I know, I know. Our blogging has been pretty infrequent as of late. I could offer up the usual excuses; busy, tired, brain lock, etc., but I won't. I think I've just been a little lazy for the past couple of weeks. Wait a minute. Alright, it's full disclosure time. I actually received an email from Menopausal Mick, late of The Llama Ate My Flipflops. Mick basically told me that "Hey, some of us come here to your blog because we value your opinions. You kind of screw that up when you don't post for days at a time."
You know what Mick? You're right. Consider that kick in the a** duly received. And since you delivered it in such an eloquent manner, I'm going to include some excerpts from your email and my brief comments here in this post as a starting point towards catching up.
MM: What do you think about our fella (Barack Obama) voting for FISA? Are you going to do apost about that? I'm pretty steamed that he rolled over on this issue.
DP: Well, I think I will do a post on it, but for now, I think it's pretty sad that Obama and so many other Democrats rolled over on this issue. The rights of the individual have been sold down the river in support of corporate and so-called *national security* interests. I also think that the progressive folks might want to transition from the rock star adulation of the candidate and start holding his and other Democrats feet to fire as regards the party platform. There are only a couple of months left to shape the agenda.
MM: On another front, I understand why he's talking about faith based initiatives. He's used faith-based before with great success in Illinois. I still twinge at the blurring of separation of church and state but at least he's proposing an initiative that is all-inclusive of religious flavors.
DP: Agreed but I do think he's treading a thin line with the faith-based stuff. Some people looked at that whole Bush administration initiative as a good thing, but others of us saw it as a very effective way of splitting the Black community, and the Black vote. The Repubs only need a tiny percent of our votes to move into their column in order to win elections. Faith based initiatives effectively did that for them in the last couple of cycles by silencing many preachers who received the money. Besides, most religious conservatives are not voting for Obama no matter what, so why pander? His faith seems to stand on its own.
MM: OK, I guess what I'm asking is: Were we right about our fella or were we fooled into thinking he'd defend the constitution and put things back to a more constitutionally sound government? Whatcha think, DP? Am I gonna get my heart broken?
DP: I don't think Obama will be a disappointment, but I do think we're all gonna find out he doesn't walk on water, heal the sick, and feed the masses with a few loaves and fishes. He's a politician. I do think we all need to look at what the alternative to him is in this election. When I do that, I jump back on the bandwagon pretty quick.
MM: Oh! and what's up with Rev. Jackson? Don't you think he's mainly just jealous of what is obviously a crowning of the new guard. Obama doesn't fit anyone's stereotypical template. It appears to me that Jackson is both jealous of Obama's success and missing the spotlight.
DP: Regarding Jesse, the old saying goes that an old bull doesn't give anything up to the younger one. He has to take it. I think that's what's going on in this case. Not to mention a terminal case of stupid. I mean, how could you not know, as an "activist" that the microphone is most likely on when you appear on Fox News, apparently for this exact reason. Sheesh. My feeling is that Jesse and Obama will continue to make nice for the rest of this campaign season. But as soon as he hits the Oval Office, it's on again. We'll see how that pans out for the good Reverend. I for one am glad to see a Black, secular leader arise.
So how's that? I didn't hit everything (the New Yorker cover, etc.), but I'll catch up on the rest later.
Thanks a lot Mick for the wake up call and being a good friend. I know that removing yourself from political blogging has to be a painful experience. But you know you always have a home here. Maybe we'll make these public conversations a regular thing.
What do you think?
And here is the rest of it.
6 comments:
What do I think? Love it. 'bout dang time, too...Sugar.
How dare you have an actual LIFE that interferes with your blogging time! heh.
FISA...bad bad precedent. Both the law and the fact that dems can't find a backbone when it comes to standing up for democracy if it means they might get a charge of being soft on terrorism somewhere down the line. We are in desperate need of leaders and elected reps who will put defense of the constitution before personal goals.
In my eyes, Democracy is like a grand old broad full of wisdom and love for all her children. She asks us for our choices minute by minute. Do we still believe that We The People are the three most significant words ever uttered by civilized human beings? Do we still want that to be her foundation from which all other attributes flow? Our answers, the answers from We The People, determine her shape and essence until there comes a time when our answers have so changed her appearance that We The People no longer even get asked because her shape and essence have taken another form with another name. Fascism, perhaps.
When we, as a nation, allow ourselves to be scared into doing the work of fear we take the very real chance that the road we travel in service of the illusion of safety will bring us to a destination that is worse than that which we fear.
I do NOT understand Obama's decision to vote for FISA. I do NOT forgive the dems in Congress for their cowardice with this and other issues. Twenty minutes of time to get judicial approval for wire-tapping or the like is a very small price to pay for oversight and the protection of freedom.
I am very guilty of looking to Obama to be a better sort of politician. I expect him to rise above the lack of courage and integrity that has been so prevalent in our elected officials of the last decade. You are correct. He is not a rockstar. He is our best hope. He needs to stand firm on those attributes that make him our best hope.
My anger is a difficult tightrope to walk because one hates to do the work of the republican fear machine when criticizing Obama BUT one hopes that his advisers will remind him of what is at stake if pandering to fear in an attempt to win the election loses him the very people who have supported his campaign to date.
Hey, DP... I think my withdrawal symptoms for political blogging just eased up a bit. heh.
I'm very glad to see you are back. Me and my morning coffee have missed your posts.
Mick
folks need to presss both front runner on afganastan
I have to say I'm quite mad at Obama on the FISA issue. It makes him seem like another politician and untrustworthy. I'm not like most people and I don't usually buy into what's being sold or marketed by the advisors and pundits, but I will have to say I thought Obama was a liberal, and I thought for sure he would keep his word and not vote for the FISA bill. It's not a good look, and the FISA bill was not the bill to prove that he could reached toward center.
Don't get me started on Jesse, I have been writing and talking about him so much. I like how he tried to downplay the tape before it was released, only to find out it was worst than I thought. Now Fox News is keeping it in the media by slowly releasing bits and pieces of it. I can't believe he used the n-word, too. This just places another stain on his reputation.
Awesome. I agree, I was also disappointed with Obama's FISA vote - but we have to keep our eyes on the prize and make him accountable at the same time.
Hey there, just checking in on you folks!
Blessings!
Happy OSF!
Have a great weekend!
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