Create the Hate

If you listen to the political experts out there, you would think the primary race between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton was the worst primary battle ever. People are depressed because the differences between the Barack camp and the Hillary camp are sooooo irreconcilable. I think people tend to exaggerate the tensions between people running against each other in the primaries. I don't think the primary race betweeen Barack and Hillary is any better or worse than any other primary race. In fact, I can see President Barack Obama working together with one of his strongest allies in the Senate, Hillary Clinton, many times over the next eight years.

The George W. Bush-John McCain primary fight of 2000 was much more brutal and malicious than anything we have seen this year. In South Carolina, McCain was accused of having a black daughter born out of wedlock. Cindy McCain had visited an orphanage in Bangladesh run by Mother Teresa in 1991 and returned to the United States with a three-month old baby. The McCains adopted this baby and named her Bridget. Bridget was 9 years old in 2000 when George W. Bush's henchmen labeled her a "black bastard" because of her dark skin. Around the same time, McCain was labeled a "Manchurian Candidate" because of his five and a half years as a prisoner of war. Of course, the topic of what George W. Bush was doing during this time was dismissed as old news.

One of the reasons why I do not mind that Hillary Clinton is still in the race is because it keeps a conversation going. Political parties need to be constantly adjusting to the changing times. On some issues, Hillary Clinton probably has some really good ideas. And Barack Obama would benefit from running with some of them. Pundits out there seem to think that a political party will just break apart because people are running against each other. But they forget that political parties have always been made up of different sets of ideas and beliefs. If you think you are a better candidate, run as hard as you can. If the belief that competition in primaries is bad then that would have precluded Obama from running for president this year since Hillary Clinton was seen as the presumed candidate in 2008.

I am pretty sure that idea wouldn't have flown with Obama's millions of supporters back then as we are seeing that that idea doesn't fly with Clinton's millions of supporters now.

Beware the Terrible Simplifiers

I know it's been too long since I've chimed in...however the whole Wright thing has really gotten up in my craw.

I'm a lifelong church goer. Probably have missed fewer than 50 Sundays in my life. That means I've heard (and slept through) a lot of sermons from a lot of preachers. I've talked with them at the potlucks, eaten at their houses, been on mission trips with them, played games and prayed with them.

In fact, I spent my first eighteen years living with a pastor, my father. He was a minister, a man of the cloth, and of course he was my dad.

Which is why it strikes me as ridiculous when people play up the Wright controversy to be a portend of something that Obama is hiding. That he is some, off the hinge, angry black man, who lives and breathes the words of his Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

To me this is an utterly ridiculous thought.

I've spent a lot of my life disagreeing with pastors, including, and especially my dad.

There is so much I admired about my dad but there were also plenty of things I was embarrassed by, disagreed with and would've disowned had I needed too. He was a big fan of Rush Limbaugh (though I don't really hold that against him...I understand why...but that's another post) and, even though he went to great lengths to help the poor, he ultimately believed that the government shouldn't be in the business of helping out poor people (an arguable position but one I whole heartedly disagree with.)

The thing is this though, my dad never told me I had to believe what he believes. In fact, the day I told him that I had decided I wanted to follow Christ, he was pretty much silent, didn't tell me what to do next. I never took my marching orders from him (I mean there were times I kind of had to, since he was my father and all, I wanted to eat you know...) and, most importantly, I learned to think for myself, to find out for myself and to question authority (we're protestants after all.)

I not only heard this from my dad but from just about every pastor I've ever had.

I think this idea of discovering God on one's own terms is especially strong in the protestant tradition, and not as well understood in other faith traditions.

Not only have I disagreed (often to their faces) with pastors, but I've seen pastors make personal mistakes that have cost them their careers. There was always a side of the church that wanted to throw them under the bus but there was also side that had compassion, that understood these men and women were not and are not infallible (another protestant tradition.)

So when people got all up in arms about the things Wright was saying, I was able to shrug my shoulders, and say 'so what? What does that have to do with Obama?' After all, disagreeing with one's pastor was an integral part of the faith experience from my view. I didn't and still don't understand why this is so hard to grasp. Why is the assumption that what Wright spouts is what Obama really believes? Are the people who stayed in the Catholic church all really for child molestation? Aren't we all products of many different people and experiences?

Some, including Clinton, have wondered why he didn't leave if he disagreed. Again, this is a point I fail to understand logically. Maybe if you go to church simply to advance your political career this makes sense (I'm just saying) but if, as Obama writes in his stirring book, one's faith is central to one's being, and when one feels called to a community, they become family, then leaving isn't any easier than the choice to leave one's spouse. People who think it is so easy don't undertand the complexities of faith or of human nature .

Finally, and ultimately this is what it all boils down to, who are we to judge whether or not Obama should have left? We've never walked in his shoes, never known what it is like to be saved by someone then later betrayed by that person. Do politicians really want to play the game of guilt by association?

The answer, unfortunately, is that when political expediency and desparation dictate it, things do get this simplified and suddenly, we are all able to judge another man's heart.

I'm going to let Bill Moyer's take it from here:

"Which means it is all about race, isn't it? Wright's offensive opinions and inflammatory appearances are judged differently. He doesn't fire a shot in anger, put a noose around anyone's neck, call for insurrection, or plant a bomb in a church with children in Sunday school. What he does is to speak his mind in a language and style that unsettles some people, and says some things so outlandish and ill-advised that he finally leaves Obama no choice but to end their friendship. Politics often exposes us to the corroding acid of the politics of personal destruction, but I've never seen anything like this — this wrenching break between pastor and parishioner. Both men no doubt will carry the grief to their graves. All the rest of us should hang our heads in shame for letting it come to this in America, where the gluttony of the non-stop media grinder consumes us all and prevents an honest conversation on race. It is the price we are paying for failing to heed the great historian Jacob Burckhardt, who said "beware the terrible simplifiers"."

I couldn't say it any better.

Which brings us back to my dad. He would've been outraged by what the Reverned Wright said but he also would've have defended him and his right to say it. And most importantly, he never would've thought that Obama believed those things just because he went to Wright's church or condemned him for staying.

In fact, he would've lauded and admired Obama for that choice.

That's something he and I would've agreed on.

Obama on Letterman

Barack does the "Top 10" List on David Letterman:

10. My first act as President will be to stop the fighting between Lauren and Heidi on “The Hills.”

9. In the Illinois primary, I accidentally voted for Kucinich.

8. When I tell my kids to clean their room, I finish with, “I’m Barack Obama and I approved this message.”

7. Throughout high school, I was consistently voted “Barackiest.”

6. Earlier today I bowled a 39.

5. I have cancelled all my appearances the day the “Sex and the City” movie opens.

4. It’s the birthplace of Fred Astaire. (Sorry, that’s a surprising fact about Omaha)

3. We are tirelessly working to get the endorsement of Kentucky Derby favorite Colonel John.

2. This has nothing to do with the Top Ten, but what the heck is up with Paula Abdul?

1. I have not slept since October.

How Do You Solve a Problem Like Jeremiah?

The simple answer is that you cannot. Barack Obama needs to concede that Reverend Jeremiah Wright will pop up every month or so between now and November 4, 2008. It won't be the Republicans bringing up Reverend Wright either. Reverend Wright will bring up the topic of "Reverend Wright" himself by giving high-profile speeches all across the nation at the most inopportune times for Mr. Obama. Mr. Obama will be forced to work around this unfortunate turn of events for his campaign.

Reverend Wright is analogous to a star athlete or star musician or star actor. Stars receive (and get used to) massive amounts of adulation from their fans. They are constantly reminded how wonderful they are. They rarely encounter people who tell them the word "no." (I imagine when George Lucas was making the first "Star Wars" prequel that everybody he was surrounded by, told him everyday how wonderful Jar Jar Binks was and how audiences around the world were going to love cute ol' Jar Jar.) Reverend Wright is the star of his church. He has achieved great success and visibility in his field of work. He is used to his world being ordered a certain way - with him on top. That world does not exist anymore for him anymore. Sports fans out there all know the stories of washed-up athletes who crack up because the expected adulation is not there anymore. That is Rev. Wright today.

Reverend Wright is playing the classic role of the veteran who doesn't like feeling upstaged by the young protege/upstart. We all know of Barack Obama as a polished and intellectually gifted speaker we see today on television, a man who knows he is good at what he does. But Reverend Wright met Mr. Obama twenty-something years ago when Mr. Obama was probably just as confused as most of us were when we were in our twenties. Reverend Wright might still equate Mr. Obama with the young man he met all those years ago. To see this young guy not give Reverend Wright the respect he thinks he deserves means the gloves are coming off. This is not about Reverend Wright trying to prevent Mr. Obama from becoming president. It is much more personal than that.

I think the "Reverend Wright situation" will continue to be a problem for Senator Obama even as John McCain smartly condemns "Reverend Wright ads." The Republicans won't have to raise a finger to raise Reverend Wright as an issue. They now know Reverend Wright will raise himself as an issue. Reverend Wright will pop up in the media from here on to November. And many people will think, "Sure, Obama says he disowns Reverend Wright. But he is only saying that because he is running for president. Before it was painful for Obama to be associated with Wright, he didn't denounce what Wright was saying." Obama's denouncement of Reverend Wright means less than people think.

Greed is Good

There was an editorial by Elizabeth Edwards in The New York Times yesterday, entitled "Bowling 1, Health Care 0," where she criticized the press for focusing on Barack Obama's bowling score instead of more worthwhile subjects like Joe Biden's health care plan. She seems to be saying that the press is more inclined to chase stories that it deems exciting rather than stories that are more substantive. An example of press-think: Barack Obama is much more interesting than "just another old white guy" Chris Dodd so we will act like Chris Dodd doesn't even exist. I agree with Mrs. Edwards' observations completely except for one thing. She thinks this is a bad thing and I think it is inevitable.

Should we be surprised that newspaper companies want to sell more newspapers? We shouldn't be. Newspaper companies want to make money first. Of course they will tell us stuff like they are in it for the public good. If they think this line of b.s. will sell a few more newspapers, why not say it? By all accounts, fewer and fewer newspapers are sold every year. I kind of feel like every newspaper I read will be the last one I will ever read. Just like people a hundred years ago took one last ride in a horse-drawn carriage before they disappeared forever. If Barack Obama's picture on the front page sells a few more newspapers, can you blame the newspaper companies for highlighting him over other so-called "boring" presidential candidates like Sam Brownback and Duncan Hunter and Mike Gravel?

We hear conservatives constantly bemoan the "liberal mainstream media" and "liberal elites out of Hollywood." The strange thing about this argument is that the media and Hollywood are both pretty pure "supply and demand" institutions. (I remember a day when conservatives talked about "supply and demand" and "free markets" and it was almost believable. Now they make me laugh when they talk about such things.) The media and Hollywood don't create a product and hope the public likes them. They aren't pushing any kind of agenda. The media and Hollywood think about what the public wants and then tries to create a product to satisfy them. If this is done right, there is a whole lot of money to be made. Money is it. That is what media companies and Hollywood studios care about. They aren't trying to push a liberal agenda. If pushing a conservative agenda sold, I think they would sell that too. But that just doesn't sell these days. They are looking out for their bank accounts. Everybody needs money. That's why they call it money, I guess.

Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. Most of us are doing the same thing on a smaller scale. Heck, I daydream about how much money I am going to make as a lawyer so that I can retire to Italy. Elizabeth Edwards is criticizing the press for not being serious about covering the presidential campaign. I wish I existed in a world where the press existed to inform a public wanting to be informed in a substantive way. But that ship has sailed. Maybe the press never existed to serve the greater good.

I also doubt if the public wants to know much more than Mr. Obama's bowling score or which campaign volunteer Hillary Clinton chewed out today. Sadly we are a nation of Jaywalkers. Have we become a country led by elites? Yes we have.

The Case Against McCain...and Obama...and Clinton

The Wind Beneath Hillary's Wings

Hillary Clinton has been criticized for her decision to continue to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. I don't know if her decision is the right decision or the wrong decision. But if it is the wrong decision, she is not the only party guilty for keeping this nomination fight going. Other people to blame include undecided superdelegates and voters in primary states (like Pennsylvania) who continue to vote for Mrs. Clinton. These sets of people have kept hope alive in the Clinton campaign. Mrs. Clinton would have quit a long time ago but for the continuing support of voters in the so-called big states (Ohio, Texas, California, and Pennsylvania) and the seemingly inability of superdelegates to make up their minds.

I suspect that Barack Obama has deemed it impolite (and probably stupid from a political point of view) to criticize voters for dragging out the primary battle he is engaged in. He will need these same voters in the fall if he wants to have a chance of beating John McCain. But a case can be made that Mrs. Clinton has millions of people supporting her candidacy. Heck, near 2.5 million voted for her yesterday in Pennsylvania. I wonder how these people would feel if they felt that their ability to choose a candidate was taken away from them just because a long drawn out primary season is bad for the party. I suspect they would think a lack of choice is bad for the party too.

Millions of people in these primary states have at least some reservations about Mr. Obama. His scolding them for keeping the primary race going would just feed into the image of Mr. Obama thinking he is better than the average voter. Mr. Obama needs to think of the remaining primary states as small laboratories when he can continue to strengthen his message. Most people agree that he is getting better and better as a candidate. That is because he has been forced to by continuing competition from Mrs. Clinton. But much work remains on his part. Some weaknesses have emerged. Mr. Obama's so-called elitism needs to be debunked. I rather we work on this problem now rather than in October. But a problem that doesn't exist is that this primary season is going on way too long. Mr. Obama should just let it ride. Concentrate on fixing any perceived problems his campaign have. If anything, stop talking about Hillary Clinton and start talking about John McCain. John McCain never really talked about Mike Huckabee. He acted like a front-runner when he became the front-runner. Mr. Obama has been the front-runner for awhile now. He should start acting that role.

As things stand now, we have the constructed fiction that Hillary Clinton is alone in wanting her campaign to continue. This is obviously false. People in the upcoming primary states haven't got the memo saying this race is over. Mrs. Clinton is at least getting a look-see from voters in those states. Mr. Obama does control his own destiny though. If he would just beat Mrs. Clinton in one state that she is supposed to win, this race would be over. He hasn't done that yet. He will need to beat Mrs. Clinton to prove that he is a strong candidate for the fall. Her just dropping out could have the effect of showing that he could not beat someone who has proven to be a rather ineffective national candidate.

On a related note, since a long and drawn out primary season is supposedly such a terrible thing for the Democrats, why do we even have all these primaries and caucuses scheduled for after Super Tuesday? Super Tuesday was supposed to be the day that decided who the winner would be, either Mr. Obama or Mrs. Clinton. That didn't happen. Why wouldn't the Democrats put all these primaries and caucuses early, early, early if they were so worried about a primary battle "taking forever"?

Lawyers Are People Too

I will admit to not only being a lawyer but knowing lots of lawyers. I think I am an okay guy and most of the other lawyers I know (dad, sister, family friends, cousin, friends from law school) are okay people too. I don't feel like an elitist. Also, my bank account definitely shows I am not an elitist.

I think the point of this video is just plain wrong. This video basically says, "You shouldn't get an education because that means you stop being a real American and start being an American elitist." I sure didn't feel like an elitist last year when law firms didn't even bother to send me rejection letters when I applied for jobs.

This video says that Michelle Obama is an elitist because she said she knew a lot of lawyers. But being a lawyer just means you went to school for a few more years. Every year people in our country become more and more educated. More and more people have graduate degrees. This is a great thing for our country. In 1972, only twelve percent of Americans had college degrees. Today, that number is about twenty-nine percent. A college degree on average doubles a person's annual income. A good thing, I think. The more money a person makes, the less government has to worry about taking care of this person.

So the common argument out there is that Michelle Obama and Barack Obama are elitists. I bet if Michelle Obama had taken a different path and dropped out of school, gotten pregnant, and started collecting welfare checks, these same people calling her an elitist now would be complaining about just another welfare queen on the rolls.

No Country for Old White Men

Here is an email I just received from my brother-in-law Hector. I assume he is joking:

Regardless of who wins the general election in 2008, this year promises to be of historical significance.

If Hillary Clinton wins the Presidency, we will have our first female President.

If Barack Obama wins the Presidency, we will have our first Kenyan-Hawaiian-American President.

But if John McCain wins, we will have the 44th consecutive white man as President!!! It will be a record-breaking, unprecedented streak for white men holding office in the United States. In fact, never before in the history of the United States have we had 44 white men in a row be President!

Personally I think everyone should vote for the White Man this year. After all, consider this country's progress under White Power. Over 95% of companies in the US are owned and managed by white men. A super-majority of congressmen, governors, cabinet members and military leaders are white, and continue to be so.

You may say "But what about the Iraq war? A white male President brought us into this mess!" Well, you could scapegoat the White Man for this disaster, but if you take a more nuanced view, you would realize that this war started under the watch of the first non-white Secretary of State. (I know its confusing, but Colin Powell is technically not white). And what happened under the watch of the first non-white, non-male National Security Advisor? 9/11, that's what.

Let's look at other examples of white greatness:
White bread continues to outsell wheat, or any other variety.
White appliances hold over 95% of the market
Milk... white
Elmer's Glue... white
Santa Claus... white
Bob Barker... white
Whiteboards... white
Lab coats... white
the paper cup holding my coffee... white
sugar in my coffee... white
person serving me coffee... white
Walmart... white
Disneyworld... white
the Devil... red! not white, red!
The first man on the moon was white... the rocket that took him to the moon was white... hell, the moon is white!
And Jesus Christ himself... white man!
Also, look at the success of the Roman Catholic Church... and they have had even more consecutive white guys... 267!

We could take our chances with a White Not-Man President or a Not-White Man President, or we could continue to have life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness with a White Man President!

Don't change horses in mid-stream. VOTE WHITE MAN IN 2008!

The Simplification of Barack Obama

I don't like it when I hear Barack Obama referred to as "black." To me he is a black person and a white person at the same time. As a person who has a Filipino mother and a white father, I find it very difficult to think of myself as one race or another. Race is more than how you look to another person. If anything, race should be more about how you look to yourself. When a person thinks of their life experiences, they can think about the relatives they grew up with and the foods they ate and the places they visited and the values cherished in their culture. These things make up race as well.

Growing up in a mixed-race household can be confusing for different reasons. I never had the problem (though I have heard about it) of not being "white enough" or "Filipino enough" to others. My relatives on both sides have always been very loving and accepting. But as a kid, I didn't really know how to explain "what I was" to other kids. They expect a simple answer and my answer wasn't that. ("You see, my dad met my mom when he was in the Peace Corps in the 60s...") As a kid, I did want a simple answer too. I would ask my mom, "What race am I? I don't want to be 'other.' I just don't." She had no simple answer for me either.

Eventually as I got older, I realized some things. I was especially specialized - half-white, half-Filipino; Catholic mom, Jewish dad. I didn't have a natural cohort of people who were just like me. A different strategy emerged - I would walk around comfortably among many different kinds of people. This came easy because, due to my diverse background, I spent time among many different kinds of people. My inherent differences made me different to other people but it also made them different to me. My unending curiosity made other people so interesting to me. And I know one thing that breaks the ice with strangers is to show an interest in them.

I relate to Barack Obama in that he seemed to have the confusion as a kid that I had. His parents came from vastly different backgrounds like my parents did. Mr. Obama said his grandmother opened up to him to say that prejudice still lingered in her thoughts. It must be jarring when a person from a previously unknown country (his dad from Kenya, my mom from the Philippines) is introduced into the family. I do know that whatever reservations existed when my mom entered my dad's family were gone as soon as they got to know my mom. (And definitely by the time they tasted her cooking.) I will not say I am a Barack Obama supporter yet but I do like how he seems to fit in everywhere. Probably because he comes from everywhere.

Barack and I have benefited from having many different kinds of relatives. We both have traveled to our respective ancestral homelanda. We ate different kinds of foods and learned about various religions. All these things define our race. I am Filipino and white. He is black and white.

Dumb and Dumber

I came across this video on YouTube not five minutes ago. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-Ga.) seems to have made it his mission in life to criticize Senator Barack Obama for not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. Mr. Kingston made this profound argument while not wearing an American flag pin on his lapel. How stupid can one person be?

But wait. There is more. After I watched this video, I realized I had heard the name "Jack Kingston" before. In fact, I had blogged about him over at "American Sweatpants." In a post dated December 6, 2006, I wrote about how some Republicans were angry that the new Democratic leadership wanted to impose a, heaven forbid, 5-day work week. Rep. Kingston said at the time, "Keeping us up here eats away at families. Marriages suffer. The Democrats could care less about families -- that's what this says."

Uh, okay, Rep. Kingston. Try not to think too much because you might hurt yourself. Why don't you go take a nap or something?

Mike Huckabee Stands Up for Barack Obama

Barack Obama has gotten in some trouble due to the comments of his pastor, Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Video of Reverend Wright emerged last week that showed him making what could be construed as anti-white and anti-American remarks. While I disagree with some of Reverend Wright's sweeping statements, Mike Huckabee has placed Reverend Jeremiah Wright's comments in some historical context. Here is a quote from Huckabee:

And one other thing I think we've gotta remember. As easy as it is for those of us who are white, to look back and say "That's a terrible statement!"...I grew up in a very segregated south. And I think that you have to cut some slack -- and I'm gonna be probably the only Conservative in America who's gonna say something like this, but I'm just tellin' you -- we've gotta cut some slack to people who grew up being called names, being told "you have to sit in the balcony when you go to the movie. You have to go to the back door to go into the restaurant. And you can't sit out there with everyone else. There's a separate waiting room in the doctor's office. Here's where you sit on the bus..."

And you know what? Sometimes people do have a chip on their shoulder and resentment. And you have to just say, I probably would too. I probably would too. In fact, I may have had more of a chip on my shoulder had it been me.

The Florida Question

The Democrats face a tricky situation regarding the Florida and Michigan primary results. Both states decided to jump ahead of their assigned slots in the primary schedule as determined by the Democratic national party. As punishment, both states were stripped of their delegates.

Back when these primaries were held and their delegates subsequently stripped, there was some thought that these two states wouldn't matter much because it was assumed that either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama would be the clear winner in the race to win the Democratic nominee. That has not happened. Michigan and Florida may be the tipping points to put one of these two over the top.

So we see people down in Florida trying to solve this problem.

Why does the input of the Obama and Clinton campaigns matter in how Florida Democrats decide how to solve their primary problem? It seems to me that both of these campaigns could have motives that would go against the interest of the people in Florida. For example, Barack Obama would be happy to split the Florida delegates half-half even though this isn't necessarily how Floridians would vote. (Hillary Clinton, at this point, would be favored to win the Florida primary if another one was held.)

I would think Florida Democrats would just decide how they want to run their own primary, the opinions of the Obama and Clinton campaigns be damned.

The "Agony" and the Ecstasy of Rush Limbaugh

Last week featured the imbroglio with John McCain and the New York Times and and, my personal favorite, an extramarital affair with a blond lobbyist. (In my honest opinion, I think blond lobbyists are just the pits. So full of themselves they are.) Like clockwork, Rush Limbaugh got all upset about how the liberal media is going tough on Republicans while taking it easy on Democrats such as Barack Obama and, especially, Hillary Clinton.

Um, excuse me, Rush? Rush also explained last week how the New York Times and the rest of the liberal media would never do a tough story on Hillary Clinton. Once again, excuse me, Rush? It seems to me that Hillary Clinton is has been scrutinized by the press to an extreme degree. Granted, you should invite a lot of press scrutiny when you decide to run for public office. But do y'all remember all the "headband" stories about Clinton from the 90s? Remember the political agenda of Hillary's headband? How she was trying to disguise herself as a regular working mom so that she could gain the support of women everywhere which would allow her to push her socialistic message? She can't even dress herself without people questioning her motives.

The press coverage of Hillary Clinton's campaign for the president has also been pretty tough. The media seems to think that everything she does in her campaign emerges whole cloth out of some sinister reason. I concede that Hillary Clinton has pulled some shady tactics against her opponent, Barack Obama. (South Carolina was just sad.) But the narrative that emerges if you read the press is that mean lady Hillary is always trying to pick on that innocent choirboy Barack Obama. A narrative that has some truth but only some. It is way easier for the press to pick out a narrative that sells a lot of papers and just keep running with it ad nauseum. They are a business like any other.

It is the best of times and the worst of times for Rush Limbaugh. He is a man without any proactive ideas to push. We know this because Rush is so full of himself that he would totally brag about 'em if he had 'em. But, sadly, he is an empty void, bereft of any ideas that could be useful to us Americans. Thus, he needs stories of malfeasance that feed into his normal tropes. Oh, woe is me, the New York Times is so evil, says Rush. How I hate those university professors because of their fancy book learnin'. Damn ACLU and their trial lawyer buddies. And don't get me started on those feminazis. Somebody go tell them to please shave their legs.

Oh sure, Rush Limbaugh will feign anger and agony when the New York Times does something wrong. But I am not fooled. Rush is ecstatic because a negative story that fits into El Rushbo's world view buys him another day of relevance. Another day to collect a big paycheck. One day, a day that can't get here soon enough, the world according to Rush Limbaugh will be seen as realistic as something written by J.R.R. Tolkien. With Rush Limbaugh starring as Saruman.

Operation Hail Mary

"Saturday Night Live" dropped a bombshell last night, coincidentally a Saturday, when they reported that former Governor Mike Huckabee was launching a top secret and last-ditch effort to overtake John McCain to win the Republican presidential nomination. Huckabee's plan, codenamed Operation Hail Mary, was to steal superdelegates out from underneath Senator Barack Obama. Governor Huckabee has reportedly promised some sort of quid pro quo if a superdelegate was willing to switch his or her vote from Obama to Huckabee. What is Governor Huckabee promising in return for this? His band will cover Bob Dylan songs at your wedding, kid's birthday party, or whatever office parties you have coming up.

If all this fails, Governor Huckabee has promised to implement a sinister and insidious Plan B, codenamed Operation Chuck Norris Will Whip Your Ass, All While Not Even Breaking a Sweat.

And in the unlikely event that even Chuck Norris fails, Governor Huckabee will implement a much more moderate, and potentially much more entertaining, Plan C - he will star in the movie version of Bill Clinton's autobiography "My Life" in the title role of "Bill Clinton." Emma Thompson is slated to play a character named "Hillary Clinton." Hollywood Liberal Rob Reiner will direct.

Chuck Norris will play all the rest of the roles (Al Gore, Tipper Gore, Madeline Albright, Janet Reno, George Stephanopoulos) because, well, he wanted to.

So What Have They Done?

So an important meme out there is that Hillary is oh so accomplished and gets results, while Obama is oh so green and is nothing but words.

I have to admit, that for the last couple of months, I've had the feeling that both memes were wrong but never looked into it, so I didn't have any proof for my words. Well, finally, I got off my lazy bottom and did do some research...

For those of you who are lazy like me the long and short of what I found is this:

Barack Obama actually has accomplished some things, and crossed the aisle to do so.

Hillary Clinton also has a record of accomplishment, but not that much greater than Obama's.

So here's what I found.

We'll begin by looking at their respective records while in the U.S. Senate. By the way I decided to list the bills that they sponsored by themselves. I listed rather than described them...that way you, our faithful readers (both of you) don't have to go anywhere else...however, I've cited my sources at the end. Finally, I didn't include bills that did more 'pedestrian' things such as naming Post Offices and giving out other kinds of recognition.

Bills sponsored by Hillary Clinton alone that actually became law:

1.) S.1425 : A bill to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act to reauthorize the New York City Watershed Protection Program.
Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] (introduced 7/17/2003)
Note: For further action, see H.R.2771, which became Public Law 108-328 on 10/16/2004.

2.) S.1622 : A bill to extend the period of availability of unemployment assistance under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act in the case of victims of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.
Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] (introduced 11/1/2001) 
Note: For further action, see H.R. 3986, which became Public Law 107-154 on 3/25/2002.

3.) S.2496 : A bill to provide for the establishment of investigative teams to assess building performance and emergency response and evacuation procedures in the wake of any building failure that has resulted in substantial loss of life or that posed significant potential of substantial loss of life, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Clinton, Hillary Rodham [NY] (introduced 5/9/2002) Note: For further action, see H.R. 4687, which became Public Law 107-231 on 10/1/2002.

Bills sponsored by Obama that actually became law:

S.2125 : A bill to promote relief, security, and democracy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 12/16/2005) Latest Major Action: Became Public Law No: 109-456

It is hard to get a bill through the senate sponsored only by a singular senator. As a result it probably is more revealing to look at bills that were co-sponsored. Co-sponsoring a bill is a bit confusing. Often, a senator will sign on as a co-sponsor without having done any work. As a result, I've highlighted co-sponsored bills here, rather than listing like above.

Hillary has co-sponsored numerous bills but, as is common practice, has often not spoke on them or done much work on them. The bills on which she has taken an active role include a bill to achieve emission reductions and cost savings through accelerated use of cost-effective lighting technologies in public buildings, and for other purposes, and a number of revisions to laws, including issues related to environmental concerns, consumer protections. She is also consistently involved in bills related to improving things for veterans. I will say that there is a nice range of issues to which she has at least attached her name.

Obama, also co-sponsored numerous bills that were sponsored by numerous senators. However, Obama, who campaigned in 2004 on the issues of ethics reform and nuclear non-proliferation work, actually crossed the aisle for work related to both. His biggest accomplishment came last year when he joined with Richard Lugar (R-Ind) to update the Nunn-Lugar Framework for securing loose nukes. It also extended the scope of the act to include conventional weapons such as RPG's.

As for ethics reform he was appointed by Senator Reid as the senate's point person on the ethics reform and co-sponsored a number of the bills that made up the package that passed in 2006, called the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006 .

I don't think either of these is insignificant. As for his promise to get past the political divisions of the past 30 years, he has shown an ability to work with members of the Republican party while in the U.S. Senate. He also demonstrated this ability while in the Illinois Senate. The most famous example is his work on a bill that made videotaping mandatory for police interrogations in Illinois. When he proposed this bill, he had little support on his side of the aisle. In addition, the police unions opposed it as did the Illinois governor. Through real legislating, working with other members in the Illinois senate, working with the police unions and eventually the Illinois governor, he was able to get the bill signed into law.

My conclusion is that both have experience. Reading through Hillary's record I realize she is not quite as calculating as is sometimes portrayed, she has worked hard on issues that she cares about. Reading through Obama's record also confirmed that he works hard on issues he cares about and confirmed (at least to me) his assertion that he has the abilities to change (not end but make some change) the partisan atmosphere in Washington politics. Who knows though, I can only think of one way to find out.

Finally, one other thing, while searching for info about, I found that Obama has introduced a bill that is on the Senate Calendar for this year (and Hillary has co-sponsored it.) So there you go Thomas, he's trying...technically it was introduced in late 2007 but I think it counts for something.

Sources:
Thomas, the LOC resource for all things legislatively related.

I also got a lot of information from the blog Obsidian Wings, which is a very interesting read.

The Practical Obama

I am not on the Barack Obama bandwagon but I do understand it. (I hear about Obama pretty often as it seems that 90% of my friends have been swept up in its momentum.) That I am not on this particular bandwagon doesn't mean I am against Barack Obama. I am just doing more research on him and his positions. I like some things and dislike other things. I am one of those deliberate dudes who takes his time deciding stuff. We have until November so I think I will manage.

What I would like to see Obama do (as I suspect some of his hardcore fans would like too) is to see Barack Obama in action. I don't mean another speech or another debate. I mean, I would like to see Barack Obama in action as a United States senator. Ever since Obama started running for president over a year ago, I don't recall him performing many senatorial duties of note. At the very least, running for president should increase one's visibility and likely one's power. Obama should have been taking advantage of this "power bump" to push issues that he cares about. And Obama's campaign has done waaaay more than increase his visibility a little. He is now one of the most famous people on the planet. That should have given him the power and the influence to push legislation that he favors.

There are some problems when a senator runs for the presidency. You can appear to vote against a popular bill because you are holding out for a stronger version of the same bill. There can be technical votes where you vote against something you believe in because you know the votes aren't there at that time and you need to go back and regroup. Pushing for legislation while running for president is inherently risky. Supporting a piece of legislation means you are getting people against your legislation angry. But if a piece of legislation is right, it is right. That a vote on a piece of legislation will make you a little less popular is not something that should enter one's thought process. Chief Justice Earl Warren held out for a 9-0 decision in the Brown v. Board of Education decision because he knew it was such a game-changer that even a little dissent would be picked up and run with by some people. Chief Justice Warren was worried about doing what was right. He wasn't about small steps or waiting for the time when such steps would be more politically expedient.

Obama has been asked why he is running now by many people. He is only 46. He has only been a senator for a couple of years. Obama references Martin Luther King, Jr. when he talks about the "fierce urgency of now." Why is now not the time, Obama asks. The same is true for the responsibilities he controls now as a United States senator. There are pieces of legislation that demand the "fierce urgency of now," well, now. Why hasn't Obama been pushing these pieces of legislation? I would hope he is not acting out of political expediency.

Being a native Texan, I knew quite a bit about George W. Bush when he ran for the presidency in 2000. I knew enough about his years as our governor to know that I would never vote for him for president. It may be hard to remember now but back in the day then-Governor Bush was seen as an easygoing and friendly guy who was easily able to crack jokes. I remember liking Governor Bush as a person. I also liked that he made many attempts to reach out to the Black and Hispanic communities in Texas. But I had seen his governing style and I didn't like it. After the election, I thought to myself, "Well, some of us Texans knew just a little more than the rest of the country. But the rest of the country will soon catch up, I hope."

Barack Obama is not George W. Bush, by any means. But who is he exactly? I don't know yet. With George W. Bush, millions of people got caught up in what a great guy he seemed to be. Being a student of his governorship, I knew that there wasn't much "there" there. Barack Obama is truly a phenomenon. But I need a little more. Obama should have spent part of the last year just being a senator. Get some important legislation passed. Or at least work to get it passed. This would have served Obama in so many ways. People couldn't say that he wasn't substantive enough to be president. And also, his followers who are all caught up in the "Obama wave" would have been brought down to earth a little bit by seeing their guy in the give-and-take (and practical world) of politics. Obama's biggest worry now should be the expectations of his supporters who think he will be a miracle worker. He won't be. And when this fact emerges, there might be some hell to pay.

The Lonely Beacon

I live in Seattle, Washington. We just had our presidential caucuses here last weekend as reported on by my fellow co-blogger, that intrepid reporter Josh Moore. Barack Obama won in what can only be described as a major league landslide, besting Hillary Clinton by more than a 2 to 1 margin. Hillary Clinton, to me, seems to be quickly fading from the presidential landscape, likely forever.

Alas, the Clintons will remain highly visible politicians. Hillary Clinton will remain the most famous senator in the United States. Bill Clinton will see his stumbles in South Carolina fade from memory when Obama assumes the presidency because no lasting harm was done. Bill will become what he was before, kind of a traveling ambassador for the United States. But the Clintons will be slightly diminished because there is no potential for growth there anymore. This was Hillary Clinton's chance to become president and it just didn't happen.

Rush Limbaugh's dream has finally come true. The Clintons are through with presidential politics. Rush won't have the Clintons to kick around anymore. The right wing of the Republican Party will have to create new objects of their "affection," I guess. But that is what they do and they are good at it. Still, I am betting that the right wingers are embarrassed. They tried and tried and tried to take down the Clintons for years and they couldn't. They were taken down by a first-term United States senator from Illinois.

I don't agree that Obama was that much of an underdog when he started his presidential campaign in February of 2007. He was probably the second most famous senator in the United States partially due to his unique (for politics) life story. (His dad was from Kenya and his mom was from Kansas.) He had given a now near-legendary speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. At a time when most people had turned against the Iraq War, Obama was against it from the beginning. And in a time of lethargy in our country, Obama was a beacon of hope and reconciliation.

All this aside, I haven't caught the Obama wave yet. I love being inspired. But I gather my inspiration from books or movies or music or good deeds done for one's neighbor or stories on NPR. I don't really expect to gather inspiration from our political leaders. I like to consider myself a student of history and I have spent a fair amount of time looking for inspirational political leaders. I haven't found many. Even my favorite presidents (Truman, Lincoln, FDR) showed wide streaks of cunning and duplicity and political expediency. And you know why? Because they had to. The world is so complex and confusing and difficult to navigate. Sure, presidents will give speeches that aim to "inspire." But that is a tool to further their agendas. A tool by itself does not tell me anything about a person. An agenda is something different. Barack Obama is inspirational to millions of people. But what is his message underneath the way he is pitching himself? I am not sure yet.

I know Barack Obama must be an immensely intelligent man. I am a fellow lawyer so I know what kind of people made law review. (I am not one.) And he was president of the law review of probably the most prestigious law school in the country. But I think he is overly relying on his inspirational pitch. I mean, it must be hard to not overly rely on this pitch because it is working so well. Millions of people are starting to believe that Barack Obama is some kind of miracle worker. I hope Obama is able to please them by doing a good job as president. He will need to do some work to be able to get to the level he will need to be at to satisfy the enormous expectations people have for him.

In a little postscript, I wanted to say a few things about Hillary Clinton. I have always liked her. I think she is an extremely smart woman and, even more importantly, a very hard worker. She seems to be fighting the right battles. I cannot imagine what it must be like to wake up every morning knowing that people just hate you. Hillary is doing what she was supposed to do - she worked hard in school, she got into good schools, she fought to make the lives of children better. And, to millions of people, she is evil. (Witness Mitt Romney's tasteless speech when he dropped his bid for the presidency. He said that if either Hillary or Barack won the White House, they would just "surrender to terror." Can I see a future where Mitt Romney's picture will be found in the dictionary next to the term "sore loser"? Yes I can.)

The origin of "Clinton hate" spewed by Republican right wingers sprouts from a rather mundane explanation. The Clintons were successful against the Republican machine. They angered the Rush Limbaughs and the Tom DeLays and the Mitt Romneys of the world because they pushed back against the Republican machine successfully at times. Would Rush and Tom and Mitt care about the Clintons if they were losers? No.

Showing some political expediency of his own, Barack Obama has used polarization of the Clintons against them. He says he is not as hated as the Clintons. That is true of Obama. But the very success he is experiencing now means that the Republicans are sharpening their knives and dreaming up their attack ads. These knives and ads won't be enough to stop Obama this election. The Obamamania now sweeping the land is just too great. But Republicans are anything if not patient. They will have Obama's whole presidency to tear him down. By the end of eight years, "Obama hate" will rival the "Clinton hate" all of us are familiar with now.

Why I'm for Hillary

Plus I just heard that Obama Girl wouldn't even vote for Obama. Man, that's just sad. To think you couldn't even get somebody named Obama Girl to vote for you if your name is Barack Obama.

On a somewhat similar note, it is a little known fact that I ran for school board when I was living in Houston. I ended up getting 20% of the vote which I considered great especially since I only spent about $200 against the incumbent school board member. I do know for a fact that I carried the "Thomas Girl" vote pretty spectacularly.

Who would have thought there would be five different people named Thomas Girl in my district? And that I would get three of their votes?

I Should Run for President

I totally agree with what this guy is saying. Barack Obama is the frontrunner. He has more money. He has won more states. He has won more delegates. He has won some key establishment endorsements. The primaries over the next month (Louisiana, Wisconsin, Maryland, Virginia) favor him. I just want to know where exactly Hillary Clinton is beating him. You know, in any categories that matters.

There are benefits that come with being considered the underdog. You can talk about taking on the "establishment." (Kind of akin to "sticking it to The Man even though you are The Man.") You can run as an "outsider to the Washington system." You can criticize "the old way of doing things in Washington" when you are the underdog. As you can see, I am not quite convinced by Barack Obama quite yet. (Sorry, Josh.)

The Barack Obama message is that he is not the establishment candidate. (All while taking on all the accoutrements of an establishment candidate.) Hmm, interesting. The Barack Obama message is he was right on the single biggest issue of our time (going to war in Iraq) and Hillary Clinton was wrong. The Barack Obama message is that he is unique candidate because of his all-encompassing racial heritage.

All these are true. But there is some nuance missing. (Remember nuance? It has done gone missing since George W. Bush became president in 2001.)

Barack Obama says he was against the war back before it was popular to be against the war. You know what? So was I. Barack Obama points out he was president of the Harvard Law Review. I can't say that I was the president of the Harvard Law Review or that I went to Harvard Law School but I can say that I am a lawyer. Barack Obama says he turned down high-paying jobs to go work as a community organizer in poor neighborhoods in Chicago. I can't say that I have turned down many high-paying jobs but I did go work as a high school teacher in a poor neighborhood in Houston. Barack Obama likes to talk about his mixed racial heritage. I got this one beat. I have a mixed racial heritage AND a mixed religious heritage. My dad is white and Jewish. My mom was from the Philippines and Catholic. Barack Obama mentions his strong support from the Kennedy family. Well, my dad joined the Peace Corps, went to the Philippines to serve for 2 years, and met my mom while there. The Peace Corps was started by John F. Kennedy.

Part of me wonders if I should run for president. I mean, I am about to turn 35. I am so fired up and really ready to go too.