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Games People Play
I am approximately the least political person in the galaxy, and while I agree that the global economy going phut is the bigger story I’ve been seriously nonplussed that there seems to have been comparatively little attention paid to the first Obama/McCain debate two days ago. Um, pardon me, but the USA still has, for better or worse, lately mostly worse, the biggest national economy on the planet*, and that biggest national economy, which, just by the way, is also leading in the recent plunge into the bottomless ravine**, is about to change top guys. This seems to me rather important. It’s also increasingly making me nutso that the Democrats ought to have this election on a platter and tied up in ribbons, and they don’t: it’s an abominably close race, and I don’t think this is only because there are still way too many Americans who will only vote for an anglo.*** [Berserker Liberal Alert: if you're a Tory, a Republican, or anyone who remembers the 1950s nostalgically, stop reading now.] It ought to be an absolute no-brainer that the best, indeed the only thing to do is to get the hell as far away from Bush and his engines of spoliation as swiftly and decisively as possible. That means a Democrat in the White House-even if the Democrats had put up a three legged gerbil with mange†. And Obama is quite presentable.††
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2008/sep/27/barackobama.johnmccain
This was the first substantive piece I could find yesterday. I didn’t watch the debate myself††† but I’ve watched about half an hour’s worth of clips‡ and I was rather relievedly more impressed with Obama than I expected to be. And I’m with the people who are saying Obama agreeing with McCain all those times works to his advantage, not his disadvantage. I felt he was doing so graciously, giving the impression that he could afford to be generous because he was speaking from a position of strength. I don’t like or trust Obama’s charm, but I thought this was an excellent use to put it to. I felt the same about his politeness, his turning to the moderator instead of interrupting: it didn’t make him look weak, it made him look as if he was refusing to lower himself to the level of that crude chappie at the other podium.
The crude chappie at the other podium, just by the way, scares me silly. He’s almost got one of those Monty Python arrows over his head labelled ANGRY PERSON. I really do not want him in arm’s reach of the legendary Red Phone. He smiles like someone has just put a gun to his ribs and said ‘smile’.‡‡
Well, you can ramble through google as well as I can: I’m not bringing up anything that took any serious searching. I found all of these interesting:
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/26/live-blog-friday-night-fights/?partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/09/27/opinion/polls/main4482119.shtml?source=mostpop_story
. . . and I also agree with the people who are saying that while the debate itself may have been a tie, Obama got more out of it than McCain did, because Obama by not losing has proved that he can go up against someone with as much experience as McCain and hold his ground.
Today there’s a bit more, as Tomasky predicted. As here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/sep/28/uselections2008.debate2
And one last juicy link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/sep/28/john.mccain.economy :
‘. . . Yet McCain’s trip to Washington accomplished nothing and may even have set back the negotiations in Washington. The fate of the bail out remains less clear than when McCain chose to get involved. But no matter. McCain decided to debate anyway, making clear that the whole idea was about manufactured drama from a campaign that loves nothing more than an audacious political stunt. (See Palin, Sarah.). . . .
‘As it happened, McCain delivered a strong performance. He made a crisp and engaging case for his own leadership abilities, while Obama was professorial and dispassionate.‡‡‡ But it may have been too little, too late for a candidate floundering in the polls who has seen the political climate swing ruthlessly against him. . . .’
Yes. Exactly. Granted the Guardian–and its Sunday avatar the Observer–are lefty. Even so. We may not have it on a platter with ribbons, but we’re still in the race.
* * *
* I think. I’ve just been wrestling with google about this. Wiki agrees with me, but I don’t really trust Wiki to tell me anything I don’t already know and have only slightly mislaid.
** How do epic global crises manage to happen in like twelve hours? Obviously there have been symptoms–the news media have been rumbling along about bad economic markers for some time–but one day everything is still holding, more or less, and the next day, kablooey, like the lava in the volcano finding the weak place in the wall of the mountain.
*** Those of you who’ve been reading this blog for a while may remember that I wanted Hillary. Both pundits and ordinary people as well as underinformed, volatile, and very nearly clueless slobs like me, can’t help but worry what effect Barack’s dad is having on his son’s chances to make president.^ It’s very exciting to have a black candidate . . . but it’s not going to be nearly exciting enough if he loses. Would Hillary have done any better? Then we’d be worrying that it’s too soon to swing Middle America toward having a girl in the White House. She’d be buying shoes when she should be waging foreign policy. Or whatever one does with foreign policy.
^ Mind you, that Obama is ‘black’ makes me crazy. He’s half white. He’s half white and half black. But that’s not how the world works. If your mother shook hands with a black man at a church picnic once ten years before you were born, you’re still black.
† Do gerbils get mange? Do I have to make the point here that specifically what I am not doing is comparing Obama to a three-legged gerbil with mange? What I am doing is expressing lack of faith in my political party.
†† He’s way too inexperienced and way too fond of himself, but he is presentable.
††† Frankly I can’t even imagine sitting through 96 uninterrupted minutes of politicians, but very slightly in my defense our TV is on the fritz. We have no idea when it went on the fritz since neither of us has watched it in months. I found out this last week, when I was horizontal with stomach flu, and might have watched TV if there were TV to watch. I’m not sure the debate even ran over here, although in these internet days there must be a way around this.
‡ http://ibtimes.com/articles/20080927/mccain-obama-presidential-debate-video-clips.htm
and elsewhere
This is apparently the whole thing: http://elections.nytimes.com/2008/president/debates/first-presidential-debate.html
‡‡ And even less do I want his so-called running mate only one 72-year-old ex-POW with health issues^ away from the Red Phone, or anything else she might drop or fumble, like the country.
Presumably they’ll have briefed the bejeezus out of her before they let her out in public again, but she’s still a walking disaster zone. What was he thinking? Or, since he had barely met her, what were his advisors thinking? It really depresses me that what they were thinking is that all us Hilary-voting women would instantly take Sarah to our hearts because she’s another girl. Speaking of someone who might be buying shoes when she should be waffling foreign policy. In Palin’s case I’d rather she were buying shoes. The one silver lining–and it may even be a silver lining in the mad circus event that is the global news–to the economic crisis is that it may mean that Palin’s reign as queen of the cosy sound bite is already over.
^ I keep wondering if that’s where he got so angry. Torture does tend to have a negative effect on your character.
‡‡ Well, yes, but I would still say in a good way. A cool head and a sharp professorial grasp are quite positive things in a world leader.
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I agree with EVERYTHING you said. Everything! This election makes me so nervous; the Democrats absolutely should have had this thing sewed up by now and it’s way too close for comfort.
You might appreciate this tidbit. A black, male, extremely conservative Republican in my office (that SHOULD be an oxymoron – black and conservative republican – don’t you think?) asked myself and another woman if we didn’t love Sarah Palin because she was a woman and wouldn’t we vote Republican now? We replied something to the effect of “sure, if you’ll vote for Obama because he’s black and male.” Grr!
I would very much have preferred Hillary because of her experience and some of her views. I’m not that fond of Obama; his lack of experience makes me very nervous. Consequently, I will vote AGAINST McCain rather than FOR Obama.
I hope this election turns out well. I see disaster coming in a lot of ways no matter what happens though; I can’t imagine that this big a financial mess can be solved anytime soon or at all easily no matter who is in the White House.
I will vote AGAINST McCain rather than FOR Obama.
********* Yes. That’s where I am. (Drat! Have forgotten two ‘t’s in Hillary! Mental disintegration!)
I know gay men who voted for *Reagan.* The mind boggles.
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*****I know gay men who voted for *Reagan.* The mind boggles.*****
It’s all about issues and priorities. Not all gay men are one-issue voters, and not all of them fit into the same pigeon-hole. I’m not surprised by this at all.
I’m pretty much an issues voter. I don’t much care about the face behind the issues, although integrity is a very close second to issues; I’ll vote for the gerbil with mange over the charismatic demagogue if the gerbil stands for the right things.
Judith
It’s all about issues and priorities. Not all gay men are one-issue voters, and not all of them fit into the same pigeon-hole. I’m not surprised by this at all.
********** Reagan was virulently anti-gay. It’s like Emmeline Pankhurst voting [sic] for Herbert Asquith.
I never believed George Bush was coherent enough to get in for a first term… All very very scary :(
YES. **TERRIFYING.**
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George Bush got in originally because he was effectively appointed by the Supreme Court! He was not the winner of a free and fair election.
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YES! One of the things I’d most like to see in this country is a change in our Electoral College system. If we can count individual votes enough to see the difference between a popular vote and an electoral vote, then WHY AREN’T WE JUST USING TH E POPULAR VOTE???? I’ve NEVER understood this! Perhaps I slept too much in Civics Class, but I think the system, in this technologically advanced day and age, is ludicrous!
Jeanne Marie
I’ll vote for the popular vote too. :)
Sadly, the voters appear to LIKE a president who isn’t too smart. They appear intimidated by intelligence. (See Reagan). They want someone like them. Now, I truly believe that Bush is faking much of the “dumb” – nobody that stupid could have got that far – but some, alas comes naturally to him. I fear they will think Obama is too smart.
Talking to rural midwesterners, there is an amazing amount of , um, very old-fashioned worldviews still out there. So they truly would not have voted for Clinton because women shouldn’t be the boss of them, and I greatly fear the hind-brain response to Obama. (Palin is apparently ok because she hunts moose and is therefore a spunky frontier archetype (fending off hostiles, digging the well and battling the locust swarms while raising a passel of brats. Etc.)).
The scary thing about McCain is the soothing tone in his voice. He sounds like he’s reasoning someone down from a high ledge. He could say anything at all in that voice, and it would sound cosy and reasonable, and the rural midwest would buy into it and vote for him. I fear 1984 is round the corner.
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Oh dear. Oh dear. . . .
I didn’t see it either – I found out that it was actually shown on Swedish televison AFTER the fact! At the time, I was actually interested enough to (probably) watch it, but the idea of watching it in, so to speak, cold blood is rather daunting. Well, maybe next time. There are to be three debates in total, right?
Politics! What I really don’t understand are the people who say that because Hillary lost they are going to vote for McCain – doesn’t he stand for the opposite political views? How does that make sense?
I used to be a socialdemocrat, before they skidded way too far to the middle, where, as the leader of the Left party(=Vänsterpartiet) so aptly remarked, there is a traffic jam. In the last election I voted for the Left party, who are too much to the left for my taste, in the hope that they would drag the socialdemocrats to where THEY belong. It seems to me that the difference now between them and the conservatives is that they want to sell out half of the state’s belongings and the conservatives want to sell all of it. And that difference is just not good enough, in my opinion. In the USA I suppose the added problem is that there are only two parties to choose from – but even in Sweden the parties are more and more solidifying into two blocs, which frankly worries me.
Anyway, I don’t mean to bore you by going into rant-mode on Swedish poltics, so I’ll say that I intend to be hopeful about Obama – because what choice is there? Of the little I’ve seen of him he seems to be an intelligent man – which I for one see as a good sign. Charm can be useful in diplomacy, which I think is DESPERATELY needful in the mess we now find ourselves in. He voted AGAINST the war, which for me is vital. And his inexperience could be a plus, if he uses it to find fresh solutions nobody with more experience would have thought of.
And no, I’m not starry-eyed about him, I’m fully aware of the problems, but as I said – what choice is there? Even if McCain was the most decent, honourable, virtuous man on the planet – I STILL DON’T LIKE HIS POLITICS! So until Obama proves me wrong – and yes I’m fully aware of the possibility – I mean to remain hopeful.
And lastly, I just can’t understand people getting their knickers all in a twist about a POLITICIAN – politics, yes – but a POLITICIAN; as if they were some sort of saint! “How dare you say X or Y about X or Y!” (I’ve been reading comments in all manner of unlikely places!) I can’t imagine myself, even in my most enthusiastic days, when I actually BELIEVED, and even after Olof Palme had just been shot – getting myself all in a tizzy because someone said something bad about him. (Nobody did, as I can recall.) “So you don’t like Olof Palme? Fine.”
I believe gerbils can get mange, although I have never seen one with it. Squirrels can certainly get mange.
The thought that if McCain is elected then Palin is probably only two heartbeats away from being the first woman president is the thing that is really pushing me to vote for Obama. I’ve previously voted libertarian, but I’ll vote Democrat this year just to help make sure that the nail in McCain’s coffin isn’t the same one that causes the world as we know it to crash to the ground.
As a side note, I finally got around to visiting the non-college library in my area and discovered “Rowan”, “Imaginary Lands” and “The Stone Fey” on their shelves (though the latter two were very out of place). I immediately checked them all out and have now read all published Robin McKinley books (to my knowledge) with the exception of “My Father Is In the Navy” (while should be wending its way here soon) and “Chalice” (which the postal carrier seems to not want to bring me just yet).
As another side note, I appreciate this blog. I haven’t been reading it very long, but I find it a useful look into an artist’s mindspace, especially since I am so very fond of the artist’s work.
Thank you!
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****** since I am so very fond of the artist’s work
I have just lent two friends several of your books with hopes that one or both will be coming to London with me as new McKinley converts – we will be out in force to support you wearing our most romantic lacy floaty outfits (err, well maybe not that last bit lol)
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Be sure to work on your high-pitched giggling. This is important in an audience. :)
****** Be sure to work on your high-pitched giggling
and hiding my face behind my hand when I giggle – or maybe a fan… I know I had one somewhere ;)
*****Be sure to work on your high-pitched giggling. This is important in an audience. :)****
So is doing the wave. Be sure to brush up on that too. ; )
This is gonna be a fun party!!!! We already have a dog for a mascot in the audience. Who’s bringing the champagne?
. . . Champagne? Oh. Well, maybe I *will* show up. . . . :)
As possibly the only registered republican who reads your blog (albeit one who hasn’t voted R in a major election since 1988 :) ) allow me to chime in my vote that Palin is SCARY AS HELL. She is a symbol of everything that is wrong with the party I only nominally belong to at this point… This week’s upcoming VP debate has me a good deal more nervous than the one this past week, as it’s going back to the old rules of engagement from the Bush debates of ‘00 and ‘04–she and Biden can’t talk directly to one another, and they both get the questions ahead of time. If she has time to prep, she may take control of the debate with her more forceful personality.
However, let me just say that the news on this side of the pond has been giving a cautious victory to Obama on the debate just past. The local paper here (which is a pretty conservative paper even though Indianapolis itself leans democrat) did a quick focus group of undecided voters before and after the debate; every one of them was leaning Obama when it was over, even the ones who’d been feeling inclined to vote for McCain. I am feeling what might be called “cautious optimism.” Current polls are indicating that Indiana may go blue for the first time since Lyndon Johnson…
She’s forceful, but she’s a flake. I’m hoping that even prepping her down to component atom level will not disguise ALL the truth.
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I see you got links to the Saturday Night Live sketches from the last couple weeks–they’re funny/terrifying because they’re so eerily similar to actual Sarah Palin on camera…. :)
I think the campaign’s protection of her–sequestering her from interviews for the first couple weeks of her candidacy–and their accusations that the media is then treating her unfairly when they ask her the most softball questions on the planet have really turned the moderate American public off her fairly quickly.
If you want to keep tabs on the day to day progress of the whole thing, http://gallup.com has daily polls and also breaks them down by different demographics if you’re interested in that kind of thing. At the moment, Gallup shows Obama over McCain at 50% – 42%, and the winner with 286 likely electoral votes (I think–couldn’t find the electoral map link just now.)
I was hearing such dire things about Palin’s interview with Katie Couric that I googled it and read part of the transcript. The woman was incoherent. Some of the bits read as though she’d had phrases stuffed into her head by the handlers and was just trotting them all out together. I can’t believe she can cram enough or memorize enough to handle questions without notes. My husband saw her giving some sort of interview tonight, with McCain standing next to her to get her answers right. He said it was pathetic.
I completely understand why the McCain people wanted a woman on the ticket. I just can’t understand why they didn’t go to one with some qualifications–there are Republican women in the House and certainly in the Senate who would have been much stronger.
Absolutely agree. While you’re wasting time, if you can tear yourself away from xkcd :), did you watch any of the SNL clips? Some very good Palin incoherence there.
AMEN!! I am a moderate in all things, but usually lean Democrat. This time around, I was pulling for Clinton. When Obama won the nomination, I was honestly feeling some indecision between McCain and Obama. I have felt in the past that McCain is a fairly decent guy, and I do feel that his attempts to work across the aisle have been legitimate. And, as many people on this blog have noted, I was uncertain about Obama’s charm factor, and his inexperience. But, when Palin was chosen as running mate – I simply can’t go there! I will echo Black Bear that she is just plain SCARY. And, McCain has been losing my respect with each day, it seems.
The debate Thursday will be interesting…I do wish they’d stuck with the same debate rules they used last week, though. THAT would’ve been REALLY funny…I’ll be watching in Portland! :-)
Jeanne Marie
I tend to read lefty things but I’m at least somewhat aware that I’m getting that spin. But I’ve felt McCain has anger issues before TIME magazine wrote about them. And I don’t like guys in charge with visible anger issues.
Portland???
When George Bush was first, um, selected (rather than elected) I comforted myself that no one could ruin the country in four years. Or even eight years if people were stupid enough to re-elect him. Was I wrong. The thought of Palin taking over for McCain terrifies me. I’m positive she can ruin whatever’s left.
So I went out and bought some bulbs. Maybe I can have spring flowers before all the anti-environmentalists scrape the earth to bare rock.
More agreement here. I’m inclined to believe that Sarah Palin (picking her) was a publicity stunt to focus attention on the McCain campaign– which it did, scarily effectively, and also got him more women voters, and raised poll numbers in general (see a recent issue of Time magazine). I don’t really have anything against McCain except that he’s a Republican (I’m related to some, and they’re nice people, and McCain has always seemed fairly sensible for someone of that persuasion), but really– what happens to the country if he happens to win, and then conks out, and then a publicity stunt is in charge? Someone did not think this through.
what happens to the country if he happens to win, and then conks out, and then a publicity stunt is in charge? Someone did not think this through.
According to the Social Security actuary tables, there is a 33% chance McCain would die in office if elected to 2 terms. That’s not even taking into account the added health stresses he’d incur as a president, nor any of his preexisting conditions.
It’s looking as if Palin did not gain him any moderate women voters. What it got him was the hardcore rightwing Christian conservatives, who were lukewarm on him and might have sat home and sulked had he not made a grandstand play for their affections. From that angle, it does look more like a savvy political move than a pure publicity stunt–they’re counting on him getting the moderates, and her attracting the fundamentalist Christian wing of the party. But he’s losing the middle, and the fundamentalists are not all 100% behind her either–after all, she’s putting her career ahead of her family, and that’s a hard pill to swallow for some folks. :) We shall see.
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If polls are weighted like electoral votes, Obama has actually been ahead all the way, even when nationwide polls have had them tied or McCain ahead. Just keep looking at this; it’s very soothing.
Supposedly McCain really wanted Lieberman or Ridge for his running mate, but they were ruled out because both are (somewhat) pro-choice. He was apparently pushing for them up until a few days before they had to announce it, and it turned into a scramble to find anyone; extra points for splashy.
Thankfully it appears the novelty is wearing off as Palin’s lethal combination of evil, stupidity, and inexperience has begun to show through. You’ve heard about the rape kits? And her idle interest in book banning? (I linked to the page where that tidbit appears, but the whole article is chilling.)
You’ve heard about the rape kits? And her idle interest in book banning? (I linked to the page where that tidbit appears, but the whole article is chilling.)
********* It just gets worse and worse. I feel that people HAVE to notice . . . but they returned Bush for a second term.
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**** It just gets worse and worse. I feel that people HAVE to notice . . . but they returned Bush for a second term.*****
After the last election there was a bumper sticker going around saying “Don’t blame ME. I voted for Gore.”
Speaking of bumper stickers, there was a good one before the last election saying “It’s time to trim the Bushes.” Too bad it didn’t work.
Bumper sticker wisdom – it’s so perfect sometimes!
‘I brake for unicorns.’ :)
OMG. I lived in Willow, Ak just north of Wasilla for one year. I had a library card at the Wasilla library. But I was B.P. (before Palin) I can’t believe what she did with the rape kits but it sounds typical red neck conservative Alaskan. (not all Alaskans are red neck, but plenty are.)
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yes. It’s the pioneer thing. When I travelled in Alaska it reminded me a lot of Maine, both the good and the bad, including the good and the bad of the pioneer spirit.
For your amusement:
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/couric-palin-open/704042/
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/palin-hillary-open/656281/
http://www.nbc.com/Saturday_Night_Live/video/clips/presidential-debate/704121/
. . . I had no idea there was this much stuff out there. Well, of course there is. It’s a HEALTHY sign. I just wish I didn’t think it was all preaching to us converted. But thank you for some laughs!!
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Have you seen the Sarah Palin Gender Card by the Daily Show?
(Also on youtube, in case the first link doesn’t work outside the US.)
Canada is having an election too, on October 15, not that anyone cares about that one. Conservatives are in power now, though with a minority government, thankfully; if they win again, I hope it’s not with a majority.
Oh, OW. I shouldn’t have watched this right after supper!!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!
Good luck with your election. May some GOOD GUYS win. Sigh.
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The daily show is brilliant! I watch it to get some laughs and to stay sane…
The debate got quite a lot of coverage here, along with the economic stuff going on. I thought it was so obvious that McCain was showboating with his whole stop-campaigning-postpone debate stuff; no surprise to me that he changed his mind about showing up in Mississippi, and I hope he looked like Mr. Fluster to voters paying attention. His performance annoyed me no end–I didn’t watch, I do public radio–but apparently his talking over and condescension irritated a lot of people, because all the scoring pundits gave the “win” to Obama and the polls show Obama with a big jump. May it last. Of course the Republicans have been running a typically dirty and deceptive campaign which will probably get worse now.
I thought that McCain talking about the value of knowledge and experience was probably not the brightest remark he could make, given his choice of running mate. It’s obvious to anyone with a brain that the only reason she’s on the ticket is because she’s female and willing to be a mouthpiece for the administration–her acceptance speech was written by a Bush speechwriter–and she’s acceptable to the religious right. Given her performance in the few interviews that she’s been forced into, I’m sure the campaign is nervous about her showing in the VP debate, and I hope Biden makes a fool of her, in the nicest possible way, of course.
Has it made the news over there that she shoots wolves from airplanes and thinks this is a great idea? How do they FIND these people?
I thought it was so obvious that McCain was showboating with his whole stop-campaigning-postpone debate stuff; no surprise to me that he changed his mind about showing up in Mississippi, and I hope he looked like Mr. Fluster to voters paying attention
******** YES. *ssh*l*.
his talking over and condescension
********* And just *nastiness.* His tone of voice was worse than condescending, I thought.
I hope Biden makes a fool of her, in the nicest possible way, of course.
********* YES. He doesn’t even have to be nice if he’s EFFECTIVE. WIPE HER. Show her for the clueless twit she gives all evidence of being. (I don’t actually know nearly enough about *Biden.*)
Has it made the news over there that she shoots wolves from airplanes and thinks this is a great idea?
********** Oh gods. No. Just that she wanted to secede and thought it was okay to harry the guy who dropped her sister. Demonstrating excellent judgement and strong moral sense.
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Show her for the clueless twit she gives all evidence of being. (I don’t actually know nearly enough about *Biden.*)
He doesn’t even have to say anything.
And the SNL sketch.
The more I find out about Biden, the more I like him.
Honestly, history repeats itself: black men had the vote before white women. America will have a black president before it has a woman president. (And God, I hope that’s true in Palin’s case. I felt very insulted by her pick. I’m not voting for you just because there’s a set of ovaries on your ticket!)
The debates may not have garnered a lot of press overseas, but they sure were big news here… granted, it is OUR government that’s being debated, so I can’t be too surprised.
A hilarious comedy sketch on “p.a.n.t.h.e.r.s.” (proud american needing token hillary estrogen replacement): http://current.com/items/89270795_target_women_sarah_palin
“Being a p.a.n.t.h.e.r. reminds me of when I was little: getting lost, in the department store, because I think I’m following my mom, but then I realize, it’s not my mom, it’s some other lady with similar pants, and she turns around and says, ‘Oh, sweetie, I’m not your mom. And I want to overturn Roe v. Wade.’”
(Sarah Haskins has a whole series of these pieces, one of my favorites is the most recent, about women’s “love affair” with cleaning products http://current.com/items/89317322_target_women_cleaning .)
LOL!!!!!!!!! This is lovely!!!!!!!
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Amen.
I’m not sure who scares me more, Palin or McCain …
Palin. But it’s a close thing.
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Thank you for the links to the UK news stories. It is always good to get an outsider’s perspective on events happening in our own backyard. I find it very difficult to wade through much of the US media reporting on the election: there is ALWAYS a slant (the way NPR has been reporting the polls made me think that McCain was rising in the polls and about to overtake Obama – maybe they’re trying to scare those of us who fear four more years of a rich conservative white man in Washington into making sure that we vote!).
I will be bookmarking the Independent’s website to read about the election. (How stupid is that?)
Why stupid? As you say, the outsider’s view.
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It’s also increasingly making me nutso that the Democrats ought to have this election on a platter and tied up in ribbons, and they don’t
Don’t underestimate the power of the Religious Righteous Indignation, which is the scourge of this fine nation. They only vote for people who promise to bring down the wrath of God on their enemies. Reasonableness is lost on them.
Yes but why are there so MANY of them? That’s the thing about them that scares me the most.
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*******Yes but why are there so MANY of them? That’s the thing about them that scares me the most.*******
I don’t necessarily think there’s so many of them but rather that they are more vocal than the silent majority….
I think Yeats said something that might be more or less appropriate: “The best lack all conviction while the worst are full of a passionate intensity.” Of course he then goes on to talk about a nuclear armageddon which is not very comforting… but, then again, the times aren’t very comforting right now (Stock market crash today?!?).
……….I need chocolate……..and some comfort reading. Perhaps it’s time to re-read Chalice. ; )
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
Yes. I hope the fact that people have always–or at any rate for a long time–felt this way, whatever time they live in, is *hopeful* now.
Tehehe, Obama said “orgy” during the debate. Yes, it made me giggle. What am I, twelve?
I have a conservative friend who said that when Palin was announced, he thought it was a political stunt, but after hearing her talk thought she was the real deal. After hearing her talk _I_ suddenly became terrified of John McCain winning, and then dying.
The thing I will never understand about the presidential race is this: Why don’t we always want the smartest person we can find to win? S/he is going to be the doing the hardest job in the country, and I sure hope s/he is smarter than me, and surrounded by people who are similarly smarter than me.
I wouldn’t mind seeing a woman in the White House either, but I think there were too many people who saw “Hillary in the White House” more as “Round Two of Bill in the White House.” They, as a couple, had their names attached to too many wheeler-dealer scandals for comfort, and that makes people… wary.
And yes, I agree that Obama’s inexperienced… but I think he’s smart enough to surround himself with good, experienced advisors, and more importantly, will listen to them. It boggles my mind that the GOP *mocked* him for that. (Or perhaps not, given their tendency to rule by divine right….) Excuse me, but isn’t that the *purpose* of the Cabinet?
I agree with pretty much everything you said, too! It’s driving me CRAZY how close this race is, how many people I know think Sarah Palin is a good choice, and how many people I know trust McCain completely. Politicians in general, as you put it, scare me silly, and Obama is no exception…but never in a million years would I vote for McCain and I find it insanely unlikely that I’d ever vote for ANY Republican, especially not one who so closely resembles Bush.
And yes, it speaks very strongly for Obama that he held his own against McCain the entire debate (and, in my opinion, came off looking much more capable, and much less like he was on the verge of throwing a temper tantrum every now and then) given how much longer McCain has been in politics than Obama has.
Are you voting absentee? It’d be awesome to have another vote for Obama this November!
how many people I know think Sarah Palin is a good choice,
********** YOU POOR THING
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Check out election.twitter.coml (no www) Watching that during the debate was pretty amazing. Great post!
Caitlin = libertarian.
I dislike McCain very much, and I don’t trust Obama. As you said, he’s rather fond of himself. Even though he’s charismatic and a wonderful speaker, I don’t agree with Democratic views most of the time, so I would have a hard time supporting him. Blech.
You know, when you’re a libertarian, your candidate never wins. :-\
Charismatic + wonderful speaker = I don’t trust him.
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*****Caitlin = libertarian*****
Well, FINALLY! I was beginning to feel very lonely here! Glad to know I’m not the only one.
Judith
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You know, on one hand, I look around the conservative little town I live in, where registered Republicans all over the place have “Obama/Biden” signs in their yards, and I have hope. Yet at the same time…this country blew it FOUR YEARS ago when we re-elected what my aunt calls “Our national shrub”. RE-ELECTED. HOW?! He wasn’t even given the popular vote in 2000, and yet after four years of incompetance, we ACTUALLY PICKED HIM. Granted, Kerry wasn’t necessarily the strongest candidate, but he WASN’T BUSH. It blows my mind.
As for Palin…it makes me so upset that people could think she’s representitive of women in this country. She may be smart – I don’t know – but, watching an interview with her last night, she’s clearly ignorant, and for all the articles you read about women admiring and “rooting for her” even if they’re voting for Obama, she SCARES ME.
I don’t discuss politics with my friends much because I know plenty of anti-evolution, you’re-with-us-or-against us, conservative people and I’m not interested in having that conversation with them, since I know nothing I say is going to affect their beliefs. But this is one election I’m finding myself scarily invested in…and I’m only 17 so I can’t even vote for another year…SIGH.
this country blew it FOUR YEARS ago when we re-elected what my aunt calls “Our national shrub”. RE-ELECTED. HOW?! He wasn’t even given the popular vote in 2000, and yet after four years of incompetance, we ACTUALLY PICKED HIM
********* Yes. As far as I’m concerned that destroyed what little remained of my faith in humanity. Certainly in American humanity.
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**********this country blew it FOUR YEARS ago when we re-elected what my aunt calls “Our national shrub”. RE-ELECTED. HOW?! He wasn’t even given the popular vote in 2000, and yet after four years of incompetance, we ACTUALLY PICKED HIM
***Yes. As far as I’m concerned that destroyed what little remained of my faith in humanity. Certainly in American humanity.
**********
Hey! See my aaforementioned bumper sticker “Don’t blame me. I voted for Gore.”
Really old people remember the Massachusetts bumper sticker that said ‘don’t blame us’ after Watergate.
This is utterly unrelated, but I was incensed and had to share with others who I was fairly sure would feel the same way as I did. So I was at the zoo this weekend (fairly normal, since I work there and all), and heard a call over the radio from a nonplussed front gate worker that two unaccompanied dogs had just made their way on grounds (probably by running under the turnstiles). This was a bit of a Big Deal, since we have all sorts of animals on grounds that could respond very strongly to dogs running around on grounds, not to mention some of our exhibits (our big aquarium tank or petting zoo, for example) where dogs could get in fairly easily and induce much havoc. Not to mention all of the visitors roaming around; we have service animals come on grounds on a reasonably regular basis and that works fine, but it’s one thing to have a trained working dog (or other service animal) on a leash with his or her person, and another to have completely unaccompanied dog of unknown past and habits running around free (and of course one can never be sure about things like rabies and such). Various staff members went out to deal with the issue and surrounded the dogs (who thought this was all Great Fun [at least when I watched them out the back door of our touch tank room — I went to see what was happening and if help was needed, but quickly realized that everything was under control — I could tell that they were used to people and just enjoying their romp at the zoo), then managed to corral them towards the front gate. All of this took perhaps 10-15 minutes from the first radio call to the moment when the dogs were contained, and a few minutes more for them to get in a car so they could be taken to the humane society. In all that time, no one came to check on them, try to find them, etc. (although someone could have come later, to be fair; I don’t work at front gate so I might not hear about it).
Now, I tried not to judge. I know it’s possible that the dogs belong to someone who lives nearby and they managed to get out; if that person were gone for whatever reason they might not find out for awhile. But if they belonged to someone walking through the park (our zoo is part of a large park with lots of forest to wander around in), then…. Urgh. And the worst part is that the dogs are the ones who got carted off and will have to pay the price.
I suspect the reason there isn’t more in the news about the election is a) we can’t do anything either way, so why get worked up about it, b) election fever is thankfully a relatively alien concept still, c) the PM is not nearly such a ‘powerful’ figure to us as the President is to the US, so naturally it’s harder to get as excited about it, and d) last but not least, there’s still a whole freaking month to go yet before the election, and if they start reporting it in detail NOW, people will be totally electioned out before anything really important happens.
Mind, we should be fussed, and we should be worried, and I think that it does not reflect well on our general public that we can’t sustain interest in such a topic for that length of time… but it is what it is.
If I were an American, I’d vote for Obama rather than McCain, not just because I’m liberal by nature, but I think his economic policies are sounder, Palin as a running mate was a phenomenally stupid choice and makes me think the less of McCain and the Republican party, (which is actually quite difficult, my opinion already being painfully low) and mainly because of his impression of flexibility – you can see him LISTEN in debates which has got to be the biggest diplomatic asset an American president could have, particularly in the present world circumstances.
the PM is not nearly such a ‘powerful’ figure
********** I know it’s just a different system, but it still freaks me out that you can just CHANGE your PM hey presto without talking to us voters. :)
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the PM is not nearly such a ‘powerful’ figure
********** I know it’s just a different system, but it still freaks me out that you can just CHANGE your PM hey presto without talking to us voters. :)
But that is still thinking of a PM as a president-like figure. And they are not. More like “team leader” or CEO of a company. It is perhaps more accurate to think of our elections as electing a *team* or committee and then those elected officials choose a leader from amongst themselves. Everybody is elected by the people. And the good thing is that if the people don’t like Mr X as a PM and is really unpopular then we aren’t stuck with them until next election as the “team” will dump them and choose another! Advantages/disadvantages of all systems. *g*
I KNOW. IT’S A DIFFERENT SYSTEM.
b_twin_1, that’s an excellent analogy! (Tucks it away for future reference.)
What I always say is that one must remember: We don’t have a ‘Red Phone’ and also that the PM is still elected – he/she must satisfy the voters in order to retain their seat, or be summarily booted out.
In a way, when I’ve voting, I always ask myself: do I trust this candidate to represent me at a national, not just a local level? Because that’s effectively what I am doing after all.
Okay, I’m a non-partisan, and what’s more, I was born and raised in Wasilla, Alaska. Scary, I know. A month ago people didn’t know it existed, now Al-Jazeera is hanging out in the Carrs (grocery store) parking lot, asking people if they know the Palins.
There is nothing left of Sarah Palin (and yes, my family knows their family) on the national stage. What you see of her is being puppeteered by the McCain campaign (so nicely alliterative…). It’s bizarre. This once kind and sweet hockey mom has been warped somehow.
I’ve stopped watching the news. I won’t even watch the V.P. debate this week. Perhaps I should, but I can’t.
All I can say, is don’t believe everything you see on T.V.
If McCain doesn’t win, I just hope Wasilla can go back. If she can never go home again, it’ll be hard to live in Alaska.
To use current netspeak: So. Much. Word.
What amazes me is that I find it easier to understand how GWB got re-elected than why anyone is supporting McCain.
One thing the Republican party is usually very good at is finding a ‘message’ and banding together behind it. Four years ago it was “I promised I would make this country safe and I have done so and will continue to do so.” Clear, concise and appealing to one of the basic needs after food and shelter. The Democrats, who have always had trouble with this countered with “I would have done things differently” without ever saying what or how, and had a single program that was widely promoted to the public. Kerry’s health care proposal, which I noticed when his wife said that anyone who didn’t like it was an idiot. It took me about an hour and a half with google to determine it didn’t have a chance of working because it was dependent on the insurance companies, who are answerable to shareholders, to voluntarily forego billions of dollars in revenue. I voted for him anyway, but definitely in the “lesser evil” category.
This time, though, we have a Republican nominee who is all over the place in terms of his platform, primarily because he knows, and the RNC knows, that he can’t run a “four more years of the same” campaign. But anyone looking critically at what he stands for, and voted for as senator, and has talked about in his speeches should be seeing exactly that. I’m almost — almost — glad for the financial crisis because it’s the most graphic representation of what has been wrong we could have. And there are a lot of people who saw McCain flounder and then showboat, and do more to hinder the process of fixing things than any other single person. Not to mention that prior to his emergency trip to Washington after suspending his campaign (to the extent of not going on a talk show), he didn’t “really understand economics” and was insisting that the economy was fundamentally sound.
His selection of Sarah Palin for a running mate is, well, incomprehensible to me. I know she’s supposed to appeal to the Christian right, and I suppose she does. I’ve been told she should appeal to women, but honestly, they lost any credibility on that front the moment we were told not to worry about her experience because she’d be “learning at the feet of the master.” No. Just no. She meets the legal requirements to run for the office but I have yet to see a single supportable qualification. Anyone truly qualified to be a ‘heartbeat away’ from the presidency should not have to be coddled and kept away from the press. I keep being torn between wondering if her selection shows a contempt for the American voter, or that McCain simply doesn’t have the decision-making ability to be a good president.
Regarding Obama, I’m perhaps more optimistic than some. Possibly because I did read “The Audacity of Hope” and came away with the impression of someone who does believe that the current system of polarizing partisan politics can no longer work, who knows that the problems we’re facing aren’t going to be all fixed in four, or even eight years, but that things can be started in the right directions. And since the direction he wants to take things tends to be much the same as where I’d like them to go, I’m finding I can vote ‘for’ him and not just ‘against’ McCain. I’m also somewhat impressed that he’s managed for the most part to campaign on the issues. At the very least I know he understands economic theory and constitutional law, which is more than I can say for McCain or Palin. And if he can’t see Russia from his house? I can live with that.
And now for the chuckle, since I haven’t seen anyone link this yet:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/palin_brushing_up_on?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
I have yet to see a single supportable qualification. Anyone truly qualified to be a ‘heartbeat away’ from the presidency should not have to be coddled and kept away from the press. I keep being torn between wondering if her selection shows a contempt for the American voter, or that McCain simply doesn’t have the decision-making ability to be a good president.
*********** Yes.
http://www.theonion.com/content/news_briefs/palin_brushing_up_on?utm_source=onion_rss_daily
********** LOL! Good old Onion!
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Robin, The US has had more than it’s fair share of stupid presidents; they haven’t caused near as much mayhem, destruction and collapse as, say Jimmy Carter – or as some see it, Obama the First. A Democrat president with no executive experience at all, a Democrat Congress with a lower approval rating than President Bush, and you have a real disaster in the making.
I don’t know if you followed Frank W. James’ trail of the ‘bad loans’. They mostly refer to an affirmative action bill signed by President Carter, that forced mortgage companies to make loans to unqualified applicants in disadvantaged areas. President Clinton then enforced that bill – resulting in today’s undermined mortgage and credit situation.
Note that Obama lead the Democrat team in refuting the proposed bailout. It seems the vote today failed – because 30 of the 38 contested seat holders voted against whatever the Bush administration was behind. They felt they needed to oppose the plan to get re-elected. Now isn’t that forward thinking and bipartisan effort and good of the country coming before everything else?
The last major collapse of the US economy was engineered in the Jimmy Carter administration. President Reagan’s repairs didn’t really take effect until years later. I still consider the single major accomplishment of the Clinton years, was that he left the economy alone – until the last summer of his last year, when he paid off political debts that destablilized things – he wanted the following Republican administration to look bad.
Take a close look at the economic and political actions that drove this crisis into being. Congress holds the purse strings; the solutions come from Congress, not the President. This fiasco is solely the responsibility of the Democrat-controlled Congress. Blame President Bush for a few things, but not this crisis.
At least President Carter, unlike his political twin Obama, was honest, loyal, and good hearted. President Carter’s church didn’t preach radical racial hatred. Oh, I’m sorry. Senator Obama no longer belongs to that church, since the news channels revealed the teachings there.
Sen. Obama seems to adhere to a situational style of ethics, honesty seems to confuse him, and his time in the Senate seems to be singularly free of any sort of activity or accomplishment. Not my idea of good Presidential material.
McCain seems awfully passive about the financial crisis, for a Presidential candidate. Senator Obama, on the other hand, is seen as being a Democratic leader in disabling the only plan on the table to resolve the crisis – not really a pretty picture at all. With those two graphic images before us, overshadowing the debate, it is no wonder that the debate didn’t make history, or even many headlines.
I am not excited about either candidate. But I believe McCain will pose less danger to the world and to the US. I see Obama as smart, with no demonstrable leadership, no experience, and a chip on his shoulder – and shadows regarding his stance on militant religions and racism. And I *do* recall the disaster of the Jimmy Carter administration, where we had a smart President with little experience and a Democratic Congress run amok without a President capable of managing their worst excesses. I see Obama as Carter II.
I see Sarah Palin as a symbol. I think Bob Dole was the symbol of my greatest disappointment in the political process in America. And McCain is nearly as disappointing – as an old-boy network stooge stood up because he was next in line. But Palin is younger, is a woman, is conservative. We have many examples of what the offices of President and Vice President do to change people; I am not too worried about her qualifications or background, especially compared to Obama. But adding Palin to the ticket opens up possibilities that true change is possible in the White House. An energy might be possible. In the US Navy, and in various companies where I have worked, adding women to the mix has always changed an organization, and in my experience nearly always for the better.
Obama, on the other hand, Mr. Change, had to reach deep into the entrenched Democratic white-hairs for a touch of legitimacy for his ticket.
I am sorry you see McCain/Palin as scary, and I hope Obama/Biden doesn’t turn out nearly as disastrous as the well-intentioned Carter years.
I’m afraid I can see nothing but disaster about Palin.
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****Absolutely agree. While you’re wasting time, if you can tear yourself away from xkcd :), did you watch any of the SNL clips? Some very good Palin incoherence there.****
Yes, I watched all of them, and the one from the Daily Show, and had a good laugh. The incoherence on the subject of the bailout was straight from the transcript. Who needs sleep anyway?
The incoherence on the subject of the bailout was straight from the transcript.
************* Yes. They didn’t have to DO anything. Eeeeek.
Who needs sleep anyway
************ Sigh . . . .
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The only thing politics is useful for ……..
http://punditkitchen.com/
;)
ROTFL!!!!!!
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