Here and There

I was struck last night, yet again, by Barack Obama’s command of the issues. He really did seem to be cleaning up a proverbial mess made of the presidency, without having to really tout that fact.

It came up during last night’s press conference, and today, I see that Iran is meeting Obama’s tone and call for talks. This is what happens when we have adults in charge.

I hesitate to use terms like “worst presidency ever.” Sure, we can analyze and rank the 43 who’ve held the office to date, but what we’re all missing is context. Relativism.

All I can do, simple-minded blogger that I am, is reflect on how this presidency affected and impressed (not in the sense of delighted, but had an impression on) me.

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Do I need to say how great this is?

Ignoring the economy and my personal stake in it, I’m becoming quite a fan of the United States of America these days.

Okay, that’s the capsulized version. I just really trust that we’re reprioritizing, and doing it right this time. This really does feel like a once-in-a-generation election. Obama has already made some very important decisions, and despite disagreeing with a few, they’ve almost all been good ones.

For the record, I don’t think Sarah Palin isn’t smart. In fact, I think she’s very smart. I think she’s manipulative, and an opportunist.

But what scares me is that her ignorance of the bigger issues of the day, especially on the international scene, will be embraced by voters. I fear that her limited, jumbled world view will be applauded and used as justification for people’s admiration of her.

She comes across as a nit-wit in the following clip, frankly. But the whole “well, she knows what I know, and dammit, she stuck to her guns” bit is part of what got the last not-too-worldly person elected president of the United States. We all know how well that’s gone.

Thx: Josh Marshall.

I’m not Michelle Obama, so I have impunity in saying it: I am ashamed of my country.

I mean, what do I have to be proud of? Our record on international relations? Our economy? Our entertainment industry? Our environmental record? Schools? Banks?

I used to be okay with the United States. The 1990s were, taken as a whole, pretty great. There were plenty of bumps in the road, but income disparity shrank, innovation exploded, and we were well-liked the world ’round. Work was easy to find, and Seinfeld was on.

Now, what?

Anyway, the way I’m feeling about the upcoming election hinges on this question of pride and shame. If Obama-Biden pull it off (or, more accurately put, if the American voting public pulls it off for Obama-Biden), pride will be restored. It would be a mea culpa, a rejection of the bad policies and divisiveness of the last eight years.

But for McSame-HockeyMilf to win would serve as a stamp of approval for the dismal job Bush-Cheney have done. I cannot be proud of that, and instead, my shame will only harden. It may become permanent.

Reports of U.S. military incursions into Pakistan lead us to wonder: Will they, can they roll out a captured or dead bin Laden in late October?

Matthew Yglesias » Worst President Ever

I don’t know. Yglesias is really only thinking domestically. Bush has let a major U.S. city disintegrate, overall infrastructure deteriorate, drastically increased the disparity between rich and poor, and plunged the country into massive amounts of debt after years of surplus.

He’s helped the international community slide into chaos, invaded a sovereign nation for virtually no reason at all, snubbed international legal and environmental treaties, and presided over perhaps the most drastic fall of the U.S. dollar in history. He’s allowed (possibly knowingly) the U.S. to torture prisoners, when he wasn’t farming it out. I know I’m forgetting plenty here.

This is no statistical analysis, mind you. Nor am I anywhere near as versed in history as Yglesias. And I agree: Buchanan was abysmal. I just think he’s giving Bush too much credit here, or not holding him as accountable as he should.

Needless to say, count me in that 42 percent that thinks he’s the worst. I think he’s a great candidate for it, anyway.

From Obama’s own pen, in the Op-Ed pages of The New York Times.

The U.S. has killed at least 47 Afghan civilians who were in the process of committing that horrible crime of … attending a wedding. The bride was among the dead.

Jesus Christ, this country sucks. A bunch of fat, lazy, selfish, ignorant assholes who let this kind of shit happen. And Afghanistan is the war that was justified. Who are these fucks who keep bombing civilians? I mean, seriously, if I were held to such a low standard at my job, you wouldn’t be able to read a single fucking word at Wired.com. I don’t get it.

War is messy? No, war, modern war, U.S. war, is run by fuckheads who cling to such tired lines.

I don’t care what Andrew Stanton says, WALL-E got it right about this country. So consumed with consumption and greed that we’re killing ourselves.

Don’t see the connection between the movie and the story from Afghanistan? You’re not looking hard enough.

This guy is so fucking smart, and seemingly right-on when it comes to the position Obama should stake toward Iraq.

I brushed off your endorsement when I got wind of it early in the day. But damn you, you made me watch your speech.

And now I copy the embed code with wet eyes. Yes we can!

Do not give a misbehaving child what (s)he wants.

And with that implicit analogy, this blog now turns its full attention toward taking down John McCain. Reader submissions are accepted.

The aim will be to expose John McCain for what he is — an old-school politician, beholden to special interests with deep pockets who play by their own rules. The arguments about approach to government are tired, but must be hashed out. The real question is who these candidates are, what they represent, and how they will lead and represent the United States of America at home and to the world.

Given these tenets, the choice should be pretty clear, methinks.

Seems the Arizona senator now has no legs to stand on.

Cue the wrecking crews.

Note: Sure, McPeak supports Obama. But that’s kinda the point.