Friday, September 5, 2008
Obama and McCain, The Future Begins
Although conventions are a dead zone, with little new, but more a rally, they do get you thinking.
Guiliani said:
Of great concern to me, during those same four days in Denver, [the Democrats] rarely mentioned the attacks of September 11, 2001. They are in a state of denial about the biggest threat that faces this country.
I wondered about that myself. Rudy went on to say, “And if you deny it and you don’t deal with it, you can’t face it.”
These upcoming debates should be very interesting. What McCain has to say about the economy in the first debate. And in the second and third debates between the presidential candidates, how Obama parses international affairs.
In addition, the feeding frenzy around Palin made me wonder about Michelle Obama, who is universally touted by the press as a strong influence on her husband and has universally received sterling mainstream coverage as well.
Michelle Obama's thesis was mentioned in a Chris Hitchens article.
The thesis is predicated on concepts of separatist Stokely Carmichael. The no-content text makes you ponder what a Princeton degree is worth if this sort of writing is tolerated, let alone accepted as warranting a degree. Not only is it written gibberish, it is without substance intellectually. The premise itself is of predetermined outcome — not worthy of even polemical notice. This was her thesis, her choice, her words, her intellectual role model.
Although I've found McCain's economic — especially his health care proposals — underwhelming, Obama is troubling in a much more significant way. The Democrats were due a win, all indicators favored them — who wouldn't be fed up with the chasing their tails Republicans — and this is where we are: Barack Obama, a man who addresses none of the doubts his unknown public persona evokes. I'm beginning to think that McCain if elected would be forced by a predominantly Democratic congress to make concessions and the balanced outcome might be better than rewarding Obama with unearned trust.