Sunday, June 08, 2008

On the Second Amendment, Don't Believe Obama!

The heading of the email I got from the NRA today (I'm a member) is: On the Second Amendment, Don't Believe Obama! The message is
The presidential primary season is finally over, and it is now time for gun owners to take a careful look at just where apparent nominee Barack Obama stands on issues related to the Second Amendment. During the primaries, Obama tried to hide behind vague statements of support for "sportsmen" or unfounded claims of general support for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms.

But his real record, based on votes taken, political associations, and long standing positions, shows that Barack Obama is a serious threat to Second Amendment liberties. Don't listen to his campaign rhetoric! Look instead to what he has said and done during his entire political career.
But... but, I've been sending the Obama campaign a bit of of my paycheck. I wear an Obama t-shirt and I have an Obama sign posted outside my house. Oh my God, I'm so confused!

I think Obama probably has but a tiny sliver of the NRA vote. Maybe I'm the only one - who knows?

Obama and the Democrats are my choice this time around, but more as the evil of two lessers than because I'm in their camp. I'm an independent who wants the Republicans severely punished, possibly executed, because of how badly the Republicans have fucked things up over the past decade and more. (Actually, it took two to tango, and ultimately it's We the People who are to blame. But that leaves nobody at whom to lash out. The Republicans have been the worst part of the mess, so I'm most furious with them at the moment.)

I want to see the Republican party hiding in a deep cave with a heavy load of rock salt deeply embedded in their asses. I don't want them coming out again until it's time to do the same damned thing to the Democrats.

Obama is not going to champion gun rights, he's not going to advance drug reform, he's not going to push nuclear energy, he's not going to modernize the nuclear arsenal, he's not going to champion population control. He probably will take us into stupid treaties banning land mines and cluster bombs. On the other hand, we'll probably wind up with better approaches to energy efficiency and health care, and we'll be more likely to see a diminution in the influence of "Washington lobbyists" under an Obama administration.

In my fantasies, Obama emerges as a real patriot and a great leader who places party interests in a distant second or third place behind national interests. I hope he turns out to be the sort of leader who will put the news you don't want to hear squarely in your face, and who earns the admiration of the citizenry for having done so.

Though he seems to be a man of deep religious faith, I think he's far less likely to indulge moralizing authoritarians than any Republican. Sure, he had a controversial pastor, but the controversy was manufactured. There wasn't anything wrong with Obama's pastor, especially compared to the clowns McCain has had to distance himself from lately.

I'd like to be an enthusiastic supporter, but really, I just want to punch someone. Screw the Republicans.

No comments: