Reflections From a Murky Pond

On Tuesday night, the second night of the 2008 Democratic National Convention, Sen. Hillary Clinton stood up in front of the crowd of Democrats and delivered a speech. It has generally been hailed as a very good speech.

It was a concession speech!

Clinton never used the word  “concede,” but that is what the speech was all about – Hillary giving up the race and supporting Obama as the Democratic Nominee.

Now the Democrats will have to wait and see if Clinton can manage to sway her supporters. So far the response has been mixed, with some some Clinton supporters seeming willing to support Obama and others somehow seeing this as another example of mysogyny in America.

Any thoughts?

A host of music and film personalities have joined their voices with former Eurythmics frontman Dave Stewart in a hymn like Barack Obama for President video, entitled “American Prayer.”

Alright, does anyone else find this video deeply disturbing due to its cult like qualities? It’s like they see him as The Messiah, The Savior, The One.

The lyrics are even more disturbing when read.

This is my American Prayer
This is my American Prayer

This is the time to finish what you started
And this is no time to dream
This is the room
We can turn off the dark tonight
Maybe then we might see

American Prayer
American Prayer

And this is the ground
That keeps our feet from getting wet
And this is the sky over our head
And what you see depends on where you stand
And how you jump will tell you where you’re gonna land

American Prayer
American Prayer

My oh my
Couldn’t get much higher
Lets not kick out the darkness
Make the lights brighter

And these are the hands
What are we gonna build with them?
This is the church you can’t see
Give me your tired, your poor and huddled masses
You know they’re yearning to breathe free
This is my American Prayer
American Prayer
American Prayer

When you get to the top of the mountain
Will you tell me what you see
If you get to the top of the mountain
Remember me

I find it both telling and disturbing that the creators of video do not seem to see Obama as leading America to some Promised Land as much as they seem to look forward to his transcendence or Ascension.

When you get to the top of the mountain
Will you tell me what you see
If you get to the top of the mountain
Remember me

There’s not a lot of the hope that Obama is selling in that last verse. Those are the words of followers who feel unworthy of salvation. They are the words of worshipers who hope that Obama, their Savior will ascend into his reign and look down upon them in blessing and give them a bare glimpse of His kingdom.

Again I must ask does anyone else find this disturbing?

The Obama Campaign recently published out an attack ad vs. Sen. John McCain. In the attack ad they imply that any man who doesn’t know how many homes he owns is far too rich to be President of the US.

This was a well crafted attack vs. McCain. It resonated well with many middle and lower class Americans. But by bringing up home ownership Obama has opened the door for his own real estate problem with Tony Rezko. As I predicted Team McCain was quick to jump on this.

In November 2006, Sen. Obama admitted to Chicago newspaper reporters that buying the Hyde Park townhouse adjacent to the vacant lot purchased by Tony Rezko’s wife, Rita, was a “boneheaded” move. For the most part the media accepted that and everyone moved on.

Unfortunately, by bringing up home ownership in an attack ad Obama has once again made his own home ownership – with its attendant appearance of impropriety and possible corruption – newsworthy again.

Since Obama has previously admitted his poor judgment in dealing with Resko there’s little defense he can offer up this time around. The absolutely worst thing he could do would be to claim that this was old news and an an old attack. That would be effectively parroting Hillary Clinton which would be an even bigger blow to his campaign.

Obama’s campaign staff really should have known better than to do this. Some attacks are not worth cost and the obvious counter and riposte.

The Obama Campaign just came out with an attack ad vs. Sen. John McCain. In the attack ad they imply that any man who doesn’t know how many homes he owns is far too rich to be President of the US. OK, there’s one significant flaw in that logic – McCain himself isn’t that wealthy.

Below are shown Sen. McCain’s 2006 & 2007 annual income. They are the figures for his total income, not just his taxable income.

• John McCain’s 2006 Total Income was $358,414
• John McCain’s 2006 Total Income was $405,409

Most of the real wealth in the McCain household belongs to his wife Cindy Lou Hensley McCain, Chairperson of Hensley & Co. one of the largest Anheuser-Busch beer distributors in the United States. Her personal wealth is estimated at approximately $100 million.

Essentially McCain is a Kept Man. That does explain his admitted lack of knowledge on economic matters 😉

Perhaps Obama should stop trying to use wealth as an insult and focus more on the fact that McCain’s lifestyle is largely provided by his wife, who keeps the bulk of her finances separate from her husband. The fact that Sen. McCain doesn’t see – much less control – the purse strings in his family both explains his lack of knowledge about the properties he and his wife own and would be a more interesting attack ad.

BTW: Just what does John McCain have? I mean look at him. How did he manage to get the gig of Kept Man anyhow? LOL

Here’s a very interesting 2004 CNN interview with Barack Obama. Obama was very open and candid about what he feels a political candidate should know and do before considering running for office on a national ticket.

I’m guessing that the Obama Campaign is not going to be happy that this video is now getting digital air time via YouTube. When your opposition – both John McCain and Hillary Clinton – have been repeating the accusation that Obama is “Not Ready To Lead,” it’s got to be painful for his campaign staff that Obama himself said he couldn’t be ready in 2008 and wouldn’t be comfortable trying to become ready.

One Word: Ouch!