Creativity is great, but plagiarism is faster

Usually, I try to avoid commenting on political issues on my blog, prefering to focus on creative projects that transcend the polarity of politics, especially when it comes to the executive branch. But, after maintaining silence for the election season, I feel compelled to make a few brief remarks.

Barack Obama is our 44th president and I congratulate him on his success. I neither liked, nor supported him or John McCain during the weeks leading up to the election, and, in a way, was bailed out by the mail losing my registration, leaving me without an absentee ballot and a way to vote. I felt that the free market was the biggest issue in this election, and neither candidate had solutions to offer that would promote the capitalism that has made our nation the most affluent in the world. Although McCain was running on a conservative ticket (my prefered view on economics), he is not a fiscal conservative and perhaps would have done more damage in dealing with the economic downturn, we'll never know. My point is not to belabor their policies, Obama's are the only ones that matter now.

What I would like to address is the ignorant, bandwagon support for Obama. Yes, he is a charasmatic "organizer" and a compelling speaker, but how many of the Americans who cast their ballot for him were voting because of his plans for the future? I don't know about other places in the country, but on my campus, and in the surrounding area, I am guessing that the number is low. I say this having spoken with intelligent people who researched the issues and decided Obama was the better choice. I respect that, and respect their vote. What I don't respect are the angry masses demanding "change" but not knowing or caring what that change is.

I will pause here to clarify why the campaign of change run by Obama was extremely effective, but no different from any other political campaign designed to unseat an incumbent. How many campaigns run under slogans that support the current official in office? It's clear by looking at any successful campaign, that change is the central tenet. In most cases, the change is implicit in the campaign (as in, everyone knows a candidate has new ideas, but what are they?) But the efficacy of Obama's campaign lay in the simplicity of his slogan. Change. Everyone can relate to that, especially after the last 8 years of debacle after debacle initiated by President Bush, but the negative effect was that many voters didn't care to learn what that change could be, instead reasoning that "it can only get better."

Bumper stickers, tee-shirts, buttons, all proudly claimed, "we need change," but what change is that? Do these people know? If they do, do they realize the buzzword of the election is attracting uninformed voters fickle enough to support a candidate based on the color of his skin? Conservatives are saying it's a scary time in congress with the imbalance and now a democrat president-elect, but I argue that it's more frightening knowing that he was placed there by a large group of people unaware of what he intends to do beyond lowering taxes for the poor.

Barack Obama doesn't scare me--in fact, I think he has potential to accomplish much more than McCain could have if elected. If he is successful, he'll get elected to another four years, and if he struggles, he'll be replaced in 2012. The nature of our government precludes unmitigated power from falling into the hands of one man and so there is little reason to fear him. What does frighten me, is that the public can be swayed so easily by a single word with no argument necessary to support it. Race is always tricky, but I have a question for you Los Angeles: would you have united yourself in total accord to elect a white candidate with policies identical to Obama?

I somehow doubt these Harlem residents would... http://www.bpmdeejays.com/upload/hs_sal_in_Harlem_100108.mp3