Day: December 7, 2010

Tragic Loss Of Elizabeth Edwards: A Gracious Lady! :(

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The death of Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of former North Carolina Senator John Edwards, who sought the Presidency in 2004 and 2008, is a tragic loss to the nation! 🙁

She died of cancer, which she fought for six years, and while suffering the humiliation and upset of her husband cheating on her, and fathering a child with another woman.

Elizabeth Edwards was a brilliant lawyer, a tremendous advocate for her husband as he sought the Presidency and ran for Vice President with John Kerry in 2004, and a woman who was a tremendous mother, but also an advocate for the powerless in society!

She could have been a political candidate in her own right, and she will be remembered as one of the most appealing wives of a political candidate that we have seen in our lifetime!

May she rest in peace, and be remembered as a woman of renown and accomplishment, who her children will remember as a loving parent!

Speculation About A Primary Challenge To Barack Obama: Would Such A Move Be Worthwhile?

Ronald 1 Comment

Discontent with President Obama has been growing among principled liberals and progressives who do not wish for the President to accept compromises with the opposition Republicans.

It is understandable that there can be outrage and upset, but when the question arises that someone might challenge Obama in the 2012 Democratic Presidential primaries, one has to wonder whether that would indeed be a smart move, and who would mount such a challenge!

It seems to the author of this blog that challenging Obama would be extremely unwise, as it would weaken the President and give the GOP extra ammunition after he won the nomination over his critic. History tells us that when a sitting President is challenged for renomination, he invariably wins the nomination, but is so weakened that he loses to the opposition party’s Presidential nominee in the Fall campaign! This happened to William Howard Taft after Theodore Roosevelt challenged him, and the same with Gerald Ford after Ronald Reagan opposed him, Jimmy Carter after Ted Kennedy and Jerry Brown ran against him, and George HW Bush after Pat Buchanan competed against him!

As far as who would challenge Obama, there are not many choices, as there are fewer Democratic Senators and Governors, although a defeated office holder would have the freedom to run without a commitment to a political job!

It seems to the author that defeated Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin would probably be the strongest possible choice, as he is a great progressive voice, but his loss of his Senate seat would mark him as a loser in many people’s minds!

Trying to figure who else has the following and reputation to consider a serious challenge is a major undertaking, with no likelihood of a worthwhile, serious alternative!

Therefore, despite disillusionment with Barack Obama, the only real choice for Democrats, progressives and liberals is to fight to push Obama in their direction, but also to realize that a Republican victory in 2012 would be far worse than a “moderate, centrist” President that Barack Obama may represent by the time of the election in 2012!

Economic And Political “Pearl Harbor” For Progressive Cause: The Surrender Of Barack Obama! :(

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Today, December 7, marks the 69th Anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, forcing this nation into World War II!

Today also marks the first day waking up and realizing that Barack Obama has surrendered to the Republican Party and the conservative movement by his so called “compromise” to prevent a rise in taxes on the middle class and to allow unemployment compensation extension for 13 months!

Obama came into office declaring no more tax cuts for the super wealthy, but now he has caved in, sadly, and will likely see many progressives and liberals abandon him, perceiving him as weak, ineffective, wimpy, lacking “cajones”! 🙁

There was no easy answer, of course, and one must realize that the nation overwhelmingly repudiated the Democrats in the midterm congressional elections!

But the hope and promise of the Obama Presidency seems to have been spent, and he seems unlikely to accomplish much more in the next two years! 🙁

Meanwhile, another estimated $900 billion will be added to the national debt, only worsening the long range prognosis for this nation’s economy! 🙁

We are rapidly moving toward the possibility of economic bankruptcy, but the super wealthy will not be harmed by it, only the middle and lower classes! 🙁

The country is being “raped” by the upper class elite, and the danger is that when the middle and lower classes finally “get it”, there could be bloodshed and violence as a result, and the nation could rapidly decline as a super power and defender of freedom around the world! 🙁

So this is a moment to mourn, not only for the losses at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, but for our long term losses economically and socially in future years, because of what the voters in November stupidly did, and the “surrender” by President Obama last evening! 🙁