It is 9.45 pm on Friday October 17th 2008 and feels a long time since falling asleep during the third Presidential debate around 3 am local time. I had reached the conclusion that it probably did not matter which man won the presidency in 2008 in terms of what they would be able to do in general for US citizens whose lives would be governed by the economic down turn and full blooded depression if the present international intervention measures do not work. Yet both candidates and the interests who support then are going hell for leather to gain the majority of the vote.
The reality of the election, and one suspects all elections, is that it will not be decided by readers of the Washington Post and the New York Times whose staff painstakingly unravel the truth from the layers of dumbed down spin to appeal to Joe six pack and hockey mums everywhere as if Joe six pack and a mum who devotes her life to her family will have any say when it comes to political decision taking by which ever candidates comes to appoint the White House administration. The McCain camp decided to accept Federal Aid for the adverts which now overwhelm TV screen time until shut down before election day and this has a ceiling of around 75 million dollars. Obama whose camp toyed with also accepting the upper expenditure limit did not and with funds flowing in, 100 million dollars in September alone according to the New York Times, decided against, and is pressing the US public to vote at a rate for three or four adds to one. Obviously this is not just about the Democratic Party gaining control over the White House but Congress and the Senate as well, but one has to ask that if as suggested 200 million dollars is being spent on advertising alone, what do the donors, (and who are the donors), expect for their money. How far is an Obama Presidency, or a McCain, should their be a counter swing over the last few days, already mortgaged over what they can do and do not?
In Britain and in much of Europe although our political parties also mortgage their futures in order to gain power there is a sense of fairness which limits what governments can get away with and this includes the removal of freedoms under the excuse of combating terrorism and countering the influence of the internet, the mobile phone and such like. The most extraordinary aspect of the present Labour Party administration is that it has established greater surveillance over its people than was ever warned by George Orwell and others, and it is to the shame of many Members of Parliament from both sides of the House they have acquiesced to this because of wanting not to alienate their party leadership and find themselves deselected or consigned to the back benches for the duration.
In the land of the free, to where owning guns and shooting them is common, the logic of the financial and economic extremism is that not only persistent petty criminals, alcoholics, drug addicts and those mentally ill or with personalities disorders can freeze to death on the sidewalk, but also Joe six pack and hockey mums when times get hard, poor choices made or luck runs out, moreover the system has too often accommodated the gangster, the corrupt trade union and the money makers of Nob Hill taking power at county and state level along with the racists, especially when times are hard. The self proclaimed greatest country in the world has always been deeply flawed but at least the present financial crisis and the economic down turn has now revealed the flaws in its capitalist core system and made Joe six packs and the hockey mums very very angry.
A demand for change swept the USA and the UK for a variety of reasons, even before the credit crunch, the great bust after the great boom and share price melt down at the hands of Hedge funders who know how to keep making money but it still represented only a section of society. The impact of the having to sue tax payers funds, playing the country in hock to the Chinese and other government banks has made just about everyone angry and wanting politicians to ensure that I never happens again. I can foresee major social strife as the depression grips.
Barrack Obama has captured the imagination of those who long for change in their own lives, and McCain and made Maverick an in-word rather than a dirty one, forgetting that some of us know that Mavericks should never be allowed to have uncontrolled power or influence at what ever level they function. They and their campaign managers are being as cynical as it gets because they know they whoever gets power will have a hard time getting anything done let alone changing anything for the better. Change can be for the worse, significantly worse, is a slogan which I would like to see politicians use more frequently.
When it comes to cynical attempts to manipulate an electorate into believe one thing than the other when the reality is different then the prize has to go to Barrack Obama who in 2005 is said to have discussed with his supporters the best approach to gaining the Oval office. I read carefully the article by Eli Saslow in the Washington which argues that after making a great keynote speech at the 2004 convention, and become a celebrity best selling author, he was advised that he has a choice to speak out against the Iraq War, become actively involved in high profile bills, be his natural self and attempt to become a front runner by storm. The alternative was to behave as the freshman Senator, "manoeuvring" forward with "deference and humility." The alleged response of Barrack was to say that he wanted to take it slow and get himself liked. It is said that his approach has been to seek advice, listen, strive for consensus and be cautious over policy and campaigning decisions. The article goes on to argue that Obama worked hard in support of the leadership, gaining influential friends and being a smart politician. He did this while maintaining an aloofness, eating alone and not going out socializing although he lived on his own, his wife deciding to stay in Chicago near her mother and with the children able to continue their education and maintain their friends. He therefore treated his Washington flat as an office extension working until 3 and 4 am (tell me about it).
The article explains that he had the choice to spend the greater part of his time in speech making and media appearances and building on his reputation as a celebrity politician, but he chose to divide his time between participating in the details of Washington committees and debate work and his constituency holding meetings and visiting everywhere that he could. Throughout he maintained this approach when going on trips and meeting the established political personalities at home and abroad from Tony Blair to Nelson Mandela, Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton. He was the pupil learning and preparing and is now with his foot at the door of the Oval Office. He is unlikely to slip up between now and polling day and so far McCain had failed to land an effective political punch. However this does not suggest to me a man who is going to throw out the long standing party power brokers, ignore the wishes of the party donors or pack his administration with revolutionary change makers and which I believe is just as well, although it will mean that he will disappoint the voters far more for failing to make revolutionary changes However I do not believe that when push comes to shove people are willing to gamble on revolutionary change at a time of crisis, They want personal and family security more and maintenance of the existing order as long as it tries to be fair to everyone.
I believe that at a time of crisis one does need a firm and steady hand but also someone who can provide imaginative solutions which will command across political social spectrum support. Such all in one leaders come to the fore from time to time, but if not the imaginative solutions needs to be carefully vetted and tested by leaders who understand the law of unintended consequences and the havoc and unjust nature of revolutionary change.
For me the choice and the difference between two teams is simple and straightforward. Which man is more likely to take a decision find it was the wrong one and make the necessary changes, while maintaining the confidence of the public and the power interests who actual run the United States. McCain is a fine man and his country should never forget the service he gave as a young man but I fear he is yesterday's man and Obama is man who is most likely to unite his country through what is going to be a very difficult time for everyone. The difference between them is not as great as the present polls suggest and if either man wins I will not start to have more restless and sleepless nights.
.
The difference for me is that Obama has Joe Bidden and McCain Governor Palin. I believe that Joe Bidden could prove to be the best President of the four should he be required to serve. Governor Palin does not scare me as much as she does some commentators and if as I suspect the Obama Biden ticket will hold the victory celebrations on inauguration day, it will be interesting to see what happens to Governor Palin and will she become the 2012 Republican presidential Candidate?
While rereading the Washington Post article and writing the first draft I listened to the UK top forty of the week and while I knew the majority of artists there were only three which I singled out among those from 40 down to 20, Coldplay Vida la Viva or is Viva la Vida? A James Morrison and a Will Young the other. Jordan Sparks has two and although she won American Idol she is yet to make an outstanding record. I like the Kings of Leon who played everywhere at the Festivals this summer but there was no video of their lower order number. Others were OK Sam Sparro's Black and Gold, Miley Cyrus and Kid Rock The disappointment was the latest Keane, Spiralling. which sounds like a previous records remix plus bits of recent hits of other artists. Think they will not make it back to the top, Also not impressed by the James Bond theme with Alicia Keys and friend.
Earlier in the evening I made some set work from Blogs over the week and recent film and other culture information and experience while watching Pink, perform again at Wembley Arena. She is a clever girl, very sexy with sexy dancers port, hit's the ground running and keeps going unlike most performers who find ways to take breaks, but comes over as being a serious individual with serious views about the world, reflected in her charitable for a range of causes she lives in. Her show was great value for money with a the mind of party feel good ending which I could enjoy at home on my own, It was therefore no surprise to find that she has kept her number spot beating the excellent Kings of Leon number two., However the lyrics of her number one are disturbing, " I wanna start a fight"
Among the others of the top twenty this week I also liked Rihanna's Disturbia Jennifer Hudson/s latest and the Sugar Babes' Girls. The Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol are OK and I was not surprised to learn that Oasis bombed down to 16 after entry last week at 4
I enjoyed watching War Games again. A believable fantasy in which a computer geek breaks into the master defence computer and precipitates a war game left by its inventor with near fatal consequences for all of us. The unbelievable bit was that the game was stopped before nuclear rockets were launched. Complex technology systems can always be broken into by those who design such technology, and those who design such technology can also be bought for money or ideologies. In the present day world of highly trained assassins with command of the latest technology it is inevitable that in a democracy, governments will hire beyond the line and off accounts, in the international market place. I would not be surprised to learn if the present spate of losses of data has been initiated within the administration using outside contracts to obtain information which cannot presently be obtained legitimately. However the more worrying aspect is the likelihood of system break downs and failures and the need for standby duplicate systems and traditional manual systems remains paramount.
The reality of the election, and one suspects all elections, is that it will not be decided by readers of the Washington Post and the New York Times whose staff painstakingly unravel the truth from the layers of dumbed down spin to appeal to Joe six pack and hockey mums everywhere as if Joe six pack and a mum who devotes her life to her family will have any say when it comes to political decision taking by which ever candidates comes to appoint the White House administration. The McCain camp decided to accept Federal Aid for the adverts which now overwhelm TV screen time until shut down before election day and this has a ceiling of around 75 million dollars. Obama whose camp toyed with also accepting the upper expenditure limit did not and with funds flowing in, 100 million dollars in September alone according to the New York Times, decided against, and is pressing the US public to vote at a rate for three or four adds to one. Obviously this is not just about the Democratic Party gaining control over the White House but Congress and the Senate as well, but one has to ask that if as suggested 200 million dollars is being spent on advertising alone, what do the donors, (and who are the donors), expect for their money. How far is an Obama Presidency, or a McCain, should their be a counter swing over the last few days, already mortgaged over what they can do and do not?
In Britain and in much of Europe although our political parties also mortgage their futures in order to gain power there is a sense of fairness which limits what governments can get away with and this includes the removal of freedoms under the excuse of combating terrorism and countering the influence of the internet, the mobile phone and such like. The most extraordinary aspect of the present Labour Party administration is that it has established greater surveillance over its people than was ever warned by George Orwell and others, and it is to the shame of many Members of Parliament from both sides of the House they have acquiesced to this because of wanting not to alienate their party leadership and find themselves deselected or consigned to the back benches for the duration.
In the land of the free, to where owning guns and shooting them is common, the logic of the financial and economic extremism is that not only persistent petty criminals, alcoholics, drug addicts and those mentally ill or with personalities disorders can freeze to death on the sidewalk, but also Joe six pack and hockey mums when times get hard, poor choices made or luck runs out, moreover the system has too often accommodated the gangster, the corrupt trade union and the money makers of Nob Hill taking power at county and state level along with the racists, especially when times are hard. The self proclaimed greatest country in the world has always been deeply flawed but at least the present financial crisis and the economic down turn has now revealed the flaws in its capitalist core system and made Joe six packs and the hockey mums very very angry.
A demand for change swept the USA and the UK for a variety of reasons, even before the credit crunch, the great bust after the great boom and share price melt down at the hands of Hedge funders who know how to keep making money but it still represented only a section of society. The impact of the having to sue tax payers funds, playing the country in hock to the Chinese and other government banks has made just about everyone angry and wanting politicians to ensure that I never happens again. I can foresee major social strife as the depression grips.
Barrack Obama has captured the imagination of those who long for change in their own lives, and McCain and made Maverick an in-word rather than a dirty one, forgetting that some of us know that Mavericks should never be allowed to have uncontrolled power or influence at what ever level they function. They and their campaign managers are being as cynical as it gets because they know they whoever gets power will have a hard time getting anything done let alone changing anything for the better. Change can be for the worse, significantly worse, is a slogan which I would like to see politicians use more frequently.
When it comes to cynical attempts to manipulate an electorate into believe one thing than the other when the reality is different then the prize has to go to Barrack Obama who in 2005 is said to have discussed with his supporters the best approach to gaining the Oval office. I read carefully the article by Eli Saslow in the Washington which argues that after making a great keynote speech at the 2004 convention, and become a celebrity best selling author, he was advised that he has a choice to speak out against the Iraq War, become actively involved in high profile bills, be his natural self and attempt to become a front runner by storm. The alternative was to behave as the freshman Senator, "manoeuvring" forward with "deference and humility." The alleged response of Barrack was to say that he wanted to take it slow and get himself liked. It is said that his approach has been to seek advice, listen, strive for consensus and be cautious over policy and campaigning decisions. The article goes on to argue that Obama worked hard in support of the leadership, gaining influential friends and being a smart politician. He did this while maintaining an aloofness, eating alone and not going out socializing although he lived on his own, his wife deciding to stay in Chicago near her mother and with the children able to continue their education and maintain their friends. He therefore treated his Washington flat as an office extension working until 3 and 4 am (tell me about it).
The article explains that he had the choice to spend the greater part of his time in speech making and media appearances and building on his reputation as a celebrity politician, but he chose to divide his time between participating in the details of Washington committees and debate work and his constituency holding meetings and visiting everywhere that he could. Throughout he maintained this approach when going on trips and meeting the established political personalities at home and abroad from Tony Blair to Nelson Mandela, Ted Kennedy and Hilary Clinton. He was the pupil learning and preparing and is now with his foot at the door of the Oval Office. He is unlikely to slip up between now and polling day and so far McCain had failed to land an effective political punch. However this does not suggest to me a man who is going to throw out the long standing party power brokers, ignore the wishes of the party donors or pack his administration with revolutionary change makers and which I believe is just as well, although it will mean that he will disappoint the voters far more for failing to make revolutionary changes However I do not believe that when push comes to shove people are willing to gamble on revolutionary change at a time of crisis, They want personal and family security more and maintenance of the existing order as long as it tries to be fair to everyone.
I believe that at a time of crisis one does need a firm and steady hand but also someone who can provide imaginative solutions which will command across political social spectrum support. Such all in one leaders come to the fore from time to time, but if not the imaginative solutions needs to be carefully vetted and tested by leaders who understand the law of unintended consequences and the havoc and unjust nature of revolutionary change.
For me the choice and the difference between two teams is simple and straightforward. Which man is more likely to take a decision find it was the wrong one and make the necessary changes, while maintaining the confidence of the public and the power interests who actual run the United States. McCain is a fine man and his country should never forget the service he gave as a young man but I fear he is yesterday's man and Obama is man who is most likely to unite his country through what is going to be a very difficult time for everyone. The difference between them is not as great as the present polls suggest and if either man wins I will not start to have more restless and sleepless nights.
.
The difference for me is that Obama has Joe Bidden and McCain Governor Palin. I believe that Joe Bidden could prove to be the best President of the four should he be required to serve. Governor Palin does not scare me as much as she does some commentators and if as I suspect the Obama Biden ticket will hold the victory celebrations on inauguration day, it will be interesting to see what happens to Governor Palin and will she become the 2012 Republican presidential Candidate?
While rereading the Washington Post article and writing the first draft I listened to the UK top forty of the week and while I knew the majority of artists there were only three which I singled out among those from 40 down to 20, Coldplay Vida la Viva or is Viva la Vida? A James Morrison and a Will Young the other. Jordan Sparks has two and although she won American Idol she is yet to make an outstanding record. I like the Kings of Leon who played everywhere at the Festivals this summer but there was no video of their lower order number. Others were OK Sam Sparro's Black and Gold, Miley Cyrus and Kid Rock The disappointment was the latest Keane, Spiralling. which sounds like a previous records remix plus bits of recent hits of other artists. Think they will not make it back to the top, Also not impressed by the James Bond theme with Alicia Keys and friend.
Earlier in the evening I made some set work from Blogs over the week and recent film and other culture information and experience while watching Pink, perform again at Wembley Arena. She is a clever girl, very sexy with sexy dancers port, hit's the ground running and keeps going unlike most performers who find ways to take breaks, but comes over as being a serious individual with serious views about the world, reflected in her charitable for a range of causes she lives in. Her show was great value for money with a the mind of party feel good ending which I could enjoy at home on my own, It was therefore no surprise to find that she has kept her number spot beating the excellent Kings of Leon number two., However the lyrics of her number one are disturbing, " I wanna start a fight"
Among the others of the top twenty this week I also liked Rihanna's Disturbia Jennifer Hudson/s latest and the Sugar Babes' Girls. The Kaiser Chiefs and Snow Patrol are OK and I was not surprised to learn that Oasis bombed down to 16 after entry last week at 4
I enjoyed watching War Games again. A believable fantasy in which a computer geek breaks into the master defence computer and precipitates a war game left by its inventor with near fatal consequences for all of us. The unbelievable bit was that the game was stopped before nuclear rockets were launched. Complex technology systems can always be broken into by those who design such technology, and those who design such technology can also be bought for money or ideologies. In the present day world of highly trained assassins with command of the latest technology it is inevitable that in a democracy, governments will hire beyond the line and off accounts, in the international market place. I would not be surprised to learn if the present spate of losses of data has been initiated within the administration using outside contracts to obtain information which cannot presently be obtained legitimately. However the more worrying aspect is the likelihood of system break downs and failures and the need for standby duplicate systems and traditional manual systems remains paramount.
I also managed to watch the whole of the Last Days of Mussolini. I had watched the first part a week or so ago. On the second of my two visits to Italy I was struck by the enthusiasm of some Italian for what Mussolini achieved compared to the endless bickering and jockeying for position of contemporary politicians, while overlooking the atrocities committed in his name. The allies never intended for Mussolini and his mistress to die as they did and thus becoming a martyr for some without the kind of trial which could have ensure that the facts of what happened under his regime became fully exposed. The film is a good one as it paints no one as saints or devils but everyone having different causes and viewpoints and what happens when government of any kind breaks down and the mob takes over.
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