinton is a political genius, so why not use one of his masterpieces? It worked for Bill, so it can work for Barack. And he’s right on the verge of adopting “It’s the economy, Stupid” as a campaign slogan. How very 1992!
I heard one exit-interviewed voter, a woman, of course, state that we needed change. She probably could use some of that change to buy groceries for her kids. Anyhow, she said she wanted to return to the good times of the Clinton Administration when everything was peachy, the economy was strong, and everybody was happy. Change.
Well, unfortunately, a Clinton II Administration will bring about change of the most disastrous kind: confiscatory taxes, socialized medicine, weakened national security, and sweetheart deals with special interests. (Not that the current administration or Congress have clean hands in that last area, but I included it for completeness.) Alas, Obama is spouting the same diatribe, only he’s generally clueless. Just wait, lady, and you’ll see the strong economy you’re hoping for crumble before your very eyes. You see, this time, there will be no checks and balances. Democrat Houses of Congress, with that geeky, nigglingly irascible Harry Reid and the dangerously left-wing Nancy Pelosi leading the way, will rubber-stamp all the socialist crap the White House (or should I say the Pink House) proffers, and then some. That’ll be some change.
Alas, people have gotten into the mindset of “whatever it takes to make me feel good.” They don’t feel good at the moment, so they want change. I’ve got news for them. They’ll never feel good. Why do we allow these short sighted chronic malcontents the right to vote? Do you really want them ruining your country?
Oh, I expect to get some comments about how crappily the current administration has done its job and how anything at all would be better. Isn’t that my premise for this article? Go ahead and affirm that you want change for change’s sake
As for the current administration, I’m particularly annoyed by the so-called fiscal stimulus package Bush and Pelosi have agreed upon. Let’s just go ahead and rob tomorrow to feel good today—right in time to get everybody elected. Washington is self-interested to a fault, and neither side of the aisle is exempt. Do you think that the kind of “change” you’re seeking is going to change that behavior? Hell, no! If you think so, please feel free to don your tinfoil hats and drink some more Kool Aid. It’s ingrained, my leetle friends, and the conundrum is that it will become even more so as voters continue to vote for “change” instead of closely examining qualifications and track records. The more things change, the more they stay the same. But I digress.
Obama is campaigning on the premise of change—change alone, for changes sake. Yes we can? We can what? I don’t think the senator knows what of he speaks. In fact he knows nothing, as becomes clear when issues of substance arise in debates with Mrs. Clinton, so all he has to offer is a promise of change from business as usual in Washington. Based on what? He’s a relative newcomer to Washington, so perhaps he can claim that he hasn’t adopted the Washington mindset yet. Oh, but he would have needed to play ball with the Beltway Boys to survive in Washington, so I’m not buying the mantra for a split-second. Even if he weren’t lying about not doing business as usual, he’s being awfully naive. Last time we had similar naivete in the White House, Jimmy Carter damn near gave away the country (he literally did give away the single most strategic resource in this hemisphere, the Panama Canal) and allowed the USA to become a doormat overseas. God help us if we return to that simple-minded executive so-called leadership with a real war, rather than a cold one, being waged on foreign soil.
Our voters are idiots. They buy this “change” crap and they don’t take the time to find out what we’re changing to. Idiots don’t do research. Idiots like the change thing. Hell, anything has got to be better than what we have now, right? Fucking chronic malcontents. Idiots like to be led by the nose, because they think government should do everything for them, and these candidates sure as hell know how to appeal to idiots by promising that the government will take care of all their needs. Sheesh! Idiots are too stupid to understand that their votes are being bought by promises of cradle-to-grave loving care by a band of self-interested thieves whose primary objective is to feather their own nests with the trappings of power.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Democrats are preparing to ignore the people’s vote by empowering so-called super delegates to vacate primary election results and chose the candidate who best represents their interests. Is this government of the people, by the people, and for the people? The Democrats are preparing their usual foot shot, and judging by past results, their aim is uncannily true. Unless Barack and Hillary can kiss and make up by August, the Dems can kiss their November chances goodbye.
The Republican primaries are not tainted by the prospect of so-called super delegates, but there’s an undercurrent brewing in GOP ranks about who’s more conservative than who, and who would be most like Ronald Reagan. Here again, the party seems to be ignoring the voice of the people. If people wanted an ultra-conservative candidate, they’d damn well vote for one. If the people are shifting toward the center, then listen to them. Jesus freaks, abortion wankers, stem cell zealots—shut the hell up, already! We’re running a country here, and there are two real issues: the war on terrorism and the economy. Diverting presidential attention to barroom bullshit issues like religion, abortion, and fucking similar time-wasting distractions gets in the way of doing the job. Maybe someday we’ll see a candidate with brass balls stand up and say that. And maybe someday, the idiot voters will see the light. So, McCain leans a little left to suit your conservative asses. Shut the hell up and let the people decide!
There is no panacea, and if there were, it sure as hell wouldn’t be Hillary. Eight years of a HillyBilly Administration and I guarantee you that you’ll be seeking change once again—but by then it will be too damn late!
———
“The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed, and hence clamorous to be led to safety, by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.†—H.L. Mencken
