Saturday, August 23, 2008

Obama/Biden '08 - Springfield Open Thread




Well, this is their first appearance together. What do you think? How is it going? Did they get a nice crowd? How do the families look together?

I’m about to leave for a family picnic, so I’m trusting Tivo and Mirror on America to keep me informed.

5 comments:

Brian said...

I'm about to leave for the plantation... so I won't be able to post video. Lost interest anyway to be honest.

And unfortunately we don't get enough participation for these open threads.

Perhaps I should resort to posting porn or adopt more of a gossip format... full of degenerate Black Hollywood culture nonsense. :) (ala Concrete Loop, Bossip, Nicole Bitchie, etc). All the stuff I despise about "Black".

Traffic would increase ten fold.

I'm working on improving traffic though.

I may have to bite the bullet and do what I vowed I wouldn't... focus on "black" only issues.

But then it would no longer be a blog I could call my own.

Anyway, don't eat too much barbecue.

rikyrah said...

I may have to bite the bullet and do what I vowed I wouldn't... focus on "black" only issues.

No No No No No

That's not who you are, and that's not what you wanted MOA to be.

Uh uh.

Truthiz said...

I second Rikyrah AI. MOA should reflect what you want it to be.

You already know I'm a big fan of the site!

Okay, here's my 2 cents on today's joint appearance:

Except for Obama introducing Biden as "the next President of the United States"_and then quickly correcting that comment for OBVIOUS reasons_Obama's speech was pretty good. Still not specific enough for me on the issues..but this was about introducing Biden as his VP so I gave Obama a pass on that.

It was nice, however, to finally hear a more aggressive tone in Obama's delivery.

Biden's speech was also good. I think he was a little nervous, but very passionate, On Point, fired up and ready to take it to his "good friend" John McSenile and the Republicans!

rikyrah said...

I need to make this comment. I don't always reply, but I always read and click on the links that you bring about international issues. AI, no BS from me to you - one of the things that made me stand up and take notice of MOA was your discussions - about international issues. Just this week, here you go talking about Russia, Georgia, Poland, etc. I read a lot of Black blogs - nobody gave me the info that you did. Nobody. I think it's very important that we have this info out there.

JMO.

And, I know you don't want to get into a fight with me about your stance on cultural issues. Man, when you get on a tear about how we've let Black culture go to hell, I can't help but smile. Folks need to know that folks like us exist. There are a whole lotta Black folks who agree and they need their voices heard.

So, I'm back to where I began - no. Do not change your voice. You found your voice, and I appreciate it so much.

Brian said...

I appreciate that Rikyrah,

I'm somewhat of a Foreign policy geek.... have been for at least 17 years.

Foreign policy has had a huge impact on American society over the decades... it has shaped American culture... esp. if you look at the wars of the 20th Century. You could even go back farther than that. WWII, Vietnam, The Cold War, Iraq, and others.... They helped to change...and in some cases, defined American culture. (esp. WWII). It also shapes how the World views the United States...and its people.

Foreign policy also has a strong impact on domestic policy in terms of available funding. Bad Foreign policy (like the Foreign policy that we have had under the last 4 or 5 Presidents in particular) drains the Treasury. In fact, domestic needs have been woefully neglected over the last 50 years because money has been wasted overseas....on various military adventures.

Obama cannot promise a domestic Utopia when it appears that he wants to carry on with the same foreign policy of the past 50 years. He won't have the funding. Something has to give. In fact, time and time again Obama has signaled his approval of several Neoconservative Bush Administration policies (and hawkish Clinton Administration policies) on the international front. Obama has spent a lot of time trying to out-do the Neocons in a contest to see who can be the most hawkish....an over the top effort to reassure white voters that he's willing to go to war at any cost. But how is all of that going to play out regarding the budget and his pie in the sky domestic plans? He is not going to be able to implement even half of those plans if he wants to continue traditional American Foreign policy.... he's going to be too busy countering Russia and China militarily (because he has indicated that he will have an adversarial relationship with them)... not to mention any other problems that might crop up.

Obama can't say one minute that he is upset about the U.S. military being overstretched (which became a serious issue under the last 2 Presidents) and then shape-shift the next minute to give his support to the idea of increasing U.S. defense treaty obligations around the World by expanding military alliances... which will burden our military even more, and destabalize the globe (not make it more secure). Each new NATO member = a U.S. military protectorate. Each new NATO member = an increased risk of conflict and more exposure for an over-extended U.S. military- A military that was overstretched even before the war in Iraq.

That is a contradiction that I don't see how he can reconcile.

Either he is lying about how he is going to pay for his domestic plans, or he is some kind of closeted Dove, waiting to come out after he wins the election. I don't believe the latter.

If he's really a "change" candidate, then he has to explain how his foreign policy will be a change...and a clean break from the past. So far, I have not heard anything along those lines. I have been seeing signs of a foreign policy that will be more of the same....built on the same premises of the past. That's not "Change" I can believe in.

He also has not explained how he would rebuild America's image around the World and rebuilt relationships with other nations. I have heard very little in that regard.

And I don't expect him to really answer these questions at his Dog and Pony show event this week. As he always does, he will skip over the details.

Most Blacks will vote for this guy because...well... he's Black...and not really for any other reason of real substance.

But he won't get my vote.