Clinton supporters are sore losers which may cost the Democrats the White House

By Elan Barnehama

I have a lot of experience with the agony of defeat. Sure, winning is better, but that’s the way contests go. And it’s certainly the way a democracy works. As a candidate, you don’t always win. As a voter, you don’t always get to choose the winner. In either case, you gather yourself up and get ready to try again. Or you throw your support to another candidate, another bill, another policy. (more…)

Our collective standards for choosing a president haven’t gotten any higher

By Elan Barnehama

I was recently surprised to discover that George W. Bush was still in office. Two years of a relentless rush to press with every nuance of primary coverage (gossip) had produced a news blackout. And then, after it was over, I barely had time to catch my breath before the six-month election campaign coverage began. The primaries were replaced with daily score sheets rating the McCain and Obama campaigns’ performance, read by newscasters who reported on the days tally. So, it was easy to see how I forgot, or just didn’t remember. Besides, the way things have been going lately, it’s not hard to understand why I felt like no one has been in charge. (more…)

It’s fine for President Bush to rely on symbols, but they aren’t a substitute for accountability

By Elan Barnehama

In the past, our nation has always risen to the task in response to crisis. While we often slog our way though important problems, we’ve been brilliant, innovative and quick to mobilize in support of emergencies. Think emergency medical care verse preventative health care. Think Sputnik or polio. Consider FDR’s call for 50,000 planes a year as the US entered World War II. He was mocked. Turned out that he was wrong, as US factory workers responded by producing twice that amount. But, when members of Congress decided to put a temporary halt to filling the government’s emergency oil reserve, as a response to the gasoline crisis, they may have signaled an end to our ability to respond to emergencies. (more…)

The nation needs inspiration to solve its biggest problems, but the presidential candidates haven’t offered much so far

By Elan Barnehama

The primaries continue to drag on and the election is not for another half a year, but I’m ready to call the race. Without any results having been reported, I can say with complete confidence that we the people have lost. Again.

After all the debates and with what started out as dozens of candidates drawn from our best and brightest political minds, not a single great idea – or even a very good idea – has emerged. I’m still waiting to hear something bold wrapped (more…)

Clinton and TV networks prey on fear and latent racism in linking Obama to Rev. Wright and Muslim terrorists

By Potter Earle

I am totally appalled at the tabloid nature of major news networks. Can they bleed this Rev. Wright story any more? Can they make Barack Obama, the clear Democratic frontrunner, look more downtrodden than they actually have? Why not applaud Obama for honestly dealing with this issue and definitively putting it to rest by repudiating Wright? I am amazed at the lynching this guy is getting, and lynching is not too strong a word. The media, hungry for ratings, feed on controversy, turmoil and negativity. Apparently the American public does, too, because the Wright news stories keep coming. We are spending billions of dollars on a ridiculous war while our country is in a recession, and all the media want to talk about is Rev. Wright. (more…)

Sen. Obama’s comments at a San Francisco fundraiser show he could learn a lot from our current president about how to succeed at being an elitist

By Elan Barnehama

Senator Obama recently opened up a can of bitterness and could not get the lid back on before that damning “elitist” label spilled all over him.

Most elitists are taught that they should never be smug (in public) about their elitism. We know that elitists know that we know that elitists have better lives than the rest of us, but some things are better left unspoken. Most of our nation’s elite go out of our way to stay out of our way. (more…)

Sen. Obama’s comments at a San Francisco fundraiser show he could learn a lot from our current president about how to succeed at being an elitist

By Elan Barnehama

Senator Obama recently opened up a can of bitterness and could not get the lid back on before that damning “elitist” label spilled all over him.

Most elitists are taught that they should never be smug (in public) about their elitism. We know that elitists know that we know that elitists have better lives than the rest of us, but some things are better left unspoken. (more…)

The nation that invented the atom bomb to end World War II could take on global climate change with the same kind of drive and innovation

By Elan Barnehama

I’m thinking that President Bush had the annual celebration of Earth Day in mind when he announced last week that the U.S. strategy for tackling global warming was to pretty much do nothing for the next dozen years. It could be that he was reacting to the news that China has overtaken the United States as the world’s leader in carbon emission. I mean, really, how many more setbacks can one administration take? (more…)