Thursday, October 09, 2008
Election Intuitions
This more or less confirms my own intuitions about the implausibility of John McCain. Of course, Sarah Palin doubly confirms them. Shock at the Palin spectacle is not, as some have suggested, about either misogyny nor class. It is simply shock. I'm all for a bit of folksy wisdom, but not when mouthed by a puppet of simpering aspect, low cunning and zero intellect. Obama has turned out to be more of a machine politician than one would like, but not voting for him would now be an absurdity.
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A blog about, among other things, imaginary ideas - What ifs? and Imagine thats. What if photographs looked nothing like what we see with our eyes? Imagine that the Berlin Wall had never come down. What if we were the punchline of an interminable joke? All contributions welcome.
If poss, it would be good if yankees split their votes between congress and president. let them shout it out for a few years, they dont have any cash anyway, thank goodness.
ReplyDeleteI think "the one" will prove as devisive as bush.
Fancy having a social worker as president?
Thank heavens for Albert Camus, Bryan. He freed me to feel comfortable with absurdity. More of a machine politician. A devious, lying hack would be more accurate.
ReplyDeleteBryan, methinks that you place style above all other considerations when choosing a leader. Whatever you can say about Palin's inexperience to be Vice President applies doubly to Obama's inexperience to be president.
ReplyDeleteReading the hit piece on McCain made me realize that of the two candidates for president, McCain comes closest to replicating the experiences of the hallowed saint of Democratic politics, John Kennedy. Obama only matches Kennedy in the style category, which is all that progressives really care about, it seems.
And get used to Palin. She will be the president starting in 2012.
ReplyDeleteAfter the debacle of Obama's first term, naturally.
ReplyDeleteIt fascinates me how Europe is so into our American election and we could barely tell you anything about your elections, candidates, anything. However, if our economy continues to sink, this won't be true in the future. We will be a non-power and it will be some other nation's politics everyone watches and comments on.
ReplyDeleteIt's very hard to revere politicians; by their very professions, they are not admirable. However, I think Obama will bring change and may begin to solve this country's pernicious problems with race and class. At least, he confronts them. I don't mind McCain, but Palin is something of a nut. If he croaked and she became president, she'd probably start firing the nukes at Russia (with which she is weirdly obsessed, perhaps because it's near Alaska). I also don't like being winked it, though I suppose guys may like when an attractive woman does it to them!
From the Rolling Stone hit piece:
ReplyDeleteBut the truth of the matter is that ambition is John McCain's basic character. Seen in the sweep of his seven-decade personal history, his pandering to the right is consistent with the only constant in his life: doing what's best for himself. To put the matter squarely: John McCain is his own special interest.
This may not sit well with anyone's ideals, but I think that sums up the prime qualification for anyone who would be successful at acheiving political power. Can the same not be said of Obama? Name a president in the last 100 years for whom that was not the case.
Susan,
ReplyDeleteOf course Obama will bring change. So will McCain. So will tomorrow. Can anyone specify what precise changes Obama has proposed? Can any of his admirers ever remember anything specific from any one of his mellifluous orations? His is the voice of Saruman:
...low and melodious, its very sound an enchantment . . . it was a delight to hear the voice speaking, all that it said seemed wise and reasonable, and desire woke in them by swift agreement to seem wise themselves . . . for those whom it conquered the spell endured while they were far away and ever they heard that soft voice whispering and urging them."
This is not a good election to win Susan.
ReplyDeleteIf Obama can not rock the boat in his first term, dump his previous left wing baggage and folowers, he might be to change a couple of things in his second term.
According to Zogby this morning it is far from a done deal anyway. Its still close and their is still a lot of undecideds.
So you're now consulting the Sibyl of Rolling Stone for political wisdom Bryan? Hmm. The absurdities multiply, putting those of pontificator extraordinaire Andrew Sullivan in the shade.
ReplyDeleteI see MIA's Kala was RS' album of the year 2007; you might want to check it out- it's got 'Paper Planes' on it, that's the track that samples gunshots that was used in the 'Pineapple Express' movie. Plus the latest issue has an interview with Of Montreal's Kevin Barnes who 'is obsessed with Prince, suicide, and borrowing his wife's tights.' RS invites us to 'Meet rock's newest damaged genius.'
Cosmic.
McCain looked just about ready to croak in the debate a couple of days ago. He was stiff, walked a little awkwardly, repeated himself and sounded as if he was reciting his answers from memory, rote-style. Say what you like about Obama, at least he still has his marbles and his vice-president isn't likely to start a nuclear war and knows where Europe is on a map. If you don't live in America but do live under the Pax Americana (or what is left of it), I'd say the choice is a no-brainer.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately the Big O's vice presidential candidate thinks they had TV in 1929 and that FDR was president during the stock market crash(if we're going to play that game) and actually really did think that an India/Pakistan style partition of Iraq was the way to go. Wow! He must be some kind of expert. As for Obama... er... what exactly is he going to do again? Oh that's right. Change. Change his socks every day, and change his mind and change his positions on a regular basis, whenever convenient, required, or whenever he makes an elementary mistake, such as assuming disputes with Russia can be solved via the UN Security Council, where it wields a veto. McCain is a cranky, erratic old man. Obama is ectoplasm. Choose despair.
ReplyDeleteObama's web site has quite a lot of detail. You folks baffled about what his plans are ought to go do some reading. Or just read some good journalism about the election (turn off the TV).
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to see commenters here reciting Republican talking points and portraying this as simply a choice of personalities. Bryan, I always figured you'd have a more, uh, sophisticated readership.
Hm, so belief in Obama's flapdoodle constitutes sophistication? That's a novel interpretation.
ReplyDeleteNo, it's not about belief, it's about thinking for yourself like a grown-up. It saddens me that when there are such substantial issues on the table and real, different proposals from both candidates, people are apparently more concerned with personality and cliches than the things that really matter.
ReplyDelete