Badtux the Snarky Penguin

In a time of chimpanzees, I was a penguin.

Religious fundamentalists are motivated by the sneaking suspicion that someone, somewhere, is having fun -- and that this must be stopped.


Sunday, January 21, 2007

Why Hillary is wrong for 2008

I don't have anything against Hillary. I just don't think she's the right person for the job right now. She's a wonk. If the country was prosperous and peaceful and moving down the right path, a wonk like the Clintons is just who we need to lead the country, because wonks take what's working and make it work even better. But wonks aren't dreamers, and I think this country is hungry for a dreamer who can help us find a better way and lead this country down a better path. Why do you think the Kossites squee like teenage girls whenever Obama burps out something that even vaguely sounds like he’s looking forward to a better America?

What we need is a serious national discussion about what kind of nation we want to be and how we are going to get there. Wonks don’t do that. Wonks are totally focused on the here and now. But focusing on the here and now is no good if we don’t also look at the future. What kind of country do we want to be? What do we want our country to be like in ten years, twenty years, thirty years? And what kind of people running for office are going to get us there? A detail-oriented wonk is not the kind of person who can embrace a vision of American-that-could-be and sell it. Because that's what we need right now. I don't think any of us in this room think this nation is moving in the right direction. Yet people in the left and center, and traditional conservatives, seem afraid to dream, afraid to express a belief in what this nation should and could be, afraid that in these times where we are fighting such vile darkness such dreaming will merely get them laughed at. But without dreams that are not nightmares, where are we? Without dreams of a better America, the only dreamers are the theocrats, who in their konklaves dream of an America that is Saudi Arabia except with the Bible rather than the Koran used as the excuse to keep women servile, the darkies in their place, and the ruling class on top of all. And without a dreamer willing to give us a better dream, that is where we will be.

In the next election, we will have an opportunity that we haven't had since Nixon screwed up the Republican Party in the early 70's. Nixon discredited the Republican Party and Republican principles in much the same way that George W. Bush has done for this generation, and for a short time it appeared that the Republican Party would not hold power again within the lifetime of those who'd experienced his regime. But a wonk rather than a dreamer won in 1976, and we know what happened. Let's not squander it *again* by electing Jimmy Carter Lite to office. Because we all know how that worked the first time. Jimmy was -- and is -- a nice man. But he did not know what to do with the historic opportunity that had been granted to him -- and neither does Hillary, if she's elected.

- Badtux the Political Penguin

Posted by: BadTux / 1/21/2007 09:47:00 AM  

Comments:

Well, said Badtux.
It is time to renew.
Let's develop the opportunities in global warming: energy change, work change, people change.
There is so much we don't know and so much we do know that we don't use. Let's go after that. And, please, could we include everybody instead of deciding whose on the 'A' list before we have a plan to build the raft by?
Thank you.
--ml
# posted by Martin Langeland : 21/1/07 6:11 PM  

Well, we need God, pissed off and with an attitude about how things should be.

Hillery has just become part of the bible packing club of capitalists. She is owned.

Please spare us.
# posted by BBC : 21/1/07 7:51 PM  

Hello, Badtux. I've thought about this for a moment, and I belileve that Hillary should withdraw her candidacy from the presidential race, and run for pope. I think Hillary would make a great pope.
# posted by Progressive Traditionalist : 22/1/07 2:22 PM  

I agree, Badtux. Hillary should step take her hat out of the ring and give her party a running chance of wining. With that said, I still don't think it's gonna matter much who runs if we cannot be sure our votes will actually be counted, and by that I don't mean being counted by the Supreme Court.
# posted by Missouri Mule : 22/1/07 4:39 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home

 My Photo
Name: BadTux
Location: Some iceberg, South Pacific, Antarctica

I am a black and white and yellow multicolored penguin making his way as best he can in a world of monochromic monkeys.

Archives
April 2004 / December 2004 / January 2005 / February 2005 / March 2005 / April 2005 / May 2005 / June 2005 / July 2005 / August 2005 / September 2005 / October 2005 / November 2005 / December 2005 / January 2006 / February 2006 / March 2006 / April 2006 / May 2006 / June 2006 / July 2006 / August 2006 / September 2006 / October 2006 / November 2006 / December 2006 / January 2007 / February 2007 / March 2007 / April 2007 / May 2007 / June 2007 / July 2007 / August 2007 /


Bill Richardson: Because what America needs is a competent fat man with bad hair as President (haven't we had enough incompetent pretty faces?)

Cost of the War in Iraq
(JavaScript Error)
Terror Alert Level
Links
Honor Roll
Technorati embed?
Liberated Iraqis

"Keep fighting for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce." -- Molly Ivins, 1944-2007 "The penalty good men pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men."

-- Plato

Are you a spammer? Then send mail to my spamtrack mailbox to get permenantly banned! Remember, that's iamstupid@badtux.org (hehehhe!).

More blogs about bad tux the snarky penguin.

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?