Yesterday, Scott posted a link to this quiz. It supposedly will give you the candidate whose views you are most likely to share. The percentages listed in the results indicate a certainty level - i.e. 100% means it is 100% likely this is the one you’ll agree the most with (not you agree 100% with this candidate.) My top 5 and bottom 5:
(100%) 1: Sen. Barack Obama (D)
(89%) 2: Retired Gen. Wesley Clark (D)
(82%) 3: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D)
(79%) 4: Sen. John Kerry (D)
(75%) 5: Ex-VP Al Gore (D)
. . .
(16%) 20: Sen. George Allen (R)
(8%) 21: Sen. John McCain (R)
(8%) 22: Sen. Sam Brownback (R)
(5%) 23: Sen. Chuck Hagel (R)
(4%) 24: Rep. Tom Tancredo (R)
And, everyone’s talking about Barack Obama’s recent statement: “We now have spent $400 billion and have seen over 3,000 lives of the bravest young Americans wasted.” He has since apologized.
What he meant by his comments was not to diminish the price paid by those who’ve died (as he indicated in his later remarks), but rather a criticism of the current leadership who has put them in Iraq. At this point in time, I would agree with what he’s saying. It’s a mess, it was from the start, and I’m not certain it will ever get better, and perhaps will get worse. I’m simply not convinced that what has happened has done more good than harm to both the U.S. and Iraq. I could, of course, be wrong, but that’s my opinion today.
So, I’m not that worked up by Obama’s comments. I think there’s a clear difference between claiming that death by military service is a waste, and saying that many have died needlessly because of a poorly planned and executed war (not to mention that, IMO, it should have never been planned and executed in the first place.) And I believe it’s obvious Obama was saying the latter.
While I’m talking about Obama, I have to wonder why people get such joy out of using his middle name? Or, in other cases, inserting “Osama” in as well, such as “Osama Obama.” I’ve even seen him referred to as “Hussein Obama”, leaving off his first name entirely. I continue to see/hear this almost daily, it seems.
Okay, we all get it. His middle name is Hussein. His last name rhymes with Osama. Can we move on now?
I don’t get the motivation. Perhaps people think it’s funny. Perhaps they think it’s clever (unaware that thousands of other people have already done this.) Perhaps they’re trying to frighten people away from him, by “linking” him to Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden. Maybe, after 15 years of ridiculing Hillary Clinton, they have grown tired and are looking for someone else, and Obama is the most popular. Regardless, it’s really getting old, and it’s harder to take such folks seriously. Even if it had been clever or humorous to begin with (really, how hard is it to notice the similarity between Obama and Osama, or recognize that Hussein is also the last name of the former Iraqi dictator?), those days are long past. Please, can we come up with something else now?
I think it’s been a nightmare and a waste as to how the war has been publicized and politicized by both parties.
I don’t think the war has been a waste - especially for Iraqi’s or believers in Iraq. There’s freedom - freedom of worship, persecuted Church able to breath…
How R’s and D’s have used it as a political tool and as a result lose sight of what is being accomplished - waste.
How the US once again starts something great then can’t finish it well or timely - wa aste.
February 15, 2007
I suspect a lot of dead Iraqi civilians might disagree. But I hear what you’re saying, and I know there is good that has been accomplished. Many people point to Saddam being gone as a positive, and of course it is. But just because good has been done, as it is bound to be done in any such situation, there’s plenty of bad to go along with it, and the question is whether or not the whole thing can be justified. At this point, I just don’t personally believe it can. But the tide may eventually turn. We’ll see.
As for the persecuted church, I wonder sometimes if it’s a good thing. They may be better of than us. I’m not sure the free church in the U.S. is something we should export.
By the way, I can’t put into words the jealousy that invades my heart every time you post all of those skiing pictures. Cut it out. You’re causing me to stumble.
February 15, 2007
The GOP is scared to death of Obama. Hence, they vilify him.
The KNOW that he is a serious contender so they try to demonize him into something that he’s not.
February 16, 2007