Years of Poems and Spirits

Just saw the news that Obama openly repudiated Rev. Wright. Also, there are reports that the Wright appearance in the Press Club was in part orchestrated by a Clinton supporter within the organization.

I have never been so disgusted by the political process since I came to the States. I can barely think now.

1. Why the liberals can’t appeal to more Rockefeller Republicans but have to pander to the Reagan Democrats? I would rather give in to the R.R. on tax cuts, law and order, and restrained regulations, rather than to the guns and religon of the racist hillbillies. Is it ever possible to keep a mass of ignorant, easily manipulated, and even reactionary people happy and to commence progressive social changes at the same time? What is the point to keep those people in the tent, so to speak? Do their votes help or hurt the liberal cause more?

2. What Obama is doing is to repent in public: I have sinned for knowing this man. What he did is no different from what a jailed dissident has to do in a Totalitarian regim: he can only be released after he confesses his “crime” and begs for forgiveness. What Wright said is extreme but is well within the limit of freespeech (and is true too!) But the mob society just quartered this guy: humiliated him ruthlessly and played him subtly. Apparently, this is not enough. Obama has to confess too. Otherwise, how best can the powerful mob ensure that Obama, who is running to be their President, is sufficiently disciplined and obdient than forcing a black man to repudiate another black man for protesting against racial injustice–in public and in earnest?!

3. Hillary Clinton is perhaps the most deserving President for this mob society. Not unlike what Bush and Cheney did after 9.11, she knows how to appeal to the worst in human beings. To ascend to the pinnacle of power, to fulfill her own imagined destiny, she is more than happy to pimp herself out to the dirtest fetish of the least desirable group of men, and the insecurity of the pettiest group of women.

Had a lousy day today until got hit by this news: “Spitzer Is Involved in a Prostitution Ring“. I have been following this guy the way once I followed McCain. I thought he had a good shot at the Presidency if he learned well at the governorship (the most recent New Yorker article seems to suggest this way).

Still it is hard to feel sorry for him: he can always go back to law practice; he has a well to do family; so far, he’s invested some but not all he has (money, life, reputation, etc.) into the political career so he’s not gonna go bankrupt or being missed much.

That just shows Bill Clinton’s audacity, ain’t it? Also, just can’t imagine what a day Leno’s crew is having today …

I always think of myself as growing up in the D.C. area. It is fair to say that I lived my “formative” years there. Therefore it is extremely gratifying to hear that D.C., Maryland and Virginia delivered a resounding victory for Obama. Not only the margin was significant but the sentiment was across-the-board.

Recently, I caucused for Obama in WA too. As much as I was moved by the scenes I encountered here, a concurring result from Virginia means so much more.

One of my first close encounters with American politics was the 1994 election where Chuck Robb narrowly beat Oliver North in the Senate race in Virginia. All things considered, that outcome felt like the last stand in Alamo. Afterall, Virginians had all the reasons to follow the sentiment of the nation. Yet they stood their ground and denied a felon’s claim. I might have viewed American politics differently had Virginians chosen to go with the trend.