Thanks for your complement, Herschel. I just stopped by here to sign off and to re-focus my time on my investments. Looking forward to ORCL's earnings after the close
My own take was that while Gore said all the things he NEEDED to say, and with a TONE that was conciliatory, I thought the media moguls were a bit overboard in their praise. I happened to catch MSNBC, who I viewed had the best broad coverage of the election, followed by Fox News, that provided the best coverage for debate. Needless, this say, I was a bit overtaken by the reaction by Chris Matthews who seemed to have gone a bit overboard. My own assessment, and a criticism of the media, is that they believe, or have come to believe, they now play a role in managing popular sentiment in this country, and felt it their duty to overstate the conciliatory nature of Gore's speech and the bi-partisan nature of George W's speech. I didn't catch George W's speech as I had a board meeting toattend. Substantively, I cannot disagree with the criticisms here of Gore's speech. He needed to put the best face forward, and if Gore has shown one thing to the public it is the ability to put on many faces. So, to question his sincerity in all this certainly holds merit.
In the final analysis, similar to investing, it is more important to look to one's actions, and not one's words for a read as to what might lie ahead. I still feel Gore has a long way to go to redeem his stature in the minds of many Americans. Over the past month I met many individuals who had voted for Gore, but wished they hadn't. Gore's speech, IMHO, did not sway these voters back to Gore, because these people were swayed to Gore by his speech, but repelled from Gore by his conduct.
Republicans will embrace Gore's words because that is what is needed for the good of the country, and I truly believe Bush will conduct a sincere effort to create and foster bi-partisanship irrespective of the non-partisanship nature of Gore's actions of the past month. Left-wing, special interest extremists who championed around Gore's defiance of the election results will remain a voice in the background to continually remind conciliatory Democrats of their unfounded belief of their right to preferred treatment by the government. By the same token, Bush will be continually be tugged by the far right that now feels that with a Republican in the White House, they somehow will have their voice heard. Fortunately, I think Bush, by nature, IS a consensus builder, a lesson learned from his father evidenced by America's role in the Gulf War. Expect Democrats and Republicans to come together; expect the left-wing and right-wing extremist to become "less enfranchised;" the former as the result of more conservative politics by Democrats in order to have their programs supported by Republicans; the latter as the result of more hand-reaching effort by the Bush administration. The interests on the fringe will be where they oughta' be . . . on the fringe, and complaining all the time. In summary, I think all of this will be good for the MAJORITY of the country going forward.
lml, signing off |
