Obama mania
Posted on Sunday, November 2, 2008 at 9:01pm
one response
I bought the paper today hoping that a story in there would inspire me to write a blog, but I ended up flicking through it quickly due to the Obama mania which has hit town! Now of course I don’t want people to think that I’m not pleased that so many people are interested in an election, ( of any kind!) but there’s a limit to one’s tolerance of articles in one paper on one issue. This is especially the case given that one of the articles sheds some light on Obama’s dubious policies on limiting the rights of trade unions to organise.
The few other articles of note were obviously on the Ross/ Brand saga, which has spiralled out of control. What they said was unacceptable, don’t get me wrong, but I am sure that there are more pressing issues for journos to be getting their teeth in to- especially the ones from the BBC. Don’t waste people’s money any more than you need to by reporting on your colleagues’ downfall, I say. We all know that you are all jealous of their extravagant pay packets!
I’m no fan of Russel Brand personally, but this incident is hardly going to jeopardise his career is it? I remember when the video of Kate Moss taking drugs did the rounds- the media said her career was dead. Some companies pulled her from high profile contracts for a while, but now she is stronger and more popular than ever. The BBC’s loss will be the gain of many a competitive TV station for Brand, and Ross. There’s no denying that the BBC will tighten its control on the content of its shows. The first in line for some telling off in my opinion should be Chris Moyles. I can’t stand his sexist jokes, or the fact that he crossed the picket line when BBC staff were on strike a while ago. Too many egos…
And of course, the paper would be empty of worth without a story on our Sarah Palin. Today’s news notes how Palin was humiliated by a Canadian comedian who rang her pretending to be the French President, Sarkozy. I’m actually surprised that she didn’t ‘get it’ from the outset. It was clear that the accent was over emphasised. Oh, poor Sarah. When will the mocking stop? When she tries for president next time around? Perish the thought!
So I am off to prepare for my busy week ahead although I’m certain I will not escape Obama mania for a long time yet.
Hi Bethan, Comments are still closed on that US Question Time post, so I’ll repeat what I said here so I’m on-topic.
No candidate would stand any chance of being elected as US President without being a hawk on national security, pro-Israel, anti Arab and vowing to continue the “War on Terror”. Other candidates who have radically different policies don’t even get a look in. How many of these candidates are you aware of and how many interviews have you seen with Cynthia McKinney of the Green Party, Ralph Nader the Independent candidate, Bob Barr of the Libertarian Party or Chuck Baldwin of the Constitution Party? None I expect. Several of them would have policies that you would agree to a much greater extent than either McCain or Obama, yet you don’t give them any attention because they get very little coverage on the mainstream media either side of the Atlantic.
The mountain Obama has to climb is enormous. Even with a financial meltdown weeks before the vote with the incumbent Republicans to blame, and even with foreign policy little different from the Republicans, and even spending several times more on their campaign than the Republicans, the Democrats are still expected to win by only a small margin.
So wishing Obama wasn’t hawkish is really wishing him to lose, because that is what he would do if he told the truth of how America’s foreign adventures since the Second World War have been a military, economic and cultural disaster. As film maker Michael Moore put it, we can only hope that Obama will not keep his foreign policy election promises.
Isn’t it a sad day when we have to console ourselves with the hope that our preferred candidate is lying, while being fearful of his hawkish opponent who is probably telling the truth.