A Comment to Hillary
February 23rd, 2008 Filed Under politics, writing
CNN.com has another story about Hillary raging against the horrible tactics of the Obama campaign. I don’t know why CNN gives her such top billing for these claims, but after last week’s weak accusation of plagiarism I just had to send a comment to her campaign to let her know how I felt:
Today I looked on cnn.com and saw Ms. Clinton right there on the front page, with a headlined statement about ‘blatantly false’ Obama mailers. I have not done the research to find out if these particular allegations are true, but frankly I find my ‘outrage’ difficult to summon this time, given that I found her previous allegations of his ‘plagiarism’ to be almost totally hollow. I was disappointed with the Rovian tactics of her campaign then, and every subsequent angry Clinton headline just leaves me more discouraged. Honestly, though I will cast my presidential vote for the Democratic nominee regardless, at this point, I seriously hope she loses the nomination, and if she does win, I greatly fear for the long-term outcomes of the election and her subsequent presidency and the progressive movement as a whole in this country.
I’m sure my comments won’t matter one lick to Ms. Clinton, as my state’s caucus is in the past and she would get my reluctant vote in the national election anyway. I’m just sick of the ongoing “politics as usual” which has gotten us to where we are today, and that is why I support Obama even though I think Clinton’s policies and experience are more concrete. We need our leaders to spend their energy aligning anyone and everyone towards social and intellectual tolerance, economic and environmental sustainability, and a trustworthy (or at least transparent) government. The Clinton campaign clearly sees Obama as competition to be beaten, rather than a challenge to be met. I long for the day when one candidate’s policy loses nobly to another candidate’s vision, without debasing either campaign for the sake of winning at all costs.
I still admire Ms. Clinton and the work she has done for this country, and hope she will continue to work for the progress and change we so badly need. These kinds of political tactics may provide short-term gains for one faction of the party, but even medium-term they do a disservice to whichever candidate takes the nomination and the movement as a whole.
Stumble it!God’s Debris by Scott Adams
February 12th, 2008 Filed Under books
A friend gave this book to me as a birthday gift. It was a quick read, but I wasn’t all that impressed. I know Scott Adams disclaims the belief system outlined by the central character (named Avatar), but that just lowers my esteem of Mr. Adams. In several sections, poor logic and weak beliefs were pronounced by Avatar and accepted by the protagonist without a fight. This is just irritating when the author himself disowns the ideas presented in the work.
There were some ideas of value presented, but most of them can be gained from other sources with a better signal-to-noise ratio. I honestly don’t understand why this book was recommended or has had so much success.
