Obama and change

I mentioned earlier that I am considering voting for a Democrat for president for the first time in my life. None of the the others ever tempted me--except for Bill Clinton in 1992 and I decided that I couldn't really trust him. One of the things that led me to that conclusion at that time was all of the Hollywood loony left jumping on Bill's boat. It was his followers that dissuaded me more than anything he did or said. I figured if they are so eager to support him, then they are expecting something in return---support for their left-wing elitist causes. (It turned out to be about accurate, although Bill did not go with some of the extremists in his party, and I believe---in spite of his ability to disgust anyone with his character, words, and actions---his administration was a net good for the U.S., especially compared to the guy in the White House now.)

This hasn't happened with Obama yet, even though he does have a lot of the loony crowd behind him. When he says change, I am hoping he means change as more than going back to the 1970-80s pet "liberal" theories and policies.

One of the changes that I think is most needed is someone who can bring the left and the right together so that there can at least be a rational discussion of issues so that we can start to address them. If the hardcore loony-left and the nutty right continue to set the debate as between good and evil, (good defined as the side you agree with and pure evil the other side) then Obama will have little chance of changing anything and we'll continue down the same path that we have since the early 90s. I just hope he continues to focus on the positive and not get involved in the "politics of personal destruction" of some in his party. (Karl) Rovism is not limited to the Republicans.

This will be the first time in years that we don't have two presidential candidates who are in the pocket of the extremes in either party. It may turn out to be a good race with two good candidates, either of which I could accept.

Enough of U. S. politics. Japanese politicians like the right-winger Abe who had to resign because he could not control his bowels, Justice Minister Hatoyama, and "manga" Aso are more fun. They are at least as long as they don't get the country into some disaster, which they would if they had any real influence in the world.

(And no, I did not vote for either Daddy Bush or Little George.)