Radio Australia Today Editorial
Archive for October, 2008
Star Trek: Goodbye to Grand Old Mothership Enterprise
24 October 2008
Did you see the news that the new Star Trek movie is in production?
It takes us back to the young days of Captain Kirk, when he first takes over the Starship Enterprise when the good ‘ol crew of Spock (younger) and Bones (much younger) and the others.
Australia’s Eric Bana, who has played such varied roles as a green Jekyll and Hyde (“The Incredible Hulk”), a Greek hero (Hector in “Troy”) and an Israeli assassin (“Munich”), is now to expand his repetoire by playing an evil alien.
The problem with taking the Star Trek franchise back to the beginning is that we know that Kirk, Spock and Bones are all going to get out of this alive, not that we wanted them dead (well not until the Tribbles episode anyway).
The movie also shows the Enterprise itself being commissioned, which should be an emotional moment for trekkies everywhere.
Speaking of which, today is the day that we lose out own Starship Enterprise. Our fabulous studio is about to be destroyed.
I always thought of it as the Enterprise, because the console that I sit in looks remarkably like the panel that Chekov sat in front of when he repeatedly uttered the words; “There’s no piwer to the kintrols Ciptin”
Check it out:
This was the most exhilirating studio I have worked in, because it was like no other, being designed by our own in-house Star Trek fans way back in 1994. Everything was touch screen, so that with a wipe of the finger we could go to Hyperspeed, or send a photon torpedo out to our commercial radio opponents.
From Monday we will sharing studios with all the other programs while the Enterprise is decommissioned. In a couple of months we’ll be back with the Enterrpise II, which, while a world leader in studio design, won’t quite have that nostalgic special-ness. It’ll be like Deep Space Nine. Good, but hey..
– Phil
Barack Obama and the Art of Dancing
23 October 2008
The US presidential nominee Barack Obama put on a hell of a display the other evening. He was live on the Ellen DeGeneres show, beamed live on the hustlings, standing in front of a group of fans, looking for all the world like a weatherman doing a live cross.
DeGeneres played a tape of Obama’s wife Michelle dancing live on the program some time before. Obama needed little hint to start dancing himself, proving that he and wife both have the dancing mojo. He was cool, funky and extremely relaxed.
He can afford to be. Not since Jimmy Carter’s ill-fated presidency was coming to ignominious close in 1980 has the result of an election been so obvious to so many so long before election day.
A daily poll taken yesterday, two weeks before the November 4 election indicates that Barack Obama leads John McCain by 10%. The margin for error in this poll is 3%, which means that Obama has a commanding lead, by between 7 and 13%. That’s a lead that is decisive, and for McCain destructive.
It’s destructive because he is now not just the underdog, but a loser-in-waiting. John McCain, if he has any chance of reducing his loss, must start putting out detailed policy. Rhetoric will not do it; it never did for him, He has been out-rhetoricked by a master. Solid policies are needed by John McCain. He needs to tell people what he’s going to do on the 21st of January. What are the packages. What are the rescues. How will he fix the economy, starting on day one.
It’s always dangerous putting out detailed policies. They are an opportunity for your opponent to find flaws, and there are always flaws in such packages. Barack Obama knows this, and that’s why he hasn’t put out a dollars and cents detail. He doesn’t need to. It can only trip him up.
John McCain is in the unfortunate position of needing to do this now. He must pull back some votes, and give the Republicans a chance for four years’ time.
As I say, putting out a detailed financial package is a risk, but according to the poll, John McCain’s not got that much to risk.
– Phil
The Good News Just Keeps Keepin’ On for Barack Obama
22 October 2008
First we had the news that Barack Obama was pulling away from John McCain in the US presidential race.
Then we had the second presidential debate, which did John McCain no favours.
Then we had the results of the polling in two traditionally Republican states, polls that showed Obama ahead. Way ahead.
Now today we get the results of a poll that suggests an annihilation for John McCain’s Republican ticket. The poll, conducted by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, says that African Americans’ political attitudes suggest that the black population is getting behind Barack Obama in a big way, like eighty-four percent of them.
This should not be a huge surprise of course. But there were suggestions even just a few months ago that Barack Obama’s African American heritage will be as much of an encumbrance as a vote getter. Some even suggested that he would not galvanise that much of a black vote.
These suggesrtions were wrong it seems. If the polled voters do come out for Obama, then John McCain will have virtually no hope.
A few weeks ago I predicted Barack Obama would win. My only concern at that time was the electoral college, where the winning candidate has to get the major of the votes from the states won. (The overall popular count doesn’t count for anything in this contest).
But with Obama leading in traditionally Republican states, and now with the African-American vote coming on side, we must be getting to the stage where the McCain camp knows not only that it will lose, but lose big-time. Its focus for the next 13 days will be to try to cut this loss, so the Republican candidate in 2012 will have a chance of toppling Barack Obama, President.
– Phil
Obama or McCain. Someone’s Got a Bill To Pay
21 October 2008
Stevie Wonder is in Australia at the moment. He gave a massive concert here in Melbourne. When I say massive, I mean that it was two and half hours of soul.
A significant part of the evening was when he started talking about politics at home.
He’s an unashamed Barack Obama supporter. He even had the audience chanting “Barack Obama, Barack Obama”.
There really is a vibe about the B-man right now, but don’t be fooled into thinking it’s all joy and happiness for the presidential candidates.
As I mentioned yesterday, Barack Obama is ahead in the polls, but today’s news out of Washington might have him wishing he wasn’t. The Speaker of the US House of Reps, Nancy Pelosi, is talking of a second massive rescue package for the US economy, this time in the range of 150 billion dollars. She expects this new package will be put to the House after the November 4 election.
Which means that the new president, Obama or McCain, will have to deal with it. With the previous package already totalling 700 billion US dollars (or more), this package will take the rescue bill to around a trillion dollars. A trillion dollars for a government that is running deficit budgets.
There aren’t that many people who think that the US economy could do without the help, but the incoming president will have to try to steer the economy back into some kind of line away from the iceberg using an ocean made of dollar bills, and then have to pay for it.
This is akin to marrying an attractive widow who is carrying her ex-husband’s debt for the house, car, private school fees and a gambling problem.
Whatever happens on November the 4th, the winner is going to be laughing. And crying.
– Phil
Barack Obama and the Danger of Appearances
20 October 2008
I’ve said on this blog that I think it’s all over. I’ve suggested that with the polls the way they are, barring a major mistake or a declaration of war, Barack Obama will be president of the United States in January.
In the last day we had some interesting developments for this Democratic nominee. Colin Powell, who was George W. Bush’s Secretary of State has endorsed Barack Obama. Colin Powell is a man who worked for a Republican president, the incumbent Republican president. And did I say endorse? Colin Powell made his feelings made obvious. It was an indictment of where John McCain, the Republican candidate, was heading with his policies. He also had a go at McCain’s vice-presidential nominee, Sarah Palin, saying she was a long way from being ready to assume the presidency.
There must have been joy in the Obaama camp by this high profile defection. But beware. This will not bring too many extra votes to Obama. There’s bound to be a view that Colin Powell, an African-American, could do nothing else but endorse another African-American.
In watching politics, it’s easy to get on a wagon-train and say that these things all add up to a decisive election win.
The basis of my assessment of an Obama election victory is not endorsements of smoke-and-mirrors, but only the polls. I had concerns about the Electoral College (the presidency is chosen based on votes from each state. That was why George W. Bush won in 2000 with less than 50% of the popular vote. He got Florida in the end, and that pushed his electoral college votes over the line ahead of Al Gore). My concerns about Barack Obama’s electoral college prospects were allayed last week when Florida and Virginia (tradionally Republican states) both showed big leads for Barack Obama.
There is a ‘but’ here. There is a big undecided proportion. If they swing behind John McCain, then Barack Obama loses. Simple as that.
Then we come to the second ‘but’.
Elections in the US are voluntary, and the percentage of people voting is traditonally low. Hence, it could well be the case that the undecideds won’t vote anyway.
Which takes us back to giving Barack Obama the presidency.
Just don’t be swayed by endorsements. After all Barbra Streisand sang her little lungs out for John Kerry four years ago, and he lost.
– Phil
