Posted by
Mick O. on Wednesday, February 20, 2008 1:24:22 PM
Rush Limbaugh has pointed this out repeatedly. People only have so much in emotional reserves which is why Iraq has essentially gone away (except to the fine young men and women over there doing the heavy lifting!). As a result, the newspapers and other mainstream "driveby" media have shifted their focus to the next new thing because Americans (probably people in general), for better or worse, have a short attention span.
Next topic? Rockstar Obama who has people fainting at his rallies. That's what we want, a black John Lennon running the country. Problem is, his policies are still liberal! Big government control and higher taxes. This is a new idea??? This is change? It's exactly what has ruined great states like Louisiana and Michigan; liberal policies. Is it ever pointed out that continued voting for Democrats has ruined both of these states? NO! But I digress.
George Washington (from his biography by Paul Johnson) said that in his day, idealism is was what gets people interested in the beginning, but self interests are what perpetuate their actions. In other words, patriotism is what got the colonists to go to war during the Revolution, but what they would get out of it, i.e. land, status, control, was what kept them fighting even after suffering staggering losses. Take the promise of rewards away, and interest will follow. Washington noted that soldiers went of fighting for love of pay or promotions.
Fast forward to today and see what our government has done to our self interests... taxed them, penalized them, put restrictions on them... but not so much that people stop producing, just enough to control the population and give to those who don't produce. This is what Obama is capitalizing on. He talks about change, but what change is he actually proposing? Sounds like more of the same to me.
Here's what I think. The United States politicians have over time erroded the American "ideal" by chipping away at our way of doing things in the guise of having our best interests at heart. (If it's in our best interests, why are they not subject to many of the laws that they pass?) Anyway, this is where we are, and so people are becoming more and more dependent on government. So are we surprised when a politician comes along and promises change they start fainting? I'm not! But he's not going to change anything. In fact, I predict it will be more of the same liberal policies that are hurting the greatness of our country. Shame.
One thing I see is this; the election cycle started way too early for there not to be some sort of lull before the general election. Perhaps the novelty of a black man finally being a front runner as a presidential candidate will last, but I don't think so. Eventually Obama will have to say something of substance. Rather than utter platitudes and vagaries, he is going to have to put forth some specifics if he expects to become president. Once those specifics come out, I am betting that the novelty of a black man running for president will trump anything he says policy-wise... and we'll get another Jimmy Carter. You'll see.