Zaphod for President

Barack Obama has opposed the Iraq War since it before it began, which is good. He also voted to reauthorize the PATRIOT Act, which is bad. Then again, he also voted against extending the PATRIOT Act’s wiretap provision, which is good. I want to like this guy. I really really do. All the same, there is something about Barack Obama that doesn’t sit quite right with me.

PATRIOT Act aside, Obama is on the right side of most issues. He opposes the death penalty, and says his biggest mistake was intruding in the infamous Terri Schiavo case. Obama is a strong supporter of the separation of church and state, and he supports renewable energy too. He voted against the recent changes to bankruptcy law, and appears to favor fair trade to free trade. There is a lot to like about Barack Obama, and yet, there is something about him that irks me.

According to OpenSecrets, Obama has raised over $25,000 million dollars, almost all of it from individual contributions. He has forsaken the lobbyists, the PACs, the traditional power brokers. Still, I don’t trust him.

Obama was targetted earlier this year by Fox News, who claimed that he was secretly trained in an Islamic fundamentalist madrassa. Obama quickly responded, and the would-be scandal was soon forgotten by all but the most dedicated right-wingers. Islamo-facism aside, the worst anyone else can say about Obama is that “we don’t know anything about him”, which is certainly untrue. All the same, my gut tells me to be wary of Obama.

As far as the mainstream candidates go, Obama is far superior to either Hillary Clinton or Rudy Giuliani, but in all fairness, thats not saying much. America could do a lot worse, but I think America could do better also. Truth be told, I think the Democratic nomination of Mike Gravel or Dennis Kucinich would be far more interesting. Then again, if forced to settle for President Obama, I can do so with good cheer and optimism. Even so: it is still far too early in this race to settle for anything.

What else can I say about Barack Obama? Here’s a scoop: Obama is black. If elected, he will become our first black President. Is America ready for our first black President? More importantly: how the hell does a guy with a white mom qualify as black? Like I said: something smells fishy to me.

At the forefront of anti-paranoia medication (under court-order), this is Agent Z signing off.

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