(anyone but) Obama in '08

After I made yet another anti-Obama comment last night, my Dear Husband (henceforth, DH) asked me why I dislike the man so much (not that's he's pro-Obama; he was simply asking). For starters, I think that a part of it is a somewhat latent contrarian streak showing up; living in Chicago, not worshipping Obama is heresy, and, boy oh boy, I sure don't want to be like everyone else! Second, I don't really want to move to Portugal. Non sequitur, you wonder? The thing is, DH and I have (jokingly?) talked of moving to Portugal if Obama gets the Democratic nomination and goes on to win the Presidency (there's an aviation institute in Portugal). For the first time, I have some sympathy with those whiny libs who threatened to move to Canada if GWBush won in '04. (Well, he did, but did they?) Don't test us, America. Don't put Obama in charge. (Though Portugal would offer a great opportunity for our kids to get in touch with their Iberian blood...)

More seriously, I really don't like him. Here are some reasons why:
I can't stand the guy's rhetoric. Call me cynical, but it sounds pretty empty and way too fluffy. "Change" and "unity", blah blah blah. I'm convinced that he got his slogans from (1) Chicago Cubs fans ("Believe!") and (2) a self-help book ("we are the change that we seek"). It's like Joel Osteen for secular humanists. Give me boring ol' Hillary any day over a guy who knows how to make a crowd cheer with platitudes about unity and change.

Speaking of unity... While Barack preaches unity, a fair amount of criticism that I've read and heard points to a record that shows anything but unity. A friend tells me that Obama's Chicago church's magazine honored Louis Farrakhan a while ago (roundabout, but not unimportant: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/14/AR2008011402083.html). Obama has protected infanticide (while killing babies! How ironic! See below). How a man who advocates these far left positions can hope to bring unity to this country is a mystery to me. Unless he plans to hypnotize us all with his charm? Entirely possible.

And speaking of the left... an article (http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=18647) a friend sent with the advice to "remind anyone who cares that Obama is more liberal than NARAL" pretty much sums it up. While I have no illusions that abortion will ever be outlawed in this country (see this link http://www.kucinichonline.com/pdfs/Kucinich_Reproductive%20Rights.pdf for a brief summary, which, yes, I know is from a Dem, but most Republicans are hypocrites when it comes to abortion), Obama isn't just pro-choice; he's perfectly okay with infanticide. Talk about kowtowing to special interests (radical feminists and "ethicist" creeps like Peter Singer), as infanticide arguably falls outside even abortion's scope (hey, even NARAL thinks so!). One doesn't have to be a single-issue abortion voter to think that Obama is going way too far.

(Who's Peter Singer? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Singer Make sure that you notice that his views on euthenasia could actually apply to any disabled person, adult or infant, as "personhood" requires a certain degree of self-consciousness.)

As if the reasons above aren't enough for me not to like him, Obama's followers themselves make the man a bit repulsive to me. There seriously seems to be some sort of messianic fervor following him. My impression is that he's captured young people by mere virtue of being young, "hip" (whatever that means), "sexy"* (see below!) and energetic. Some Evangelicals have embraced him because, evidently, Obama is going to end poverty in our lifetime. What a joke. Obama is no messiah, and he will not save our souls...

...as William Kristol points out in this delightful and way-too-fun op-ed piece in the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/25/opinion/25kristol.html?_r=1&scp=3&sq=william+kristol&st=nyt&oref=slogin). I'll leave it at that.

*Please note: I'm not calling Obama "sexy." I'm using "sexy" here in the same way that I say, "The media loves to report on accidental gun deaths involving children because it's a far more sexy issue than reporting on children drowning in backyard swimming pools. Drownings equal boring; handguns equal sexy." That's all.