I don’t pin the picture issue on him. It’s just a case of a peon being hypersensitive to the Muslim issue. And with a hundred zillion peons working for you, it’s bound to happen that a few make bone-headed mistakes.

The financing issue is totally on Obama though. Had he not had 250 million sitting in the bank he’d be all for the public financing. He lost points in my book for claiming it was for any other reason.

Maybe he can redeem himself and say he’s only going to use the amount he could have used had he gone that route… HA!

I just blogged the exact same sentiment about the financing.

http://www.igeekrev.com/?p=156

If he is opting out because it is a broken system, didn’t he know it was broken when he initially made his promise to accept public funding? Or maybe it looks a lot more broken with millions of dollars in his checkbook.

“Looks like we might be back to ‘lesser of two evils’ politics.” I didn’t realize we left that type of politics. More of the same. The BS is why I’ve completely given up on the idea of politics.

I totally agree with you on the hedging crap. I think it’s a cop out to back track on his pastor like and the financing. Personally, I’d rather vote for Wright, I think.

Money is more powerful than change.

Lesson learned, again.

Are you really that surprised? He is a politician. Sure he’s got great rhetoric, but when it comes down to it, he wants to get elected. I still hope he does get elected because if he does even half the things he says he wants to do we’ll be far better off.

Is playing the game evil, or is playing the game all part of getting the candidate we want elected?

Ditto on what Alan said.

Sorry man but anyone who is willing to “play” the political game in America is bound to be a corrupted individual.

That’s just how it goes these days.

What i wonder is when was the last time we had a president who actually knows what its like for most people living in America? I mean “knows” by experience.

Like when was the last time we had a Pres. who didn’t grow up rich or from a family with all kinds of political connections?

The Presidency is not much different from the CEO position of a giant corporation, except this corporation is called America and it’s share holders are supposed to be the people of America.

Where is that representation?

it looks like he’s at least < apologized to the muslim women. but then again what did we expect him to do — not apologize after we all found out?

i’m with mudpuppy there and i’m willing to give him the benefit of a doubt on that — this time.

the public spending bit is upsetting. like you say, i wish we would cap that crap. it’s sick.

but even in light of all that, i can’t completely opt out of everything. i highly respect those persons that do, but regardless of whether i unplug or not someone will be president that matters. if we’ve learned anything over the last 8 years it’s that while the system and individuals are corrupt, the person in charge matters. for me, the ramifications are to deep for me to ignore but opting out altogether.

again, i understand why some do, and i respect that. and frankly, i’m not holding out for some sort of a political messiah and i’ll always be working against the system, looking for creative ways to participate in an alternative type of reality. but for worse or worst, it matters who sits in the oval office it has deep effects.

good god. i should’ve proofread.

i definitely agree with a lot of the above comments. you can’t be in american politics and not be greedy and corrupt as a rat. i for one never had the hope you speak of in obama, never even crossed my mind when he first came out. they painted him that way from the very beginning – as the savior and the guy who will bring change ( a stupid slogan simply on the basis of its vagueness and ambiguity) In reality he’s the most liberal and radical politician to ever get a major party nomination, and possibly the most underqualified and inexperienced candidate to ever get that far. whats more, take away his cue cards and he consistently does a worse job of communicating than bush does.

Amoslanka.

A little harsh there, brother.

My approach is a bit different. I never had the naive optimism and hope many folks had in obama in the beginning, precisely because I never knew what he stood for. I did see him as well-spoken and even-handed in general in debates, etc, which speaks well to one’s ability to unite folks from different positions.

I left my naive position when I read (most of) Audacity of Hope. Have you ever read Obama at length, Amoslanka, or are you operating on hearsay and quotes ripped out of context?

And when it comes to one’s qualifications and experience, when I look at his community organizing efforts in Chicago, his hardscrabble experience in Chicago politics, and his record in the Senate thus far, he has served well.

And I may not vote for him in November. If it’s close between him and McCain, with my state (VA) being a swing state, I’ll probably go Obama, what with McCain’s warhawkocity (invented word). Otherwise, I may go Shane Claiborne and write in the only candidate fully qualified for the job.

Nate