Political Observations

"But certainly the single most revelatory moment of the campaign — about the political establishment, not Obama — arrived in June when he reversed his position on taking public financing. This was a huge flip-flop (if no bigger than McCain’s on the Bush tax cuts). But the reaction was priceless. Suddenly the political world discovered that far from being some exotic hothouse flower, Obama was a pol from Chicago. Up until then it rarely occurred to anyone that he had to be a ruthless competitor, not merely a sweet-talking orator, to reach the top of a political machine even rougher than the Clinton machine he had brought down. Whether that makes him more black or more white remains unresolved."
- Frank Rich, The New York Times, 02 Nov 2008
[ http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/opinion/02rich.html?em ]

“They have to take a very realistic look at themselves — we do — I am a Republican, and see where we went wrong, where we aren’t attaching ourselves to the hopes, dreams and ambitions of the American people,” he said.
- Colin Powell, reminding himself that he’s a Republican

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After a Decisive Victory, Obama Chooses Transition Team as Challenges Loom - NYTimes.com

Every time I hear a political speech or I read those of our leaders, I am horrified for having, for years, heard nothing which sounded human. It is always the same words telling the same lies. And the fact that men accept this, that the people's anger has not destroyed these hollow clowns, strikes me as proof that men attribute no importance to the way they are governed; that they gamble yes, gamble with a whole part of their life and their so called "vital interests."