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 6 of 17)
76. Ryan Anderson
Right on.
Jerry Brown at 9:00PM on Aug 26th 2008
77. JB - Bush stood against our enemies when we were attacked. Clinton had Osama in the cross hairs and did nothing.
Admittedly I am sick of the freedoms that were given up under Bush, a war declared that will have no end. How do you end terrorism? But we have not had anymore attacks on our soil. Was it worth it?
Man_in_Wilderness at 9:00PM on Aug 26th 2008
78. Man_in_Wilderness
You claim to follow a man who taught to turn the other cheek. Tell me about that.
Jerry Brown at 9:03PM on Aug 26th 2008
79. Man_in_Wilderness
You claim to follow a man who taught to turn the other cheek. Tell me about that.
Jerry Brown at 9:03PM on Aug 26th 2008
80. Thanks Jerry. That was a bit of a disjointed rant, but I think it's very important to consider yourself human above all other things. Although I'm proud to be from the US, my nationality is not on the top of the list of things that define me. My family and humanity rank well above my nationality. That's one of the dangers of organized religion. It's yet another thing to put above your humanity.
I hope you are doing well.
Ryan Anderson at 9:04PM on Aug 26th 2008
81. 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
xxx
and he could shove your brain up a gnat's ass and it would rattle like a bb in a boxcar.
do you still have to pull your pants down to count to 21?
Are you afraid you'll trip over a cordless phone?
do you call directory assistance for the number for 911?
did you get fired from the m&m factory for throwing out the 'w's?
did you try to kill your parakeet by throwing him off the building?
did you lose another fifty bucks on the instant replay?
do you say grace before you pick your nose?
here's yer sign. It says 'bear left' so you can cancel your hunting trip.
hockey puck!
Clif Kuplen at 9:04PM on Aug 26th 2008
82. Man_in_Wilderness
You follow war mongers and I have heard enough of your rants to know you are a war monger to. Don't you think it is about time you quit lying to yourself about following Christ and admit who you really are?
Jerry Brown at 9:07PM on Aug 26th 2008
83. MIW: there have been plenty of attacks since 9/11. Our "wall" just move the violence to England, Spain, Afghanistan and Iraq. Those are still people who died over there, right?
Ryan Anderson at 9:08PM on Aug 26th 2008
84. Ryan A. post 75 - Divisive yes, and your terrorist commie, raghead friends do not care one iota whether you are republican, or democrat, man, woman, boy, or girl they will kill you. The cowards will send car and human bombs out to kill the innocent. So if you think terrorist attacks are being patriot you are a sick individual. A democratic society makes decisions by the voice of many vs a dictator that makes the decisions for many. Saddam Hussein was a socialist dictator who idolized Karl Marx, Barack Hussein is a socialist who idolizes Karl Marx. Who will steal your freedom, and create an even bigger government.
Man_in_Wilderness at 9:15PM on Aug 26th 2008
85. He may be wealthy, but he was not financed by a felon like Obama was, and is.
Man_in_Wilderness at 8:50PM on Aug 26th 2008
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MiW - You don't know the real story about his daddy-in-law, the man who financed him, do you?
That story is redily available. You should look it up.
naturalpuppy at 9:16PM on Aug 26th 2008
86. MIW: I guess you got scared on 9/11 and never recovered.
And I actually have "raghead" friends, so fuck you.
Ryan Anderson at 9:17PM on Aug 26th 2008
87. Ryan A. post 83 - I said on our soil, those governments should fight against terrorism too.
JB post 82 - I am not a war monger, I am just not a coward that sticks my head in the sand and hope the mean bad guys will leave.
Man_in_Wilderness at 9:19PM on Aug 26th 2008
88. NP - no just a wealthy beer distributer that you dems so readily finance. JM says thanks...
Man_in_Wilderness at 9:20PM on Aug 26th 2008
89. Ryan please hang out with them the next time they take a cruise in their car bomb.
Man_in_Wilderness at 9:22PM on Aug 26th 2008
90. "JB post 82 - I am not a war monger, I am just not a coward that sticks my head in the sand and hope the mean bad guys will leave."
Wrong. You are a coward, because you are afraid. You fear other Religion and people not the same as you.
Cowards wage war.
Jesus Christ is the definition of strength.
Botts at 9:25PM on Aug 26th 2008