We need him, to restore what's been lost

I've written it and alluded to it many times in the past few months, and I'll no doubt say it again many more times over the next 100 days ~ we need Obama. We need him to restore what the last eight years have done to our standing in the world. 

There are many who believe that our standing doesn't matter. I'm certainly not one of them. From getting Osama bin Laden, trade, global warming and treaties to fostering relationships with allies and at least having a dialogue with our enemies, our standing and resolve matter. We cannot and must not elect someone who will give us four more years of mostly the same failed policies, and I do believe that is precisely what John McCain represents.

A great example is the speech that Obama gave a few days ago in Berlin. It was notably apolitical - it wasn't a campaign swing or a "premature victory lap," as McCain characterized it. Not once did Obama mention the words "Bush" or of "McCain." (This contrasts pretty sharply to President Bush all but calling Obama an appeaser in front of the Knesset in Israel a few months ago. Where was the Dixie Chicks outrage? I'm still waiting.) Instead, Obama delivered a stirring and impassioned speech about the challenges we face, how we've overcome them in the past, and how if we work together we can overcome present and future ones, too.

All I hear from McCain is Iraq, Iraq, Iraq, and how much of a genius he is that the Surge is currently working. What's more, his supposed "expertise" in foreign affairs is a total sham, every bit as much as Rudy 9iu1ian1's supposed "expertise" in foreign affairs. Every time McCain opens his mouth, something incorrect comes out of it - he mistakes Iraq for Afghanistan, his time lines are all wrong, and he loves to rewrite history, banking on the fact that many in America have the political attention span of about three days.

Here's hoping that voters this time won't be fooled by a clever PR effort, circa Bush in 2000, and especially in 2004. We simply cannot afford this on so many fronts.

I found this on via Firedoglake - words of eloquence by Obama during his overseas trip. After eight years of Bush's asinine, scripted comments, this is welcome indeed...

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200k hear Obama in Berlin

I don't know what I like more, listening to Barack Obama's truly inspiring speech in Berlin earlier today, or jealous Republicans griping and complaining about the coverage that Obama is getting. I think it's hilarious that the insipid Sen. Lindsay Graham was on TV just days ago, bragging that McCain and his fellow Republicans had "chased him to Iraq and Europe," and yet now, these same people are complaining about the world of good the trip is doing his campaign. Serves them right.

Obama's speech was a breath of fresh air to our stale, partisan politics - he really is the most charismatic political leader in my lifetime, or at the very least in my adult life. Sure, Obama is a great speech maker, but he's more than that - he's giving us hope, something that's been snuffed out in many ways during the last eight years. Many of Obama's critics love to say, "Sure, he's a great speech maker, but what is he going to do?" Well, his speeches are laying the groundwork for what he will do as president. I mean, he's a candidate for president - what's he supposed to do, invade a country?

Quite frankly, I'm not at all surprised at the reception he's received on his trip, for many reasons, but perhaps the biggest is how Bush has treated much of Europe during his presidency, especially during the run-up to the War in Iraq. Many countries, including Germany, were reluctant to go to war, but Bush had made up his mind that war was the way, and anyone who was against the war, Bush took it as a personal insult. (See France.)

It was widely reported that Bush bashed German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder when he wouldn't support the invasion of Iraq. This is one of the many miscalculations that passes for Bush foreign policy - disagreements are taken as personal slights, and immediately diplomacy goes right out the window.

It's little wonder that Europe and the Middle East are crying out for a different kind of American politician, and Obama is that man.

You can read the full text of Obama's speech Here (If you're reading this longer than a week after my original post, you will have to be a New York Times member to view it).

I was impressed not only by Obama's delivery (who isn't other than the most rabid Republican?), but also the breadth of his speech. He touched a lot of bases today in a very short amount of time.

I was heartened to hear him mention global warming, because quite frankly I haven't heard enough to date from him on the subject:

As we speak, cars in Boston and factories in Beijing are melting the ice caps in the Arctic, shrinking coastlines in the Atlantic, and bringing drought to farms from Kansas to Kenya.

Great to mention it, but we need more specifics from him, and soon (But, I know Berlin wasn't the place to do it). I urge you all to write him and ask for those specifics. I will be writing his campaign a long-overdue letter shortly.

I found this particular passage inspiring, too:

Now the world will watch and remember what we do here – what we do with this moment. Will we extend our hand to the people in the forgotten corners of this world who yearn for lives marked by dignity and opportunity; by security and justice? Will we lift the child in Bangladesh from poverty, shelter the refugee in Chad, and banish the scourge of AIDS in our time?

Will we stand for the human rights of the dissident in Burma, the blogger in Iran, or the voter in Zimbabwe? Will we give meaning to the words “never again” in Darfur?

Right on, although we can't take on these many challenges ourselves - we do need Europe's help. This particular passage is one of the many reasons I'm proud to call myself a Democrat and identify with liberalism - helping others and the least among us. Granted, we have a lot of work to do here at home, too, and New Orleans tops the list.

However, this administration hasn't done a damn thing about Darfur, other than issue a few words of condemnation. As I wrote yesterday, too bad for the people of Darfur that there isn't billions of barrels of our oil under their soil. If there were, Bush would no doubt be on TV saying, "The people of Darfur deserve freedom" and "Omar Hasan Ahmad al-Bashir (the Sudanese President) is a brutal dictator" and blah, blah, blah. We all know the Bush boilerplate by now. Bush has blood on his hands for doing nothing, and so does America. We should have done something, just like President Clinton should have with regard to Rwanda in the mid-1990s. (Clinton has often stated that it was one of the biggest mistakes of his presidency.)

Another passage I found interesting, which was very obviously no accident in this speech:

But I also know how much I love America. I know that for more than two centuries, we have strived – at great cost and great sacrifice – to form a more perfect union; to seek, with other nations, a more hopeful world. Our allegiance has never been to any particular tribe or kingdom – indeed, every language is spoken in our country; every culture has left its imprint on ours; every point of view is expressed in our public squares. What has always united us – what has always driven our people; what drew my father to America’s shores – is a set of ideals that speak to aspirations shared by all people: that we can live free from fear and free from want; that we can speak our minds and assemble with whomever we choose and worship as we please.

Also, when you watch the footage above, notice that Obama has a flag pin on his lapel, something he now wears with regularity. I don't view that as a bad thing, but I think it's disgraceful that there are mindless morons in this country who feel that you have to wear a flag to be patriotic. That point can't be repeated enough, either, because stupid rumors persist on the Internet that Obama won't say the Pledge of Allegiance (not true), hates America (Really?!?) and won't put his hand over his heart during the Pledge of Allegiance (also untrue, and there's video evidence to prove it).

It's a little ironic that Obama had these patriotic words to say about America in a city that once passed laws that required members of the Nazi Party to wear the sinister swastika as a sign of party loyalty. Sometimes, I feel we aren't that far away in America, when a nominee for president has his patriotism impugned for not wearing a 50¢ pin (that was probably made in China). Sickening.

Anyway, I found his speech truly inspiring, and probably one of the finest in his career. And I'm happy he didn't go too overboard with a German phrase, circa President Kennedy.

Predictably, McCain is taking great pains to downplay Obama's trip and today's speech, calling it a "premature victory lap." (Sort of like McCain's last stroll through Baghdad, where he nearly talked himself to death about the Surge and how great he thinks thing are going?) Just wondering.

Economy got you down? Gas too expensive? No worries - Let the demagoguery begin!

The people over at Talking Points Memo have put together a wonderful montage of Republican fear mongering over the last few days about Barack Obama's opinion on the Surge, which every Republican in the Western Hemisphere is huffing and puffing as a resounding success. Just wondering, where have we seen that kind of ass clownery before?

Oh yea, that. Now I remember. Amazing that most Repubes have not gotten one thing right about this war, from its length, to its cost, to who would pay for it, that we would be greeted as liberators, etc. (Do I really need to list them all?), yet now we are supposed to trust the party of foreign policy competence. Are they kidding? Sadly, no.

On a day when Obama is making a historic speech in the heart of Berlin, all the leading Republicans can do is sit back and watch, and whine that he "wasn't right about the surge." It's equivalent to a bunch of under-aged kids who are trying to get into a high school party, and no one will let them in, so they sit out in the street, screaming, while no one pays attention to them, throwing pebbles at the house.

I guess no one is showing the McCain campaign the poll numbers these days (good) that show the overwhelming majority of Americans feel that the economy is the number one issue this fall, and it's their number one concern. Sure, we all want to feel safe, but exactly how has Bush and his war mongering candidate done that? They still haven't found bin Laden, Iraq was never a threat and our homeland is still dreadfully unprepared for another attack. What's more, if you can't afford gas or your mortgage, you aren't nearly as worried about national security.

Yet, all we hear about is Iraq, Iraq, Iraq from right-wing blowhards on TV. Well, I guess when you have nothing else to run on, you have to beat the one drum you have left. And they are going to beat it HARD. One of the most under reported stories in our corporate media right now is how Karl Rove is simultaneously working for Faux News while serving as a consultant for the McCain campaign. So, many of the Rovian tactics will no doubt be dragged from the closet, dusted off and thrown into battle vs. Obama. I sure hope Obama is ready; so far, it seems like he is. He's up against it in some ways, even though he's doing well in the polls. Just wondering, are any Obama consultants working for a major network?

And, I'm sorry, but why in the world is Rudy 9iu1ian1 still on TV? Why do his opinions matter? And why isn't the media playing up his differences with John McCain (as well as Mitt Romney's) like it did and continues to do with Hillary and Obama?!? Well, it is our corporate media, so I guess I'm being all rhetorical and all.

Just because Sylvester Giuliani helped New Yorkers endure 9-11, that does not make him some sort of foreign policy expert. Far from it. Just as John McCain serving as a POW doesn't qualify him as an expert on foreign policy, or fighting wars, for that matter. I can only hope that McCain keeps repeating the absurd line, "My friends, I know how to win wars," followed by the creepy smile. Because sooner or later, someone, somewhere, is going to get the balls to say, "Exactly how is that, Senator?"