Honestly, why I like the guy

[YOY]

I made this post in reply to someone else's recently. I just wanted to share. K&R if you agree...debate if you disagree....attack if you disagree vehemently.

1. On the issues he's no Kucinich, but he's the closest we're going to get within reason for now. America doesn't need the polar opposite of Bush.

We need a stabilizing left...one that wins over Republicans for years to come, talks to us like were adults, and "brings balance to the force"...no short order...but we are horrible skewed to the right to the point where a disturbing percentage of America thinks that the DLC is "left". That has to stop.

2. I could have grown up next door to him. I grew up next door to a lot of people.

-One is broke and living hard scrabble back in Ohio still. He doesn't want to leave the state.
-One had to leave his Republican daddy's firm and move to California for work purposes. He's a Republican...but even he can only take so much BS before he opens his eyes.
-One died recently, pancreatic cancer at 35. No family...never had time for it. I always thought he might be a "straight acting" gay guys. At any rate he's dead at a young age.
-One is turning tricks. I feel sorry for her. She was always a little slow, but I hoped it would be OK for her.
-One is the guy who designed Puss in Boots character in "Shrek" and several of the Characters in the "Bee Movie." I went to his wedding. He's doing well. I'm happy for him.

Somehow, I like the idea of a middle class kid making better than any middle class kid ever did before and the line "anyone can be president" being true instead of a lie meant to pacify a dysfunctional democracy.

3. I think my generation is ready to take power. And bring in a breath of reality to American politics to frighten away the "flag-pin"/"fear mongering" politics of yesterday.

Sorry babyboomers. (ON CORRECTION HE IS A BABY BOOMER! SORRY FOLKS! MY BAD HOWEVER MANY OF US WHO ARE VOTING FOR HIM ARE NOT! -YOY)

We, your kids, are officially old enough. Keep interested and keep voting, but do trust us to handle things now. You did a good job on us. Most of us are smart enough to not judge a person by the color of their skin, religion, or gender, but by the content of their character. More of us believe that than folks of your generation.

Maybe next generation will be the same about sexual orientation. I hope so.

We still love you Boomers...unless you vote McCain...

but he's my generation. He put himself through college. Not from a rich family. I could have grown up next door to this guy and felt proud of that fact. I understand if he's too busy to drink a beer with me. I hope he is.

Maybe he can open the door for some ambitious and capable middle-class rooted woman in the future to become the president. I am sure she will be a Democrat.

[Benhurst]

1. I hate to tell you this, but unless you vote for McCain ( who's too old

to be a baby boomer), you will be voting for a baby boomer in November.

Barack Obama, who was born in 1961, is a baby boomer, and not an especially young one at that.

http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/006105.html

[YOY]

2. Meh...dammit

Still at the tail end. My face is red.

Thanks for the correction Ben.

[Lerkfish]

27. hey hey hey hey hey! that's still young!

to me, anyways (born in 1958)

[livetohike]

3. Yes, sorry to burst your bubble about us Boomers but he

is a boomer and I'm proud to have him in our generation.

[YOY]

4. My face is red...

:blush:

[livetohike]

7. It's okay - it's a nice OP despite that

:toast:

[calimary]

20. Aw, don't worry about it. But at any rate, this boomer - who's not exactly

ready to move into the old folks' home yet - is an Obama supporter (I guess I'm old enough to be an older sister or auntie), and there is NO WAY I will EVER vote for a mcsame type against Barack - OR Hillary for that matter.

Just make sure your generation stays informed and involved (and DOESN'T VOTE republi-CON!!!!!!). 'Cause you ARE going to be running things across-the-board sooner or later.

[YOY]

21. Much love...and I DO love/respect my Boomer friends, family, and colegues

Despite the faux outrage Mrs. 47-year-old-and-needs-a-walker downthread would like to project.

[ClassWarrior]

5. Here's another. He represents an opportunity for Progressives...

CUNY Professor Frances Fox Piven on a recent Democracy Now!:

You know, in 1932, FDR didn’t run with a good program; he ran with the same program the Democrats had run with in 1924 and 1928, and that wasn’t a good program. But nevertheless, his rhetoric encouraged people who were suffering as a result of the Depression—working people, the unemployed—and helped to fuel the movements, which then forced FDR to support initiatives which he otherwise would not have supported, including the right to organize...

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/2/6/super_tuesday_roundtable_with_bill_fletcher

NGU.

[LisaM]

6. Do you think people 47 and older are washed up and over the hill?

Seriously.

Life expectancy is much longer than it used to be, and the retirement age is being bumped up to 68. Yet the reins are now supposed to be handed over to people Obama's age and younger?

This is the most ageist thing I have ever seen.

[YOY]

11. No, just Hillary.

Thanks for the faux outrage game. Please tell the last DLCer to leave to take the Political Correctness bible with them.

[LisaM]

13. So this statement was only meant for Hillary?

"3. I think my generation is ready to take power. And bring in a breath of reality to American politics to frighten away the "flag-pin"/"fear mongering" politics of yesterday.

Sorry babyboomers. (ON CORRECTION HE IS A BABY BOOMER! SORRY FOLKS! MY BAD -YOY)

We, your kids, are officially old enough. Keep interested and keep voting, but do trust us to handle things now. You did a good job on us. Most of us are smart enough to not judge a person by the color of their skin, religion, or gender, but by the content of their character. More of us believe that than folks of your generation.

Maybe next generation will be the same about sexual orientation. I hope so.

We still love you Boomers...unless you vote McCain..."


I found this all incredibly condescending. "Most of use are smart enough......" "folks of your generation......" "we still love you Boomers....."

Where in your post are you saying that's only for Hillary?

On edit: and the most unbelievable of all, "keep interested and keep voting, but do trust us to handle things now". Is that what you're going to shout at the Boomers as you truck them off to the glue factory?

[YOY]

14. Of course you found it "condescending" that's what faux outrage is all about!

Finding shit that's "condescending" that really isn't!

[LisaM]

17. You don't think telling people to step aside isn't condescending?

You yourself may be 47 one day. I think you'll find that you can get around without a walker and that a few brain cells still work.

[YOY]

22. I'm sorry you'll have to step aside

There really are people here who have something pleasant to say... ;-)

[LisaM]

26. Well! You told me! After that remarkably unpleasant post!

Although apparently you don't see it.




:rofl:

[YOY]

29. Next time don't reply then!

:)

[Solon]

8. Where is this "stabilizing left"? All I see is centrist bullshit...

if you consider Obama even remotely a member of the left, you'd have to say the same of the DLC, their policies are practically the same.

[YOY]

10. Best we're gonna do for now.

and that's pretty solid. He can and will slip a little to the left post election I have a feeling.

Our other option is voting Green. That's not going to happen in my case.

[Solon]

16. If the GPUSA or The Greens were a viable party, I would vote for them...

however, that is not the case at the moment. So I settle on voting against Republicans by voting for whoever has a (D) listed after their name. However, I'm under no illusions that any Democratic candidate, including Obama, are "secret liberals" when they run on a centrist platform.

[Benhurst]

18. I hope you are right, YOY.

I gave to his senate campaign (I'm a native of Illinois and still a property owner there) and have been very disappointed by his voting record. I was appalled when, after making much over having been against the war, he voted to confirm war criminal Condoleezza Rice as Secretary of State. And then there was renewal of the Patriot Act, and his voting for the continued funding of the illegal and immoral occupation of Iraq. Etc., etc., etc.

Oh, well. I no longer have a dog in this fight. And I have been holding my nose and voting for Democrats since before you were born.

[YOY]

24. Lesser of two evils Ben...always has been

I just have a little hope is all. At least it may turn out better than it is now!

[woolldog]

9. Nice to read something positive on here for a change.

k&r

[BrklynLib at work]

12. Good post. It is in touch with reality, I believe.

[AllentownJake]

15. Don't feel bad about the Boomer comment

To me the Boomers were the children of the WWII generation. He isn't his mother had him real young. He's more the child of an early hippie.

I'm Generation X barely but because of who my parents are I consider myself to be fully of that generation. My parents were both Vietnam Vets and I was their first child. My father was 37 (and not a boomer) my mother was 32. Both their parents were of the WWII grew up in the depression era.

[YOY]

19. That's how I envisioned it but the numbers dont lie

To me Boomers--->Hippy Kids--->Gen X---->Gen Y--->Gen Next--->Damn you kids get off my lawn...

:shrug:

[Benhurst]

23. My guess is that the corporate press, assuming Obama is elected,

will be babbling about "the passing of the torch" to a new generation. Don't forget, these are the great thinkers who had us celebrating 2000 as the beginning of the new millennium. With the success of the movie 2001, you'd think they at least could have gotten that right!

:rofl:

[immoderate]

25. The ideas you espouse preceeded your generation.

Clinton and Bush may not have been the best exponents of the boomers, (especially Bush) but racial, gender, and sexual orientation equality were movements that were popular by the seventies, when you're movements, if any, were limited to your bowels. It's even been shown that generations that followed the boomers were largely more conservative and less activist.

You may have the concern, but I'd not assume that of any generation. If you cannot give the boomers credit for being anti-war and promoting all sorts of rights, you are making a mistake.

--IMM

[localroger]

28. Obama's not a Boomer

Obama was born in August, 1961. I was born in '64 and my wife in '59; neither of us considers ourself a Boomer. By this time the real Boomers were in their early teens. Primary schools created to serve the huge wave of students were scaling back, closing, or converting to high schools (and many would later convert to universities). My wife and I were on the tail end of all those trends. Barack may not be Gen X, but he is a step in that direction.

[YOY]

30. Yeah, I mentioned that in a correction

And apologized twice earlier in the thread.