Wednesday, April 11, 2007

Bantamweight Obama

I've long considered Barrack Obama to be far too much of a lightweight, intellectually speaking and otherwise, to pose a serious threat to Hillary in her attempts to gain the presidency:

With the Rev. Al Sharpton leading calls Monday for radio host Don Imus to be fired over racially insensitive remarks, Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign avoided the controversy throughout the day.

Not until Monday evening, five days after Imus's comments were uttered and hours after CBS Radio and MSNBC announced a two-week suspension for the radio host, did Obama weigh in, saying in a statement: "The comments of Don Imus were divisive, hurtful, and offensive to Americans of all backgrounds." Obama did not address whether he thought Imus should be taken off the air.

While I think it's a good move to divorce himself from the Sharpton/Jackson crowd, the words we waited five days to hear seemed a bit, oh I don't know, dull. If he had something important to say on the topic, I could have waited, but if he's only going to say what everyone and their mother believes, I don't see how the wait is worth it. This guy is supposed to be a contender for the presidency? Boy, I'm glad that the Democrats found someone who isn't afraid to point out insensitive comments. You'd think the party was intellectually bankrupt or something.

Talk to any Obama supporter about why he should become president. You'll either get:

1) Platitudes: something about caring for the children;
2)How he's charismatic: translation: I turn my brain off whenever he speaks because he's so disarmingly charming;
3) How he's a breath of fresh air and won't divide the nation: if a candidate never takes a stance on a real issue, he's not going to attract a whole lot of controversy, but if we only wish to avoid controversy, why don't we just nominate a tackling dummy?

You'll never get to hear his stance on the issues. Maybe it's just me, but that seems like the sort of thing I'd like to know before voting for a guy. The man is over his head, and doesn't stand a chance. But isn't he charming?

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