Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Ode to Obama and Romney

I was thinking of posting a list of reasons why I will not be voting for President Obama this year - and sure as hell won't be voting for Mitt Romney.  But I discovered this morning that   someone else has captured my sentiments perfectly. 
 
I find it astonishing that so many conservatives see Obama as a radical leftist.  There is absolutely no evidence that Obama is anything but a pragmatic, centrist conservative.  The fact that he is viewed as a radical by so many on the right illustrates, to my mind, the psychologically distorting power of tribal partisan allegiance.

That said, I predict, for reasons 1-4 cited in Rose’s post, that the Obama presidency will end up doing greater damage to the nation than the Bush presidency.  By refusing to prosecute criminal elites within our government and financial system, as the law requires, President Obama has created the impunity state.  The (now working) presumption that elite officials and corporate executives are immune from prosecution when they break our laws will eventually work far more harm to our nation than anything done under the Bush presidency.  Mark my words on this.

I like President Obama, and agree with him on most issues.  I'm confident that he will beat Mitt Romney like a drum come November.  But I can’t support him.

For the record, I also used to respect Mitt Romney.  His record of accomplishment is quite remarkable.  And he is, underneath the "severe conservative" façade, a reasonable man.  Unfortunately, Mr. Romney has repeatedly demonstrated a cravenness so deep that I cannot bear the thought of voting for him.  A man who passed up the opportunity to denounce Rush Limbaugh for repeatedly calling a young female political opponent a “slut,” lacks character, plain and simple.

Sigh!

Joe H.

1 comment:

Justin said...

Couldn't agree more on Obama. I tell "hard core" conservatives that provided GOP keeps the House and makes gains on the Senate, Obama is the best advocate to make consevative initiatives more palatable for the other half of the country. He's like gummy bear vitamins for kids, he gives liberals the nutrition that they don't want in a package that they can't resist. Of course the partisan biases of these conservatives makes them look at me like I'm crazy, but looking at his record, it's almost undeniable.