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Tuesday, 04 November 2008 21:04 |
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 Barack Obama has won the Presidency tonight. Tomorrow starts a new day, and while Obama is not in office until January, we'll start with a clean slate, but keep a close eye on things. So for tonight, congrats Mr. Obama.
Some of us are disappointed (an understatement) but realistically know down deep the Republicans couldn't do anything this year. My head is kept high and I'm optimistic for 2010 and 2012. My hope is that my fellow conservatives stay somewhat normal rather than turning into the rabid fringe groups that the left has become.
There's other news culminating tonight. First, one of the best journalists is retiring after this election - that being Brit Hume. Second, as the election comes to a close, so does my favorite channel on XM - POTUS 08.
My wife expects things to settle down politically after the election. It may for some time, but I don't see that happening with a Democratic President and Congress.
I'm holding out a slim bit of hope that Obama moves toward the center and also doesn't get the opportunity to destroy the Supreme Court. Keep the chin up conservatives - with a full Democratic majority, they'll be unable (although they'll try) to blame problems on Bush in four years.
Will Obama keep the promise to withdraw from Iraq, and will that change any sentiment towards us from the Middle East? In addition, with the extreme budget shortfalls and a $1 trillion deficit slated for next year's budget, can he really keep any of the campaign promises? Will he send out checks to all of us, or once elected, will he realize that the cost is too high? Will the fairness doctrine be reinstated, thereby removing any conservative voice of dissent? Finally, will Joe Biden's comments on Obama being challenged come true.
This election, in my opinion, was won on three basic principles:
1 - The media was in the tank for Obama, as all independent studies have shown, and just as much against anything Republican
2 - Obama was able to in essence, buy the Presidency with the shrewd move to bypass public financing, regardless of promises broken.
3 - The Obama campaign was run much more efficiently than the McCain one. There was a clear strategy by the Democrats, where the Republicans simply hoped that McCain could be enough of a Maverick to defeat the Democrats in this election.
It will be interesting how the media reports the reasons for the election results. The major talk I've heard is that it will be blamed on Sarah Palin, attempting to trash her as much as possible, since they know she is an upcoming major player in the Republican Party and can stop her before she gets rolling.
On a state level, it appears that my home state has voted to allow medical marijuana and to expand stem cell research for public funding, both of which I opposed. Going further down on a local level, the results haven't come in yet, but there weren't any major issues on the ballot, although some of the township races could be close.
To my Democrat friends - Congrats again on the victory. Understand the mistakes Republicans made of being too cocky. Having a majority in both the legislative and executive branches ensures you'll be blamed for everything. Remember those who blamed Bush for 9/11 even though he wasn't even in office for a full year. The media will have a short honeymoon, but Americans will expect substantial changes and be extremely watchful.
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Tuesday, 04 November 2008 17:55 |
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The polls are about to close in some states in a few minutes, so here's how I think it'll play out tonight.
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Tuesday, 04 November 2008 10:39 |
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 I recently caught an interview given by Senator Chuck Schumer this morning and it was really telling. While most of the focus today is naturally on the election, most of that is just filler until after we get some exit polls and even those are suspect.
The focus of Schumer that I noticed was two-fold. First, he was speaking on the issue of secret union ballots, in a bill called the "Employee Free Choice Act" even though it is nothing of the sort. What the employee free choice act does, in a nutshell, takes away the secret ballot for joining a union, removing anominimity and allowing intimidation from union organizers. Schumer's argument was that union membership was at an extremely low level of six percent of the private sector and that by passing this act, it would place things on an even playing field.
The problem is that Schumer's logic involves a belief that union membership is a positive thing. Unfortunately, as the automotive companies will attest, the unions are at least partly responsible for the problems that are present. Playing games to force workers to join a union doesn't offer the choice Americans want or need. Unions have served their purpose in the past, but like many parts of government, have become corrupt and top heavy. The only positive thing about the bill is that sixty votes are required for it to pass, which is not impossible, but is looking unlikely unless the Democrats have a trick up their sleeve. Obama was an original co-sponsor of the bill, so barring an act of God, a veto would not occur.
The second issue Schumer touched on was that of the fairness doctrine. On the surface, it sounds fair - holders of broadcast licenses (network TV and terrestrial radio) are required to present opposing viewpoints to arguments to maintain a balance. The focus however is finely tuned to look at conservative talk radio. Most people know that the media presents a left leaning bias - only those on the far reaches will disagree. However, the only opposing viewpoints that will occur will not be on the network TV, but the talk radio circuit, in a move to crush dissenting arguments. Fox News, and the other cable networks are safe - for now - because they are on pay cable TV. Presumably, shows on XM or Sirius would be exempt as well.
Once again, the Schumer logic isn't that logical. Both sides of the issue have arguments which can be made for or against the fairness doctrine. Chuck Schumer's argument was that the same people opposing the fairness doctrine are those who oppose pornography on TV, and therefore should have a uniform block on things, as he claims to have. Huh? Dissenting political speech is nothing like pornography and is comparing apples to oranges. |
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Friday, 31 October 2008 11:40 |
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 Ah...Halloween. A wonderful time of ghosts and goblins. Children dressed up as their favorite mass-marketed television, movie and comic book characters. Trick or treating for as much candy as possible, and telling scary stories at night...
This is a story about three kids. Eight year old twins Billy and Katie, dressed up as Batman and a princess, respectively. Their older brother, sixteen year old Roger, is dressed up as...a teenager.
Billy and Katie are mapping out strategies to get as much candy as possible. Roger, on the other hand, simply wants to get some free candy. He's young enough to still want the spoils of Halloween treasure each year, but old enough for dressing up in a costume to be beneath him.
As the night progresses, Billy and Katie are reaping the rewards of trick or treating with bags close to overflowing and Roger has a paltry handful from his nonchallant attitude. Towards the end of the evening they arrive at nice Mr. Obama's house. Mr. Obama is very generous to the three children. At first, the kids are all happy. Then Mr. Obama notices the discrepancy in the children's bags.
Mr. Obama proceeds to remove candy from Billy's and Katie's bags and place the candy in Roger's bag. "There, now everyone's equal," exclaims, Mr. Obama. Roger is ecstatic. Billy and Katie...not so much.
The story is fiction, but the analogy is spot-on with the direction this country is most likely headed in. We're being pushed in a direction in which hard work is punished, and idleness is rewarded. This isn't the American Dream as was intended, but a twisted version of it. For all the discussion regarding socialism, the policies are very similar:
All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly.
In addition, the actions in this country are eeriely close to the predictions of the father of communism, Karl Marx:
...Socialism would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution which represents the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.
America deserves better in the coming years, although whether that happens is yet to be seen.
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