Not Exactly Passing the Torch
Earlier today I confidently started to predict that the next President of the US would not be a Baby Boomer. Then I checked the math and found that Barack Obama is, in fact, a Boomer, born in 1961. It's hard for me to think of him as a Boomer since his life and times are so much different from my own. Boomers like me who were in high school and college in the 60's seem considerably removed from our younger brothers and sisters who came of age in the 70's and 80's. By definition, though, we are the same generation so it looks like my generation has a shot at a fifth term in office, if the Young Dude can beat the Geezer.
John McCain represents a generation that has yet to serve as president. He may well be that generation's last chance since even its youngest members will be approaching 70 in 2012. My guess is that America will go for the younger candidate this year, a man who has already demonstrated his ability to win against the "inevitable". Republicans are good at dirty tricks, smear campaigns and outright distortion so they may be able to trash Obama sufficiently to get McCain into office but I'm thinking not.
Predictions are usually pretty worthless I offer this as a passing thought. If Obama were to choose someone like Bill Richardson as vice-president and offer Hillary Clinton strong support for her leadership in the Senate on key legislative initiatives, John McCain will be toast. Obama-Richardson will energize and solidify two key constituencies and giving Clinton the opportunity to take the lead in what, for the most part, are shared policy goals gives her the incentive to rally her support to the ticket. It will leave McCain with nothing to hold on to but the war.
Of course, neither Obama, Clinton, Richardson or any other major figure offers any real choice to America. They all support and are part of the corporate-military national security state that chooses to invest vast sums in non-productive weapons and war fighting capabilities rather than economic and social infrastructure. That change will take a revolution from the bottom up. Still any change toward that goal is better than none (I think). That's why I hope Obama can pull it off.
Labels: elections
posted by Rez Dog at 8:11 AM
2 Comments:
i think that if we learned anything at all from the civil rights, personal freedom, anti-war movements of the 60s it is the same lesson learned by the native americans.
sometimes the absolute worst thing that can happen to you in your struggle is a resounding victory.
many historians feel that the most devasting political move made by red cloud was to win a war with the united states. yes, he got a great treaty and legal recognition of tribal boundries. and yes, the hunkpapa and ogalala souix were exterminated within a decade.
cochise did shut down tucson and hold bisbee for ransom. the next 30 years of military focus for the united states were hell bent on exterminating the chiricauhua. (the white mountain apache were willing allies in this campaign)
the backlash brought by the hard hats and other "law and order" fanatics in response to the peace and freedom movement were one of the main forces that brought us to the authoritarian debacle we live in today.
nobody seems to get that one of the reasons a man lay on the street unaided, almost unnoticed, in hartford was the survelliance cameras themselves. nobody today wants to get involved in something that involves the police.
they are not our friends.
Obama might be as much of a corporatist and military-industrial complex supporter as Bush, but maybe, as President, he'll exercise a lot more caution and reason when acting on those tenets than Bush ever did -- and perhaps Obama will be wise enough to know when to leave them alone altogether, too. That would be a major improvement.
But McCain? I think that man's becoming a goddamned maniac. If he gets elected, I just might emigrate...
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