Lean to the Left, Lean to the Right...

the inevitable has happened... and it highlights (once again) the problem with our electoral system.

the primary and the phenomenally unfair caucus system allow the polar extremes of the parties to elect the nominees for president... so you have both parties' candidates kow-towing to the party elite and elders and promising everything that makes the editors at the nation and the national review cream a little in their panties.

but now that mccain and obama have the nomination neatly squared away... they must switch gears and aim their campaigns more towards the middle. because (and say it with me) it's the middle of the political spectrum that nominates the president... not the pinko commies and raving anarchists of the political left and right, respectively.

so mccain demotes the man who brought him back from political dead and promotes someone to reshape the direction of his campaign.

and suddenly you have the republicans no longer equating obama to the second coming of jimmy carter.... but likening him more to john kerry, the flip-flopper, and a politician of the most usual kind.

and why not....?

because, wouldn'tcha know it... he has been flip-flopping and backing off of his more liberal views to now court the moderates and rednecks.

back in the early days of his struggling campaign, obama promised he'd only accept public finance for his campaign should his opponent agree. mccain did... obama reneged. and why shouldn't he? he has more money than oprah! but it looks bad.

first he was against FISA before he was for it... (sound familiar?) and obama just voted for the version that grants telecom giants immunity... his previous sticking point.

the supreme court FINALLY gets a case right when they rule that executing child rapists constitutes cruel and unusual punishment... and he comes out against the ruling.

(yes...i'm anti-death penalty in ALL cases and i do not believe child rapists should be sentenced to death. you may direct all hate mail to the comments section.)

so after the supremes made their ruling, obama said:

I think that the rape of a small child, 6 or 8 years old, is a heinous crime. And if a state makes a decision that under narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances the death penalty is at least potentially applicable, that does not violate our Constitution.

beyond the gobbledygook of an answer.... what the fuck does that mean? he's trying to have it both ways... first of all, "states rights" is a GOP talking point... and "narrow, limited, well-defined circumstances"? what does that mean....?

okay.... he mentions children ages 6 and 8... so if you bugger a child of 4 or 5... even 7.... anyone over eight... then no death penalty? and what are the well-defined circumstances? anal penetration, death penalty? vaginal intercourse, only life in prison?

you cannot put someone to death especially when they did not themselves kill somebody.... use your fucking biblical "eye for an eye" bullshit it if makes the idea easier for you.

but in order to appease the center and court the whack jobs out there that refuse to believe that children wrongly accuse adults, that african-americans are wrongly convicted more often than other races for all violent crimes.... and that if even one innocent person is put to death the system is flawed.... obama gives that wonky fucking answer to appease all sides.

but worst of all! obama now supports a george w. bush initiative!?! he wants to take bush's idea of the "office of community and faith-based initiatives" and rename it the "council for faith-based and neighborhood partnerships." you see... by adding the "neighborhood partnerships" bit, obama can still court the planned parenthood bombers of the religious right while still attempting to appease the secular flag burners on the left.

but it all comes down to way too much fucking religion in my federal government. if the racist, slave-owning, sexist founders of this country did one thing right... they expressly called for the separation of church and state.

but apparently, obama's 50 state strategy includes courting the evangelical nutjobs that still have lawn jockeys outside their mansion gates and long for the days when blacks still served them mint juleps out on the veranda.

i hope to ganesha that obama can overcome the slings and arrows the republicans will launch at him over the coming months... i hope he can be president... because, fuck it all, i still want a democrat in the white house... even if he continues to disappoint me day after day.

obamaphiles.... meet your messiah. he is a mere politician afterall... but you got him the nomination and you better not back down now that he's moving more centrist.

you got us into this mess... you carry it through to november.

i'll be there with you.... grumbling all the way, longing for my days of hillary.

but obama remains far superior to the crypt-keeper on any given issue.

i just wonder what he'll change his mind on next.......

e.