The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama

Commentary ^ | December 2006 | Yuval Levin

[Señor Zorro]

I believe Obama_nation has two chances to be elected president in 2008 1. Slim 2. None

I think Obama has a better chance than Hillary. Both are red as Marx, but Obama has less known about him (a plus, given that neither want to be known as Marxists and any shady dealings aren't public knowledge) and has two things that Hillary doesn't: (comparative) looks and charm (a rabid porcupine would be more charming than Hillary, but that's besides the point).

[Lancey Howard]

Rule #1:When you write a book it is important to AVOID making yourself a "documented liar":

Now and then, Obama’s centrist platitudes lead him into unsupported or even outright false assertions. Of the $9 trillion national debt he claims, “the bulk of the debt is a direct result of the President’s tax cuts,” when in fact the tax cuts have involved less than a tenth of that amount. Elsewhere, invoking allegedly declining federal funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), he launches into an argument about the Bush administration’s failure to support basic research essential to America’s global competitiveness. But the budget of the NIH has grown by more than $8 billion, or 40 percent, since Bush came into office, and this year the administration proposed to double federal funding for research in the physical sciences over the next decade.

[JimSEA]

You said it better than I did, but, yes that is what I am getting at. How can we come up with so many truly horrible candidates??

[balls]

This Obama bin Barack guy appeared from nowhere. It seems like the media pulled him out of a hat. Let's get real. Nobody with a muslim name stands any chance in a race to the Whitehouse!

[samadams2000]

The Audacity of raising taxes.

[samadams2000]

The Audacity of raising taxes.

[newheart]

So I follow your link to Obama's vanity myspace page. I notice that under religion he lists "Christian - other". Can someone clarify exactly what THAT means. As Dylan put it, "You've either got faith or you've got unbelief. And there ain't no middle ground." Other?

[Don Joe]

The Audacity of Hype

[Don Joe]

*Humor

Oh.

(I thought you were just quoting Ted Kennedy.)

[Don Joe]

---

I believe Obama_nation has two chances to be elected president in 2008

1. Slim
2. None

My money is on chance #2

---

I hear ya.

I felt exactly the same way when some dope with a bad used car salesman haircut from Arkansas, of all places, said that he was running for president.

That's only one reason I'll be shocked as hell of B. Hussein Obama doesn't end up in the Presidential Palace.

[neverdem]

I think Obama has a better chance than Hillary. Both are red as Marx, but Obama has less known about him (a plus, given that neither want to be known as Marxists and any shady dealings aren't public knowledge) and has two things that Hillary doesn't: (comparative) looks and charm (a rabid porcupine would be more charming than Hillary, but that's besides the point).

Barack Obama's real estate ties.

The big story on some of the local TV news shows tonight is about Barack Obama's ties to Rita Rezko, the wife of Tony Rezko, Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's former chief fundraiser. Tony Rezko has been indicted in a massive scandal involving giving government jobs and contracts to Blagojevich's contributors. Apparently, the Rezkos live in a mansion in the suburbs north of Chicago, but on the same day that Obama bought a $1.6 million house on the south side of Chicago, Rezko's wife bought the vacant lot next door. Then Obama bought 10 feet of the Rezko lot, and Obama has now been paying for the mowing of all of the Rezko lot, though he says that he has been meaning to divide the costs.

Here is part of the Chicago Tribune article (registration required) that launched the story:

[Don Joe]

A freshman senator with only 2 years gone in his term would never be seriously considered presidential material....unless he was black. That's his principal "qualification."

No, there's more to it than that. He has charisma. And name-recognition.

And let's not forget, he also has Rick Warren in his hip pocket.

Face it -- the election is his to lose, and I don't expect he'll be so foolish as to lose it.

We are a nation of fools. We elect "leaders" on the basis of "charisma", and "name-recognition" -- and, it really helps if a "respected man of god" (lowercase intentional) is there to give his approval.

"Substance" means nothing. It only counts when an electorate has its head screwed on straight. And no one can accuse this country's voters of that.

No, I'm afraid we're screwed; screwed like we've never been screwed before.

The GOP will of course roll out some tired old nag, just as they did when they threw tired old Bobdole into the jaws of Bill "Carnivore" Clinton. The GOP Primogeniture System will not be violated!

Settle in for a long, sad, sorry, ugly ride. It's gonna be a doozy.

[Don Joe]

Barack Obama's real estate ties.

Peanuts, compared to, oh, let's see...

McCain: "Keating Five", "CFR"
Giuliani: "Bernie Kerik"
Romney: "Abortion", "Homosexual Lobby", "Hillarycare"

(There's more, of course, and "opposition research" undoubtedly is already sitting on reams of file material, waiting for the most opportune moment to spring it on the led-by-the-nose electorate.)

No, I don't think B. Hussein Obama's lawn is gonna account for much once those mega-mud-divots start flyin'...

[Don Joe]

This Obama bin Barack guy appeared from nowhere. It seems like the media pulled him out of a hat. Let's get real. Nobody with a muslim name stands any chance in a race to the Whitehouse!

LOL!

Riiiiiight.

Just like a sleazy nobody with all the charm of a two-bit used car salesman could ever dream of winning once -- let alone twice, with his second campaign mired by scandal after scandal.

You really overestimate the voters.

[Lexinom]

I'm confused: Is someone out there advocating the forced inpregnation of women?

[My2Cents]

You're right.

[My2Cents]

can put on a nice dog-and-pony show

B.O. doesn't frighten me. What frightens me is that the American voters twice elected an smooth but empty suit to the presidency back in the '90s. With the election results of this past November, the electorate's response in the midst of a war in a dangerous world, indicates there's still a strong tendency among America's voters to bend toward the frivolous and trival.

[My2Cents]

We are a nation of fools. We elect "leaders" on the basis of "charisma", and "name-recognition"

I would like to think that collectively, we're better than that, and until this past November I thought we were. I'm exceedingly pessimistic about '08. I think this nation may roll over and die, not from suicide like Europe, but from boredom and an inability to focus on what's important. Too many voters are attracted to what "glitters."

[IIntense]

...in the sixties...they raised the child. It made for a rough life sometimes as old dreams were stubbed out.

Even before the 60s, pre-marital pregnancies resulted in the parents getting married. When did other options begin, as in, single mother keeps child, father chooses whether or not to be involved?

I recognize abortion for what it is...the taking of a human life. As to couples (mostly young) getting married solely because of a pregnancy, "stubbed out" dreams doesn't cover all the serious problems which resulted from this kind of "obligated" union. Under different circumstances, it may never have been their choice in the long run. Sadly, their children suffer from their mistakes, as do the children of recent decades whose parents do not marry.

The solution? Don't risk a pregnancy before marriage.

Easy to say.

[HiTech RedNeck]

now now, it could be even worse. jimmuh was elected within most of our memories. could obama be jimmuh II?