Why vote for Obama?

Hey all...a little history to begin...

So, I used to write on here for years, used to be the protest moderator, used to be really politically active, etc. Truly believed that the millions (billions?) around the world would stop the Bush II invasion of Iraq, and was absolutely crushed/devastated when it happened anyway (call me naive...lol). After that, I basically lost hope in this country's ability to do much of anything positive. I certainly didn't vote in the last election, which seemed a huge joke. I have pretty much dropped out of society and have been living on a cooperative organic farm for 3 years with my family, hoping that maybe living in a way that I believe in might be my only contribution to something positive for humanity. As a person who has pretty much absolute disdain and scorn for the political system of the United States (and most of the world, in fact), for probably 10 or more years I've believed in my heart that politicians are tools of the ruling elite and that we cannot rely on any member of the ruling elite to act in the benefit of the people. To be clear, I still believe that is the truth.

But.

I have recently come to the decision to vote for Barack Obama in my state primary. And I'd like to encourage others to do so as well. I have discussed this with my "anarchist" friends, and they point out that Obama has vowed to be "tough" with "muslim extremists" (i.e. - continue occupying the middle east and dropping bombs on people) and that something like 1/5 of his donations come from pharmaceutical companies. This is true. But I am urging people to vote for Obama, not because of what I think he will actually DO, but because of what it will mean for the direction of the general attitudes in this nation.

I know this isn't making sense.

So, to put it another way - Obama represents something (whether he actually IS that thing or not). He represents hope. He represents a passionate desire for real change, for a positive human destiny, for all of us to be something more than what we are. He represents the shared belief of so many of us that this world DOES NOT HAVE TO BE THIS WAY. I believe that if he is elected, his election will drive the people of this nation to become better in a way that no other candidate will. Not because he is actually likely to be better (I mean, let's be serious - the ruling elite wouldn't allow him to be president for 5 minutes if he were really going to do anything different politically), but because he will generate hope in the hearts of the people of this country. His election will be an injection of healing into the relationship between white and black citizens of this country - his very presence in the white house will make young black people believe in possibility and to strive for something better. He will create the IDEA that we can live without neverending war, which for the last 8 years has been a lost dream. And perhaps just the IDEA will be enough to motivate people to speak out. I feel like so many of us who used to be voices for change have been silenced, either through threats and coercion (like my friend who lost his teaching job for speaking against the Iraq war) or by our exhaustion and loss of our idealism (like myself). I admire those who have had the stamina to keep standing up to the bastards.

And I suppose my greatest hope/dream/fantasy is that IF Obama is elected that his "secret agenda" (at least currently a secret to the ruling elite) of aggressively creating REAL political change will come out. That he is "playing" the ruling elite and tricking them into thinking he'll be a good boy, but then will "come out" as a genuine progressive. This, I suspect, is too much to hope for. But perhaps I've become desperate. Years of watching this world go down the toilet has kind of made me frantic for something - anything - that might even create the idea of a glimmer of a sense of hope. It's so hard to hold on to anything positive when you're partly responsible (as all we adult americans are at this point) for the wholesale slaughter and enslavement of innocent human beings all over the planet, the eradication of thousands of species, and the potential end of life on Earth... Sigh...

I guess I'm saying, if SOMEONE is going to be elected, let's have it be the guy who inspires people. Let's have a president who will heal some of the anger and bitterness that has been created by the freaks who have inhabited the white house for the last 8 years (or perhaps the last 100 years...). Let's have some kind of change, even if only in words and ideas and vision. We don't have a lot of time, and something has to happen. Or we're really, truly, utterly finished.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHEO_fG3mm4&feature=related

 

Some people love this man because he talks a good game and because some think that any change must be good change.

Well... if I can't vote for Ron Paul.. the only honest politician that isn't doing this for himself... than I have no reason to vote.
Barack Obama is a bought out politician (look at where his money is coming from) whose married to a member of the CFR. If you want increased globalism and a nanny state that will break America's back and OUR backs because of the rediculous taxes, then go ahead. Vote for CHANGE! YYYYYAAAAAAAAAYYYYY!!!!! Now I will now proceed to shoot myself.


...God, we are screwed.

I hope you enjoy your "change". Don't say I didn't warn you.

At least in a few years, we'll all have someone to constantly bitch at again.

If you think HOPE and PROMISE will come from a bought- and sold politician, then you are horribly wrong.


Adolf Hitler also talked a nice, inspiring game. He spoke of hope, change, freedom, and happy times to come.

How about this. Before you vote for this man, read up on him. Maybe learn something more about him... more than what he shouts at the podium.

 

Anything is better than a republican, but what i say does not really count for much because I don't vote.

 

I have no clue who I am voting for. They ALL lie, cheat, steal, and just want power. Greedy whores!

But yeah...that is just my view on the whole shabang

 

MagicCarpetRide- You are wrong, sir. Both parties are equally corrupt and both divide and conquer Americans. The best party is BIPARTISANSHIP. The 2 parties in our country should bring us together, not divide us and turn every issue into partisan politics.

Just because Bush was a republican doesn't mean democrats are any better. I hope you understand that. NEITHER party is fighting for the good of the American people. Neither is better.

 

PLEASE tell me you understand that. There are far too few that do.

 

Listen to one of Obama's speeches. He isn't feeling it either. He desires to put an end to bitter partisanship.

Obama 08!

 

I also think we should examine the background of politicians. Hillary Clinton was the first woman on the board of WALMART. Barack Obama spent his legal career defending impoverished people and then worked to increase health care for low-income people in Illinois. He spoke out against the war in Iraq (an unpopular position at the time), while Hillary voted it in. Google Lugar-Obama - legislation meant to reduce proliferation of weapons from the old Soviet Union.

Sure, Obama's a politician, but his record is a hell of a lot better than Hillary's, and his speeches are pretty freaking inspiring as well.

 

Oh, and Obama opposed the bankruptcy bill as well (Hillary voted for it), a bill which is currently screwing poor people (what else?)

 

It's gonna be Obama-McCain (Oh god, please not Clinton). And McCain still believes in the "War on Terror". You can't fight an ideology. The whole idea of our war is on flawed logic and I will (reluctantly) vote for Obama if it keeps out Bush version 2.0.

 

Wow. This is pretty much exactly what I just ranted to my friend about. Like, almost down to the exact words. I agree completely. And in the back of my head I kind of believe the whole "obama has a secret agenda" thing, but I know that's just me having waaay too much hope.

 

Very nice post. In the presidential election, I'll vote for whoever has the best chance of defeating the Republican candidate, even if it is Clinton. But an Obama victory would finally be the thing to bump us forward and out of the screwed up national "mood" we've been stuck in for so long.

I have a few minor concerns about Obama, but I can easily set those aside. The largest is this:

Can Obama withstand the rightwing hate machine once they start it up? It's not really even started yet, but some really nasty accusations will be coming his way. You can bet that as you read this, entire teams of people are earning great salaries just sitting around figuring out what lies to spread, how to spread them, how to pick lies that aren't easily disproven ("prove that you never said that!"), how to set them up as effective memes, etc. You can bet they'll introduce these rumors by the thousands, another version of "shock and awe." As they would no matter who the Democratic candidate is. This time around, they're going to scale up the hate unlike anything ever seen before. Count on it.

Like a Shaolin master, he may be able to use the energy of those attacks right back against his attackers, and make it benefit him, a dynamic that I sense would not be the case for a Hillary Clinton, though I cannot think of a good way of backing that up...

 

Yeah but the wicked witch of the west Billary Clinton elevates that to an exhalted art form that future generations can only hope to compete with.

 

Quoted by Jack-a-Roe72 "You are wrong, sir. Both parties are equally corrupt and both divide and conquer Americans. The best party is BIPARTISANSHIP. The 2 parties in our country should bring us together, not divide us and turn every issue into partisan politics.

Just because Bush was a republican doesn't mean democrats are any better. I hope you understand that. NEITHER party is fighting for the good of the American people. Neither is better."

You are absolutely correct, Jack, as far as I am concerned. Democrats and Republicans rarely agree on anything. That is how they get elected. Republicans screwed up, not everything, so the Democrats say the opposite and say what the people want to hear at that moment and vice versa.
Congress has not represented the the people for a very long time. When was the last time you saw a ordinary citizen get elected for congress who didn't have money? I don't remember, can anybody? Any one in this Forum could possibly be a better Senator or Representative or even President but none of you will ever get elected even if you wanted to.
It is a shame it is that way but until drastic changes are made in our Government, nothing will change. Obama, Hillary, McCain or anybody else will not change the way things are nomatter what they say or how elequent their oral speeches may be.
Dictatorship is the rule of one and what I call Bitatorship is the rule of 2. In this case is the rule of the 2 party system which sucks.

 

Yeah but the wicked witch of the west Billary Clinton elevates that to

See for yourself the intelligence and education level of those who work hard to pass on the propaganda of the extreme right.

 

His speeches??

 

I agree that both parties are corrupt, however some are worse than others. No matter I don't vote either way.

 

I had tons of other opinions earlier in this race... now its come down to one thing...heart

I dont believe Hillary or Obama,.. at all... but for some reason I believe Mccain more or somewhat more.. all I know is its more than Obama or Hillary

I dont care that he's all for the surge, or even continuing the war, im pretty sure we're already in it(and believe me im totally against the war)... but at least he's moderate, he pisses off the conservatives and democrats(which I used to be dedicated to) and that should say something to the majority of us who are pissed at the cons and dems.

Regardless, I don't think any of these people are a good idea for leading our country, but look at it...im pretty sure its already a fucked up experiment as is... i dont know what the answer is... I thought it was states rights, that why i went for Paul for so long, but alas he has dropped out... so all I can do is hope that it all doesn't fall apart in a civil war, or an economic crash(unless of course, followed by pure survivalist tribalism, =)... ...trying not to rant..

I have no idea why people like Obama, I tried..but once late this past summer he was blamed by Hillary's campaign for saying something only because she said it first, and his response was "We had planned to say that six months ago." I realized that he's a fucked up politician just like the worst of them, and if he planned to say something six months ago..he should have said it then...
period...for me, it was over for him..
at that point I thought, the ONLY reason people would vote for him is because hes a well spoken Africanish American... not to sound racist, but I see no other reason why anyone would vote for him... same for hillary, she'd be the first lady president, big deal... i dont care about breaking the record, i just want to keep the record straight, and i think mccain is closer to that than either of the democrats, at least he seems to have heart.

thanks for reading if you did... keep up the discussion

 

Here's what will happen with the elections:

Either Clinton will have Obama killed, like the did to Vince Foster, or there will be a "surprise" terrorist attack about two weeks before the election, we will be scared, we will elect McCain, he will die in office maybe a year in, and the "true" Republican sucessor to King George's crown will step up to the challenge and lead us frightened americans into the new facist future.

That, or with a terrorist attack, King George will assume emergency powers and turn us into a fear-ridden theocracy that will be "protected" into submission.

 

Anyone that votes for any of the worthless candidates is a fool. Go ahead and "Hold your nose". People that thinks Obama has a good record is also a fool...