Obama

I recently presented my reasons for supporting Obama for President (See the article at http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474977406889). Just now it occurred to me that I didn't base that support on any of Obama's positions on any issue, except the war in Iraq. And even in that case, that was not presented more as an afterthought. Rather my support was based on his biography - that is, who he is.

The comments seemed to be based on the issue of the war. That is, did he change his mind, as if intelligent people don't change their mind on occasion in light of new facts. It surprises me that no one brought up the lack of issues in my support.

Yet, rather than apologizing for that, I would like to apologize for mentioning Iraq. In reality, this should be mentioned only in that it shows how he views war, particularly stupid wars. The war in Iraq is a stupid war - it was started because of a lie, and would not have occurred if the president hadn't lied to Congress and the American people. The importance of his position on Iraq is less whether or not he changed his mind - anyone who is intelligent will change their mind when addition information comes to light. Many Congressmen find themselves in this position.

I will justify my response by quoting a movie I saw, The American President. "My opponent has suggested that the presidency is somewhat about character. He is wrong. It is all about character."

I cannot know what issues will be facing the United States in the next four years. Perhaps a natural disaster - a comet was the currently vogue disaster in movies about ten years ago - will wipe out a significant percentage of the population of the world. I don't know. We need to select a president that can handle this if is comes up. It makes no difference what his views on superficial issues are in that case. Perhaps its just a tornado in Los Angeles or a hurricane in New Orleans.

Therefore, on foreign issues, I don't care what he says about Israel. What I care about is that he grew up in a situation where he is likely to see the United States in it true light, and, therefore, is less likely to fly off the handle at some imagined threat.

I don't care about his stand on tax increases. What is much more important is how will he approach the problems that occur. Will eh simply throw money at it, (the way some Democrats in the distant past have done) or will he use it as an excuse to give money to all his titled friends, as the Republicans have in recent years, and leave the problems largely unsolved?

I don't care about his stand on public health. I do care about whether he cares about people, especially people like me.

I don't care, even, about his stand on the environment, except to note that he thinks it's important. I remind people that to date, this planet is the only planet that is known to have life on it at all, life is precious.

I don't care about his religious convictions, except insofar as he allows them to impact his decisions. Also, I don't care about his convictions if he will allow that I can express mine freely. If my convictions are "right" and his "wrong" then mine will win out, and, what the heck, I have been wrong in the past, that's part of living.

I don't care if his campaign is financed by a few large donors (which, I understand, it is not) as long as he doesn't allow them to buy his support.

I don't care if he knows, or does not know, the latest thing on Internet, as long as he understands how important the Internet it to people now, and how much more important it is going to be in the future. I find it impressive that to my knowledge Obama is the first presidential candidate to understand the political implications of the Internet.

I don't care if he has allowed that additional information and understanding has caused him to change his mind about some things, intelligent people do that, only idiots don't.

For these reasons, I really don't care what Obama's stand is on issues.