insomnia: New Obama video from will.i.am

Insomnia (

insomnia) wrote,
@ 2008-02-29 09:44:00

New Obama video from will.i.am

Just in time for Texas, Ohio, and maximum effect...

But hey, if you don't like Obama, there are alternatives... though suicide might seem like an easier way out.

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	granting 2008-02-29 05:59 pm UTC (link)
	Well, more for Texas than Ohio I'd say. I noticed you had some crappy TMZ interview up first. Heh. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	insomnia 2008-02-29 06:04 pm UTC (link)
	I'd agree that it could play better in Texas than Ohio, but there are a few figures in the video that would play pretty well in Ohio. I'm actually a bit surprized to see some of the various celebrities who are joining up, as I didn't know they had essentially endorsed the campaign. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	delusionalangel 2008-02-29 07:53 pm UTC (link)
	Umm... WTF is that Hillary video, I couldn't watch more than a few seconds. (Reply to this)

Obamania

papananook
2008-02-29 08:15 pm UTC (link)

Yikes! Now it's a musical mantra...I admire your passion for candidate Barack Obama but I still cringe when I hear him talk about foreign policy and a big military. Maybe he'll actually change many things for the good (with help from a functional (!?) but far from trustworthy Dem majority in Congress) but will they unbind this country from the stranglehold of corporate domination and Imperialist crap with which 'Murika has damaged so much of the world in the last...well, a long time...50 yrs? I wonder if the Obamania isn't overrated. I know everyone is thirsty for a big change after being submitted to the last 7 yrs of the Bush/Cheney insanity but I doubt that the fundamental changes needed to really change humanity's direction are gonna come because of a centrist Democrat with charisma. Maybe I'm just an old cynic, but I don't see all THAT much change coming without challenging and reforming capitalist/corporate domination. Will Obama bring it on? Unlikely, methinks, from what I see...
I have serious doubts. But what alternative have we been given? Less hype and more substance, please.
But this is 'Merrikan politics...I almost forgot. Enjoy the circus because the bread is running out, the oceans are dying, the water supply is drying up because of big Agribusiness and global warming, livestock proliferation, etc. Some heavy challenges before us, so we'd better REALlY change...Obama would be wise to at least listen to Nader's very intelligent fundamental ideas, which are the real reason he's running, not to "spoil" anything..... Peace be with you!

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Re: Obamania

swingland
2008-02-29 08:32 pm UTC (link)

oh crap...they you go with your "real problems". geez, it's like you want a leader or something!

the one thing that really kills me about this election is that for all the time and money we're throwing on an election where our vote doesn't matter (electoral college, superdelegates), could anyone tell me the last town council meeting they went to? or who is running for their local school board? you know...elections where your vote DOES matter?

and money...what would that be like if we were able to throw that many millions on local problems like domestic abuse shelters, schools, community centers, outreaches, businesses...do you think we would see some tangible change?

the hillary video is pretty aweful, though. in so far as murikan politics are concerned, Obama definitely wins American Idol for this season.

i don't hate the politicians. i'm mostly just angry with myself and my fellow americans for working ourselves into this quandry from the get-go.

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Re: Obamania

papananook
2008-02-29 09:37 pm UTC (link)

You make a good point ...I don't know what it's like in N. Carolina but Alaskan politics are controlled by Big Oil mostly and the schools are pretty good, considering...But I'm leaving this corrupt/weird but beautiful state for Oregon soon so I'll be among more progressive people, I think. I do have some interest in local politics with 2 grandkids just entering school age, the dead ocean zones off the Oregon coast and other environmental issues, so I'll find out there what's going on. The National circus is rapidly deteriorating into a nasty campaign, even if the Rethuglicans are in disarray.

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Re: Obamania

insomnia
2008-02-29 10:23 pm UTC (link)

I can't say exactly what he'll do militarily, but I suspect he will find some ways of cutting military spending, while appearing tough at the same time. More active duty soldiers, fewer new weapons systems? Could be worse, I guess... at least on the soldiers.

I don't think he can be called a centrist democrat and still be said to have the most liberal voting record. He isn't a centrist like Clinton was a centrist, certainly.

Really, it seems like he's willing to accept certain largely meaningless-but-symbolic issues:

border fence, no healthcare mandates, slightly more active-duty troops

...in exchange for major changes:
a working immigration system / amnesty, a national healthcare program, US out of Iraq

In that sense, it's a lot different than Clinton, who pretty much always rode the middle ground, and didn't bring home the goods.

With Obama, you get a sense that he's clearly aware of what ideally *should* be done, and that he's trying to figure out ways to do it that would be politically viable. If that gives him a mandate for sweeping change, it will be interesting to see just how far he takes it, really.

Ultimately, he defies simple definitions, which frankly is a plus.

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Re: Obamania

insomnia
2008-03-01 12:24 am UTC (link)

I think that people today have a level of cynicism that is really damaging for those times when a candidate that actually could do some good comes along.

Bobby Kennedy had huge Beatle-like mobs filling the tarmacs where his plane put down, filling the streets and chanting his name, every where he went... but we're afraid of a little hope, and call it cultish after a long, long drought.

Something has definitely changed, but I don't think it's clearly for the better.

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kayay
2008-02-29 10:37 pm UTC (link)

I avoid these videos on either side, just because I find it all overly trendy; I'm more into just getting the facts in black and white (or maybe than the catchy tunes and flashy graphics of campaigns, although I admit it works and it's what politicians need to do to get peoples' attention. Humans like shiny objects. I do. *stares at fork* I also have to admit that some are more well done than others, and the Hillary one was just plain awful. Granted, it's supposed to be upbeat and catchy, but it comes off as too old skool cheesy.

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papananook
2008-03-01 12:59 am UTC (link)

OK, liberal Dem, then...if you want, my mistake...I find these labels misleading anyway. But as for being a cynic--I'm not afraid of hope but I'll defer my hope to when I see these insane wars ended for good, the troops home where they belong, when a single payer (no profit) healthcare system is installed, when Taft-Hartley is gone and people have decent living wages, when the USA takes the lead in carbon emission reduction, non-polluting industry, when corporate media doesn't manipulate our minds, when banks are regulated again so these ponzy schemes like the home loan scandal don't bankrupt millions of people and so on. It's a whole range of incredible challenges, isn't it?
Possibly when the incompetent cronies of the Bush Admin are swept out of the Fed bureaucracies and Obama's people, who I assume will be intelligent and competent...then I will hope.
If that's too much to ask, so be it...anything less is unacceptable to me, a tired ol' Hippie looking at a sick planet gone crazy with consumerism, pollution, violence, injustice and so on. Doesn't mean I've given up, like some I know...I'm just sayin' we're in deep, deep shit...but then you knew that, right? Keep hoping and workin' for a better world, Bro!.

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insomnia
2008-03-01 02:17 am UTC (link)

"I'm not afraid of hope but I'll defer my hope to when I see these insane wars ended for good, the troops home where they belong, when a single payer (no profit) healthcare system is installed, when Taft-Hartley is gone and people have decent living wages, when the USA takes the lead in carbon emission reduction, non-polluting industry, when corporate media doesn't manipulate our minds, when banks are regulated again so these ponzy schemes like the home loan scandal don't bankrupt millions of people and so on. It's a whole range of incredible challenges, isn't it?"

Absolutely. But by deferring your hope, aren't you putting the cart before the horse? Or, perhaps more accurately, starving the horse until such time as he can pull the horse up the mountain?

One of the big things about Obama's campaign is that he's calling for hope, change, and for a kind of unity that transcends barriers of class, race, and political ideology. That's something that I haven't seen really done politically since Bobby Kennedy... who, in my opinion, was a far better progressive than JFK.

Our country has paid dearly for Bobby Kennedy's assassination, but I would like to think that maybe we can start to break away from what has come before, and move in the direction of the kinds of change we'd both like to see.

I think the possibility of having a president who knows he can turn to the voters online for the money needed to run his campaign, rather than be at the mercy of *ANY* lobbyist or big business donor is a huge start towards getting anything important passed.

Obviously, though, more is going to have to happen in order to wean the rest of Congress off of the corporate teat. Let's hope he's going to be up to it, because how many people in Congress will have the kind of funding luxury he has? a dozen or so, maybe?!

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papananook
2008-03-01 02:50 am UTC (link)

I get it...I'm just not chanting the mantra. I suppose I should've said I defer my enthusiasm/acceptance rather than hope. I'm thirsty for change, too and I think we are working towards the same goal. My impatience is probably in direct proportion to our age difference...I've been fighting the war machine since the 60's and sometimes it all seems futile. OK, Obama, show me something of substance and I'll believe. Pardon an ol' geezer's doubts and skepticism. How about Nuclear Power donating to Obama? Is this true?

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insomnia
2008-03-01 03:46 am UTC (link)

Excelon? They've certainly donated to him in the past, as they are a very big Illinois company, but I don't think their donations are particularly relevant now.

How do you buy undue influence when someone doesn't need -- and probably doesn't really want -- your money anymore?

Obama tends to be supportive of nuclear power as being a part of a total energy supply mix, but I think that nuclear has gotten a bit of a bad rap, in that their use has actually saved American lives, as compared to coal plants, which spew their exhaust into our air, playing an active role in asthma, cancer, and the death of thousands of Americans a year.

Unfortunately, coal and nuclear are two of the most efficient sources of energy. That said, there's enough of a stigma about nuclear that no new plants have been approved for a LONG time, and there are new developments to make safe nuclear power. I think that the risk and problems associated with pebble bed reactors are of minimal risk, and that it might be worthwhile looking at building a few, if only to properly evaluate them and see how safe they could be made. Basically, it's a whole field of science which could lead to clean, longterm energy solutions, so I personally don't have a huge problem with it. The good thing about the "pebbles" involved is that they should be far safer to store than other nuclear waste, with very little risk of leaking into the environment.

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	papananook 2008-03-01 03:57 am UTC (link)
	Thanks, that's good to know...I was totally anti-nuke until I read some James Lovelock on solutions to global climate change. Peace, Bro (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	insomnia 2008-03-01 06:17 am UTC (link)
	Exactly the same with me. Read Lovelock a bit, and it makes you wonder whether nuclear is the sanest solution. Really though, it's probably the best stop-gap solution we have at the moment, until several other solutions mature and are implemented fully. Edited at 2008-03-01 06:19 am UTC (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	papananook 2008-03-01 07:32 am UTC (link)
	I think Lovelock knows what he's talkin' about...but convincing the average no-nuker won't be easy. But then, you and I changed our minds... (Reply to this)(Parent)

swingland
2008-03-02 04:10 am UTC (link)

the rhetoric kind of reminds me of a church service where people start getting up and falling on the ground and speaking in tongues. you don't know whether something real is going on or its a whole bunch of fabricated bullshit.

robert anton wilson said is best when he described how we each view our existance through our own reality tunnels. it seems like the more shit gets bombarded at it, the more it sticks.

well, robert anton wilson and bill hicks are dead. it's just us now.

this isn't an argument for or against anything.

(Reply to this)(Parent)

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