More on Obama

I listened to Barack Obama's recent speech on race and was impressed - it was philosophical and nuanced. As much as I don't like politicians I do like listening to people who have a gift for speech and who speak with depth on serious issues.

I'm not going to say much more about it because I think Jason Kuznicki at Positive Liberty nails it. Here's how he sums it up:

I'm thrilled, because after nearly eight years of bumbling belligerence, and of government by catchy phrases badly delivered, finally someone seems to understand that the American people don’t enjoy being talked down to. This is — finally — nuance without fuzziness.

I'm wary, because Obama's program really is just more of the same frank, old-fashioned big-government liberalism. It still makes me cringe, even after nearly eight years of hypocritical, new-fashioned big-government conservatism. The Bush administration has proven the importance of labels: Call something conservative, and it becomes acceptable to a wide swath of the population, no questions asked. Even if it can't at all be distinguished from LBJ-style war-and-welfare liberalism. I hope that once they are out of power, the Republicans will finally abandon their recent change of direction.

Read the whole thing.

Like Jason, if I had to vote then I would probably vote for Obama - the two alternatives are that bad. But I still plan on sitting this one out.