Here It Comes

Well, it looks like Barak Obama is running for president after all. The link goes to a "pre-"announcement. The real one will apparently be made in Illinois tomorrow.

I would just like to state for the record that I think Obama is a HORRIBLE choice for president, and I (strongly) suspect the only reason anyone is considering voting for him in the first place is white guilt (and/or black racism, depending on your race).

Let's consider the facts:

1. Been in the Senate about 20min. Obama was sworn in in ... wait for it ... 2005. And this after an election in which he ran virtually unopposed - because of fortuitous scandals involving many of his primary opponents, and then his Republican opponent in the actual election. The immediately preceding election (for state senate) was actually unopposed. He was trounced in his first national election (61-30) - for the US House - in 2000. This isn't to say he doesn't have some high-profile supporters in Illinois (the police union, to name one), just that I'm not really sure he has the political experience to consider a presidential run.


2. Supports gun control. This is a hugely touchy issue for me. I will not support candidates who support gun control. It's a vicious policy that leaves honest citizens defenseless. Statistics can be cherry-picked to push this argument either way. Taken as a whole, what they mostly indicate is that gun control policies do not really impact the overall crime rate one way or another. But that is hardly the point. The point is that when someone smashes in your window at night and the police can't be bothered to come, you have a right and indeed a duty to defend your life and property. It is the soul of evil that wants to take the basic tools for exercising this right away.


3. Supports tarrifs. Obama fought hard to keep the tax on foreign ethanol in place, which is the worst example of a pork project currently alive in this country. Ethanol isn't even profitable as things stand. For most applications, it costs almost as much or more to produce it as it does to burn it. The least the government can do is allow some competition into this musty market! But no, there's a $0.54 tax on foreign ethanol, making compliance with any illconcieved government regulations promoting "clean fuel" more expensive than they have to be and already are.


4. Wants universal health care by "the end of the next presidential term." To which I offer a heartfelt "fuck off." No doubt there are problems with our healthcare system. It's way too expensive, for starters. But this is not, repeat NOT due to a lack of government interference! It's due to entirely too much interference. Increasing the government's already substantial role in our healthcare system is about the worst thing we could do right now.


5. Is religious. The one thing the Dems have going for them, really, is that they're credible on standing up to the religious right. And here comes Obama, talking about feeling God's power washing over him as he kneels before a cross. Christ, we already have a President who thinks he's on a mission from God! Do we really want a big-spending, New Deal-praising Democrat who thinks he's God's instrument??? Chavez in Amerikkka?

The scariest thing about Obama, though, is that he comes across as completely reasonable. All the normal attacks won't work. For one thing (and this is to his credit), he was actually opposed to the Iraq War from day one - not like most Democrats who supported it until election time, then suddenly decided to give peace a chance after all. So he can't be nailed as a flip-flopper on the War on Terror issue. Indeed, he comes at an opportune time: just when support for the Iraq Distraction is at an all-time low. For another thing, he has a way of mentioning the economy in all his social justice speeches in a way that lowers free-market supporters' defenses. Most Democrats will eventually say something that tips their hands as anti-industry economic incompetents who will spend us into European decline. Obama, however, is more careful about this. He always talks, plausibly to the uninitiated, about finding the right balance between government handouts and economic incentives. It's a dangerous rhetoric because it implies a kind of voodoo Laffer Curve-like magic about the whole industry of politics. You know, if we just tinker long enough, we'll get the alchemy right, and everyone will live happily ever after. Well sorry, kiddo, the real world ain't like that. Here in the real world, people are people, and not cogs in some machine that's yours to play with until it's functioning to your satisfaction! America isn't a building project. It's where we live - and more than anything in the world what we want is to be left the hell alone. Let us run our lives for a change!!! Quit searching for the magic formula because it just ain't there, sport.

In case it isn't clear, I really hate Barak Obama. And I hate him most of all because I believe he will be successful. He's the worst thing that could have happened to the movement for liberty and comes at one of the worst times. Just when we thought the 70s were behind us there's this convincing charlatan to sell us the same blue tonic all over again...