Sunday, December 16, 2007

The Globe-Democrat's Choice For President?


How much water can one newspaper carry? The Boston Globe-Democrat is conducting a journalistic science-fair project to find out.

That the house organ for the Massachusetts Democratic Party has endorsed two anti-tax-cut, pro-illegal-immigration, anti-free-speech liberals (
Barack Obama and John McCain) is hardly a shock. It ain't called the "Globe-Democrat" for nuthin'.

But endorsing Obama is a new level of shameless selling out, even for the establishment boot-lickers of Morrissey Blvd.

The real endorsement didn't go to Sen. Obama or Mrs. Clinton. It went to Gov. Deval Patrick.

First, let's get this obvious truth out of the way: Barack FREAKIN' Obama? Are you out of your tiny little liberal minds?

What has Barack Obama ever done that shows he's ready to run a car dealership or Subway franchise--much less serve as president?

He's never been an executive of, well, anything. He's never created a job, he's never run a business, he's never won a significant courtroom victory or achieved a single private-sector accomplishment of note.

As a political leader, his record is nonexistent. His federal political experience began in 2005--more than three years AFTER 9/11. When Osama bin Laden was plotting his attack, Barack Obama was fighting over pothole filling in his home district in Illinois.

Barack Obama is also the proud member of a fringe religious group that advocates "blackness" and urges a rejection of middle-class values because they're too white.

Here's a hint to the supergeniuses at the Globe-Democrat: Anytime you're endorsing a man to become the next Leader of the Free World and you have to list his time as an elementary school student in Indonesia as part of his foreign policy resume--you need to put down the bong and think again.

Believe it or not, the following is a direct quote from a (theoretically) major American newspaper choosing a US president:


"he is the biracial son of a father from Kenya and a mother who had him at 18; that he was raised in the dynamic, multi-ethnic cultures of Hawaii and Indonesia.... his exposure to foreign lands as a child and his own complex racial identity have made him at ease with diversity."
These are all fascinating observations about an interesting and intelligent man. But what the heck do they have to do with being PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES?

The fact that the BG-D had space in their 700 editorial to chat about Sen. Obama's childhood is telling. If you gave me just 700 words to explain why Mitt Romney or Rudy Giuliani was my choice for president--or Sens. Biden or Dodd, for that matter--I'd be hard-pressed to get it all in. They have each done so much, and they have clear proposals for what they want to do as president.

Everything you need to know about Sen. Obama's political achievements is that the Boston Globe-Democrat had to pad their endorsement to fill the page. The only other major candidate with such a thin resume? Hillary Clinton--the Globe-Democrat's second choice.

Which brings to the money question: Why?

No discussion of any endorsement of Barack Obama is honest unless it mentions race. I put the same challenge to the Globe-Democrat that I put to Gov. Patrick: If a man with the same (nonexistent) resume were running on the same (vague) ideology--but was an Irishman named Bill O'Bannion, not Barack Obama--would the Globe-Democrat headline read "O'Bannion for President?"

Of course not.

Interestingly, in 2006 the Globe-Democrat endorsed another completely inexperienced--and as we're discovering here in Massachusetts, incapable--candidate for governor, Deval Patrick. I gave them the same test: "David Patrick, Irishman from Southie?" Same result.

And now Deval Patrick's in a tough spot here in Massachusetts. He's spent more time defending his choice of cars and drapes than debating meaningful issues. Despite having a legislature that is 94% controlled by Democrats, he's done nothing. He doesn't have a single significant accomplishment after a year as governor, and he's currently losing momentum, not gaining.

Now comes a surging Barack Obama. Deval Patrick's early bet on Obama may pay off. If he does well in New Hampshire, Deval Patrick--right next door in Massachusetts--will look like a playmaker to the rest of the nation.

No one outside New England will remember who the Globe-Democrat endorsed six months from now. But Gov. Patrick certainly will. No doubt those cocktail chats with his fellow limousine liberals on Morrissey Blvd encouraging them to back Barack were taken into account.

With three unimpressive Democratic candidates leading the pack, it appears that the Globe-Democrat put up whatever shreds of credibility it has left to back Deval Patrick's bet.

Will it work? Normally I would say "it can't hurt," but the Globe-Democrat's "but he's really diverse!" endorsement is so shallow and poorly reasoned it undermines their candidate. Fortunately for Sen. Obama, almost nobody reads the Globe-Democrat anymore. They'll see the headline on Drudge or hear about it on my radio station. Some voters will wonder "what is it the editorial writers know about this apparently earnest but utterly inexperienced and naive young man that I don't?"

Nothing. That's why this endorsement is such a joke.