The Obama Delusion

Comment: Comment: Comment: Comment: Judge Him by His Laws
COMMENT
washingtonpost.com
By Charles Peters
People who complain that Barack Obama lacks experience must be unaware of his legislative achievements. One reason these accomplishments are unfamiliar is that the media have not devoted enough attention to Obama's bills and the effort required to pass them, ignoring impressive, hard evidence of his character and ability.
Since most of Obama's legislation was enacted in Illinois, most of the evidence is found there -- and it has been largely ignored by the media in a kind of Washington snobbery that assumes state legislatures are not to be taken seriously. (Another factor is reporters' fascination with the horse race at the expense of substance that they assume is boring, a fascination that despite being ridiculed for years continues to dominate political journalism.)

Comment: Beware of Republicans bearing VOTES!!! Check out this City edition article!!! Democratic voters beware!!!

http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/2008Election.hmtl

You have to give it to them though, I don't think this ever would have happened if Omaba hadn't been a great orater and an African American. He is a great speaker, we have to give him credit for that, but check out who gave him the words!! David Axelrod for one!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuB_W8o_UsU

I believe this article is incorrect, because there is a real difference between Obama and other politicians. It is an issue of ability to galvanize political will to achieve hard things, and he will tell you the same thing. The fact that those unachieved hard things are not new ideas is not the point. As he said, Washington has become a place for good ideas to go die. THAT is what he is telling us he will change, and THAT IS what we believe he is capable of, with OUR BACKING - with his grassroots organizing ability to galvanize political will, to summon the wind to his back.

For all of you that are blindly following your new Meshiah check this out, if you dare. Keep in mind we are in politics and the players have been around for a long time. Be wary of Republicans and Independents voting in open primary's for Barack.

http://www.thecityedition.com/Pages/Archive/Winter08/2008Election.hmtl

For those of you that think Barack is the inspriation, don't be fooled! He just knows how to deliver the lines better than Hillary. This doesn't have anything to do with his lack of substance! Check this out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuB_W8o_UsU

This is in response to ckgexec. You berate vpad for not support ing your candiate (Obama), for whatever reason, however you seem to be saying that we should all support Obama simply because you believe in him. Or more correctly, you seem to be predicting doom if he is not our next President. But, you don't give us any reasons other than the fact that you like him and trust him and anyone who doesn't agree is "stuck on stupid". What has he done...where is YOUR research that you claim vpad did not do? I think articles like "The Obama Delusion" need to be on the front cover of every magazine and media source in America--soon and often. Instead we see Obama, Obama, Obama everywhere. We (not me, proudly) elected an inexperienced snake charmer when we called for change from the status quo eight years ago and look what it's gotten us. It's time to settle down and get our heads back on straight. Barack's "change" slogan is rediculous if you think about it. Change for the sake of change has never been a good thing. That's all he's got!

Finally! This is seriously disturbing the way this guy has been given a free ride by the media. He may very well what this country needs at the moment, but atleast let the people decide for themselves based on the facts. Can someone google 'journalist' for me?

Well, I think Dailykos made a more unbiased comparison of the two candidates by comparing their actual accomplishments:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/2/20/201332/807/36/458633

Funny thing is Obama has a breadth of experience from the streets to the courts to the classroom to the state legislature to the US Senate. But more importantly is his legislative record versus Senator Clinton's during the only period where you can make a head-to-head comparison and that's the last term in the US Senate. Most people do not take the time to go through The Library of Congress to check these things, but most who do find Obama's record surprisingly impressive, especially in comparison to Sen. Clinton's even though the both have strong records. Also, most feel disappointed by how many of their good ideas never actually get through. Here is a link to a more comprehensive analysis.

You fault Obama for having a "goody bag" of at least 12 specific plans and then attack him for running a "vague" campaign built on promises. So which is it? It seems that Samuelson will attack him no matter what he does. It seems that reporters are so in fear of right-wingers crying "liberal" media that we have to endure empty exercises like this. If this cynical attempt at "balance" is your world view, I'll stay deluded, thanks.

Sometimes, reporters like yourself, change opinions, sometimes you don't. I think your group as a whole need to just realized that change may be a good thing. I think many americans would like to have someone as President who is not an "insider." Then something may actually get changed like it needs to and the middle class might have a fighting shot. I am not even a Democrat and I think this way. You know others must as well.

VALUABLE POST

Posted By: rhhbiz @ 02/21/2008 2:55:54 PM

Comment: Wow. Where's the reporting to back up these claims? The Washington Post gave Obama's economic stimulus package an A- (compared to Hillary Clinton's C). As for innovation and substance, just look at his record. In addition to passage of the biggest ethics reform bill since Watergate, his anti-WMD bill with Lugar, his federal spending transparency bill that allows citizens to monitor government contracts, and his numerous well-publicized efforts advancing Veterans health, below are only a handful of the scores of innovative pieces of legislation Sen. Obama has proposed:

(Want more? Check out his record in Illinois where he got passed the toughest campaign finance reform in the state???s history, an affordable health care plan, an expansion of early childhood education, and created the Earned Income Tax Credit program that gave over $100 million in tax cuts for working families throughout Illinois.)

9. S.114 : A bill to authorize resources for a grant program for local educational agencies to create innovation districts.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 1/4/2007) Cosponsors (None)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions
Latest Major Action: 1/4/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.

17. S.692 : A bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to establish a Hospital Quality Report Card Initiative to report on health care quality in Veterans Affairs hospitals.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 2/27/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Veterans' Affairs
Latest Major Action: 2/27/2007 Referred to Senate committee. Status: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

25. S.976 : A bill to secure the promise of personalized medicine for all Americans by expanding and accelerating genomics research and initiatives to improve the accuracy of disease diagnosis, increase the safety of drugs, and identify novel treatments.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/23/2007) Cosponsors (1)
Committees: Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

26. S.1067 : A bill to require Federal agencies to support health impact assessments and take other actions to improve health and the environmental quality of communities, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 3/29/2007) Cosponsors (3)

NOTE! INTRODUCED IN APRIL 2007! 31. S.1222 : A bill to stop mortgage transactions which operate to promote fraud, risk, abuse, and under-development, and for other purposes.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 4/25/2007) Cosponsors (1)


35. S.1389 : A bill to authorize the National Science Foundation to establish a Climate Change Education Program.
Sponsor: Sen Obama, Barack [IL] (introduced 5/14/2007) Cosponsors (3)

Great article.......hopefully some of abaom's fans can read this, and understand this. At the end of the day obama will be sad.

Great article, change means nothing without substance. Talking a great game means nothing with all the problems we have in the USA eg. the war? the economy the market went down again today and the brokers are still smoking corn silk. I also agree that the media has to stand back and examine the facts about Obama, the convention is going to be very interesting.

Why don't all of the intelligent, educated people who are supporting him see that??? Why aren't they asking for details?? He doesn't have the Washington "insider" knowledge or connections to get things done!!
Hillary can get if done!!!

You are 100% correct in your article. I have thought this about Obama all along. It seems the only change Obama truly stands for is the change from a white male president to a black one. Big Deal!!! We need some major overhauls of some deeply ingrained systems like Social Security, healthcare, domestic infrastructure, enviironmental policies, unchecked lobbyist influence and education. Instead Obama gives flowery speeches which basically preserve the status quo, but he says it so passionately and arituculately that the lame brained electorate are dazed by his rhetoric and hop on the Obama Change train. The only problem is the train is headed for the same old station. What a sad commentary on the American electorate, American politicians, and the entire American political system. The problems America faces are complex and difficult, however, it seems Americans are too lazy to try to comprehend them and think through what is best for the country, instead they choose the easy way out and believe pretty speeches coming out of pretty politicians, it's just easier to blindly follow than to boldy question. Too bad for us and the our future generations.

I have read with intersest the suggestion that Sen. Obama is not qualified to be president and i have one question -- who has ever run for president with the experience of running a PREVIOUS COUNTRY ???? Since this is the highest office in the land, no one candidate can claim they have more experience than the other because no other one has ran a country before. If Barack can inspire people simply by blowing his nose, then that is a man who NOSE what it takes to move a nation. Hillary has disenfranchised those states who didnt vote for her by stating that the real voters are in the upcoming states. when she loses, she blames it on demographics (i.e. the black vote, college-educated ,etc.) instead of the reality that she cant connect with the voters. McCain reminds Americans of what Republicans just did to us and to us under the guise of fighting terrorism so at least Obama gives a fresh perspective to the voters. Thats what we need in America right now !!!

in the "Freedom from Fear" speech by Aung San Suu Kyi, the Myanmar (Burmese) peace activist who was elected prime minister and then imprisoned by the military. She says:

"The quintessential revolution is that of the spirit, born of an intellectual conviction of the need for change in those mental attitudes and values which shape the course of a nation's development. A revolution which aims merely at changing the official policies and institutions with a view to an improvement in material conditions has little chance of genuine success. Without a revolution of the spirit the forces which produced the inequities of the old order would continue to be operative, posing a constant threat to the process of reform and regeneration." This is Lincolnesque.