THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ONE AVOIDS THE PROCESS OF THINKING CRITICALLY
Given the Democratic National Convention schedule released this past week, it looks as though such folks as Hillary Clinton, Brian Schweitzer, Kathleen Sebelius, and Mark Warner are probably not going to be selected to be Senator Obama's running mate, as they are scheduled to speak on Tuesday evening, whereas the Vice Presidential running mate is scheduled to speak on Wednesday evening. (Interestingly, Joe Biden, Evan Bayh, Bill Richardson, and several others are scheduled to speak on Wednesday.) It would be easier to move people already scheduled to speak on Wednesday around in order to insert one into the running mate's time slot than it would be to move people from one day to the next, so it's most likely the case that either a Wednesday speaker or someone not on the schedule will be Senator Obama's running mate. (Don't panic, fans of folks speaking on Tuesday--there is always the very real possibility that the schedule will change between now and the convention, giving one or more of them a better chance of winning the job of running mate.)
As it looks right now, then, five or six individuals seem to have at least a better shot than some of their colleagues of winning the Vice Presidential running mate position. Several weeks ago, I let my readers know that, if pushed for an answer, I believed that Joe Biden would eventually be selected as the running mate (I had previously endorsed him for that position, as well). I still think that way, but his chances are only slightly better than the chances of a few others, so this won't be a "given" one way or the other until the announcement is made official.
At any rate, I have taken the opportunity to annoy my readership with limericks about five of the people who look to be best situated to be Senator Obama's running mate. (I'm sorry, Jack Reed--I just couldn't come up with one for you in the short amount of time I had to write these "poems"....) For what it's worth (and it may be worth very little indeed), here's what I've come up with:
EVAN BAYH
Democrat centrist Evan Bayh
Is a politically careful, nice guy.
Though he's never exciting
What does sound inviting
Is winning Indiana this try.
JOE BIDEN
Joe Biden is a smart, fighting mut.
In debates, he leaves opponents bruised and cut.
Though not a swing-state resident
He might still be Vice President
If he can keep his mouth semi-shut.
WESLEY CLARK
Supreme NATO Commander Wes Clark
Might provide a much-needed spark.
He's campaigned in the past
And lost footing fast,
But choosing him this time's no lark.
TIM KAINE
Selecting Midwestern-born Tim Kaine
Means Virginia this time's not in vain.
A strong point would be
That's he's Catholic, you see.
Still, his name's eerily close to "McCain."
BILL RICHARDSON
Though his resume's eye-poppingly great,
It might be Bill Richardson's fate
To be passed-by for Veep.
Still, he won't be sold cheap
If he's the next Secretary of State.
*** Late Saturday Update: Mrs. Hasslington and I co-wrote a Jack Reed limerick today. ***
JACK REED
If Obama chooses Jack Reed
His hopes will not go to seed.
Reed's armed forces years
Should allay people's fears
And fulfill a strategic need.
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7 comments:
LOL very clever indeed. I see you two have been enjoying yourselves. Cheers!
Last night, Rev. Rick Warren held an interview with Barack Obama and John McCain showing the senators in the same venue for the first time. McCain made clear his ideas between rich and poor, when he said that the line between rich and poor is $5 million a year.
This goes hand-in-hand with a statment McCain said last week at a private get-together. When joking about lopsided tax breaks at dinner, he purportedly justified it by saying, “People who make under $80,000 are too stupid to understand taxes anyway.”
This makes sense, as he’s somehow convinced the public that he’s the candidate for tax cuts. Meanwhile if we look at the breakdown, we see that McCain’s tax cuts do not help people who make $80,000, in order to give huge tax breaks to the top 1% of the population. How is it possible to get people to vote against their best interests? According to McCain it’s because you’re too stupid to understand.
I saw some of the forum, but I was unable to see all of it. I thought Senator Obama's answers were both necessarily "careful" (from an electoral standpoint) and quite reasonable. I thought his final comments (regarding energy) were superb. Sadly, I wasn't able to see much of Senator McCain's segment, but what I did see seemed a bit more uneven than what Senator Obama provided.
I just don't like Rick Warren. He strikes me as a mediocre, rather myopic thinker who has somehow leveraged himself into a spiritual "everyman." I think he's simpering and overly trademarked, and I have the sense that he is far less intelligent than he thinks he is. (Still, he's obviously successful--I'm not questioning that.)
It's always nice to throw out un-sourced quotations. I heard Obama once thought "I hate all white people." It's fun to make stuff up. Wonder what else I can attribute to something Obama reportedly said. I heard he thinks people who get cancer deserve it too. Those are both about as credible as your quote. Cartoons are also serve as effective justification too. Nice touch.
Obama panders. He's phenomenal at it. That's all he does. The man isn't a leader, he's a whore.
A #2,
You were making an interesting point until you completely undercut what you were saying with the rather glib "he's a whore" statement.
As far as "pandering" is concerned, I once recall Mr. McCain arguing vociferously against the Bush tax cuts, suggesting repeatedly that they would "overheat the economy." Now, even with a massive deficit, he'd like to double-down on them. Whether he now believes in the Bush plan or not (remember, Senator Obama believes in a Middle Class tax cut, paid for with a very slight increase in taxes on the wealthy, which would still leave them below the percentage they paid in the Clinton boom years of the 1990s), that sounds like a desperate shout-out to economic conservatives to me....
Ok, fine, the whore comment was a little over the top. Obama, like all other politicans, compromise principles to get elected. People like you make him out to be something different or special. He's not, he tells people what they want to hear - he's a whore.
The first commenter is your typical Obama supporter. The claims made are unsubstantiated, and likely completely untrue or at best taken out of context. The fact that you allow them makes you no better than him.
And, if you think aribitarily increasing taxes on one group to lower them on another is a good idea, you are not an economic conservative. Economic conservatives believe in minimizing the overall tax burden. History has shown there's no such thing as raising taxes to lower then. The net burden increases, which impacts everyone, no matter what subjective groups you create.
Who's suggesting that they're an economic conservative? Not me. I do think of myself as a social liberal and an economic centrist, which is something with which you are free to disagree.
You are right when you suggest that I am a strong supporter of Senator Obama, though he was not my first choice (that was Governor Richardson, whose economic policies in New Mexico have been very centrist indeed). I do not apologize for my strong support of Senator Obama; I admire his intellect and his vision for the United States, even if I disagree occasionally with a few of his stances. I'm happy to see, for instance, that he's coming around to the use of nuclear power, with which Senator McCain has been a strong supporter for quite some time; when I lived in England, we spent considerable time in France and saw first-hand how efficient their third-generation nuclear power is. I do agree with Senator Obama that we need to find a better way to dispose of nuclear waste, but that's also being developed rapidly.
In the overall scheme of things, however--which is to say when I take into account the dozen or so various issues I consider the most important--I find Senator Obama to be the stronger presidential candidate this time around by far. To some that most likely makes me an "elitist." I would suggest that such a response is grossly over-simplifying things, but some people feel comfortable only when they can make simple, snap-judgments of others. (Oops, that's "elitist" again. I may never learn....)
Ah, I see where some of the "economic conservative" confusion comes from. In an above comment, I said that John McCain's about-face on taxes is, to my mind, a "desperate shout-out to economic conservatives." I did not say that I am an economic conservative.
It would make things easier if folks read clearly what others write prior to commenting on what they've said. (I've found that many commenters to this site have done a good job of that in the past, though not necessarily every single one of them....)
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