The more I learn about Barack Obama, the less I like him. It has nothing to do with who his pastor is, or who his wife is, or the color of his skin or anything else meaningless. It has everything to do with his voting record, his policies (which are virtually identical to Hillary Clinton’s), and his rhetoric. How can anyone hear a speech of his, listen to him say something like this and not be scared shitless:
Pitching his message to Oregon’s environmentally-conscious voters, [Barack] Obama called on the United States to “lead by example” on global warming, and develop new technologies at home which could be exported to developing countries.
“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,” Obama said.
“That’s not leadership. That’s not going to happen,” he added.
I have nothing against the U.S. developing and exporting new technologies to help combat whatever problems there are in the world both real and imagined, but for a president to hold our country to a standard that others set for us is just plain frightening. And this was Obama in his oratorical pre-written speechifying glory and not him off-the-cuff, where he usually stumbles.
Why can’t we drive SUVs? Why can’t we eat how much we want? Why can’t we set the thermostats to whatever we want? I pay to drive and maintain my vehicle. I pay for the food I and my family eat. I pay for the energy to heat and cool my home. Is Obama saying that the government should dictate to me what to drive, eat and set my thermostat to just to keep Europe and the rest of the world happy? And if so, how can any Obama supporter be ok with that yet bitch about the supposed loss of liberties suffered under the Bush presidency? To be honest, I’d much rather have the FBI tap my phone line to discover I’m not a terrorist than have it knock on my door to check that I’m putting the correct amounts of government-approved chow on my dinner table.
And why does the world only look to the U.S. for leadership when that leadership will cause to weaken us as a world power? And how in the hell can Obama fall in line with this? Why do countries like China and India get free passes when it comes to “global warming” because they’re emerging economies (although I’d argue that China’s has emerged) rather than control their emmisions before they get out of hand? The world is against us in any matter that will benefit us and I will not vote for a candidate who will sit down with other world leaders and let them tell us how to run our affairs.
(on a side note, check this out:
In 2004 the total greenhouse gas emissions from the People’s Republic of China were about 54% of the USA emissions. However, China is now building on average one coal-fired power plant every week, and plans to continue doing so for years. Various predictions see China overtaking the US in total greenhouse emissions between late 2007 and 2010, and according to many other estimates, this already occurred in 2006. [Citing can be found on the wikipedia page.]
Both China and India were exempted from the Kyoto Accord, which the U.S. rightfully refused to sign off on because it would have weakened our economy significantly. BTW, the Kyoto Accord set China’s exemption based on production of greenhouse gasses at 1999 levels. Based on the above that 1999 number is completely irrelevant, yet still in force. But that’s ok because whenever the world tells China to do something anyway China tells the world to go fuck itself and the world says ok and goes harder after the U.S.A.)
This is an extremely shitty year for presidential candidates, and if people think it’s been bad for the last eight years, they ain’t seen nothing yet. Regardless of who emerges victorious.
But god help us especially if it’s Barack Obama.
We’re so screwed no matter who gets it. I despair over this reality is well-placed.
ITA with your assessment here. Last fall I actually thought Obama had something to say. I feel pretty stupid about that right now.
I think India is already feeling the pain of the bait-and-switch job they’re getting from us. Their call-center cubicle rats are (gasp) working crazy hours and messing up family life, as well as gaining weight and incurring health problems. You asked for the American dream–YOU GOT IT. Things ought to get interesting when they start having to pay to have some environmental and occupational regulation over their factories and see what it takes to run like we do.
“The more I learn about Barack Obama, the less I like him. It has nothing to do with who his pastor is, or who his wife is, or the color of his skin or anything else meaningless.”
Why don’t I believe you?
MD Republican’t: Because you’re a fuckin idiot, probably.
I spent some 600 words detailing my problem with Obama, but you took an insignificant snippet of those words and parsed it down to me harboring some “real” reason I don’t like about him to, I guess, discount everything else I wrote.
Funny, but it’s people like you who faulted others for doing something similar with the entire Jeremiah Wright fiasco. But it’s probably ok when people like you do it.
So I stand corrected. Because you’re a fuckin idiot and most likely a fuckin hypocrite too, probably.
You’re right, you’re white, you’re entitled, I bet you speed through stoplights in your SUV while talking on your cellphone. The world is yours!
I’ll tell you this: GWB didn’t make me do anything I didn’t want to do, he merely suggested I *should* do these things: Shop, consume, and pray to end terrorism. he also suggested that We Should Bomb Iraq because, well…hey had Weapons of Mass Destruction. I didn’t like it and didn’t believe that was the right thing to do, yet–as a taxpayer, I’m on the hook for a war that wasn’t exactly, well…right and I didn’t think we should do it. After years of trying desperately to ‘murkinize those Iraqis (that is, make people change when they really don’t want to) it was found out that there really wasn’t WMD’s and really, we just needed to build stuff in Iraq because people will simply want to live like ‘mukins—shop, consume and pray (the Christan way-No other religion is acceptable)
The point is, GWB didn’t really make me do what I don’t want to do and Obama isn’t going to make you do what you don’t want to do. You will be forced by market forces to eventually give up your SUV, turn your heat down and conserve energy. Obama is merely making a suggestion–I sincerely doubt legislation will be passed to force anyone to do anything they don’t want to do.
Just an FYI–Obama is a centrist on economic policies and believes firmly in IP investment and market forces. I suggest you take a look specifically at his tech policies considering he is the only one who actually believes in investing in alternative technology as a way to start moving away from an oil based economy. But, well…I’m not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do considering that it’s clear you’ve already made up your mind.
Tony: You only got one of those things about me correct. So shut up.
Lori: I’ve made up my mind that none of these candidates are worth a hill of beans, that’s true. But I don’t really believe that with both houses of Congress on his side (which is inevitable because the Republicans are even more of a shit pile than the democrats are) an Obama administration can’t do some real damage to our way of life.
U.S. auto makers, for one, are doing amazing things right now, without laws imposed by the government, to build hybrid and alternative energy vehicles. If Obama really believes in market forces he should let market forces act and not pander to the electorate, which he has cast himself as being far above.
I don’t like his voting record, I trust the words he puts on his web site about as much as I trust the words Martin O’Malley put on his, and I don’t see him as anything more than hype. And the truth is I wanted to believe he was different. I read his books and visited his site and listened to his rhetoric. I’ve come to the conclusion that he is change in name only, as sad as that is to me. It’s cool that you believe differently.
So who is there to vote for? McCain? Hillary? Change in name only is better than no change, just the by believing in change gives us little people some hope.
Green NY/Tony/Chewy: There is no one to vote for. That’s the problem. But change for change’s sake is not what I’m looking for in a presidential candidate.
And please, choose one persona and stick with it. It doesn’t matter which one.
The only log I worry about is the one I poop out in the morning, I was just wandering over from the crime blog. Cheers.
There’s one thing I heard i don’t like about Obama. My husband told me he stated something to the effect of wanting to give larger amounts of money out for those stimulus checks, which i see as total pandering. I’m not a total fan but agree with his voting policies more than not.
Anyhow here’s a link to (per capita) greenhouse gas emissions by country. China is way down there, we are not.
Anyhow since when does someone else’s pollution make your country’s pollution morally justifiable? That’s like… “well he threw sand in the sandbox, so therefore I can too… ”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_greenhouse_gas_emissions_per_capita
Yes the government should dictate what you drive because your vehicle effects someone other than yourself. Just like second hand smoke (but of course we don’t agree on that one either, do we
And you should be happy that the government regulates things in your food, like the amounts of bug parts, fecal matter, pesticides, etc.
Man cheese, have you learned nothing — how dare you have a thought that goes against the mainstream. Or say anything negative against a democrat, and a black democrat like that. I guess you just want your flame traffic or whatever the kids are calling it these days. PIG FAT GREASE MAKES YOU SMARTER!
Kira: That chart uses data from 2000. It’s outdated and irrelevant. And I said I don’t have a problem with trying to come up with alternative energy sources. I have a problem trying to come up with alternative energy sources because the U.N. or anyone else says we need to while they let other countries slide, if they even dare suggest anything about curbing emissions to them.
If you read the article I linked to about automakers making strides to find alternative energy vehicles, you’d know that they were pushed to look for ways to beat oil dependence from consumers as much or more so than the government. That’s how it should work.
Baiken: My third half marathon is this weekend. I’ll be as experienced as you are then, although you’ll always be my hero. You should run the Baltimore 10 miler with me on June 21.
The auto makers are only pushed by consumers because the gas prices have gotten so high, not because Americans are particularly interested in saving the environment. I love how all the ads on TV are currently pushing MPG as a selling point - when the gas prices were low, the ads were about powerful engines. I guess we should attribute OPEC to saving the environment with low oil production, not American consumers
Any how my point was not total emissions per country, but per capita emissions… China is much more populous. Even though outdated I think it is a better way to consider data. I see your point about letting other countries slide, but isn’t it the point that the US should set the example anyhow? We are the wealthiest, after all.
And like I said, the morality of the issue is separate from who is asking you to make a more moral choice, and who else is making that moral choice.
Example: “torturing animals” (fill in whatever moral argument you want here) is bad. but X refuses to stop “torturing animals” because Y country “tortures animals” and because Z organization told them to stop “torturing animals”. It’s still wrong to “torture animals”.
p.s. will you be running in the charles village 5k?
I’ve been getting emails for the 10 miler. Is it a relay, b/c then I’d be all over it. I don’t do half’s anymore, I’m all about relays. That way I can pass the buck and blame someone else when we come in second to last. Its the American way! Good luck though. Drink beer afterwards.
Kira: Even using that chart as a per capita measure it’s irrelevant. China has been cranking out a new coal-powered electricity plant per week for years since 2000. That alone makes the per capita measure there skyrocket. And it doesn’t really matter why consumers are pushing automakers to change. All that matters is that they are and the offshoot of that pressure is the search for environmentally friendly alternative fuel vehicles, which makes the government and Al Gore happy without even more regulation. (well, maybe not so much Al Gore). BTW, the auto industry has said that if congress mandated anything it would be MPG hikes, which the industry claims would retard its efforts to make viable alt energy vehicles. I don’t know if that’s true or not, but I tend to believe it. The auto industry knows the auto industry. Congress doesn’t. But, as usual, I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree.
I haven’t decided on the CV 5K yet. Saturday races can be kind of hard for me to make if they’re not major races or around the corner from my house. But if I knew they were giving out cool looking t-shirts I may make more of an effort.
Baiken: It’s not a relay. But it’s not a half either. I tried drinking beer after my last half and had to throw it out after sip. I’m not sure if it was because it was 8:30 in the morning or because it was Michelob Ultra though.
As usual we will have to agree to disagree. However you might agree with me one day, since you are changing in your “older” age, you know, eating boca burgers and buying a Mac and disliking the iraq war and all…
I know i am going to be sitting with my kid on the curb waiting for the (typically entertaining) charles village parade, which comes right after the 5k race. That is, if it doesn’t rain.
If we get there early enough and we catch the runners I will look for you leading the pack
To be honest, anything is better than GWB and that includes McCain, but my vote will be with Obama because that’s how I rollz.