The Madness of MukhMan

WSJ.com – Opinion: A Life in the Public Interest   [ This article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal for up to seven days after it is e-mailed.]

I do not agree with the writer’s definition of the condition ”in time, to be called neoconservatism.”  But I am reading, in the media, two partially conflicting views of who Irving Kristol was and what he truly represented.  People either worship him or detest him strongly.  Perhaps the media and politicos turned him into a symbol of something he himself did not fully subscribe to.  The truth, as always, is probably somewhere in the middle.  Leaders like Reagan and Bush (Sr. and Jr.), like all other politicians, probably found in his writings what they wanted to hear in order to validate their own preconceived idealogy, as opposed to getting the whole picture as Kristol intended.  However, my sympathies for Kristol evaporate when I think that he actually defended the bastard, Joseph McCarthy.  I do not believe Communism was ever a threat to the U.S. from within; I think the threat was exaggerated by the paranoid.  I believe that democratic principles are too embedded in the political fabric and social mores of our nation for our republic to give in to such a system, although there have been times throughout our history that our government has leaned towards Socialism (FDR) and Fascism (Dick Cheney).

So what was Irving Kristol?  An indecisive, rambling idiot?  A respected intellectual with great ideas? A liberal or conservative or neither or both or something in between?

The only way to start a blog is to – er, start blogging.  I’ve owned this domain for a while, and implemented WordPress on my own server, and did so many things.  Yet I never got my blog off the ground.  Well, here it is.  Now I need topics to write about, and what better subject to lead off than the election of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States of America!

I must say that I have never been prouder to be an American.  This is for several reasons: the historic election of a bi-racial candidate who is partly a descendant of Africans; the end of eight years of idiocy and abuse of power that led me to believe that we were a nation of morons who deserved self-destruction; and above all, to be able to look up and see a man who was born to be a great leader, one who I respect and admire.

I first saw President-Elect Obama (sends shivers down my spine just to write that!) speak years ago, when he was a new U.S. Senator, in Chicago, at the American Library Association (ALA) Convention.  (At the time, I was the product manager for a small software-as-a-service company that served the academic market.)  As an orator, he obviously has a commanding presence.  However, no one could have imagined that this man would rise so quickly through the political ranks and go straight to the White House.

I have to say that Obama’s acceptance speech was the most sincere & inspirational that I have ever heard.  Even Republican analysts and strategists were impressed, and they hope that his term in office will be defined by the same attitudes he presents today.  I thought Sen. McCain’s concession speech was also most gracious and honorable.  I liked McCain before he became the GOP nominee, and I like him now that he has returned to his own self, with nothing to prove to his nasty, hateful, vicious party.

Yes, I am an independent voter – one of those people who everyone was talking about in this election – but I am now hesitant to even consider voting for a Republican.  The base of this party have shown themselves to be a disgrace to our nation.  At a time when their candidate reminded us of the struggles people have fought to get to this historic day, and genuinely offered his congratulations and respect, his supporters booed his opponent.  During previous campaign rallies, these people did not hesitate to chant “kill him” or connect him to terrorists or call him unpatriotic.  Moreover, as we saw with the whole Joe the Plumber nonsense, the GOP seems to be interested only in catering to blue collar Americans.  As if electing intelligent, educated individuals with degrees from top universities is bad for our country.

I think back to what our founding fathers said.  They wanted educated, capable individuals who were enlightened with respect to the interests of all citizens, rich or poor, schooled or not, to govern the country.  Sure, that is an ideal.  But who would you rather have running our country?  Karl the car mechanic or the man who will be inaugurated on January 20?  George W. Bush sold himself as “everyman,” a “real American,” and a good Christian.  That’s great, he’s a nice guy, with a lovely wife.  But he made a HORRIBLE president.  Well, at least Obama’s election has restored my hope in my fellow citizens, and has demonstrated the unique nature of our democracy.  Now let’s see how he leads us into the future!