Why I'm Backing Obama (Susan Eisenhower)

[kskiska]

Source: WP

By Susan Eisenhower

Forty-seven years ago, my grandfather Dwight D. Eisenhower bid farewell to a nation he had served for more than five decades. In his televised address, Ike famously coined the term "military-industrial complex," and he offered advice that is still relevant today. "As we peer into society's future," he said, we "must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without risking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population.

I am not alone in worrying that my generation will fail to do what my grandfather's did so well: Leave America a better, stronger place than the one it found.

Given the magnitude of these issues and the cost of addressing them, our next president must be able to bring about a sense of national unity and change. As we no longer have the financial resources to address all these problems comprehensively and simultaneously, setting priorities will be essential. With hard work, much can be done.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/01/AR2008020102621.html?hpid%3Dopinionsbox1&sub=AR

[davidinalameda]

1. but she's a republican

how dare Obama get the support of republicans

:sarcasm:

one of the things that I like about him is that he does appeal to a wide range of people without saying one thing to one group and then one thing to another

[TreasonousBastard]

2. Damn, she's good! Hope we hear more from her if...

Obama gets it.

(Or even if he doesn't)

[ursi]

11. Damn, what true fecking words ..."military industrial complex" and the rest ...

[ingac70]

3. k&r!

[allisonthegreat]

4. people have said that many republicans will come out in favor of Obama

Rather then John McCain...

[jaxx]

5. WoW!

[Indenturedebtor]

6. Woot

Gobama :bounce:

[mamameow]

7. great prez????

i don't think so!!!!!! i would not ike's name associated with my campaign. economy was terrible. ike lied about the u2 spy plane that was shot down over ussr. big scandal!!!!!! this episode fostered a long pattern of mistrust between the us and ussr. the cuban missile crisis may not have happened and this incident prolonged the "cold" war. the 1952 repubic convention was the first i saw, i was 10years. my dad explained what it was about, he told me then to always remember that if the repubics are in the white house, you will loose. if a democrat is in then you have a fighting chance. i have seen this proven over and over again.

[bluerum]

9. And Obama is dem. Go for it.

[TreasonousBastard]

13. Oh, fuck off and piss on someone else''s parade. We're not...

talking revisionist history of Ike's tenure, but about a lifelong Republican crossing over from the Dark Side.

Glass half full, dammit.

[onenote]

15. a great many people disagree with you

You might not want ike's name associated with your campaign, but then again, you're not actually running for anything and it would appear that your sense of what the public thinks is far enough off to suggest that's a good thing.

Presidential scholars regard Ike's presidency as one of the top 10 in the nation's history. And in terms of public opinion, Ike regularly finishes in the top ten of surveys of the best presidents (and got the fewest votes for worst president in a poll ranking the last 11 presidents).

[PassingFair]

8. Beautiful recommendation. Worth reading the entire endorsement.

I wish some of our democrats were as concerned with these problems
as Susan seems to be:

"Today we are engaged in a debate about these very issues. Deep in America's heart, I believe, is the nagging fear that our best years as a nation may be over. We are disliked overseas and feel insecure at home. We watch as our federal budget hemorrhages red ink and our civil liberties are eroded. Crises in energy, health care and education threaten our way of life and our ability to compete internationally. There are also the issues of a costly, unpopular war; a long-neglected infrastructure; and an aging and increasingly needy population."


Patriot Act, anyone?

[Zueda]

10. Wow!

This tugs at me so hard it almost hurts physically.

[ursi]

12. Kick and Rank!!

[cyclezealot]

14. Lots of Republicans have problems with their party. q

Even Barry Goldwater at the end, was sick of their pandering to Social conservatives. Dwight Eisenhower with his beware of the Military Industrial complex. Maybe in todays world, he'd never get elected president.