The Obama Delusion

How to buy a manision you can't afford: http://noquarterusa.net/blog/2008/02/04/how-to-buy-a-mansion-you-cant-afford/

Mr. Samuelson, It's interesting that many of the skeptics, this obviously includes you are trying to paint Sen. Obama as a candidate of totally new ideas. He has some, but most of them are grounded in the political realities. Why is that now a detriment. Clinton - Obama policies are fairlly similar, but it is the motivational leadership, and executive leadership as evidenced in this campaign that seperates Obama from Clinton. With all her policy wonkiness, what has she passed through the Senate and Congress. Not one thing. She has signed on to many bills just like Obama,but her legislative accomplishments are not superior and in fact are less than Sen. Obama's considering time served in the US Senate. Delusion is term that indicates deception, that my man is a term BS and you know it. He has said this "Change" will be hard work at every stump speech, he is not deluding people that a new agenda will be easy. You better listen and give back some of the bottles of wine you have been getting from the Clintons.

So wait, Obama is doing the same thing everyone else is doing on the campaign trail but his doing it is dishonest? Excuse me if I'm wrong here but NONE of the candidates are running on maintaining the status quo. It's also quite ridiculous to hit on his platform for being too conservative, to be honest it's quite radical compared to what he's likely to get passed. Maybe 4 years of Bush made you forget but the president isn't an emperor, he can't just hand down uncompromising policy to the people and expect it to stick.

To say that one cannot preach hope and change without offering up impossible to achieve pipedreams is insane. I want change badly, but I'm realistic. The country doesn't turn on a dime and it's going to take a long time to clean up the mess left behind by the Bush administration. McCain and Hillary are establishment players that tacitly approved the creation of that mess, I have no interest in giving them another opportunity to screw things up.

CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE. That word needs to operationalized. I am sitting back watching America. The gullible nation. Voting for "a book without pages."

This article is yet another example of exactly why the America people SHOULD clean house ridding this country of the status quo government. We can't have Universal Healthcare, tax breaks for the anyone (other than the RICH) or invest in the education of our children however we CAN spend billions of dollars each month on a War that will never be won..in a country that does not want us there, in a region that despises everything we stand for. Time to BUILD the bridge between the American people and their Leadership. After Katrina, The preemptive war in Iraq, Abu Ghraib, Scooter Libby, Donald Rumsfeld and his gang I will take Obama any day. Billary has shown her campaign is more focused on winning at any cost than empowering the Democratic Party. Can you say SUPERDELEGATE? Futhermore, G. W. Bush was the most undeserving, inexperienced, and unintelligent President this nation has ever seen. At least we know Obama will not be more of the SAME.

Several of your judgments are unqualified -- that is, you do not back them up and they do not add up. For example, you write "With existing budget deficits and the costs of Obama's "universal health plan," the odds of enacting his full package are slim."

Obama has identified, in his statements and on his Web site, where the money will come from for each of his proposals: he will end the war in Iraq. The amount we do not spend annually in Iraq will significantly exceed the new amounts he has proposed we spend on health care, education, and otherwise. It is a simple exercise and a professional responsibility for you to refer to a candidate's statements and Web site before passing unqualified judgment in so public and well-regarded a forum as Newsweek.

You identify costs as making it unlikely Obama's proposals would become law because you suggest there will not be sufficient political will. In fact the political will in favor of health care, in favor of education, and against the war in Iraq is much stronger than the political will in favor of the warn in Iraq. This is easily measured by polls of both Democratic and Republican voters and by assessing recent votes in Congress -- both the public and our representatives disapprove of our current course and intend to change it in 2009.

You may personally disbelieve in Obama's assertions that America is ready to stop the war and start the healing here at home. However, you cannot factually dismiss that Obama's proposals may well succeed, considering the current political will and his well-demonstrated ability to increase that will.

You dismiss the political will Obama raises as irrelevant on one hand, while on the other hand you assert that a lack of political will is your reason for dismissing his proposals as possible. Both cannot be true; your argument and your article are premised on your contradictory words and your unqualified feelings.

You state "As a journalist, I harbor serious doubt about each of the most likely nominees." It is inappropriate for you to claim the mantle of unbiased, journalistic integrity as a means to prop up your opinion piece, and especially considering your unqualified, emotion-based arguments. You may certainly write opinion pieces, but Newsweek should not permit you to imply that your opinion is more factual because you are separately a journalist. This was a deceptive and unprofessional choice of words which I want to see Newsweek and you, Robert J. Samuelson, reconsider and correct. BG

You are right about Obama being an unknown quantity, but none of the other candidates are addressing the real issues, either. A known quantity such as Sen. Clinton will almost certainly not be able to tackle the fundamental problems, because she won't have a large enough majority to break through the constellation of competing interests that brought us to the governmental gridlock we are in today. Maybe the unknown quantity is our best chance for a shakeup. Yes, we are "rolling the dice," but times are desperate and we might get lucky. The blame really lies with the voters themselves, who will not tolerate a candidate who tells them the truth. For example: 1) health care costs will not go down until Americans start exercising more and eating less; 2) energy consumption could be cut drastically tomorrow, by simply driving less and turning down the thermostats; 3) we cannot keep defining our standard of living by how many gadgets we have and how much debt we incur in order to buy them, 4) etc., etc. Someone once asked Solon, the ancient Greek lawgiver, whether he had given Athens the best laws possible. He responded, "I gave them the best that they would accept." American voters have narrowed the field down to the best candidates they will accept, and this may be all we can expect.

Get to know Obama better: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9906E4DF143FF93BA15752C0A9619C8B63

This article seems to echo things I have heard on the more right leaning news stations recently. Is he an outsider (I guess), however they said the same thign about Bill Clinton and that worked out pretty well. Truth be told the other side is scared, scared that one guy (regardless of race) is saying what we all know is true. I am tired of problems being deferred to the enxt administration, tired of everything having "spin and jsut plain old tired of politics. Obama may not ahve all the answers, but I gurantee he will surrond himself with the right people. CHANGE scares people. Mr. Samuelson says McCain and Clinton are "Known quantities", yeah I know Hillary carpet bagged in NY, only to be president, for her own personal agenda. I know McCain used to be higly respected as a "different" voice in the republican party, now however he seems like Bush Reduex. If he had stood up to Bush I would have probably voted for him. I respect his service and what he has done for his own state. However nationally he is cowtailing to the same folks that elected Bush. It's time, Obama is right about that. It's time a new voice gets heard and business as usual gets shook up. Stop beign scared of change and embrace it. We can either keep doing what we have been, i.e. bleeding money, killing the middle class, killing our young americans, or we can stand up and say were tired of the same old same old.......I know which side I fall on.....

Hillary brags of her 35 years of experience. What exactly has she accomplished in all that time? She already screwed up health care reform. Why should we believe she won't fail again. If she and Bill really had integrity and compassion, they would back off, support Barack and then help him fulfill his goals as president. I'll take an overly optimistic, inspirational and mostly honest Barack over an equivocating Clinton any day.

Shorter Samuelson: HRC and McCain are sleazy so Obama must be, too. Now let me go sip my latte so I don't have to do any more research.

Being the President is like being a CEO of the U.S. That being said, I highly doubt that if one were a hiring a CEO, one would choose a candidate with less than a year of experience like the freshman Senator Obama.

First of all I am a democrat have been since I could vote eleven years ago. I am a college graduate and supported Edwards. I have been trying to engage both of the canadiates but it is hard with the media being brain washed. Both seem to hold similar views. This article hits home for me because I have been saying these things about Obama, his rhetoric does not match his positions. If you think he will get the troops out of Iraq then you better think again. I want all the troops to come home. But it will not be done, without significant effects on middle class through soaring gas prices imposed by Suadia Arabia and other middle eastern nations. He said he was against the war from the start, HE DID NOT VOTE NO because he was not in the US Senate, but when he gets into Washington he votes to fund the war, again rhetoric not matching positions. He will not get any of these ideas pass through congress, by just saying we need to work together, and because I say it, then it should come true. He will have to make his positions known and tell the American people, not democrats or republicans, but people why this will help you or me out. America is divided and people dont see both sides of issues. HE will have to balence the budget, and how will he do this by ending the war and rolling back tax gets. That will not do it alone becuase he has other issues with Social Security, Medicare, global warming plans, supplying more jobs, a host of issues. Experience does matter and no I am not saying that H.C. is the best choice bacause she has little more experience, it does matter with any job. He will hold a host of issues that will have to be corrected, and what if he doesnt get these things changed. IT is hard to "change" things when you hold the same party ideas. And I will tell you that when you inspire hope and change and you dont get anything done, then what do you have. A few saying "I told you so", and the republican controling the house, senate, and the Presidency for the next tweleve years. It is hard to recover when hope explodes in your face. Be careful, look at the positions, there is a lot riding on this.

All this propObamaganda is giving me a headache.

The person enganging in disingeniousness is you, Mr. Samuelson. You open your piece by insinuating that Obama is deceiving the public. However, instead of presenting evidence to support some sort of duplicity, you simply describe a portion of his domestic policies as not being enough to "change". Of his views on foreign policy you write nothing! Odd, considering its these views that Obama usually cites as starting point his argument for change.

I knew it would come to this if Hillary Clinton started losing or if Obama started doing well. Personal attacks as a last ditch effort to discredit someone. I mean, I was in the inaugural class for Bill Clinton's National Service program and met both Bill and Hillary. I was a big supporter of Hillary???s but changed my mind as I have the right to do. Say what you will but I'm tired of the same old song and dance. I served in the military under the first Bush and since 1988 there has been a Bush or Clinton in the White House. I won't bash any candidate that I am not supporting, not even McCain. I just support who I think would be best for America at this specific time in history. It's a shame to see people get so ugly and make such desperate attacks against each other when in disagreement, but then again, this is the politics that we have had since the 1980's, so many people don't know any better. Shame on anyone who personally attacks a person or a candidate, simply because they want "their" side to win. I mean, sure, anonymity on the Internet brings out courage in many. However, is that really courage? What does all this say about America? Come on folks! Wake up! Don???t let a political race, in which well-off people jostle for control, tear us apart. In the end, I???m an American and although I will have philosophical differences with another candidate claiming the White House, they will still be my representative and I will still be an American! No politics on the Battlefield!

Robert J. Samuelson : you are absolutely right! Delusions and prefected rheteric does not a candiadte make- no change can come from that, Neither Democrat is experianced or qualified for the next presidency. MCCain is it!

This article seems to echo things I have heard on the more right leaning news stations recently. Is he an outsider (I guess), however they said the same thign about Bill Clinton and that worked out pretty well. Truth be told the other side is scared, scared that one guy (regardless of race) is saying what we all know is true. I am tired of problems being deferred to the enxt administration, tired of everything having "spin and jsut plain old tired of politics. Obama may not ahve all the answers, but I gurantee he will surrond himself with the right people. CHANGE scares people. Mr. Samuelson says McCain and Clinton are "Known quantities", yeah I know Hillary carpet bagged in NY, only to be president, for her own personal agenda. I know McCain used to be higly respected as a "different" voice in the republican party, now however he seems like Bush Reduex. If he had stood up to Bush I would have probably voted for him. I respect his service and what he has done for his own state. However nationally he is cowtailing to the same folks that elected Bush. It's time, Obama is right about that. It's time a new voice gets heard and business as usual gets shook up. Stop beign scared of change and embrace it. We can either keep doing what we have been, i.e. bleeding money, killing the middle class, killing our young americans, or we can stand up and say were tired of the same old same old.......I know which side I fall on.....