Ominous Numbers for Obama

Barron's ^ | 2/18/2012 | GENE EPSTEIN

[ClearCase_guy]

Well, one possible way of looking at things is to assume that a great many Americans are still just the same as they ever were -- but that the political system is hopelessly broken and corrupt. Perhaps the votes aren't really counted. Perhaps the politicians are not governing by the will of the people at all. Perhaps there are not two political parties, and perhaps we are all just being duped.

The voters may be trying to elect better leaders, but the political establishment just won't allow that outcome. Does that make you feel better?

[rlmorel]

LOL..now WHERE did I put those cyanide capsules, darn it!

[rlmorel]

Well, I voted for McCain too, I just didn’t see any other reasonable way around it. And like you, a good part of that was due to Sarah Palin.

I actually have a connection to McCain, however small. He was, for several months back in 1975 into 1976, my Commanding Officer. He was the commanding officer of VA-174 which was a training squadron. Of course, at the time I knew who he was and what he was all about even if not many others did not at the time. Being a military brat and living overseas, I knew a lot of those POWs by name, we wore the metal bracelets and all those kinds of things.

I admit that it took me some time to come to grips with the negative aspects of McCain with respect to his personal and political attitudes. It wasn’t that I couldn’t intellectually see them, it was just that emotionally I couldn’t bring it to myself to attach them to him. It was a kid thing, but we idolized all of those guys.

Funny, hadn’t really thought of that aspect much for a long time, but we used to do goofy things that kids used to do playing Army and such, and I can remember one time being “captured” by a friend on the other side, and I remember saying something to the effect of “Okay, I’ll be Commander Denton, and you have to be the North Vietnamese guard…”