Tribal Warfare
January 28th, 2008I am still digesting the State of the Union Address; tomorrow, I will have more thoughts on the speech and what it means for the nation. Let me say this, before I forget it tomorrow (and before you forget it as the pundits all overlook it): we are going to give two billion dollars to aid efforts against global warming. There is still a lot more for our government to do in conjunction with the rest of the world (in fact I adopt his belief that all must be involved, not just all minus China and India) but this is a great step forward, even if it is criticized by some as not doing enough. And make no mistake: this President has not done enough to fight global warming; he has hardly done anything. But this shift is in the right direction and will, hopefully, set a precedent for the next President to follow.
Couple of noteworthy political events have occurred in the last twenty four hours: there’s rumors on the newspapers, and now on this Internets, that John Edwards wants to be Attorney General and is playing to that end. I doubt anybody offers him such a position and if they did, the Justice Department would be in for a world of hurt as Edwards is simply not the right man for such a job and I wouldn’t even recommend him for Solicitor General. Lousy politicians, even if they were good (not great) lawyers don’t make for excellent AGs. The other noteworthy event was Ted Kennedy’s endorsement of Barack Obama followed by the National Organization of Women arguing, in a fury, that he has betrayed women everywhere. Their letter reads like a prank, with exclamations! and rage! everywhere, but my first reaction was simple: it is NOW that betrayed women everywhere when they continued to support Edward Kennedy for years despite the fact that he killed a woman in his car. That isn’t to say that I endorse the NOW’s position that an endorsement of Obama is a betrayal of women everywhere; that is one of the most asinine things that I have ever heard. I just don’t take NOW’s complaint there serious when it has been in bed with Mary Jo Kopechne’s killer for decades only because he supports abortion rights.
By the way — am I the only one who thinks it’s hilarious to see Ted Kennedy attack “old politics” in his endorsement of Barack Obama? Why would it be funny, you ask. He is, after all, the spitting image of youthful and dynamic political life!
I’ve never been a fan of any of the Kennedys and such support cements my preference of Hillary Rodham Clinton who, as I’ve said, is deeply flawed and imperfect as any candidate but is generally, I think, on the right side of history. I also happen to believe her better than her husband and Jack Kennedy, as a person and as a politician.