The Swiftboats Must Be Sunk

What the Clintons used to call the "Politics of Personal Destruction" has become a mantel they have draped over their own shoulders. In a blog on the Huffington Post on February 18th, 2008, Taylor Marsh, apparently a strong Hillary Clinton supporter, in referring to the "plagiarism" accusations the Clinton camp has been making against Barack Obama, says:

Barack Obama isn't an original. He's the first 21st century L. Ron Hubbard of politics, Elmer Gantry, name your huckster.

"I have a dream" just became "I have a con."

This blog by Taylor Marsh is a perfect example of the Clinton/Bush politics of tearing down your opponent. It has nothing to do with issues. And, as I read the comments made here and on other blogs by Clinton supporters, it saddens me.

This is a perfect example of why Clintons and Bushes are and have been so divisive, in case you have ever wondered why so many people say that Clintons or Bushes are divisive. We have seen this kind of thing for 20 years now! It basically started with George H. W. Bush's "Willie Horton" ad against Michael Dukakis in, oh, I think it was 1988. This kind of politics, these negative attacks, this style of "tearing down" or "smearing" one's opponent, is just the thing that most Americans, especially young Americans, have grown weary of.

This is why so many young Americans are excited by the Obama campaign. This is why Barack Obama has just won 11 states in a row. He does not try to tear down his opponents. He will answer their charges, but he will not try to smear them. That is a breath of fresh air on the political stage! That is just one of the reasons why Barack Obama will not only win the Democratic nomination, but will also soundly defeat John McCain in November.

Get a clue, Hillary supporters: you are upholding, promoting, and supporting a style of politics that most Americans, especially young Americans who have seen it their whole adult life, are fed up with...it not only hurts Hillary, it not only hurts the Democractic party, it hurts America. It is something best left to the Republicans. Over the past seven years, under the tutelage of Karl Rove, they have made this kind of sleaze descend into a a kind of political art form...and I am talking about the dark arts here. Let the Democratic party rise above it, and Democrats everywhere will win seats this November.

The swiftboats are sinking in their own morass, and our nation will be the better for it. It is the spark that will enable Barack Obama to make the sweeping, positive changes our country so desperately needs.

The Sound and Fury of Hillary

The Clinton team's new strategy of attacking Obama for making speeches is one that should give anyone pause. Michael Seitzman has written an interesting blog on February 14th, 2008 dealing with this. You will find it here - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/michael-seitzman/speeches-do-matter_b_86745.html. In it he says:

"...there is the assertion that speechmaking is irrelevant. I'm wondering where this country would be without great oratory, without great communicators, without those who have been able to articulate a vision and move a nation.
Where would we be without Martin Luther King's "I have a dream" speech? Is there a single piece of oratory that defined a moment more than that speech did for the civil rights movement? That speech is a cry for freedom and equality that changed the world. Yes, the marches and the political wrangling with various presidents (yes, including Johnson) mattered. But, it was that speech which encapsulated the simple humanity that was at stake. That speech galvanized a movement, electrified a nation, and embarrassed a government into action.
What about Robert Kennedy's, "Some men see things as they are and ask, 'Why?' I dream of things that never were and ask, 'Why not?"
Or JFK's, "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country."
Churchill's, "Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much to so few."
Roosevelt's, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."
Lincoln's, "Those who deny freedom to others, deserve it not for themselves; and, under a just God, can not long retain it."
And, now we have Senator Clinton's, "Talk is cheap." Boy, she really knows how a move a nation."

The responses of Clinton supporters to his blog in which they defend the new Clinton strategy are very interesting, and here is my take on those responses:

I am an older guy...a Vietnam vet. The responses of the Clinton supporters to this incisive and spot on blog by Mr. Seitzman remind me so much of the criticisms that were leveled at Senator John F. Kennedy when he ran for president. This is so much "deja vu all over again". Obama's "irrelevant" speeches remind me so much of King, JFK and RFK because they galvanize, inspire and are quite uplifting and full of vision for the future of our country. Does he have specific plans addressing specific issues? Of course he does. They are listed in detail on his website, and he has discussed them many times in many debates. I read the posts written by those who oppose Obama (and I have no problem with people opposing any politician...that is what America is all about) and they keep saying that Obama has no specific proposals. That is simply not true. If you are going to oppose a politician, please be truthful. Now, the Clintons, and I say that plurally because they are both saying the same thing, are saying that Obama is delivering speeches while Hillary is delivering proposals. No. Hillary is delivering speeches, too. It's just that her speeches are not as inspiring and uplifting as Obama's. They are the same old tired elocutions that we have heard for decades, ever since the first Bush was in office. Now, the second Clinton, trying to appear to be a fresh new face, is confronted with her own image: that of politics as usual; that of the past. Obama is right. This election is about the future, and the future shines bright when embraced through the vision embodied in his wonderful speeches. Meanwhile, Senator Clinton continues to sound like so much "sound and fury, signifying nothing", to quote another great elocutor of speeches, William Shakespeare.