Disclosure: I support John Edwards, Bernie Sanders, Howard Dean, and Russ Feingold for President.
Warning: This diary has been rated R and may contain ICB (Insensitive Candidate Bashing) or IFLICB (It Feels Like Insensitive Candidate Bashing). Reading this article backwards may channel Hillary. Other possible side effects include high blood pressure, heart attack, heart palpatations, smoking ears, and blindness. Only go below the fold if you are over 21 or accompanied by a parent or a legal guardian. Do not read this diary standing on a ladder erected on a hill or while driving with hot coffee between your legs. Don't say I didn't warn you.
I don't support Hillary Clinton one bit. I think she is an opportunist; and I am OD'd on Bushes and Clintons. I don't even want Socks.
I have been trying and trying to overcome a mistrust of and a dislike for Obama. It would be nice to have a second choice. But every time I try to settle in with Obama, something happens; and I get uncomfortable.
I think Jane Hamsher explained why when she asked and answered: Is Barack Obama a profile in courage or a political opportunist ?
The answer wasn't very good for Obama. Seems Jane sees Obama's finger up in the air just as much as Hillary's, and she gives at least three good reasons why Barack Obama is not the guy he keeps saying he is.
Reason number one: hypocrisy.
Barack Obama took potshots at Hillary Clinton for her "yea" vote on the warmongering Kyl-Lieberman bill -- a vote he ducked and said nothing about until it became clear that it was a political liability. Considering he was one of the co-sponsors of the equally bellicose anti-Iranian S.970 bill earlier in the year, his claim that he would have voted against it had he only bothered to show up becomes somewhat less than convincing.
Reason number two; grandstanding.
But ducking votes and then engaging in historical revisionism seems to be a pattern with Obama. He likewise didn't show up for the MoveOn condemnation vote, which he later said was an attempt to score "cheap political points" -- even though he showed up and voted "yea" on the Barbara Boxer cheap political points bill that very morning.
And reason number three: Obama thinks women aren't as important as politics.
Now he wants us to think he's pro-choice because he ducked yet again, voting "present" on important abortion legislation in Illinois -- ostensibly to "give cover" to Democrats in vulnerable districts who couldn't afford to vote "yea" themselves.
Oh please. Would this pass muster if Obama had failed to support important civil rights legislation to give cover to Democrats who lived in districts with lots of bigots? Somehow I don't think so.
So after I read Jane's entire article, I went back to her question. Is Barack Obama a profile in courage or a political opportunist? This is what Jane thinks.
Obama didn't want to do anything to jeopardize his political future. He openly rejects partisanship and wants everyone to join together in a message of hope, but that tactic seems to depend on ducking out on tough issues and letting others take the arrows one inevitably takes when standing on principle -- and then trying to re-write history when it becomes clear which way the wind has blown.
I think Jane is right and that Barack, like Hillary, believes winning is everything. For me, winning just isn't enough. I can't even begin to tell you how many games I have thrown to my grandsons over the years. For me, everything is deserving to win.