Some recent news articles indicate that Barack Obama is already making plans for what he will do during his first months as president. Why even the city of Chicago has started making plans for a huge election-night party. Given this news, I suspect that many McCain supporters will now accuse Obama and his supporters of hubris, with Obama already acting as though he were the president even though the election has not yet taken place. However, this planning probably makes sense. It is usually wise to be prepared, even for things that are not guaranteed to happen, but are only real possibilities. Concerning this particular matter, I have only three things to say:
- Chicago is reportedly going to charge Obama’s election campaign for most of the costs related to the big party to be held there. This is not right. Obama has done much for the city of Chicago; surely the city can return the favor and not charge him !
- Keep in mind that “being prepared” does not necessarily mean that an event will actually come to pass. For example, the United States military frequently plans for various military options, such as, for example, an invasion of Iran. This does not mean that the military wlll invade Iran; it only means that they are doing the sensible thing and being prepared “just in case”. So when an investigative reporter or a liberal politician discovers that the United States military has a “plan” for an invasion of Iran, they should not jump to the conclusion that such an invasion will actually take place. Heck, that’s one reason the military often calls these plans contingency plans; they are only for use contingent on certain things that may or may not happen.
- Although there still is a chance that Obama may not be elected president, these chances are decreasing. Last week I put those chances at 1 in 5. Now I estimate the chances at 1 in 8.