[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I was in 6th grade when Jimmy Carter took office, and both of my parents were good Midwestern Democrats (my dad was from Chicago and my mom was from Detroit) who were thrilled to have a Dem in the White House.

Reagan was elected my sophmore year of high school and, by then, even my folks (who were pretty staunch) were ready for a change.

I think most of this country is pretty much ready for a change. My concern with Obama is that he is being imbued with nearly messianic powers. People are so desperate for something new that they’ve latched on to him and his message in the fervent hope that we’ll get some sort of respite from the last eight years. His world tour shows that as well.

The problem I have is that he remains something of a mystery to me. The Zakaria article attempted to offer a view of his foreign policy, but was wholly unsupported by any sort of foreign policy experience or writings. Granted, this is not Obama’s fault, per se, in that he is too new to the scene to have either.

His speeches are tremendous and he is one of the most gifted orators I have seen (without humor or malice, he reminds me of Reagan), but what is he really saying? Peggy Noonan, one of Reagan’s speechwriters, wrote a piece in the WSJ saying essentially the same thing.

I respect McCain as a person (due to his experiences during Vietnam), but won’t vote for him, in large part due to his flip-flopping and pandering to the Far Right constituency.

Yeah, I know that a vote cast for the Independents or Libertarians is one cast for McCain, but I am too tired from these last 16 years to vote either D or R.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I was in 6th grade when Jimmy Carter took office, and both of my parents were good Midwestern Democrats (my dad was from Chicago and my mom was from Detroit) who were thrilled to have a Dem in the White House.

Reagan was elected my sophmore year of high school and, by then, even my folks (who were pretty staunch) were ready for a change.

I think most of this country is pretty much ready for a change. My concern with Obama is that he is being imbued with nearly messianic powers. People are so desperate for something new that they’ve latched on to him and his message in the fervent hope that we’ll get some sort of respite from the last eight years. His world tour shows that as well.

The problem I have is that he remains something of a mystery to me. The Zakaria article attempted to offer a view of his foreign policy, but was wholly unsupported by any sort of foreign policy experience or writings. Granted, this is not Obama’s fault, per se, in that he is too new to the scene to have either.

His speeches are tremendous and he is one of the most gifted orators I have seen (without humor or malice, he reminds me of Reagan), but what is he really saying? Peggy Noonan, one of Reagan’s speechwriters, wrote a piece in the WSJ saying essentially the same thing.

I respect McCain as a person (due to his experiences during Vietnam), but won’t vote for him, in large part due to his flip-flopping and pandering to the Far Right constituency.

Yeah, I know that a vote cast for the Independents or Libertarians is one cast for McCain, but I am too tired from these last 16 years to vote either D or R.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I was in 6th grade when Jimmy Carter took office, and both of my parents were good Midwestern Democrats (my dad was from Chicago and my mom was from Detroit) who were thrilled to have a Dem in the White House.

Reagan was elected my sophmore year of high school and, by then, even my folks (who were pretty staunch) were ready for a change.

I think most of this country is pretty much ready for a change. My concern with Obama is that he is being imbued with nearly messianic powers. People are so desperate for something new that they’ve latched on to him and his message in the fervent hope that we’ll get some sort of respite from the last eight years. His world tour shows that as well.

The problem I have is that he remains something of a mystery to me. The Zakaria article attempted to offer a view of his foreign policy, but was wholly unsupported by any sort of foreign policy experience or writings. Granted, this is not Obama’s fault, per se, in that he is too new to the scene to have either.

His speeches are tremendous and he is one of the most gifted orators I have seen (without humor or malice, he reminds me of Reagan), but what is he really saying? Peggy Noonan, one of Reagan’s speechwriters, wrote a piece in the WSJ saying essentially the same thing.

I respect McCain as a person (due to his experiences during Vietnam), but won’t vote for him, in large part due to his flip-flopping and pandering to the Far Right constituency.

Yeah, I know that a vote cast for the Independents or Libertarians is one cast for McCain, but I am too tired from these last 16 years to vote either D or R.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Thanks for the thoughtful answer. I was in 6th grade when Jimmy Carter took office, and both of my parents were good Midwestern Democrats (my dad was from Chicago and my mom was from Detroit) who were thrilled to have a Dem in the White House.

Reagan was elected my sophmore year of high school and, by then, even my folks (who were pretty staunch) were ready for a change.

I think most of this country is pretty much ready for a change. My concern with Obama is that he is being imbued with nearly messianic powers. People are so desperate for something new that they’ve latched on to him and his message in the fervent hope that we’ll get some sort of respite from the last eight years. His world tour shows that as well.

The problem I have is that he remains something of a mystery to me. The Zakaria article attempted to offer a view of his foreign policy, but was wholly unsupported by any sort of foreign policy experience or writings. Granted, this is not Obama’s fault, per se, in that he is too new to the scene to have either.

His speeches are tremendous and he is one of the most gifted orators I have seen (without humor or malice, he reminds me of Reagan), but what is he really saying? Peggy Noonan, one of Reagan’s speechwriters, wrote a piece in the WSJ saying essentially the same thing.

I respect McCain as a person (due to his experiences during Vietnam), but won’t vote for him, in large part due to his flip-flopping and pandering to the Far Right constituency.

Yeah, I know that a vote cast for the Independents or Libertarians is one cast for McCain, but I am too tired from these last 16 years to vote either D or R.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Let me ask you something (seriously; not drawing to spring anything on you here) regarding the state of the nation at present, and compare it to the state of the nation when Jimmy Carter took office. Carter took over following our exit from a hugely unpopular war, with American prestige and influence at an all-time low, and our economy faltering from the oil shocks, double digit interest rates and the stagflation of the 1970s.

Do you not see some ominous parallels for Obama here? He is coming into office (and I am presuming he will win) with the country fighting an unpopular war, American prestige and influence have been battered over the last eight years and the economic situation is being compared to that of the Great Depression. While he is not responsible for the economy, he will undoubtedly be blamed for its performance and the situation in Iraq will prove a very thorny issue indeed, especially when it comes to unwinding our position there.

Shit, he could be friggin’ Pericles and the above combination of factors could prove disastrous.

What are your thoughts on how Obama manuevers through this?

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Let me ask you something (seriously; not drawing to spring anything on you here) regarding the state of the nation at present, and compare it to the state of the nation when Jimmy Carter took office. Carter took over following our exit from a hugely unpopular war, with American prestige and influence at an all-time low, and our economy faltering from the oil shocks, double digit interest rates and the stagflation of the 1970s.

Do you not see some ominous parallels for Obama here? He is coming into office (and I am presuming he will win) with the country fighting an unpopular war, American prestige and influence have been battered over the last eight years and the economic situation is being compared to that of the Great Depression. While he is not responsible for the economy, he will undoubtedly be blamed for its performance and the situation in Iraq will prove a very thorny issue indeed, especially when it comes to unwinding our position there.

Shit, he could be friggin’ Pericles and the above combination of factors could prove disastrous.

What are your thoughts on how Obama manuevers through this?

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Let me ask you something (seriously; not drawing to spring anything on you here) regarding the state of the nation at present, and compare it to the state of the nation when Jimmy Carter took office. Carter took over following our exit from a hugely unpopular war, with American prestige and influence at an all-time low, and our economy faltering from the oil shocks, double digit interest rates and the stagflation of the 1970s.

Do you not see some ominous parallels for Obama here? He is coming into office (and I am presuming he will win) with the country fighting an unpopular war, American prestige and influence have been battered over the last eight years and the economic situation is being compared to that of the Great Depression. While he is not responsible for the economy, he will undoubtedly be blamed for its performance and the situation in Iraq will prove a very thorny issue indeed, especially when it comes to unwinding our position there.

Shit, he could be friggin’ Pericles and the above combination of factors could prove disastrous.

What are your thoughts on how Obama manuevers through this?

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Let me ask you something (seriously; not drawing to spring anything on you here) regarding the state of the nation at present, and compare it to the state of the nation when Jimmy Carter took office. Carter took over following our exit from a hugely unpopular war, with American prestige and influence at an all-time low, and our economy faltering from the oil shocks, double digit interest rates and the stagflation of the 1970s.

Do you not see some ominous parallels for Obama here? He is coming into office (and I am presuming he will win) with the country fighting an unpopular war, American prestige and influence have been battered over the last eight years and the economic situation is being compared to that of the Great Depression. While he is not responsible for the economy, he will undoubtedly be blamed for its performance and the situation in Iraq will prove a very thorny issue indeed, especially when it comes to unwinding our position there.

Shit, he could be friggin’ Pericles and the above combination of factors could prove disastrous.

What are your thoughts on how Obama manuevers through this?

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Shadowfax: Let me ask you something (seriously; not drawing to spring anything on you here) regarding the state of the nation at present, and compare it to the state of the nation when Jimmy Carter took office. Carter took over following our exit from a hugely unpopular war, with American prestige and influence at an all-time low, and our economy faltering from the oil shocks, double digit interest rates and the stagflation of the 1970s.

Do you not see some ominous parallels for Obama here? He is coming into office (and I am presuming he will win) with the country fighting an unpopular war, American prestige and influence have been battered over the last eight years and the economic situation is being compared to that of the Great Depression. While he is not responsible for the economy, he will undoubtedly be blamed for its performance and the situation in Iraq will prove a very thorny issue indeed, especially when it comes to unwinding our position there.

Shit, he could be friggin’ Pericles and the above combination of factors could prove disastrous.

What are your thoughts on how Obama manuevers through this?

[Allan from Fallbrook]

gandalf: I don’t we Raiders fans go bowling, do we? Not unless we’re robbing the bowling alley.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

gandalf: I don’t we Raiders fans go bowling, do we? Not unless we’re robbing the bowling alley.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

gandalf: I don’t we Raiders fans go bowling, do we? Not unless we’re robbing the bowling alley.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

gandalf: I don’t we Raiders fans go bowling, do we? Not unless we’re robbing the bowling alley.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

gandalf: I don’t we Raiders fans go bowling, do we? Not unless we’re robbing the bowling alley.

[Allan from Fallbrook]

Dan,

Thanks. It would be interesting (from my perspective at least) to compare Zakaria’s Post-Americanism with Fukuyama’s American Triumphalism (“End of History and the Last Man”). I mention this because we have a seen something of a radical swing in not only how America is perceived in the world, but how we perceive ourselves.

I watched Obama’s world tour with a great deal of interest. By and large, I thought he did very well, including in Israel, which I thought would be a much tougher sell.

Ideology aside, he is connecting with the wider international community and appears to be attacking (with vigor) the one area of weakness where McCain (at least initially) could claim a wider breadth of knowledge (the Iraq-Pakistan border comment notwithstanding) and experience.

However, voters in France and Germany don’t elect American Presidents. What happens when the McCain campaign actually starts running a campaign and goes after Obama? I had asked gandalf some rather pointed questions about where he thought Obama stood on certain issues.

To that, I would add: FISA and NAFTA and the DC gun ban. He appears to be tacking a little erratically, and IMHO, stumbled on the campaign finance issue.

[Author]

Posts