Thursday, September 18, 2008

Obama for President - The Only Real Relief Pitcher We Have


Lets call up this new left handed fastball pitcher up from the farm team. See if he can throw some heat across the plate.

With the economic melt down John McCain has suddenly decided, in a fox hole conversion, to convert to the side of those who see some government regulation as neccessary for a well ordered society. Here is a little quote not so very long ago:

I don’t think anyone who wants to increase the burden of government regulation and higher taxes has any real understanding of economics and the economy and what is needed in order to ensure the future of this country.”
– John McCain [McCain Town Hall in Inez, Kentucky, 4/23/08]

Throughout this presidential election process one voice of reason has appealed to me and that is that of Chris Matthews on Hardball. The Philadelphia native provided a great analogy, continuing with the baseball theme, of changing pitchers during the heat of a game. It is painfully obvious when a pitcher is failing and predictable when the coach goes to the bullpen for a replacement. Matthews noted that the coach is not watching the person warming up but the person on the mound. In other words, it is less of a matter of who is waiting in the wings than that a replacement is needed right away. When that person on the mound is clearly done whoever is in the bullpen comes in.

Bush is clearly done. His own team, the Republican party, is disgusted with him and they have already left the stadium. In our system the "pitcher" is elected to their position and they stay until their time is up. So we have to sit and wait for the clock on the absolute worst presidency of the United States to run down. The Democrats left that stadium about eight years ago. Now, I have this vision of Bush pathetically throwing to Dick Chaney and Condolezza Rice and nobody gives a damn. There is not even an opposing team anymore except that ghosty will-o-the-wisp Bin Laden. We are all just waiting for his time to end so we can get on with things. Get on with trying to put the entire world back together which that pathetic left hander will leave robbed and pillaged.

The problem with McCain is that he is indeed part of the old regime and part of the problem. As he tries to portray himself as a Washington outsider who wants to regulate the money and investment markets he makes a damn poor excuse of a Democrat. He is a an elephant in a donkey's clothing. That is not a pretty picture. His pick of Palin as a running mate is turning out to be nothing more than a very successful publicity stunt but the emerging economic crisis leaves McCain flat footed and out of his league. I have had enough of the Republicans who deserve to be punished, banished, for what they did to us with Bush. Four years was bad but eight years has been disastrous.

So, I am voting for Obama, but he had better produce. He needs to be more than glitz and glitter and show some grit and determination. He needs to get humble and wise real quick or we are all screwed. I am sick of the self-righteousness of the right, of their loud and obnoxious belligerence and outright mean spirited scorched earth policy which is exemplified by all the fanatical right wing talk shows. Time for them to go. McCain? The wrong party and the wrong year - he is eight years too late to help us out. God bless him, but please don't let him be our next president so lets not wave him out to the mound. Lets call him into the locker room, wrap a jacket around him, give him a hug, and talk about the good ole days but lets not elect him. Please.

John McCain has been in a position where he could have helped avoid two of our largest problems - the war in Iraq and the economic crisis. He was part of the system as Ranking Member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services and the Ranking Member and former Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce. He is now crying for more regulation in the commerce sector but as I mentioned earlier he is a last minute convert to government supervision of the investment and banking sectors which he did nothing to regulate as a senator. Also, he has no plan for getting out of Iraq, a war which is draining trillions of dollars out of our faltering economy, other than staying the course with what is basically the Bush doctrine.

Time for a change. I can't wait. We cannot take a third Bush term in office. For the American people to replace that old screwball pitcher Bush with a tired ole knuckle baller (a baseball pitch with an erratic unpredictable motion) like McCain would be a travesty. Lets go for the younger relief pitcher. Lets wave Obama out to the mound and bid a fond adieu to McCain before sending him back down to the minors for what is left of his career. You treat a hall of famer with respect. Now, lets see what this new kid can do.

Play ball.