Barack-o-mania

I admit to taking a vested interest in the election season this year, for the first time ever. I think in the past I tried to distance myself someone since the political scene is often depressing and in this year's case, more than a little scary.

I read Barack's book, The Audacity of Hope, last month, trying to give the man a fair shake. Can't say it impressed me much, and did very little good in regards to my pessimism for his potential presidency. I just finished a book called The Audacity of Deceit (after reading The Case Against Barack Obama a couple weeks ago) which changed my pessimism to alarm.

First off, let me express my condolences to our Democrat brethren across the land who have been stuck with such a unworthy candidate to vote for. The more they've learned about Barack since the primary, the more they've pined for Hillary, no doubt. I mean, this man is so vastly unqualified for the top office in the land that I've had a knot in my stomach for weeks just thinking about him being elected. And why his cult following refuses to analyze his credentials is beyond me . . . I guess just the words "hope" and "change" in the midst of his polished rhetoric are enough for them. Honestly, the only reason this guy has a shot is the displeasure with the last 4+ years of the Bush administration. If Bush had been even reasonably popular, the public would have squashed an Obama campaign right off the bat, citing his complete lack of . . . well, anything that might make him a viable candidate.

His political "resume":

--7 years in the Illinois State Senate, in which he voted "present" a staggering 130 times. This basically means that he was present for the vote, but decided not to vote yay or nay. Let's hear it for conviction! (A funny anecdote from one of the aforementioned books. During one of the votes, he was second in line. He voted "present", surprise, surprise, but felt pretty stupid when everyone else voted yay. It was unanimous except for him; he then petitioned to have his vote changed to yay. Bravo.)

--Less than a 150 days in the US Senate before declaring his run for the presidency. Wow, almost a whole six months.


Though his voting record is pretty meager (again, all the "present" votes aren't much to go on), it seems that Barack is pretty out of touch with the political views of his country at large. Barack is one of the most liberal members of Congress, running for president in a country that falls just right of center. Nearly all of his political views are in the minority of public opinion polls.

The most extreme (and disturbing) example: The Born-Alive Infants Protection Act. This bill was to provide medical treatment for those infants that survived a late-term abortion. It had nearly unanimous support, even by extreme pro-choice Senators such as Ted Kennedy and Barbara Boxer. Even NARAL didn't fight it. Barack opposed it. Hey, at least he had an opinion, albeit a jaw-dropping one.

So why is he getting a free pass? Why are no voting democrats taking a hard look at his political and social connections to terrorists, socialists, radical Christians, etc.? Why is no one calling him out on the fact that he's flip-flopped on a myriad of issues even since the primaries? When is the public going to rise up and say, "the emperor has no clothes!" I myself am terrified about where we might be as a country four years from now if he's allowed to take the helm.