John McCain Naked

It was like A Tale of Two Smiles last night -- It was the best of us, it was the worst of us. One man was a study in calm. The other was a study in batshit crazy.

I kept thinking of that line in As Good As It Gets, when Jack Nicholson says, "You make me want to be a better man." Honestly, I know how foo-foo this makes me sound but Obama makes me want to be a better man. Maybe I did drink the kool-aid, but you know what? Jimmy-crack-corn.

When is the last time we had a leader that we wanted to emulate? Seriously, tomorrow when some douche cuts me off on Sunset Blvd, I'm just going to open my window at the next traffic light and calmly say, "I'd like to address your driving style. If you don't mind."

We've had so many years of people who vilify their political enemies, years of Baby Huey Bush and Cheney, of Rush Limbaugh, Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity laying claim to a country that only exists in the black-prison sites of their twisted minds (and at McCain rallies). It's been blood feud after blood feud for far too long. Listening to McCain was a big hunk of enough-is-enough. My kidneys are gonna shut down if I have to endure four more years of that bile.

Mccain and Palin and their ilk don't laugh. They patronize. They don't smile, they snicker. They don't debate, they denigrate. They don't talk, they condescend. They don't argue, they ridicule. There is a nastiness, a mean-spiritedness, a smug certitude, and a profound and baseless arrogance seething from both of them. These aren't leaders. They're not even grownups. They're not a team of mavericks, they're a team of schmendricks (Yiddish. Means someone who can't succeed but thinks he can. Also means penis).

Now, contrast that with Barack Obama. Always respectful, even when disrespected. Always calm, even when faced with contempt. Always articulate, never talking down. He never rattles and never takes it personally. He's not just a diplomat, he's a gentleman. You know what he has? Manners.

I'm exhausted by rigid, condescending ideologues like John McCain. He's like a circus mirror, showing us some distorted version of ourselves as only he sees us. He says "spread the wealth" as if he were saying "spread the herpes." He uses air-quotes while saying "a mother's health," as if it's some radical fantasy invented by "those who would seek to destroy us." McCain's grin is an undisguised scowl of anger and intolerance. But the worst part is that he thinks that's our scowl too.

John McCain is a rear-view image of yesterday's America. Barack Obama is a signpost to the road ahead. It's that simple. And if the people McCain is so proud of don't like it? Jimmy-Crack-Corn. And I don't care.

Read more reactions to the Obama-McCain Hofstra Presidential Debate from HuffPost bloggers

Comments

[LRonHubbard]

Great post. McCain is indeed being swept into history's rear view. This also gives me hope that those media figures peddling division, exclusion, and contempt are also on their way out. Not just O'Reilly, Limbaugh, and Hannity but also malicious little men like Imus and nasty angry women like Nancy Grace. That's a whole lotta bile, and society needs to take a leak.

I came to America twenty years ago and have watched in horror as its mind has closed. The type of mean-spiritedness shown by John McCain is poison to any great country. Let this be the beginning of the end.

And John, don't forget to take Sarah with you when you leave. Sayonara baby.

[Luigi53102]

Ditto on "great post" and a terrorist fist-bump to LRon for a succinct and most excellent comment. The only thing that can give me more pleasure than the thought of Nancy Grace rapidly getting small in the rear-view mirror (hopefully Hannity et al are with her) is McC returning to Arizona to resume his Senatorial career and Palin returning to Alaska to do whatever the hell it is she does there.

[Gabbie]

Maybe the problem with these newspeople starts at the top with the owners. In order to keep their jobs these news anchors have to spout this nastiness or how else can people be brainwashed into believing the republican rhetoric. McCains statement about not sharing the wealth is exactly why they hate to see Obama win and call him a socialist- a word which Americans have been repeatedly taught is next to Communism. Socialism only for the rich bankers and corporations. There has to be a happy medium between capitalism and socialism. A government by the people for the people is a fallacy if only the rich benefit. It will surely be a giant step forward when all citizens have access to health and education as a right and not only for the few who consider themselves privileged because they inherited it and did not have to work for it. McCain and Bush are good examples of those who think they merit wealth because of who they are. A country needs to give its citizens health care and an education and let them take care of the rest, i.e. working to better themselves.

[Dondoh]

Beautiful, articulate and true.
Thanks for a wonderful summary of how I think and feel about this race.

[jcorrington]

You said it exactly Dondoh! Very well said, Michael. Your description of winky and blinky actually describes most of the republican party characteristics.

[Pupadup4oBama]

Winky and Blinky!!! A match made in Hades...:) HA HA

[joeydee]

HUGE kudos for this, Michael. All my reflections, reactions and sentiments have already been voiced by previous adulating commenters, but I do want to add that, although I 'ain't no girly-man' (WINK!) you did bring a tear to my eye a couple of times: "... he's a gentleman." and "...a leader [that we wanted] to emulate."

Thanks.

[AmHope]

Excellent, excellent article.
Obama inspires respect, confidence and positivity.
McCain represents negativity.
And there's way too much negativity and lack of respect for each other engulfing our nation.
Here's hoping Barack Obama will be our next president so that we can begin the difficult process of uniting and healing our country.

[oncethere]

Very inspired piece. Many people have commented on their feeling anywhere from physically and emotionally uncomfortable to wanting to vomit during McCain's arguments. He looked crazed to me and threatening, as if it were only a matter of time before he jumped out of his seat and attacked Obama. I am so tired of these bullies, O'Reilly, McCain, Hannity. They have brought the level of debate down in this country to the 9th grade.

And yet there will be right-wingers who will say today that they viewed McCain's nastiness, contemptousness and arrogance as the attitude of a confident and visionary man. It is all so bizarre.

[Pupadup4oBama]

You are so right oncethere - it truly was a near vomit-inducing performance by his royal Highness King MacAttack. I was absolutely disgusted.

[profounddogs]

Wonderful post. I've often found myself emulating people I admire, who are strong, smart and articulate: OBAMA TO A "T"!

[Mason]

Well written and exactly right.

[Rescisco]

As remarkable as the Obama campaign has been, and perhaps we should all admit to sounding a bit "foo-foo" when we discuss that, I think an even larger part of the story is that the war within the soul of America (always a battle between the worst and the best in all of us) is once again tilting in the direction of the "better angels of our nature." To some extent, Obama is a symbol of something happening in the body politic, a more aspirational mindset and a new majority coalition is forming. I guess, while admiting that the battle between our worst and our best is never ending, the "best" is ascending for the moment. Now that's something to be "foo-foo" about if you ask me. I think "we" are the story here.

[Pupadup4oBama]

BRAVO!!!!

[missjabez]

Michael, you always get right to the point, and I appreciate that. McCain/Palin bring out the worst in people;Obama brings out the best. Whenever I volunteer at the local Obama headquarters, I see people who are enthusiastic, kind-hearted, and positive. I think part of the reason Palin's rallies are so ugly, is that she brings out the snarling racist in folks. Perhaps if Palin didn't work the mob into a frenzy, there wouldn't be shouts of "Kill him!" and "Terrorist!"

[TankGirlz]

Thank you for verbalizing what I know a lot of us feel...wonderful commentary!

[usapike]

Thank you. Very eloquently put. You're not the first person I have heard say that Barack makes them want to be a better person. He wants to elevate this country and help every citizen. Someone said that their new mantra was "What Would Barack Do" - WWBD. I see a new wristband in our future!

[Pupadup4oBama]

WWBD - WAY better than WMD!

[marymansour]

This is the most beautifully rendered blog I've seen in H Post to date. I agreed with every word in every sentence but the one that stood out the most and caused me a moment of strong emotion is this one:

"He's not just a diplomat, he's a gentleman."

I had a teary moment. That is exactly what Senator Obama is - a true gentleman in the truest sense of that word. That rare quality that our more complicated and difficult lives have almost suffocated.

Thank you so much, Mr. Seitzman, for this truly engaging blog. BTW, I loved learning the new word - schmendrick.


OBAMA/BIDEN '08,'12.

[Strywever]

Mary, I just want to tell you that I always enjoy your comments! You strike me as someone I'd enjoy having as a neighbor.

[marymansour]

What a wonderful and very special compliment, Strywever. You are welcome to join me in my small Alabama neighborhood. We can plant our Obama/Biden signs in our yards among the many GOP signs that abound here. Thanks again for the very nice words.

[2belinda]

A Statesman like quality/character is a must for a president. A Pres.McCain will get us into more fights than we will be able to count or pay for and a Pres. Obama will respect others and so they will respect him in return, whether we agree to disagree or not. Some will be rogues and a Pres. Obama is intelligent enough to deal with the type.
You get back what you give out. (aka Karma)

[mmgbizgirl]

Maybe we should all be less afraid of looking or sounding a little foo-foo and take a leap of hope. Barack makes me want to be a better person too. In the last two years he has tirelessly fought to pull this country back from the brink of cynicism. This election has mirrored our country's entire history of hypocrisy and like any good therapy session, it's OK to start feeling it. How liberating it will be to take off the Republican shackles.

Good article!

[missjabez]

Obama makes me want to roll up my sleeves and help him get this country on track.

[Pupadup4oBama]

a bresh of freath air...:) ha ha!!

[Kindheart]

Michael, you scared me...I though you were talking about my ex and he is a big supporter of the GOP!!!

Good blog