Harumph, Harumph, Harumph!!!

"Mr. Obama, pressed by Mr. Russert on his lack of experience, said he believed he could 'bring the country together.' 'We need someone who can take on the special interests [emphasis added]. I have consistently done that,' he said."

"We need someone who can take on the special interests." Wow. This sounds like something that I should support. The term special interests sounds bad; it has a connotation of selfishness and that is bad. The verb to "take on" implies that these special interests are all powerful and imposing themselves on us helpless Americans. If they were just a nuisance we could simply ignore them and not have to "take them" on. I should find out how I can get involved in taking on these special interests.

But first lets take a deeper look at these so-called special interests. What are they? At least two people who feel similarly about a particular issue organize into a formal group in the hope of attracting others to their cause and affecting government. Ok. But who are these people that make up the special interests? American voters. Ok. But why do these groups think that they have the right to peaceably assemble and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances? Oh yah, the first Amendment to the Constitution.

Special interests are us. Mothers Against Drunk Driving is a special interest. Our political parties can be considered special interests. In a representative democracy or any democracy there will always be special interests. Why does a politician need to take these groups on? What will he save us from: ourselves? Democracy? How will Barack Obama take on these special interest groups? Why would he bite the hand that feeds him? Who does he think keeps his campaign afloat?

This is just typical political speak targeting the unsuspecting and lame-brained. This is Barack Obama's way of saying that he has no respect for the intelligence of Americans. But then again, should he?