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
Loading comments…
Want to reply to a comment? Hint: Click "Reply" at the bottom of the comment; after being approved your comment will appear directly underneath the comment you replied to
"I'd like to address your driving style. If you don't mind." lmao!
I do feel as if we are at cross-roads. We can choose the path of class or the worn out path of immaturity, cheap tricks and psychosis.
Absolutely right on the money.
I am hopeful that the day will soon come when I am no longer afraid of my government. Thank you.
God, isn't that the truth. Can we all sigh a relief after Obama's sworn in? I think so ...
Cherlesq, your remark really struck a chord for me. Thanks. Such truth in simplicity.
Kidney failure...
You hit it spot on...descr
Thank you for perfectly describing how we feel.
When Obama wins, he needs to make it a priority on bringing this country together that the right divided. I hope its not too late.
Never too late, especially when Obama is the Prez.
Michael - you're the best! Keep'em coming!
Michael, you hit one "out of the park", as usual. For years I have been moaning about the lack of civility in America. I am so tired of the "us" vs. "them" mentality that the Republicans demand. John McCain is emblematic of that mentality. Barack Obama can lead us out of the abyss.
Can't we all just get along?
McCain drank the coolaid ...
I think the only thing Obama has to worry about now is how many sympathy votes McCain is going to get...it's sad to see McCain crash like this. Obama is a gentleman and he has run a magnificent campaign..
i watched the debate with a head cold and the dog barking a great deal so a lot of the words were lost to me. too tired and sick to discipline the dog cesar-style, i spent much of the 1.5 hours watching the faces of the candidates. i can conlusively say that my impressions were the same as seitzman's. it was actually an interesting way to watch the debate. you didn't need the words to garner mccain's batshittiness. in fact, mccain is a little scarier when you cannot hear what he is saying. he strongly resembles the crazy uncle in the attic who is convinced that the world is ending, he is right, and everyone else is wrong.
LOL, cetch, good one.
Another great post. You articulate how a woman like me who was raised by southerners up north, feels about the disrespect Sen. McCain has been showing Sen. Obama. Manners. That's exactly it and I couldn't seem to put my finger on it. If my grandfather was alive to see this, he'd be 88 years old and ready to kick the crap out of that "youngun" McCain and his momma for not teaching him basic humility and human respect. My grandfather was a liberal blues/rock n roll boy in the midst of Jim Crow and extreme religious oppression by his own father. The original "son of a preacher man". He got the heck out of the south and never went back because of close-minded ignorance. My grandfather was the one who first taught me about the arrogance of people who feel "entitled". McCain clearly sees Obama as some child who's standing in the way of his "birthright" as POTUS.
You really hit the nail on the head, Mr. Seitzman.
I think that McCain is suffering from some political form of Stockholm syndrome. The Culture warriors have him in the same bubble that they had Bush in. The first flag was picking Palin. The second flag was when he referred to a crowd as "My fellow prisoners.
His whole world has become his "town hall" pep-fests. If they are angry, America is angry, and he must be also. Everyone outside of them is now the enemy. It is sad to see him become one with the people who he himself once called the agents of intolerance.
I do not wish to be a "fellow prisoner" to the forces of the culture war any longer. It is time for change.
Really like the way you closed this out. That contrasting section about Obama was on point.
http://new
My sentiments exactly!
I, too, am weary to the bone of people who espouse their puny, constricted values, believe them to be ours and automatically assume that we all: should denigrate those who don't believe what we do, believe OUR opinion is superior to all others, and refuse to see other points of view as having any validity. We've become a culture that insists we all agree on things like gays are bad, ethics only come to those who pray, curiosity is for fools, knowledge isn't worth the paper it's written on, answers are simple and found in the first sentence that comes out of our mouths, experience is useless, and when in doubt, SHOUT, or accuse someone of being the anti-christ.
...I really have to get a life beyond the election..
You must be logged in to comment. Log in or connect with
