On Change

clipped from www.youtube.com

In this YouTube clip of Barack Obama's concession speech in New Hampshire, which has received 14,200 views (for a concession speech!), the candidate talks about his big commitment to change.

(Did you know Obama is the candidate for change? Did you know that Clinton is too? And Edwards and Huckabee and ...)

In the clip, Obama is all hope and change, change and hope. He's not much on specifics of what he's going to change or how he's going to convince a split Congress how to go about effecting those changes -- especially since he is one of the least compromising of all US Senators.

It doesn't matter to the crowd in this clip, or any of the all-a'tizzy campaign trail crowds that are Orgasmic for Obama. When Obama pauses for breath, they fill the air with chants of "We want change! We want change!"

Well, of course they do, because they hate everything to do with Bush -- whether it's years of a strong economy thanks to tax cuts, or years of security thanks to a strong military and agressive intelligence -- and change, any change is all they want. Don't bother with the whats and whys and hows.

When I hear these speeches, I am reminded one of the finest commentaries ever presented, the old SNL skit on The First Citywide Change Bank. (I've updated my earlier post with the actual clip and narrative.)

clipped from www.youtube.com

In this skit, Change Bank service rep Paul McElroy looks earnestly into the camera and intones:

"People don't realize that change is a two-way street.

You can come to us with 16 quarters, eight dimes and four nickels, and we can give you a five dollar bill. We can give you five singles. Or two singles, four quarters and eight dimes.

You'd be amazed at the options you have.

After a couple belly laughers of customer testimonies (view the clip!), McElroy returns and says:

All the time our customers ask us, "How do you make money doing this? The answer is simple:

Volume.

Change for change's sake and nothing more. That, my friends, is about as substantive and practical as all this candidate-speak about change -- and a whole lot funnier and more honest.