I think I'll let the Democrats define themselves more clearly at the convention before I comment on it. But I cannot help but regard Obama's choice of Joe Biden as a blunder. Hillary must be going nuts and thinking: "How many votes did I get and how many votes did this guy get? Is this affirmative action for white males or what?" Leave aside the fact that the choice is unimaginative, uninspired, banal. It seems that Obama is going after the hoi polloi by naming one of their undistinguished number to the ticket. Sure, Joe is a jovial character, but when is the last time he had an idea? To date his best lines have been plagiarized from others. Let's just hope he doesn't begin his convention speech, "Four score and seven years ago..."
Well, it's Obama who's at the top of the ticket and it's Obama we should be focusing on. So far it sounds like Obama is running not for president of the United States but for president of the world. Obama is a globalist, and in his Berlin speech at the Brandenburg Gate Obama decalred himself a "fellow citizen of the world." I guess this means that in conflicts between our world and other worlds, Obama is decidedly on the side of Planet Earth.
Sure, there's more to Obama's argument than his platitudes. Essentially Obama has been arguing that "there is no challenge too great for a world that stands alone." The problem with this is that there are competing ideals and competing interests in the world. China would like to be a regional bully and kick around the little countries that are in its neighborhood. Russia too would like to restore some of its czarist and later Communist hegemony. How exactly does our Chicago community activist propose to change these global realities?
Obama's answer is: through the power of prose. In his stump speeches Obama has been sounding a Robert Frost note, talking a lot about walls. According to Obama, the greatest threat in today's world is not terrorism or nuclear war. Rather, the "greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another." According to Obama, the walls between old allies on either side of the Atlantic, or between natives and immigrants, or between races and religions, "cannot stand."
"Something there is that doesn't love a wall," Frost wrote, and certainly we can all share the feeling. Perhaps the best example of an unloved wall is the Berlin Wall, which came down thanks to the efforts of people like Reagan, Thatcher, the Pope, Havel, Walesa and Solzhenitsyn. Yet Frost's poem ends with these striking lines: "Good fences make good neighbors." Frost's point is that the sentimental resistance to walls must be modified by the recognition of the utility and even indispensability of walls. I'm quite sure the Obamas understand the principle quite well: they would not be happy if their neighbors' kids crossed into their yard and treated it as their own. Good fences make good neighbors.
So when should walls be taken down? Consider a contemporary example. It's possible that the wall the Israelis are building is saving Israeli lives and protecing that nation's security. It's also possible that the wall is unncessary, and that it's fueling further Palestinian grievance. My point is that the correct position is going to derive from a careful analysis of the situation on the ground. Vague and lofty talk about the badness of walls isn't going to help. Yet that is precisely the level of analysis that we are getting from Barack Obama. Now will the press stop genuflecting before this man and do him--and our democracy--the dignity of critically examining his views?
Reader Comments ( Page 5 of 17)
61. Jude at 6:39PM on Aug 26th 2008
You have to admit that the 57 state comment is a classic and he may have 8 more years to grow.
Rich at 6:54PM on Aug 26th 2008
62. “And the argument that the Vp choice should be based on the number of votes each candidate garnered is absurd, to say the least.” dbren
Actually, it’s not. Only someone not concerned with winning would say something like that. Not only is Joe “articulate and clean” Biden prone to saying incredibly stupid things, and about as inspiring as warm water, he gives the democrats a whopping 3 electoral votes they would have picked-up anyway. Way to go Obama! Nobody cared about him when he ran for president twice before and nobody will care he’s the veep choice now. He’s supposed to help Obama look less elitist and inexperienced while bringing in the regular guy, blue-collar Catholic vote, but amazingly the reason they picked him for VP was something he couldn‘t accomplish while running for president. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s about as long-winded as you can get; or is it because he’s been in the senate for 36 years. Who knows. This was a dumb selection.
Publius at 7:52PM on Aug 26th 2008
63. In her nauseating speech last night(because it was so damn phoney)Michelle Obama said " We have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be." Further proof that the Obamas are globalists. They want to take our tax dollars and distribute them aamong the worlds poor, not just in the USA. Be afraid of these two, be very afraid.
ginger at 8:04PM on Aug 26th 2008
64. In her nauseating speech last night(because it was so damn phoney)Michelle Obama said " We have an obligation to fight for the world as it should be." Further proof that the Obamas are globalists. They want to take our tax dollars and distribute them aamong the worlds poor, not just in the USA. Be afraid of these two, be very afraid.
ginger at 8:04PM on Aug 26th 2008
xxx
what absolute paranoid crap! The idea that you have the wit to understand her is phony. The psychobabble that followed is worthy of a comic book character. Who fills you up with that garbage and where did you leave your brain?
Clif Kuplen at 8:27PM on Aug 26th 2008
65. Ginger post 63 - She was quoting the socialist propaganda about the world government. Re-distribute the wealth so the government can take care of you. The same socialist crap they always preach.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:35PM on Aug 26th 2008
66. Publius
If may ask, who would you have him pick?
Jerry Brown at 8:39PM on Aug 26th 2008
67. Dave post 56 - so you are saying that Bilderberg boys are Obama's puppet masters? Well that does not surprise me, definetly an empty suit, stumbles and mutters everytime you get him away from a teleprompter, he couldn't pour piss out of a boot with directions on the heel.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:43PM on Aug 26th 2008
68. Re-distribute the wealth so the government can take care of you. The same socialist crap they always preach.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:35PM on Aug 26th 2008
xxx
quote one elected democrat who says any of that gargbage you paranoid hockey puck!
Clif Kuplen at 8:43PM on Aug 26th 2008
69. ginger
So what do you recommend, that we subsidize the rich as the republican party has been doing since 1980
Jerry Brown at 8:44PM on Aug 26th 2008
70. Ray post 60 - He may be wealthy, but he was not financed by a felon like Obama was, and is. His friends do not include rascist bigots like Rev. Wrong Wright, or anti-American terrorist. To include his muslim brothers. Barack Hussein Obama is not anyone we need leading our country. But neither is McCain for that matter.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:50PM on Aug 26th 2008
71.
"If may ask, who would you have him pick?" Jerry Brown
Good question. I know it's cliche, but I would have gone southern or midwestern governor. Ted Strickland of Ohio or Bill Richarson of New Mexico. If Obama wins Ohio, it's over for McCain. Totally over. I know Richardson is western but he is well respected with loads of foreign affairs experience and would have been a lock with the hispanic vote. For a senator, Jim Webb would have been a great help in VA, another must win for Obama. I also thought Evan Bahy would have been a smart pick. Midwestern, lots of experience and probably the most well-respected democrat in the senate. To me, Biden just doesn't bring as much to the table, and when I say that, I'm talking about winning, not about his personal story or experiences. I just don't think Biden gives them the best chance at winning.
Publius at 8:53PM on Aug 26th 2008
72. Man_in_Wilderness
Who is more anti American than GW Bush? Do you endorse him?
Jerry Brown at 8:55PM on Aug 26th 2008
73. Clif I'll have to look it up, but a few weeks back your little black congress woman came out and admitted her socialist agenda. Anyone who says you should take from the oil companies and re-distribute the wealth has a socialist agenda. (period) Harry Reed, Nancy Pe-lowsy, Ted kennedy, etc...etc... their actions speak louder than their words. Not being paranoid, oh yeah, and let's just add Clif Kuplen to the list.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:55PM on Aug 26th 2008
74. DD: "According to Obama, the greatest threat in today's world is not terrorism or nuclear war. Rather, the "greatest danger of all is to allow new walls to divide us from one another.""
Obama is right, and DD is utterly wrong. Did anyone ever think that maybe the threat of terrorism and nuclear war exist because of walls? Sure, a wall will make you safe from an immediate threat, but it doesn't address the root of the threat, and it can compound the problem. But, we're talking about both physical and metaphorical walls and apparently DD isn't bright enough to understand that Obama was speaking about Metaphorical walls between people, cultures and countries, not the Berlin Wall, the Great Wall of China or the West Bank Barrier. But that's typical of him.
Those metaphoric walls get a little higher every time someone (that would be you Dinesh, or MIW) calls someone else a commie, a towel head, a terrorist, a liberal, an activist a radical or a globalist.
Every single one of us is human right? Palestinian kids are just kids. Samuel Adams was a terrorist. Or was he a patriot? Menachen Began? Patriot? Terrorist? Osama bin Laden? Terrorist or Freedom fighter? Well, that depends on if it's 1987 or 1993. It's all just perspective. It's Since we all share the same biology, can someone please explain what is wrong with looking at the world and humanity from the perspective of a globalist?
I'm not sure anyone can.
In short, Dinesh, even as the quality of your posts declines, you ability to sicken me remains constant.
Ryan Anderson at 8:56PM on Aug 26th 2008
75. Wow, as I'm typing a rant about the evils of divisiveness, MIW goes and writes a pointless, yet divisive post. Fantastic.
Ryan Anderson at 8:57PM on Aug 26th 2008