Obama's Hissy Fit

[A Black Falcon]

My point is, I don't think John McCain would have done very much differently from that little laundry list. Definitely not the health care reform. His kick-ass jingoism would probably sound a bit more authentic. Almost certainly, he'd be opposed by Democrats with the same zeal Obama faces from the two-headed Republican/Tea Party monster. The bailouts would have certainly happened and the wars would have continued as expected. And, he'd almost certainly lose in 2012.

Also, I don't care one iota about the birth certificate and such. I'm just wondering why he allows the controversy to continue. It only fuels his detractors.

Huh... wha? Had McCain through some miracle won, we would not have health care reform as we have it now. There's no question about that. We also would not have had a financial rescue bill last year, real Wall Street reform, and more. Despite themselves, and despite the insane Republican stalling, the Democrats have managed to accomplish some things, which is a huge accomplishment. If the Republicans had won the last election things would be very different in some important ways.

There are of course ways that things would be much less different than I would have wished, and Obama has somewhat disappointed me, but the Democrats have also accomplished some very important things, and that is a great thing that I try not to forget.

I know that the "Obama is the same" thing is tempting, and I've thought it sometimes too, but when you look at the actual records of what the Democrats have done versus what the Republicans have proposed, on the key bills the Democrats have passed or are trying to pass (in the case of a second jobs bill, which is very desperately badly needed but won't happen; say thanks to the Republicans,m 700,000 to 900,000 (minimum) people who will lose their jobs because of the Republican filibuster of the second jobs bill!) such as health care, bank reform, jobs bills, the economic stimulus package (one of the few things that has saved us from this terrible economy getting even worse, which is of course why the Republicans are opposed -- they have not changed as much from the positions of Herbert Hoover as people would have thought they should have...), etc.

and be opposed by Democrats who will be as vindictive as the Republicans are being right now--behavior which ABF will no doubt view as heroic.

Sorry, but the Democrats are not nearly as shameless and unified in their reversals as Republicans. Democrats would actually have moral qualms about flipping 180 degrees on their position on an issue in the space of a couple of years, while for Republicans it's par for the course and not even something to remark upon...

(See: Should we get rid of the filibuster, positions in 2005 and now...)

his own birth certificate

So you're a birther too? I'm disappointed, that whole insanely stupid idiocy is unbelievable, 100% based on racism and hatred (the same kind of inexplicable hatred that Clinton got, I guess, but perhaps worse because of his color), and completely ridiculous. I mean, his mother was an American who was living in Hawaii. The father had left her (and left the country, too), and wouldn't return for many years. What more needs be said?

It is an ironic issue for the Republicans to have raised, though, given that John McCain actually was born outside the US (in the Panama Canal area, because his father was in the military and had been stationed there), and thus was the one with the real "can he actually legally be president" issue...

I mean, of course I think he should have been allowed to be president had he won, but still, it is a little ironic.