So it comes down to a roll of the dice.
Clinton and Obama showed themselves to be everything the Republican candidates aspire to and insist they are but will never be, given their mad aversion to introspection and their inability to utter basic truths. Watching those guys on a dais is like looking at one of those metal ball-clacking desk toys, except that instead of steel spheres the candidates resemble a row of strangulated testicles smacking together moistly. It's that revolting. In fact, as I wrote that I felt queasy. And I like desk toys.
But both Hillary and Barack showed why they deserve to be where they are, that they are capable, articulate, present, thoughtful, inspiring and real (as much as ideological constructs can be, but hell---their my ideological constructs). Why? Because they spoke sooth. They didn't mince words. They didn't descend into the snitty bickering that gives Republican storm troopers the only erections they can manage without a splint and a smudged DVD of Bedtime for Bonzo. They maintained the wisdom, the intelligence and the civility that has been sorely lacking in the 7+ years of the Bush putz-a-thon. And come on: don't tell me when the full boat of Dem candidates was on stage those weeks back, one didn't think they should all just be put in office at once, a sort of Justice League of America in Arrow shirts, each an expert in their respective fields, doing what humble service to their country bred them to do. It would be as easy as taking out the old, gunk-encrusted spark plugs bought in a cut rate chop-shop and replacing them with a whole new set, shiny, efficient and goddamn ready to fire up every time.
But now we come to the crux of the biscuit: how do we play it?
The other side is so engorged with hate for Hillary, so overcome with frothing, teeth gnashing insanity on the subject that they just might be able to mobilize their fractured foundation and rally in flawless formation, employing their standard issue onslaught of base, dirty play. It would be a rout, followed by a veritable nuclear winter of a Mccain/Romney administration. I can see the tufts of hair falling without even being pulled out by my withered, bony fingers.
If Barack steps into the thunderdome then we'll really see what the opposition's made of. Will all their inherent deep-seated terror of the Black Man bubble to the surface? Will all their inner Trent Lotts and David Dukes and Strom Thurmonds eat their way through the husks of "compassionate conservatism" to spill onto the floor at the feet of their equally freaked out constituencies? Either way you slice it, Hillary and/or Obama would be striking at the very heart of the red-eyed beast. And when it's cornered, woe to the world.
So what to do? Probably what most normal, well meaning, moderate people don't want to do: fight like hell. This is England during the Blitz, y'all. The V-2's are gonna start raining down. We've seen it before. It's not just historic that a woman or an African-American might very well become president of The United States of America. It's historic for the citizenry of those United States to use its constitutional responsibility and wrest power from the hands of those who have so mightily and tragically abused it, and place it into the firm trust of either Hillary or Barack.
Let's roll.
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Posted February 1, 2008 | 05:16 PM (EST)