Tuesday, March 4, could prove to be this country's second Independence Day if Barack Obama sweeps the primaries in Ohio, Texas, Pennsylvania and not to be forget l'il ol' Vermont.
Even two out of three of the big trifecta would be sweeter than the picturesque northern state's maple syrup to those of us who want to see the Clinton's stranglehold on the Democratic party loosed and lost.
There's great merit to the idea that it's time for an end to four years of Bush, followed by eight years of Bill Clinton sandwiched in by eight years of another Bush.
Having four years of yet another Clinton added to the chain is simply too much of the same tired old way of doing business.
As much as the dismal prospect of G.W. being followed by his lite mirror image in John McCain is depressing, so is more of the same-old, same-old Washington business-as-usual with Hillary Clinton.
There's no reason whatsoever that I can see that anything will change with Hillary at the helm.
For the first time since the deaths of John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King the sleeping giant of American can-doism and enthusiasm has awakened.
As a people, as a country we are no longer sleepwalking through what has been going on politically for too many years, leaving us as by-standers with nothing to do but watch our country be washed down the toilets of corporate interests, and lose all esteem and credibility throughout the world.
Barack Obama stirs our hopes and dreams in ways no one has since the Kennedy days.
When Martin Luther King died, his dream did not die.
When the Kennedy brothers died our hopes and dreams didn't exactly die, but were put into a deep 40-year coma.
Regardless of what John McCain said, and he only said it once because a brick wall of criticism came down on his head for his utterly ridiculous comment that Obama's talk of hope was a vapid, wasted effort in futility.
Well Johnny McC, we have news for you. Hope was a great part of what got you through those dark hellish days of imprisonment in the Hanoi Hilton.
Hope for a change and a better way of doing things has gotten us through the last seven hellacious years.
That one inciduous comment told us all we had to know about you. You, Johnny McC give us no hope of getting us out of Iraq. All you offer is that we'll occupy that country for a hundred more years.
That is the truth. We are an occupying force in the middle of a civil war. We're taking sides, and no matter which side wins -- if one side ever wins their thousands-year-old battles with each other -- we will be on the wrong side.
Sandy Sand began her writing career while raising three children and doing public relations work for Women's American ORT (Organization for Rehabilitation through Training). That led to a job as a reporter for the San Fernando Valley Chronicle, a weekly publication in Canoga Park, California. In conjunction with the Chronicle, she broadcast a tri-weekly, ten minuted newscast for KGOE AM. Following the closure of the Chronicle, Sand became the editor of the Tolucan Times and Canyon Crier newspapers in Burbank. She is currently a guest columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News and contributor to ronkayela.com
...because I'm not holding my breath waiting for that to happen.
I'd be happy if we'd start with obliterating the Electoral College, popular vote only and no electronic voting until the machines are as secure as ATMs.
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Sandy Sand (129 articles, 0 quicklinks, 144 diaries, 1120 comments)
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 1:44:46 PM
what should be the planning for now? For example, who would be good cabinet members? With his assertion that he can bring people together, how do you see him convincing sensible oldline Republicans to help? And what about Hispanics? Understandably he has a grasp on the purely black/white issue. Can he persuade the "common" man and woman that he is more than a graduate of Harvard Law, with less than a full term in the Senate? How can he demonstrate that we live in a global arena without talking down to those who spend their fun hours listening to the likes of Limbaugh?
He may not believe in the Iraq War, but is he peaceful enough for the guys who want a Department of Peace? And so much more.
I had my doubts about the Senator in the beginning because I was afraid we had another wonk like John Kerry turned out to be. The first glimmer of hope came when Obama crossed the Mississippi and rallied his troops and pressed the flesh. But my real confidence comes from his wife. Michelle wows people with her downhome ways.
Shall we start working on such thoughts now rather than paying so much attention to polls and debates?
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Margaret Bassett (19 articles, 1012 quicklinks, 23 diaries, 560 comments)
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 12:59:07 PM
You raise some interesting questions and I think the answer to all or most of them is yes.
I think he will reach across the aisle and blank spaces to fill his cabinet and all the other presidential appointments.
Frankly, I'm far more interested in the qualifications of the people he appoints than their color, race or religion. None of which I care diddly-squat about.
I don't want an unqualified "flavor" of anybody nominated for a position in the government. Having a variety of people based on anything other than his qualifications means a government filled with fools such as all the FoBs that are mucking up everything they touch in Bush's administration.
I realize this is impossible, because presidents pick people because they know them or they come highly recommended. But the ideal would be to have each nominee be a faceless, numbered job applicant who is chosen strictly by the skills he possesses.
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Sandy Sand (129 articles, 0 quicklinks, 144 diaries, 1120 comments)
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 1:35:42 PM
I don't know if I share your complete enthusiasm...
...but I can say that the idea of having a fresh face, and a fresh last name attached to the White House will be a really wonderful thing.
While I may have garnered a great amount of respect for Hillary for her actions yesterday less than three miles from my home, I still don't want her in the White House. We need a real changing of the guard, not just a shuffle. And even though we'd get Bill back into the White House, which wouldn't be all bad, I feel we'd still be stuck in the Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton Dagwood sandwich. Personally, I like a bit more flavor in my sandwiches.
Blessed be! Pappy
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Pappy (61 articles, 0 quicklinks, 11 diaries, 863 comments)
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 4:11:01 PM
If, the MMIC does not have him killed as they did JFK, RFK, MLK and Senator Wellstone.
The surest way to assure Ms. Clinton she will NOT be assassinated is for her to have Obama as VP. They may try to kill the front runner at the very last minute before the election panic everyone.
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Professor Emeritus Peter Bagnolo (144 articles, 1 quicklinks, 94 diaries, 1185 comments)
on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at 5:08:48 PM
