OpEdNews » OBAMA, LIKE ALL OF US, HAS FLAWS; WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, PERFECTION? GET REAL!

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June 27, 2008 at 13:47:43

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OBAMA, LIKE ALL OF US, HAS FLAWS; WHAT DO YOU EXPECT, PERFECTION? GET REAL!

by Joan Wile Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

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Grandmothers Against the War: Getting off Our Fannies and Standing up for Peace

(Citadel Press, May 2008)

All right, so he's not perfect. He diverges from the scenario we've written for him. He flips on public financing. He is not opposing the FISA bill. That's a hard one to swallow, but I'm willing to wait to hear his rationale.

What do people want? Do they want a Bush replica, or do they want someone, however flawed, who will restore our image in the world and help America cross the racial divide?

Is there anything more important than accomplishing those two goals? And, remember, the man is very intelligent. Don't we long for that again, at long last? I'm not saying McCain is dumb, just that he's a little intellectually challenged.

Must Liberals, or Progressives, or whatever we peace and justice people call ourselves, demand absolute commitment to our stands on every issue? Please, people, let's not gum up the works by kvetching all over the Internet about his occasional deficiencies, his reversions to politics over ideals.

THINK!

You don't really want John McCain for the next President, do you? My god, even merely typing those words gives me the willies.

Yes, we can let him know how we feel about those issues on which he differs with us. We can ask him to reconsider. And, when he's President, we can complain more forcefully. But, please, not now. I know, we're all people of the highest moral integrity, but can't we hold off being so uncompromisingly principled until we get him elected?

I am part of the demographic that is supposedly not in his camp -- I'm a 76-year-old white grandmother.

I supported John Edwards until Barack made his stunning speech in Iowa, when he won my heart. I suffered through the long months of the Obama/Clinton horror show. It was a bad trip for all us old broads -- the stress level so high that it affected our health. But, then, finally, relief! Our hero made it despite all the roadblocks the Clintons threw in his path.

And, now, the blood pressure is starting to rise again as I see his natural constituency begin picking at him and deconstructing him. I have stopped watching CNN and MSNBC as those puny pundits begin carping about his every move. Pretty soon, I'll stop reading the progressive blogs and Internet publications.

Just wake me up when it's over. You people had better not rain on his parade or I can promise that you'll be sor-ry!

**************************

Joan Wile, a singer and ASCAP award-winning songwriter, founded Grandmothers Against the War and the Granny Peace Brigade. Her book is available on amazon.com and in book stores. Hear her song, "Grandmama for Obama" on YouTube --

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HwgpHq4cKC8

I am a grandmother of 5 who founded Grandmothers Against the War 5 years ago. Among our many activities, we were arrested and jailed when we tried to enlist at the Times Square recruiting center, in Oct., 2005. We've traveled to Europe and to Washington to press our case. We hold vigils, demonstrations, protests, all sorts of actions, and do shows written mostly by me. I am an ASCAP lyricist and composer with a long career as a singer in cabarets, recording studios, movie sound tracks, and on records. I have written at least a thousand jingles, songs, film songs, cabaret acts, and 8 musicals, 5 of which were produced off- and off-off Broadway. My first book was published on April 29 by Citadel Press, entitled "Grandmothers Against the War: Getting off Our Fannies and Standing up for Peace."

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10 comments

Recently retired. President of a AFSCME local from 1997-2007. More a commenter to a blog article than article writer. Really enjoy well-written analysis of our times.
Robert ArendRecently retired. President of a AFSCME local from 1997-2007. More a commenter to a blog article than article writer. Really enjoy well-written analysis of our times.

No One Has The Right To Gut The Constitution

Trade can be compromised. Taxes can be compromised. Healthcare can be compromised. A whole lot of things can be compromised for political reasons by Obama, but not the Constitution that he, as a US senator, promised to preserve, protect and defend.

It is the gutting of the Constitution by Bush and his mobsters that is the throttle for of all their crimes.

No one has the right to gut the Constitution. A senator that would vote to invisorate more of our Constitutional freedoms via FISA in order to somehow aid his chances of becoming President does not deserve to be a senator nor President.

If his senatorial oath to the Constitution can be traded away for political expediency, how can we trust the same oath would have any meaning as he is sworn in as the President of the United States of America?

And I won't be an accessory to the destruction of the Constitution by voting for any participant in the crime, no matter how much I want a democrate in the White House.

The truth in a man's soul may be recognized by his deeds. We know Bush's reptilian soul. If Barack votes for FISA, we will all see that same lizard in him.

That will then be a change I can no longer believe in.

by Robert Arend (4 articles, 16 quicklinks, 19 diaries, 179 comments) on Friday, June 27, 2008 at 8:05:47 PM

galen is an American, who simply wants his country returned to him and to the rest of its rightful owners. He further requests your assistance in obtaining adequate reparations from the gang of international criminals who have stolen it and who continue rape, pillage, and plunder America, as well as the rest of the world.
galengalen is an American, who simply wants his country returned to him and to the rest of its rightful owners. He further requests your assistance in obtaining adequate reparations from the gang of international criminals who have stolen it and who continue rape, pillage, and plunder America, as well as the rest of the world.

Flaws? FLAWS? Get real !

Everyone wants a saviour. Barack is not the Saviour. He continues to vote the party line, the status quo. He is what he is, simply a machine politician, subject to the same corporate masters as McCain. What's important to recognize, however, is that Obama has put himself out there as the vehicle of CHANGE. Nevertheless, we begin to see the first real evidence of his betrayal of our trust. And the time to pull the plug on him is NOW. We are facing ecnomic collapse, as well as a war with Iran, which is likely to set off a region-wide conflagration, if not a world war. The loss of our freedoms and the shredding of the constitution will quickly get lost in that kind of chaos. This is no time to be "overlooking a few flaws."

It is, instead time to reject both major parties, elect a third party candidate, who will immediately call upon the remaining elements in the Pentagon who are wiilling to honor their oaths to the constitution by taking charge of the military and returning it to civilian control. Their first step would be to give the president airtight security. Step two is to systematically round-up and imprison the traitors who have trashed the republic, and begin investigations and trials for those who have betryed us. Bear in mind that this is NOT a revolution; the revolution happened in 2000, when the Supreme Court illegally handed power to the Bushites and their neocon henchmen. What is immediately required is a counter-coup to restore the republic.

by galen (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 4 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 4:24:45 AM

I am a grandmother of 5 who founded Grandmothers Against the War 5 years ago. Among our many activities, we were arrested and jailed when we tried to enlist at the Times Square recruiting center, in Oct., 2005. We've traveled to Europe and to Washington to press our case. We hold vigils, demonstrations, protests, all sorts of actions, and do shows written mostly by me. I am an ASCAP lyricist and composer with a long career as a singer in cabarets, recording studios, movie sound tracks, and on re...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Joan WileI am a grandmother of 5 who founded Grandmothers Against the War 5 years ago. Among our many activities, we were arrested and jailed when we tried to enlist at the Times Square recruiting center, in Oct., 2005. We've traveled to Europe and to Washington to press our case. We hold vigils, demonstrations, protests, all sorts of actions, and do shows written mostly by me. I am an ASCAP lyricist and composer with a long career as a singer in cabarets, recording studios, movie sound tracks, and on re...

to see more of bio, click on member name

It Won't Work

You CAN'T elect a third party candidate. We've gone that route for years and years. Look what it got us in the last two elections when die-hard Progressives voted for Nader. Pull your head out of the sand and give Obama your vote. He is the best, and, even more importantly, the ONLY realistic hope we've got.

And, in any case, I think it's a lot of twaddle to suggest he's going to extend the war in Iraq and gut the Constitution and all the rest of the dire scenarios you're predicting. Sure, he's a politician, but he's a politician who I believe genuinely cares about ending the war and restoring some of the rights trashed under the Bush administration. And, he has the intellectual heft and honesty to make good judgment calls when he's in a position to do what he knows is right without worrying about getting the boob votes in Gutbucket USA.

by Joan Wile (7 articles, 0 quicklinks, 8 diaries, 17 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 9:29:29 AM

I am a 58 year-old, straight, white, male. I have been a Green (of the German kind) since 1968. I like to discuss(?) politics. I am into music (rock n roll) from about 64 to 70 with special emphasis on psychedelica. I have a cat and live on SSI.
ed krinerI am a 58 year-old, straight, white, male. I have been a Green (of the German kind) since 1968. I like to discuss(?) politics. I am into music (rock n roll) from about 64 to 70 with special emphasis on psychedelica. I have a cat and live on SSI.

When I close my eyes . . .

and listen to Obama I want to rush out and donate that $3.14 and send a Bible verse but . . . when I "hear" what he is saying and "see" what he is doing I see him as just another member of the National WarParty.

If Obama has his way we will still be in Iraq for one-hundred years. We will still all be suspects and with out the Constitutional safeguards like the 4th Amendment. We will be expanding the death penalty. We will still be subjected to rule by corporations. We will still be flooding the streets with guns.

I truly do respect all that you have done in the past and support your goals in a general manner but I feel you are wishing on a star and banking on a false hope.

by ed kriner (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 35 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 9:12:16 AM

I'm a 29 year old male.
TyI'm a 29 year old male.

Propaganda

Joan Wile is nothing but a propagandist. I'm sick of all you phony liberals and progressives feeding us this crap that there's a difference between the Democratic party nominee and the Republican nominee. Everyone needs to get it through their heads there's no difference between the Republican and Democratic parties and Obama and McCain. They both serve the Illuminati. Anyone who supports Obama or McCain is a traitor to America and the entire human race.

by Ty (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 888 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 10:18:39 AM

Rob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump s...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Rob KallRob Kall is executive editor and publisher of OpEdNews.com, President of Futurehealth, Inc, inventor . He is also published regularly on the Huffingtonpost.com and is a columnist with Northstarwriters.com. He is a frequent Speaker on Politics, Impeachment, The art, science and power of story, heroes and the hero's journey, Positive Psychology, Stress, Biofeedback and a wide range of subjects. He is a campaign consultant specializing in tapping the power of stories for issue positioning, stump s...

to see more of bio, click on member name

I'm sick of childish, in appropriate social behavior

Joan is a 77 year old grandmother and I wonder, if you were speaking to her face to face, if you would behave the same way. This is a community. You can disagree more civilly. Maybe you should pretend that every person you respond to is a grandmother. Of course, there are exceptions, but this lady did not say or do anything so horrible to warrant your intense level of response.

by Rob Kall (869 articles, 4016 quicklinks, 345 diaries, 1847 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 11:19:59 AM

I live on an island off the coast of Maine. Political junkie of liberal persuasion.
I have long been a registered Independent and now am a member of the Maine Green Independent Party.

Widower, grandfather of two, retired.
Jack HarringtonI live on an island off the coast of Maine. Political junkie of liberal persuasion.
I have long been a registered Independent and now am a member of the Maine Green Independent Party.

Widower, grandfather of two, retired.

Obama

will in all likelihood be elected, but if he continues in the recent vein he has been running in, it will be no better than we have had it. He continues to shift to center and right. That is not where our recovery lies. It is where the total collapse of the US lies.

Our image in the world-just so much eyewash unless we restore the rule of law. The racial divide? A legitimate goal but it by itself will not restore this country from the police state we are currently in, nor is it of the highest priority. We have to restore equality under the law first.

Vote for Obama? Not in this lifetime. He is just another Democratic machine politician who will say anything to get elected. He is doing just that, with his shifts on campaign finance, FISA, Iraq, Iran, war, torture and so on. Playing verbal positional ping pong is not the way to establish credibility.

The only way to change things is to change things. Let's stop driving our heads into the wall over and over by voting for a Democrat, expecting a different result. (see Rahm Emmanual's 2006 election results for an example). Vote for real change, significant change, change that is oriented towards the people, not the wealthy, not the elites, not the corporations. Vote third party. Vote McKinney.

by Jack Harrington (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 428 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 10:34:02 AM

Delusions of Equality

It is hard to understand how anyone can twist his thinking to really believe that Obama would be equivalent to Bush or McCain. This nonsense about the aversion to the "lesser of two evils" is incredibly illogical.

The real consideration is simple. There are two possible winners in the race-- Obama or MCCain. If you don't vote for them, you are voting to send a message. The stakes are way too high. The differences are enormous and only someone clouded by anger or distracted or confused could believe otherwise.

by Rob Kall (869 articles, 4016 quicklinks, 345 diaries, 1847 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 12:30:15 PM

Sorry Rob

But anyone looking at the recent activities within the Obama campaign will see business as usual. And business as usual from the Democrats has kept the war in Iraq going for several years now, is about to terminate the fourth amendment in the Bill of Rights with the new FISA bill, has effectively ended the use of public financing for this Presidential cycle, is putting us on the brink of war with Iran, has given us Alito, Roberts, Mukasy and so many others... He does not support impeachment, does support free trade, and his health care program is for the birds. To think that, even if Obama wins, things will change for the better, is unrealistic. A vote for either McCain or Obama is still a vote against our better interests.

As I noted on other articles, we can keep hitting our heads against the wall looking for a new outcome, which is not going to happen. Or. if we want real change and not rhetoric, we can vote for a candidate that does represent real change. The choice is ours.

by Jack Harrington (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 428 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 4:00:01 PM

Oh yeah and BTW

and as to someone clouded with anger Rob, you might look in the mirror.

To think there is any logic in your pro lesser evil position? Well, I hope you eventually see the downward spiral I see. You are creating a long, falling pattern we will never escape.

Peace

by Jack Harrington (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 428 comments) on Saturday, June 28, 2008 at 4:03:41 PM