The Nobama Machine

My window into American politics in almost exclusively limited to the web, and what I see is depressing. I know that the US is full of smart and reasonable people, but the unreasonable ones are the loudest. The forces of the right are in full swing, trying to tear Obama down. There’s an array of anti-Obama images and cute little memes floating around, but none of them address any issues.

They are all very simple accusations like, “He’s arrogant!” (What? And Bush isn’t?)  Or flat-out lies: “He’s a Muslim!”

Some are kind of clever (and yet moronic), like “Nobama — keep the change” (Yeah, we’d better not change anything – because everything is going SO well.) 

The arguments for McCain seem to boil down to “He’s a war hero!” (Umm… and Kerry wasn’t? And besides, since when did being a war hero qualify you for being president?)

It’s the “Swiftboat Veterans For Truth” all over again. And it’ll probably work. And America will take at least four more years of being completely screwed.

But maybe it’s for the best. Anyone that wants to take over the presidency at this point must be crazy because he WILL look bad. The US is in for hard times, and despite the fact that most of it can be traced to conservative politics, President Obama will get the blame. Maybe McCain should take that beating instead. 

And yes, conservative politics are to blame. The greedy, frantic, and de-regulated rush lend vast amounts of money to anyone with a social security number has led to the mortgage crisis. The irrational, blood-thirsty rush into Iraq has destroyed America’s previously stellar global reputation and led to the largest US dept in history. The refusal to impose extra tax on gas guzzlers and to offer real incentives for alternative fuel development and mass transit, even after the gas shortages of the 70s, has led to the current gas crisis.

And as for security and the ”war on terror”, Bush has done more to recruit for the jihadists than Bin Laden could ever have hoped for. It’s astounding to me that there are people who continue to stand by a commander and chief who clearly and plainly attacked the wrong country. And the only guy that is clearly and plainly behind 9/11 – he’s still on the loose.

Keep the change? America can’t afford to keep the change.