As a result of that election I’d pretty much given up any hope of the US political system ever popping out a decent president again, the system seemed fundamentally flawed:
- The unbearable dumbing down of the entire process, the ratings, the burger eating and shot taking, the ratings, but how the fuck did it all happen? There’s a movie Idiocracy, you need to watch it.
- You don’t count actually count the votes, but rely on demographics and exit polling. I mean the concept of fast food is OK, but US election results can effect the entire planet, sometimes permanently, would it be so difficult to wait a couple of hours so you can actually count the votes! - Too many people made the ultimate sacrifice to win us this right for it to be lost in a ratings war over which network announces first.
At the outset of this nomination process it all seemed like business as usual; a plethora of white haired middle aged, upper-middle class hopefuls but this time there were two exceptions; one expected and female and one not expected and BLACK!
I knew very little of the candidates and was not too motivated to find out about them either, the black guy peeked my interest a bit, the audacity! I didn’t know much about you either, other than the general familiarity developed during your VP run.
Perhaps I’d been put off by the bouffant hair and pearly teeth, the politicians I seemed to associate with in the UK were fat with bad skin from too much time spent out of the sun in late night council meetings, they had tobacco stained teeth and their suits smelt of public institutions, but on the whole they were good hearted, committed individuals.
Perhaps unfairly, I developed a wariness of the square jawed, perfect smile model of politician so prevalent here, but as it turned out I was wrong about Al Gore and so I decided to look a little further into John Edwards the man and to my astonishment you turned out to be alright!
You’re from a working class family and understand the daily struggle that the majority of American families face, you have been honest to your roots and I discovered that we agree on a pile of issues. Without the corrosive influence of corporations in Washington our brothers and sisters wouldn‘t be needlessly sacrificed in pointless wars, our planet wouldn’t be falling apart and our children could get checked out by a doctor every once in a while. I’d go as far as saying that at the outset of this campaign I considered myself a strong supporter of yours.
Soon after the campaign got under way and began to get interesting you selfishly dropped out, leaving me without a candidate and depriving me of a focus for my new found interest. But, it had already become clear to me that this wasn’t just a regular US primary season, it felt like we were facing a key period in history and the outcome was going to have far reaching consequences. I even become convinced that this could be the last roll of the dice for America, more of the same could leave us in an irretrievably desperate position. So, I needed to look for another candidate.
Like everyone else I liked what I’d seen of Hillary Clinton in the past, but had expected her to stand up and be counted when it came ot Bush’s 2nd term something she didn’t do and something I couldn’t forgive her for.
She wouldn’t risk a run against an incumbent Bush in 2004 because she was a first term senator, it would‘ve been political suicide, especially for a Clinton so despised by the GOP base. It was politically prudent to wait for her date with destiny, so what if the people had to suffer a bit longer, so what if there were a few thousand more American deaths in the oil soaked sands, right?
I always felt that her decision was solely about self-preservation rather than a commitment to serving her country, so as far as I was concerned, she blew it! The funny thing is I bet she’s not stopped kicking herself and the advisers who told her to sit that one out, look at what an unknown first term senator is doing today!
Anyway, I’m following things and the black dude wins a primary and gets close enough on another for people to start talking about him. But, back then the media were all over the bloke, they loved him and could afford to, he wasn’t threatening anyone and no one actually believed he would get anywhere.
Here was a modern day Jesse Jackson, the black community would get to feel like they’d got a bit of a say in the process and exercise a bit of muscle, but ultimately he’d give up and his followers would tow the party line, no damage done, just a win/win. Even Hillary was friendly towards him back then, almost civil, after all she had to be she was gonna be the party’s candidate and couldn’t afford to upset such a key constituency as the African American base.
Well, that may have been the sentiment in Washington and Hillary’s camp but like most of us I love an underdog and soon found myself rooting for the bloke, the further the process went the more vested I became in his campaign, the man and his beliefs. My girlfriend and I even became a donors for the first time in our lives, he was raising money from people like us all over the place at a 100 bux a pop, no corporate sponsors, no lobbyists, have you EVER heard the like before? Gotta give him credit, right John?
This was all new, never seen this anywhere, incredible really, he was cool, he could even dance, he was BLACK! And then we get to see his wife and it was obvious that the days of the frigid Barbara’s and Laura’s and crispy Nancy’s and all the other tight permed, thin lipped first ladies and first lady hopefuls with their tea parties, garden fetes and crap charities, seemed like such a bunch of old frogs by comparison. Here was a woman of independence, integrity and more than a little soul, Aretha’s heading for 1600 Penn Ave...incredible!
The thing is John, it was obvious that this was a genuine geeza, the bloke next door, he even knew what a food stamp looked like and the pain and humiliation of using them too, oh yeah! elitist, ha! These guys are just about as normal a couple as you could get running for the highest office in the land, except they were fucking smarter than the rest of us and they were black, BLACK!! Brilliant!
So, as you can see I became more and more enamored with the concept of a black president, especially one as unique and gifted as Obama. I just can’t stress enough how good his presidency would be for the entire world right now, a man as unflappable as he is exactly what the world needs now.
These are desperate times, half the population are consumed by terminal prophecies, Nostradamus, mass distinction meteorites and the end of the Mayan calendar (2012, go Hillary!) and who can blame them? things are so shit, but then along comes Obama and the sun breaks through just long enough for us to feel a little warmth on our cheek.
As this campaign has gone on, ever more aggressively fueled by an irresponsible media desperate to exploit the extra interest and cash in on increased ad revenues, I’ve noticed a really unpleasant side to Hillary and Bill, a side that to date I guess only the republicans could see. Feels a bit like the emperor’s new clothes, we all thought there was a suit because they told us there was but maybe they’ve been naked all along!
Anyway, I don’t believe that you, a man that dropped out at the first sign of the math not working, could support the kind of unpleasant politicking that’s been happening over the past six months. You didn’t clutch at any vaguely favorable scenario to justify continuing your campaign, I was unhappy about your withdrawal but understood and respected your decision.
Other than the refreshing mistakes of a first term senator messing up on the politicking, I can’t think of a thing that Obama has done wrong in this race. His problems started with something that was said by his Pastor years before and when he wasn’t even there to see/hear it, the comment was subsequently taken out of context and used to bash him hard over the head, but really, have you ever heard the like before?
Next, he was jumped for being too familiar with his own grandma, calling her ‘typically white‘, something the loving grandson had probably ribbed her for all his life, he loves her and she him, yet he’s pilloried for that too.
The icing on the cake for me is when he made an intellectual point about the psychology of people’s politics, it was nothing new, we studied this kind of thing at school, as I am sure you did too. The mistake he made was to trust that his audience were smart enough to grasp what he was saying, but this is America and it was ‘scooped’ by a blog desperate to sell a few more ads. Suddenly he had called all white working-class people ‘bitter‘! But, what an irresponsible fabrication.
Not only is it insulting to those of us with some basic grasp of intelligence, but tell me why is it so many people in this country only seem comfortable with a president that’s as stupid as they are?
I know you’re not an idiot, I know you’re not, cuz I read up on you. You also know this man has been unfairly pilloried, but instead of coming out in support and saying that this is wrong, you remain uncommitted, are you all really that concerned about political reprisal?
This primary process has been propelled by a media desperate to cash in on increased interest brought about by Mr Obama, his cause has not been helped by his refusal to entertain Washington lobbyists, this has scared the shit out of the very same corporations you proclaim to dislike so much, you know they will be doing all in their power to ensure Mr Obama isn’t nominated. By this same token I feel you must owe it to your conscience to finally come out and support Mr Obama, in the face of a common enemy, right?
The world of politics has now stopped watching your every move, it seemed there was a time a few weeks ago when a fart in the direction of Arkansas could be read as a tacit approval of the that other woman, and at that time you were content to sit back quietly as your wife dropped hints about her preferences of one candidate’s health care plan. You’re a shrewd enough politician to understand that your silence then spoke loudly.
You sir, have an obligation to stop weighing your options, the wait and see game is over.
All your silence does, is infer that there could be something wrong with supporting Obama and if that is the case then you owe it to your constituency to share what it is that is so wrong about the man, otherwise there is only one candidate that you could possibly, ethically endorse.
I sincerely believe that Mr Obama risks his life daily in pursuit of our common welfare, Mr Edwards please get off the fence and show some back bone, your home state has already voted categorically in favor of Mr Obama and you’re still saying nothing.
Please be aware that your silence speaks volumes!
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