Remi Cornwall wrote:
Come on Jed, Obama doesn't want this poisoned chalice.
Do you mean the bailout, or the job as President? He demands changes
to the bailout, along the lines I mentioned: that it should punish
the wrongdoers and compensate the taxpayers. See his web site for
details. I doubt that he or any other Democrat would vote for it
without such changes.
As for the job as President, I am sure he wants it, no matter how bad
things get. He has guts, and enormous self-confidence, just as FDR
did. Such people never turn away from a challenge. (Neither do I, if
it is within my power to meet it -- so I understand their thought processes.)
I am not saying that Obama has what it takes to do the job. No one
knows whether he does or not. But he would never turn away or throw
the election because the prospects look bad. Neither would McCain.
People like FDR and Obama are not fools. They understand the
magnitude of the challenges they face. On the eve of the
inauguration, FDR's son said to him, "if you fail you will go down as
the worst president in history." FDR responded: "if I fail, I shall
be the last president."
I know the score too, in my personal quest. I know better than anyone
how little likelihood there is that cold fusion will overcome the
political opposition and succeed. That does not stop me. This is
hardly a profile in courage; I have nothing to lose personally if
cold fusion is forgotten, except 20 or 30 years of my life wasted in
a hopeless task. Many people waste their lives for less, in
unfulfilling jobs or loveless marriages. At least I will have had a
good time, and met interesting people.
If you want to hear what iron-clad determination in the face of
disaster sounds like, listen to FDR on audio here:
http://www.hpol.org/fdr/inaug/
Like him or hate him, no one can deny that FDR had an elemental force
of personality. Before the inauguration some people thought he was a
wimp! Some people say that about Obama today, but I have read his
books and I can judge people's personalities and I am confident it is
not so. He may be a disaster in the making, but he has guts.
- Jed
