Sunday, February 11, 2007

The Joys of Obama

So yesterday Obama announced on the steps of the Illinois State Capitol as he continues to build towards his highly anticipated 2008 run. My sister was (theoretically, I have not confirmed her actual attendance) one of the teeming throngs cheering on this 'articulate, clean cut' young Senator, and her and thousands like her can not seem to help but emit a steady stream of hungry drool as they speak of our friend Barry in glowing terms, cramming as many references to the greatly esteemed 16th president as possible into each and every sentence. I am not impressed.

While I could spend a great deal of time separating the rhetoric of Obama (99% at least) from his actual policies and beliefs (which tend towards the frighteningly radical), I see no reason to bother. It's quite clear that his gift of gab has so swayed his vast army of supporters to the point that intervention in Darfur and pulling out of Iraq doesn't strike any of his fans as immediately oxymoronic, but fortunately for the Conservative movement avoiding an Obama election is already well in the hands of Hillary Clinton's political machine. It will be a cold day in hell before Hillary admits that she is quite simply an unelectable candidate, and thankfully she's managed to convince her supporters of this to the tune of millions and millions of dollars. Perhaps they're unaware that once she start seizing profits from corporations it's a hop, skip, and a jump to seizing their personal fortunes, but that's on their conscience, not mine. No, the reason that I bring this up is becuase Hillary will destroy Obama. Madrassa school? Hussein middle name? The daily kos and their friends can hyperventilate about Republican scheming to destroy their man Barry, but anyone with an iota of public awareness knows that the 6th party smear was a technique polished to perfection by the Clinton's in the 90's and we're seeing it come to the fore yet again here. Obama, for all his faults, seems a fairly decent guy, and I can't imagine him having the imagination or capability of responding to these assaults in a coherent enough way to ever regain traction once Hillary has had her way with him. It's like a baby boxing Mike Tyson. Even if he has the potential to fight back, by the time he grows up enough to realize it, he'll be pulverized.

Hold on, Prom!', you say, ' What about the coveted V.P. slot?' I'm actually not concerned with an Obama V.P. performance simply because I can't see Hillary's ego allowing room on the ticket for the rising star of the Democratic party. To nudge that gigantic ego aside enough to let Obama's shine onto the stage is simply not possible for a woman of her character and temperament, and would detract too much from her grandeur. No, Obama will fall aside, crushed and beaten before his time, as the Democratic monster once again eats its' young. A single violin somewhere is playing for the sorrow I feel.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

In the beginning, there was darkness...

I've recently returned from the National Review Conservative Summit, and among other things, it has reminded me that I need to be doing more. As the conservative party enters 2007 we've been doing so with a sense of trepidation and fear. There is good reason for this, but it takes a Newt Gingrich to point out the proper reaction is not fear but appropriate levels of self examination and reinvigoration. The party needs to define issues for the candidates, and for too long we've been seeing it in the opposite direction. This has led to the out of control spending, the corruption, and the undersold efforts towards a vital and necessary national security in these dark times.

I make no pretense that this will be read by many or even by anyone, and I'm not going to over analyze every piece of news put out by every organization to dispel it's errors. There are plenty of folks with those things firmly in mind and they can do it much better than I. What I do want is, as we head towards a 2008 election, to add my voice to the public discourse and add in some small way to the necessary and critical rebirth of a leaner and meaner conservative movement. The conservative movement must re-assert itself and demonstrate why the Party of Lincoln rose to power in the first place. If more people speak up, we will get there faster.