Hoping to Fail or Failing to Hope?

I know it's been awhile since I've posted but something has really been grinding my gears (thanks Peter!).

Recent comments made by Republicans about their desire that President Obama fail are tragically telling of the individuals making the statements, their party (my party, too by the way), and the country as a whole. A few of the offenders (they are indeed offensive to any rational person) include: radio talk-show host Rush Limbaugh, LA Gov. Bobby Jindal, Rep. Party Chairman Micheal Steele, and most recently fmr Sen. (and actor) Fred Thompson. That list includes very crazy persons.. and seemingly quite sane people and they all repeat the same thing they either "hope he (Obama) will fail" or they support those statements in a wholehearted way.

These people who are joining this chorus are losers. Plain and simple. I know at least a few of you who are reading this are already looking for the comment button to blast me for blindly supporting the President's policies and probably are ready to use a liberal sprinkling of the words : koolaid, messiah, sheep, brain dead, and biased media. If you really are that simple-minded go ahead.. but I'll just respond by letting you know you should have read past the first two paragraphs....

Like I said, these people are losers. They are failing themselves, their ideology, and the American people. First, they fail themselves. How petty do you have to be to lose a popularity contest and then hope the other side trips on their way to the podium? Pretty dang petty. These politicians and critics are doing just the opposite of what a responsible person who disagrees should do, find alternate solutions and try to convince others their way is better. Simply saying that you hope the ones with the coherent plan don't do so hot basically says "I hope the front-runner falls so I'll come in first!" Folks, that's just the voice of pettiness, anger, and desperation at work.

Second, these people are taking the Republican Party's elephant 'round back, replacing it with a giant elephant balloon than going out and publicly poking holes in it... all for the cause of advancing the party (with the notable exception of Rush, who does it for the money and power). Of all the public figures who have spewed these sentiments Rush is the only one who hasn't done harm to the party.. which is remarkable. He is one man, a man who can be (very easily) discredited at very little true political cost. I know he has tens of millions of listeners but most of these folks would be equally swayed by the next nutcase (liberal, conservative, crazy, sane, or possibly dead) who takes over the time slot. Before you go off firing the cannon on me ponder this, his listeners call themselves 'ditto heads'! They reference the fact that they are COPYING someone else, not thinking for themselves! 'Ditto head' ought to be used as a derogatory term for the blind followers of anyone (especially in a democracy that is based on the fact that people will think then vote).. not as a self-imposed label. What's wrong with us?

Enough about Rush.. back to my point, the Republican party is being hurt. By only "hoping" that the President's policies fail you basically shoot yourself in the foot and demonstrate pretty clearly that you have no idea what you actually support. Solving the economic crisis is not a two solution game where you can simply say "that is wrong" and logically that means you are right, it is the economy for goodness sake, a million solutions exist. The right way of criticizing the Obama policies should be to tie all democrats to it then say that it WILL fail, give evidence (this is important!), then inform the public of your better solution. Simply saying 'i think that's bad just cuz...' then saying tax-cuts a few times before shrugging your shoulders and going home is not going to cut it. Don't believe me.. watch for the 2010 election results.

Lastly, this approach is terrible for the American electorate and the nation as a whole. When policy debates keep gravitating to personal and distracting issues faster and faster the American people find themselves uniting less and dividing more. That is isn't good for us as a nation. I'm not saying one side should lay down and surrender, what I am saying is that if we both just agreed that we both want the same thing then debated how to get there we would have some progress. Simply pointing fingers and name-calling doesn't produce solutions it produces doubts, political demons, and more problems.


Remember that fear, smears, and lies only go so far before we, the American people, get fed up and vote in your replacements. Be careful.

Bush/Cheney cancel GOP Appearances for Gustav

Hurricane Gustav prepares to make land fall on the Gulf Coast of Louisiana or Mississippi

In what seems like a stroke of bad luck, President Bush and Vice President Cheney are canceling their appearances at the GOP convention in St. Paul Monday night to deal with Hurricane Gustav. Many GOPers see this as a tragedy because that basically guts all of their star power from opening night. The McCain camp however may have been hoping that something would keep the President away.. some reports claim that there was a plan in place for the President to suddenly cancel due to any kind of "crisis". Unfortunately for the McCain campaign, Hurricane Gustav reminds many Americans of Hurricane Katrina of just three years ago.. and John McCain stands to lose the most from that memory.

Let's rewind to the fateful day of August 29th, 2005: An enormous hurricane has barreled past Cuba and is heading right up the coast at Mississippi. It is hurricane season and President Bush leaves Washington DC aboard Air Force One headed out to Arizona with FEMA in the hands of one of his incompetent friends, Michael D. Brown. President Bush arrives in Arizona to enjoy a birthday celebration for Senator John McCain, cutting the cake in front of Air Force One and enjoying a private party along with many GOP supporters and fundraisers. Hurricane Katrina batters New Orleans, Louisiana and the coastal regions of Mississippi as well.

Now, that story alone should give some pause to John McCain to take hurricanes lightly because Katrina certainly left a very bad taste in many people's mouths and may have led to a major part of the reversal of the Republican's fortunes in the 2006 elections. So, while the hurricane ensured that a President with near-record low ratings does not speak it also puts the pressure on a Republican Administration to help a Republican Governor in a redo of 2005. Will there be a big difference? Will even the slightest error give Democrats a lead and ruin the "bump" of the Republican convention? Will President Bush take the blame for Katrina's response as he did in 2005? Can Bobby Jindal prove he is the new young face of the Republican party with a stellar performance in dealing with Hurricane Gustav?

All great questions! Do you have the answers? If you do, comment... show us what you've got.

McCain VP Pick This Week? Call it Bad Timing

Unless John McCain has the most groundbreaking, remarkable, out of this world Vice Presidential pick I would suggest he keep it under his hat. According to sources around the McCain campaign, Sen. McCain has reduced the options and is ready, as early as THIS WEEK, to announce his running mate.

Why would McCain do such a thing? Is it a terribly slow week in political news and he feels that and his running mate could dominate the airwaves for a few days? Is his communications director on leave and he wants to try his hand at a little PR fun? Is he completely insane? Is his running mate Karl Rove or a fictional super-hero brought to life?

Either John McCain has a very smart communications director.. or he has the absolute worst political team put together for a presidential race since... John Kerry. If John McCain's team is seriously thinking about announcing their VP pick against the torrent of photos, stories, exclusive TV interviews, and appearances by Sen. Barack Obama on his Iraq- Afghanistan- Israel- Palestine- Jordan- England- Germany- Mars trip then the entire team should be fired and replaced by mannequins. The VP pick would drown in the coverage of the Obama trip and wouldn't stand a chance against a month-long attack from Democrats until Obama reveals his shiny rockstar VP. If he's serious about this... WORST. TIMING. EVER.

If he is bluffing to build up some hype about possible picks in order to sort of use the media to vet his possibilities and see what people think of the options.. then he is a pretty smart guy. By the way, the option currently look like: Louisiana Governor, Rich Guy, Government Reform Specialist, and minority Bobby "Token" Jindal, Republican in a crazy Blue/Purple state - Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty, former rival and Massachusetts ex-Governor Mitt "Mormon Olympics" Romney, America's Mayor and former rival Rudy "9/11 9/11 9/11" Guliani, Florida Governor and friend of the Hispanic voters Charlie "Swing State" C(h)rist. There are a few more.. but those were the big names mentioned and before I get a million email from Hucksters, I left Mike Huckabee off the list because he is a pretty long shot at this point.

The thing that really makes this election interesting is that both sides are so unique that they can really surprise you with their decisions and timing. John McCain is an independent spirit who knows how to get himself out of a political jam - his perseversance. Face it folks, John McCain should have logically quit in the middle of July 2007 with his staff in taters and his finances dwindling into sub-Ron Paul territory, he was SIXTH out of a possible seven or eight big names! He persevered and pulled out win after win with his style of straight talk and direct voter involvement - holding Q&A sessions and open Town Halls at a rate only previously registered by George W Bush's greatest nightmares. Then there is Obama, who is trying out his whole "post-partisan" politics things by driving every political pundit and veteran off the wall. Well.. It is going to be fun! I'll have a full review of the Obama trip later this week.


Link: Story about VP picks with Analysis - CNN

UPDATE 7/23/08 12:00PM Bobby Jindal has ruled himself out of the running for a position serving as John McCain's Vice President, saying that he "has the job I want" as Louisiana's Governor. John McCain is still meeting with him at a privately this week, followed by a meeting with potential picks, Gov. Charlie Crist and ex-Gov. Mitt Romney.