The Hangover After the Hope Binge

Maybe I’m too pessimistic.

Maybe I was wrong when I thought Obama sounded like empty rhetoric.

Maybe I was cynical in thinking he is, after all, just another politician. Maybe when/if he’s elected President, he’ll go all crazy lefty on us, and we’ll all laugh the nervous laughter of those who have just barely escaped disaster. But I’m not gonna bet on it.

New York Times Editorial – New and Not Improved

We are not shocked when a candidate moves to the center for the general election. But Mr. Obama’s shifts are striking because he was the candidate who proposed to change the face of politics, the man of passionate convictions who did not play old political games.

The Progressive – Obama’s Faith-Based Folly

If you give a church a million dollar grant to cover a program it’s already running, that frees up a million bucks for that church to go find converts.

Is that really what our tax dollars should be doing?

What about the First Amendment’s establishment clause?

Obama waved at it, right before he ran it over.

Ariana Huffington – Memo to Obama: Moving to the Middle is for Losers

I looked at the Obama campaign not through the prism of my own progressive views and beliefs but through the prism of a cold-eyed campaign strategist who has no principles except winning. From that point of view, and taking nothing else into consideration, I can unequivocally say: the Obama campaign is making a very serious mistake.

Amy Goodman – Obama Runs to the Middle

It may be the strategy of the Obama campaign to run to the middle, to attract the independents, the undecided. But he should look carefully at the lessons of the 2004 Kerry campaign. John Kerry made similar calculations, not wanting to appear weak on the war in Iraq. Uninspired, people stayed home. There are millions who care about the issues from which Obama is distancing himself, from FISA to gun control to gay rights to free trade to the death penalty. Rather than staying home, they should recall the words of Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand.”

And, not to be a total downer….

Ari Melber – Online Activists Keep the Pressure on Obama

While most Americans settled into a relaxed Independence Day weekend, Barack Obama tried to quiet mounting criticism from supporters over his decision to back a new White House spying bill. In an unprecedented letter released on the afternoon of July 3, Obama addressed the thousands of supporters who organized a large protest on his social networking portal.

fakinasjol Says:

July 9, 2008 at 10:10 pm

Disclaimer 1: I am tired of tags like “left” and “right” in politics; I keep waiting for an “up,” or maybe a “forward” party.
Disclaimer 2: I am Spanish and have enough with our own politics as to follow USA’s.

That said, I find the argument from The Progressive a really poor one. You can give money to an organisation to pay for something they were paying for by themselves, but it’s a long stretch to assume what the freed resources will be used for.

Is it any different for people? Heck, let’s get rid of Social Security in Spain! You know?, if people have to pay for the health service by themselves they will have less money to spend in things we disapprove…

As I said, a very sad argument. Other than that I am glad Obama beat Hillary. I think you are missing a law in your country banning direct relatives of high officials to run for office – for a couple of generations at least. You can assume the country has enough talent to be able to afford it.

Tom Says:

July 10, 2008 at 6:35 am

@ fakinasjol – your point about The Progressive’s argument is valid. But at the end of the day, Obama’s shift in policy here – using Bush style language, encouraging non-governmental solutions for what are systematic failings, and suggesting that churches receive grants from the state… all this is bad news.

As to the left/right spectrum: this is just easy shorthand which can sometimes give you a clue as to where a party or candidate might stand on certain issues. Most parties outside Spain and Italy never use this terminology and I think that every party would claim to be the ‘forward’ or ‘progress’ party.

Chris Says:

July 10, 2008 at 9:53 pm

Karina, when is your next VLOG coming out? Looking forward to it already 🙂

July 11, 2008 at 7:37 pm

@ Tom – As I said I don’t follow US politics, so won’t get too deep into it, but is it just because they are churches? Would it be OK to give money to other NGO’s like Greenpeace, Amnesty International, or Doctors Without Borders? There’s a very interesting debate here for how the State should interact with (let’s call them) religious and non-religious NGO’s. I mean, at the end of the day both kinds carry out good deeds covering up for the State’s shortcomings, and in both you will find instances of horrible missbehaviour. Should the fact that some of them promote a certain way of living make a difference? Don’t they all promote a certain way of living? Really, I am wondering as I type. I’ll have to think about it for a while. What is it about religion that makes it somehow creepy?? Long live Pastafarianism!!!

And on the second topic, I can’t help to see those left/right tags as shortcuts people use to avoid thinking. Once people see themselves as belonging to a group they outsource their opinions and quit thinking altogether. I’m sorry but there’s both wonder and shit in both camps, and I can’t understand people labeling themselves as “left” or “right”. It’s about time (at least Spain desperately needs it) that someone comes up collecting the good on both sides and adding some more that is up for grabs out there, and start sorting out the mess we are into. And I don’t particularly care about the Economy…

Finally, I have to agree with Chris. What about the videos?!? Just today I found out a work colleague’s girlfriend is American too and she’s trying to get the papers to stay as well. I found myself searching the Internet for some form 790, module 012, which in the end we agreed that is probably one you have to buy at some office… It certainly looked to me like they could simplify the process a bit. There’s got to be wonderful insider stories.

the_guiri Says:

July 12, 2008 at 2:57 pm

Hey guys!

First Re: Videos – sigh. Have been a bit swamped, had a couple snags with the papers process, have been delayed yet again. Between that and the visit of my parents my will to do anything pertaining to papers has been considerably sapped, including videos. On top of it all, I still haven’t managed to improve the resources I have available for video production – ie my webcam and a minidv that isnt the best on sound. All I can say is…we shall see.

As for the comments on this post:

Well, interesting question – if we’re gonna outsource governmental duties to other organizations, what does it matter if they’re religious or not? I suppose it just comes down to the constitution – the idea of separation of church and state. Taxpayer money isn’t supposed to support religious ends. I think that’s the argument of the author of the progressive article. The bigger idea is – that at least in principle – that separation was respected until the Bush administration took unprecedented steps to support religious based groups. So for Obama – who’s supposed to be the bringer of change- to support it in any way, is basically him taking a position that, pre-Bush, would have been no where near “left” or “liberal” – sorry to use labels but I dont know how else to put it. Bush has pulled our country so far right, conservative, neo-con, whatever you want to call it – that formerly respected liberties (like that of having a not religiously affiliated state) are being pushed by the way side. Its not a new trend, but its still disturbing.

July 14, 2008 at 1:55 pm

Videos; what you have is perfectly fine! That other one video you posted was great, so I guess you just need the time to get something up here. Looking forward to hearing your views and experiences on moving from California to Spain and how easy or hard it was adjusting to a new language, culture, living situations and what not 😀

Have a great day, looking forward to your next video Karina!