Here comes the Goya-esque moment where the giants bludgeoning each other, stuck knee deep in sludge, begin to spatter the tiny people at their feet with blood, bile and bilge. While it's never a shock that as the tighter presidential candidates are squeezed the more their froth-flecked teeth are bared, one of the more outstanding phenomena of this historic election is the public's awakening from their tacit enslavement to the cycle of empty promises, button-pushing and Rovian dirty trickery that has come to define as "normal" the political process.
The feeling that the population has just come to after having ingested a roofie-laced order of Freedom Fries has gone viral, penetrating even the most traditionally impregnable strongholds. So obvious is it, that even those most adept at hurling invective-laced loogies are doing so with bewilderingly less commitment and a significant decrease in phlegm. It just ain't in 'em.
The blossoming list of lobbed charges from both sides are so lame and their blatantly partisan sources so easily discernible that it's almost as if the Old Guard has collected its booty in a stained pillow case and simply gone AWOL. The miasma has started to dissipate, replaced by an air of inevitability. When emails went out purporting to expose Obama's supposed anti-Semitic sentiments, even the most gullible balked at picking up their cue. A couple of Google clicks later and the source is easily traced to an ugly, little, far-right wanketorium masquerading as a conservative journal. Not a lot is finding purchase in the formerly fertile fields of fetid fibbery.
In the case of Obama's spreading appeal, the Spinderellas are at orange alert, taking beads on the candidate like the good soldiers they are. But every volley of vitriol seems to slow in midair and fall to the ground with a tinny clatter. BO seems to embody and espouse values that echo the feelings of what looks to be a vast majority of citizens who spy a light at the end of the Halliburton-constructed tunnel. Is he less experienced than Hillary? He certainly has demonstrated his ability to deal with a full steam Clinton machine, which has itself withstood repeated raging Repuglican onslaughts and is legendary for its deceptively drawling ferocity.
You can hear the whispered but nonetheless hate-filled rhetoric from the right's most vicious pander-pundits, scared half to death of color, creed and credibility. And the members of the Good Ol' Boys of The United States of America finally have to face the reality they've been dodging for years, face what comes to everyone and everything, both powerful and meek: The End.
You can see the fear (or is it humanity?) in Hillary's eyes as she and Bill grapple with the increasing possibility of defeat. She must know, brilliant and capable person that she is, that a neutron bomb of change is about to detonate, leaving only the hopeful, the daring and the forward-reaching standing.
Scary. But kinda thrilling, isn't it?
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Apropos nothing but the title to this blog I am reminded by the observation by Albert Einstein;
"I don't know with what weapons the third world war will be fought, but the fourth will be fought with clubs and stones."
In Bill Clinton's own words:
"One of Clinton's laws of politics is this: If one candidate's trying to scare you, and the other one's trying to get you to think; if one candidate's appealing to your fears, and the other one's appealing to your hopes; you better vote for the person who wants you to think and hope," - Bill Clinton 2004
Who is the candidate that keeps referencing hope and ideas in this campaign? Who is the candidate who ran an ad about attempting to invoke fear with a phone ringing in the middle of the night?
Amazing that Bill Clinton endorses Obama isn't it?
"Scary. But kinda thrilling, isn't it?"
Yup, the way the first female leader of the House, a Democrat with a Democrat majority, was kinda thrilling.
For a little while.
A very little while.
The times, they are a-changin'...and not a moment too soon. The political status quo in America is on life support, and the populace seems to be calling the priest, instead of the doctor. Good riddance, is all I can say.
>But kinda thrilling, isn't it?<
YES.
If Obama gets it, we can kiss universal health care goodbye because he is only shooting in that general direction, not actually AIMING for it. McCain will not go for it either.
To bad, so sad, so many will continue to suffer and die because of lack of decent health care, just so others can make a profit from those that can pay.
I am sure I will get flamed for this statement. So many think he's for universal health care because he uses that phrase in public, but he has as an adviser the guy that helped to kill it the last time we got it started. Where do you think the revised Harry and Louise ads came from?
Not to mention the fact that this Constitutional scholar has stood by and let bushie and his criminal cabal assault and attempt to weaken our Constitutional rights. He has shown no leadership on impeaching bush. Why? A. He doesn't think bush has acted in a manner that warrants impeachment; B. He doesn't have the courage to stand up for the Constitution because it might hurt his political future. Which answer is worse?
And, Obama folks - I know Hillary has shown no leadership on this issue and I do not support her.
It is unbelieveable that Obama can go after Hillary for proposing universal healthcare, which has been a core belief of all DEMOCRATS for well over 50 YEARS. It has always been the #1 desire for DEMS, what has happened to this Party?
Do you mean the guy who once worked for Bill Clinton?
Ah, sweet Weber, the weird, wonderful and oh so wired words of Weber., my remaining mortal hero of things commentary, having lost the progenitor and bastion H.S.T., a muse on a rampage.
It is said, insanity is the perfection of your most compelling desires, stripped, through desperation, of the clothing of moderation. Who said that? Well, me. And I should know, from a time before I took on these too obvious airs of respectability.
But I digress.
True that some fangs are sharper and whiter. True that some claws are more crusted with the blood of previous victims.
True that Ali beat Liston. Liston, a heavyweight fighter so feared that contenders would not accept a title shot. It was said he could break a man"s back with a punch to the stomach. I"d be afraid. Ali accepted a title fight with Liston and scored a TKO at the start of the seventh round when Liston remained in his corner. Ali won in ways, techniques and moves, so convincingly different that it changed the nature of boxing. Ali would, henceforth, always be the champ.
This is what Hillary faces. She is Liston to Obama"s Ali. Obama makes it look easy. The great ones do.
Clinton has three choices. And they are not easy.
One, she comes out for the seventh round and gets knocked out. Two, she stays in the corner and concedes, a TKO. Three, she attempts to change scoring system.
Whichever she chooses, the people will always know who the champ is.
Of course she would not be the nation"s first illegitimate President, but then the specter of Obama would haunt like a Pale Horse.
I am long gone, but my spirit lives on...
Mahalo,
HST
I am impressed by your writing and the points that you make. Hopefully after March 4th the TKO will be realized as the only "save face" move....although, the thirst for power and the whole "entitled" approach has me worried that the first or third will be the only move any Clinton will ever make.
Thanks Steven, for the timely Weber fix.
It almost makes you wish that Obama wasn't a conservative, like Hillary.
On a different topic: I hope that MSNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and any other media outlet out there makes it loud and clear that what happened today is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. I am referring to this idiot at McCains speech today. I strongly believe that this is the Republicans trying a test run on a negative message to see just how much media coverage it gets and how quickly it disappears. The media needs to send a message that this trial run was a complete failure and should not be repeated. Make no mistake about this, it was planned and there was a reason behind it. I hope the media questions the motives.
"But kinda thrilling, isn't it?"
**********************************************
Indeed it is, Steven.
I'm sure the Clintonistas will discount this as just so much "cultism" (The desperation is palpable), but I remember when JFK was running and in office.
My grandmother took my brother and I down to State Street to watch as his motorcade passed by, convertible limo and all.
I looked up at her at one point, and this calloused-handed, working woman from the semi-rural manufacturing town (back then) of Racine, Wisconsin, was grinning from ear to ear, and crying.
I haven't seen quite that reaction to Obama, but what I do see thrills me to no end.
I see people inspired to go to the polls for the first time in their lives. I see young people, notoriously apathetic when it comes to election day, coming out in numbers not seen since the late 60s and early 70s when I first came of voting age.
Clinton backers can dismiss and demean it all they wish. They see something special happening, it's happening to their candidate, and they hate it.
You have nailed Hillary second most damning error.
First: Her Iraq Vote and refusal to admit she was wrong.
Second: Her mocking Obama supporters/voters as
being silly and unintelligent.
She has only days to leave with some dignity and that
still can only happen IF she apologizes for
her Republican style behavior & tactics
Nice. Your euphemisms, idoms and double speak are laced with the tang of sweet and sour pork and the juiciness of a common dialect and shared values that are finally being defined and simmering for way too long in Republican mush and gumbo of fear.
What an excellent way of describing the "normal" that has become the political process than "tacit enslavement. " Bravo. The hell with "bitch being the new black." It's the darkness of what politics has become that has rendered us sterile, cynical, demoralized and thus tacitly enslaved. Excellent.
No doubt, Spinderellas are at orange alert, and Karl Rove is Spinderella's ugly stepsister, forcing the "glass slipper" of hope and future to fit into his ugly "Fear mongering" "virtriolic" feet. They're "hope is fear" and their fear IS "hope."
I do hope you're correct, Steven, the government has been telling OUR country, for more than 7 years now, that the Constitutional 'Rule of Law' no longer applies to ANY crimies they or their corporate cronies commit. When enough people believe that LAW does not apply to EVERYONE equally, and from the top down, many might just decide for themselves it doesn't apply to ANYONE.
I see a centrist' DLC making what are obviously behind-closed-door, across the isle deals, like the ex-post-facto telecom immunity for helping government criminals violating the Constitution. I have little doubt many will continue cross the isle to help republicants stop voter desired changes after the election, as they have for the last year. The one-party, lobbyists bought, republicrats(or demicans) have been running this SCAM on OUR country for a VERY long time, and they might even take a scorched earth approach when dealing with their defeat. It will probably NOT be fun, I can even see powers-that-be TRYING to wreck OUR economy, just in an attempt to prove how they were right all along, and how the voters seeking change and wanting OUR Constitution back, are misguided and actually causing the problem to begin with.
I view this as MORE REASON than ever to vote change NOW. Every election where this movement is postponed, is one step closer to a mindless lemming oblivion, where ONLY corporations write OUR laws, and supposed FREE citizens no longer have ANY Rights. And likely, with yet another WAR declared on 'We the People' ...for complaining about it.
Or, as in the case of an Alabama Governor, possibly FABRICATED wrongs to deal with ANYONE not of the 'proper' political persuasion.
Pleasant thought...
wow -- nicely written. i second and, seeing as this is a message board, will add to it. my guess is that obama represents to the political establishment (especially in the democratic party) the manifestation of what it's preached for so long. clinton does, too. the democratic party consistently has fought on behalf of women and non-whites; however, it's also consistently been led primarily by white men. so, clearly both obama and clinton in essence are calling the "dem bluff." and based on some of the posts on huffpo, there's clearly a fear of change and a "threat" to the status quo. that, or perhaps people just don't like the taste of crow.
Just wait until Obama gets the Dem nomination. Then all the dirt will come out and his lack of actual policies and foreign affair inexperience will cause him to crash and burn. The Republicans will keep the White House for at least another 4 years.
Bill Clinton began his Presidency at about the same age as Obama is now, with even less foreign affairs experience than Obama. But he turned out to be an able and respected world leader.
You have GOT to be kidding! GWB currently has an approval rating of 19%....19%. That means that only 19% of people surveyed think that his plans, policies and agenda are positive. Since McCain has the EXACT SAME plans, policies and agendas what makes you think that 45-50% of people are going to vote for him?
Precisely, HBeachbum. The Obambi kool-aid sippers will get a rude awakening when he is served up as just another chopped pork platter in November. The ReThugs were SO AFRAID of Hillary, and we Dems are once again just giving them the baby lamb they wanted from the get-go.
Lifelong Dem here, won't vote for the hope-uh-dope! Yes, Hillary is the brilliant & capable one and probably all too aware that she is being thrown under the bus for the benefit of a clown.
So... When Obama gets inaugurated next January, will you admit being horribly wrong? Or will you remain a hater and start listening to fringe figures for your talking points?
Ha Ha.
Ah Steven....you definitely have a way with the written word....."light at the end of the Halliburton constructed tunnel".....I love it!!!!
A big part of Obama's strategy was to build a coalition united by their mutual rejection of negative and divisive politics. It turns out that this is a substantial majority, and the more the opposition attacks, the more they reinforce the rationalization for the Obama candidacy.
Those of us who are sick of politics as usual are rallying behind Obama. Everybody else can try to tear us down all they want, but it just won't work. Obama's new American majority rejects the politics of negativity and division.
We're ready to cut straight to the heart of the ideological struggles that have paralyzed Washington, and we're ready to engage in the political process. We're ready for a transparent and inclusive government. We're ready to be heard, and we're ready for an administration that's ready to listen.
This isn't about how Barack Obama wants to change America, it's about how the American people want to change America. All we need to do is have faith in a government that has faith in us. We can do this, and nobody is more convinced of this fact than Barack Obama.
There is no faith in government because faith is based on acceptance of a leader (savior)without explanation.
Faith in America is based on a Constitutional form of Government.
Open your eyes, tablogloid.
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
What the people who want Obama want is our Constitutional form of government back. It worked fairly well for awhile. It can work again if we work for it. But we need a new direction to get there, and Obama is as close to one as we are likely to get. Same old politics has got to go. We are sick of government by misdirection. Steven is right, you can feel the difference a simple google search makes. We know more now. We are willing to put up with less bull now. And we are angry.
JoeBag wants his government back.....better stick with donuts. You're only in denial if you think Barry O'Bama is gonna provide a new, or return to, government. The man speaks of change and hope.......of what? He's the most liberal dem in the Congress and he's going to have a Democrat led House and Senate stocked with cobweb draped office holders with lifetime tenures. Obama studied the tactics of Jimmie Carter on how to run a campaign and he has been masterful. Just what we need, another Carter liberal in office. Always be careful what you wish for.
Surely, you mean loyalty or allegiance not faith. My eyes are open, joebag. It is faith that is blind.
Steven,
You definitely have a unique way with words and an even better way of cutting through the BS spin from the right. I am totally impressed with Obama's ability to reflect on and respond to the jabs as if he is in another league entirely. Add to that the fact that every time I hear Michelle Obama speak so intelligently and passionately, I am convinced that they are a more powerful duo than the Clintons.
Mr. Weber:
You, sir, have an admirable way with words. Kudos.
".....admirable way with words....." Ummm, what ever happened to "write to express, not impress?" Thought I was immersed in a modern-day Shakesbeer fest.
Anyway, Obama is a decent man (who can argue with his efforts on the Chicago streets?), but he's a Bolshivek, disguising his quest within words like "hope" & "change." His timed arrival on the political power scene has been impeccable, easily (seemingly) representing a departure from politics as usual. But nobody is listening closely to his words, rather, there's mass mesmerization by those enraptured by an inspirational speaker. Barack Obama is a mirage.
After his recent primary victories Obama gave a 45-minute speech espousing his liberal goals -- nothing new there, just refer to the liberal Democrat manifesto. Uh, the exact one used by Hillary Clinton.
"Bolshevik?" His platform shares about 95% similarity with Clinton's. Is she a "Bolshevik" too?
Ummmm, yeah.
That 5% is what bothers me, especially when it comes to health care for all.
With him, it won't happen. We will have more of the same 'ol same 'ol. Too bad, so sad.
Bolshivek? That's so 1913. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolshevik
If you have a care to imagine what a nation that works for shared goals and visions means to you personally, you might understand. But first you need to fast forward about a hundred years in your use of language. Labeling generally is a poor person's form or argument anyway. Get over it for your own benefit.
Best of luck with that.
Posted February 26, 2008 | 01:05 PM (EST)