this sums it up for me

[rone]

dennisperrin:

Like so many liberals, numerous reactionaries appear to believe that Obama's not a willing servant of capital and empire, but that he harbors a secret self, saying what he must in order to be elected.  Come Inauguration Day, the Real Obama emerges, which for liberals is a progressive patriot channeling FDR, and for right wingers, a treasonous surrendercrat, wiping Iranian and North Korean asses with Old Glory.

Comments

[roseembolism.livejournal.com]

I first read that as "Treasonous Thundercat" which would be all kinds of awesome.

But anyway, Obama definitely strikes me as a moderate. If he's a liberal, it's only by default, as the actual Left Wing in this country is completely marginalized.

[askesis.livejournal.com]

My hope is that the Real Obama is just a run-of-the-mill Democratic President. I don't think we need a savior; some basic competence will do just nicely.

[pennyhill.livejournal.com]

Oh - you left out "socialist." I've had a houseguest for days whose view of things is, er, rather different than mine. I've been hearing "socialist agenda" for nine days. bangs head on desk

[smashingstars.livejournal.com]

It's September, and this Perrin guy is dragging out talking points from before the July FISA vote? Not to mention the current criticism of Obama by supporters that he's not saying the right things about the economic crisis and he's not distancing himself enough from the Republican solution. The Savior Obama thing isn't playing anymore except with the types who always think their candidate will save the world. But you get those types in every election.

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

FDR was a willing servant of capital and empire. I know people thought he wasn't, but they were pretty stupid too.

To my mind, "liberal" means a moderate, not a leftist radical (see Phil Ochs, "Love Me, I'm A Liberal").

Personally, I'm more liberal than leftist, but I want there to be a viable harder left in America. I figure that if you think your own political ideology is more or less correct (and who doesn't?), but you also believe you're probably not right about everything, then in your ideal world you'd be somewhere in the middle of the political spectrum, with people pulling from both sides (and maybe from other political dimensions too) to help correct you and your fellow ideologues in case you're wrong. So as a liberal, I want the US to have some non-crazy conservatives, and I also want it to have some real leftists.

[blarglefiend.livejournal.com]

A lot of lefties in Australia thought Kevin Rudd was just saying what he had to say to get elected -- he basically set himself up to be as close to his opponent as possible -- but guess what? It turns out he really is a conservative.

I strongly recommend assuming that the guy is telling you what he thinks, not what he thinks you want to hear, and vote accordingly. If he was lying about this stuff then someone in his own party would've outed him by now.

has mccain thrown the election?

[(Anonymous)]

John McCain, to the chagrin of his party, threw a gutterball when he selected that ridiculous creature from Alaska as his running mate. The Senator from Arizona who - for better or worse - can't tell a Baptist from a snake-handler, doesn't know what he has on his hands. Mayor Palin belongs to the "Dominionist" movement, a cult whose "support" for Israel is highly suspect (the Jews must be gathered in Israel for the Coming of Christ, who will then "perfect" them as Christians). We'd likewise be interested in her position vis-a-vis the infamous 13th forgery known as "Revelation 2:9." McCain's obvious ignorance of these matters has alienated a sizable portion of both the Orthodox and Reform Jewish communities. He had a clear opportunity to nominate the young congressman from Richmond, Eric Cantor, but chose instead to align himself with the sketchy Governor from Alaska, a lady who once tried to ban the teen classic "I Capture the Castle" from her local library. McCain's choice wasn't simply an insult to Jews, but to thoughtful Gentiles as well. Let's hope that he realizes his error before it's too late.

Cordially,
Matthew Anger