Hitchens or the art of being wrong, again and again and again and to brag about it...

Anyway, back to the point. We sure can understand that Republicans are happy about the "divine surprise" delivered by the McCain - Palin ticket. But, let's face it, who can remember any significant sentence from a McCain speach either? Slogans come and go, especially in campaign times. What stays are politicians and the policies they implement. Frankly, I understand that Hitchens wants more of the same policies, considering they are making his Hoover patrons richer. But is that good for the Americans? I doubt it. McCain may be a nice human person, he has no clue how to run a country. He doesn't understand anything about economics, which could be a problem in times of crisis, he has no clue about foreign policy (when the USA are engaged in war in two countries) and he is simply too old to grasp most of the concepts and issues in this new century. But that does not matter to voters: he looks like them. He is white, smiling and he does not have a clue.

Obama, on the other hand, is educated, brilliant even, has a multicultural standpoint (something invaluable in modern politics) and is perfectly fit to lead the USA in troubled times. Even better, unlike McCain, he could help reconcile the USA with the rest of the world and its previous allies. But Americans don't see that. They just see a guy who does not look like most of them, talks funny and so on. They are resenting this perceived superiority, pure jealous, fear of the difference. Fear. That's the clue of this election. If Americans are scared enough, they will vote McCain like good sheeps.

Look, Obama's education, "brilliance" and multicultural appearance are trivialities in this race. We ultimately will vote for a Party platform. I'm not too proud of the performance of our past Republican-led congress and senate or administration. But the Democrats offer almost nothing BUT higher taxation and a platform that is centered around larger government footprint. I don't care what color the President, or what he looks like, or how oratorically astute he may be. I ONLY care about the potential of either a larger or smaller government. I realize it's a gamble, but I still think it best not to give the Democratic Party two-thirds of the decision-making power. Bad precedents have been set that way. LBJ and Jimmy C are still stinking up Washington...

FBH, congratulations. That is the first intelligent reasoning I've heard for voting for either candidate so far. Not that I necessarily agree with your idea that less government is always better as the current financial crisis would seem to show. But at least you show sound non-personal or emotional reasoning in how your choice matches your beliefs.

FBH:

Look, Obama's education, "brilliance" and multicultural appearance are trivialities in this race. We ultimately will vote for a Party platform. I'm not too proud of the performance of our past Republican-led congress and senate or administration. But the Democrats offer almost nothing BUT higher taxation and a platform that is centered around larger government footprint. I don't care what color the President, or what he looks like, or how oratorically astute he may be. I ONLY care about the potential of either a larger or smaller government. I realize it's a gamble, but I still think it best not to give the Democratic Party two-thirds of the decision-making power. Bad precedents have been set that way. LBJ and Jimmy C are still stinking up Washington...

ah, so you are voting for the republican platform of change from the democratic presidency of 20-40 years ago? or change from the big government disaster foisted upon us more recently by that darn republican party?

gzuckler,

The tension between worn-out Democratic Party answers and the ridiculous position we've been put in partly because of Republican "leadership" is exactly why we need limited government. I'm ONLY interested in a government that gets out of my life as much as possible. I don't need this government, I don't care about their opinions, speeches, promises, or even the delivery of some of their entitlements. I'm not entitled to anything other than taking care of myself and leading myself. I don't need a committee to "advise" me before I do as I please. Because in the end, I'm going to do as I please anyway...

Dear FBH

Thanks for the intelligent comment. However, and from your own point of view, both candidates are equally bad. Both McCain and Obama (in different fields) are going to increase government intervention. McCain will, because he is militaristic. Palin will because she is pro-life. Obama will, because he is (apparently) in favor of some level of social security. Anyway, both sides will have to find resources to pay for the hole dug by the current Republican adminsitration in the US budget. Taxes or debt... Now, who do you think is the best placed party to make the US budget sound again? The party which systematicaly dug this hole, or the party which systematically improved the US budget situation. I would (gut feeling, I know) trust the second one. And guess what, it is the Democratic party...

Alphast:

Dear FBH

Thanks for the intelligent comment. However, and from your own point of view, both candidates are equally bad. Both McCain and Obama (in different fields) are going to increase government intervention. McCain will, because he is militaristic. Palin will because she is pro-life. Obama will, because he is (apparently) in favor of some level of social security. Anyway, both sides will have to find resources to pay for the hole dug by the current Republican adminsitration in the US budget. Taxes or debt... Now, who do you think is the best placed party to make the US budget sound again? The party which systematicaly dug this hole, or the party which systematically improved the US budget situation. I would (gut feeling, I know) trust the second one. And guess what, it is the Democratic party...

yeah. admission: in a former life i used to be a biologist, so i make the analogy to parasitism; parasites tend to shed every function of a "normal" organism and retain only what they need to keep up their parasite lifestyle. in that sense, the republican party in the past few decades has shed everything which is not required to keep it a successful parasite of the plutocracy, which is why they have been so successful; the democrats, competing for the same niche, still retain a few vestiges of attempting to maintain life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for the general mass of Americans, and it costs them in efficiency of getting elected. but if you happen to be a gay person, or a pregnant teenager from a disastrous family, or a residennt of new orleans, or somebody in the national guard, etc. etc. etc. the little difference makes a big difference.