tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post7092864661104191338..comments2024-01-22T18:22:29.391-08:00Comments on hedera's corner: Finding Hillaryhederahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-64098764205734172782007-10-02T21:37:00.000-07:002007-10-02T21:37:00.000-07:00Rambling David, I have to concede your point on ch...Rambling David, I have to concede your point on charisma. In fact, you left out two of the twentieth century's most disastrously charismatic figures, namely Adolf Hitler and Jim Jones. And you're right about Iraq; but what good does it do to vote for the perfect candidate if he (assuming <I>not</I> Hillary for the moment) can't win the election? Although with the Republicans in their current disarray, we might be able to elect an actual donkey - you think?<BR/><BR/>Curtis, I too wish Colin Powell hadn't been driven out - I was prepared to vote for him for president even as a Republican, and I don't believe I have <I>ever</I> voted for a Republican for president. As for Obama's lack of passion - frankly I've had enough passion. Dick Cheney has passion. I want someone who will think about things calmly and make rational decisions. Obama may not have the depth of experience that some others have, but he strikes me as a thoughtful, careful man who might be willing to admit it if he realized he had made a mistake. I'd go for that. I'm less sure Hillary would be willing to admit to mistakes.<BR/><BR/>I keep coming back to the old saying that the presidency of the United States is too important a position to allow it to go to someone who is crazy enough to want it...hederahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01696592301686568456noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-85690334757548146722007-10-02T18:50:00.000-07:002007-10-02T18:50:00.000-07:00Best way to judge a candidate (in my experience) i...Best way to judge a candidate (in my experience) is to know who they have been, what they have done, and what causes/policies they have actually dedicated themselves to. The only way I know to judge Hillary is to take a look at the past 40 years of her life. Same goes for all the candidates. My first choice among the top three is John Edwards, but I will take any one of them over any Republican or independent (I'm thinking of that smooth talking mayor of NYC, although he is certainly a cut above his predecessor, Rudy the pocket-lining opportunistic superphony).<BR/><BR/>But only Bill Richardson, Dennis Kucinich, and Ron Paul have it right on Iraq (I'm not really paying any attention to Mike Gravel), and Chris Dodd is much farther along than some of the others. I thought Edwards had it right on Iraq until he acquiesced to maintaining a troop presence in a country we destroyed and which we intend only to occupy as part of our goal of control distribution of Middle East oil. Of note regarding Hillary and Iraq is that she has been endorsed by Wes Clark. He gets it.<BR/><BR/>Oh, yeah, regarding charisma. That is one dangerous two-edged sword. Bebe Netanyahu has charisma. David Koresh apparently had boatloads of charisma. About the only charisma I'm comfortable with is Bill Clinton's, because it is the charisma of easy, intelligent candor. It failed him on the one occasion that it should have: when he lied about his relationship with Monica Lewinsky. <BR/><BR/>I do want leaders to be capable speakers, but I really, really distrust charisma as an attractor of followers. Of course, I also don't think much of the idea of followers, especially if it is conflated with discipleship. I go for being an enabler of whoever is intelligent, knowledgeable, insightful, honest, and willing to stick their necks out for the common good. LBJ was and did on the issue of civil rights, and as he correctly predicted, he signed over the South to the Republicans for the next generation (he underestimated how long it would last). Did I mention that I have a visceral progressive Southern contempt for the Republican Party. Yellow dogs are vastly superior to the Republicans spawned by the Nixon crowd. Goldwater, on the other hand, while the wrong person to be president of the United States, was decent, honorable, intelligent, and intellectually honest. He was an opposition leader I could respect.<BR/><BR/>Rambling DavidAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20417751.post-69175729385022719502007-10-01T07:44:00.000-07:002007-10-01T07:44:00.000-07:00I wish I could believe in Obama. He looks like no...I wish I could believe in Obama. He looks like nothing so much as a neat, quiet, attentive, ambitious alter boy who is pursuing his Boy Scout "God & Country" merit badge, and will do and say anything--politely--to succeed. I find his studied "neutrality" a little unsettling. I'd like to feel he had some new ideas, and some courage to stand up to big business, but I don't. He just lacks passion. <BR/><BR/>On the other hand, I've never been a big Hillary fan, either. I've always thought she looked attractive--except when she smiled (those cheeks!)--as intelligent, strong-willed women always knock me out. I think she got a bum rap on her health care advocacy during Bill's first term--the Republicans insulted her up one aisle and down the other in a successful attempt to prevent Medicare reform. But she has a very hard edge, and there's some shady stuff back in Arkansas that I wish hadn't come out. The portrait of her "first lady" years which emerged does not paint a pretty picture.<BR/><BR/>I think if she doesn't win Iowa, it could be very dicey for her. But who else can challenge? <BR/><BR/>Can you see Fred Thompson as President? "So plead it out, and let's move on." "Sorry, Arthur, I refuse to let publicity dictate policy at the DA's office."--Sam Waterston Maybe Sam Waterston for UN Representative? Or Epatha as Attorney General? Sorry, actors running for office just makes me silly. Where do we draw the line? <BR/><BR/>Last night on 60 minutes, Judge Thomas was profiled. It was kind of embarrassing. Thomas kept insisting he was a cool, calm customer, but his demeanor and body language fairly seethed with anger and resentment. This was a man who walked around in army fatigues in college and talked the Black Panther line. I know people can change, but Thomas smacks of the born-again young Republicans, a poor guy from the South who "found" his religion among the white technocrats and corporate apologists. With no prior judicial experience, and questionable legal credentials, he's an embarrassment on the Court. And I say that despite my belief that we NEED blacks throughout our government in high places. I wish Colin Powell hadn't been driven out.Curtis Favillehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213075853354387634noreply@blogger.com