I realize it's beginning to sound like a broken record around here, but when I find something that really hits home in regards to this whole election mess, I'm going to shout it from the rooftops.
(The Huffington Post: "We're in Big Trouble" by Naomi Foner/9.8.08)
Monday, September 08, 2008
She Sells Ordinary
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6 comments:
Foner's article actually echoes a lot of what I wrote about yesterday. McCain knew exactly what he was doing when he chose Palin because he knew her image and her beliefs would speak to his base and to those great many voters who don't want to be troubled with nuance and complexity.
Rather than engage the Dems and the public in an intelligent discussion about the economy or troop withdrawal (neither of which can be simplified in any meaningful way), the GOP runs around and accuses Obama of being a baby-murdering, terrorist-appeasing secret Muslim. That's easier for the public to get a handle on, and it obviates them from any need to actually THINK about the issues. The GOP has gotten good at it because it's exactly how Bush was elected in 2004.
McCain, Palin, and Bush have given Obama everything he needs to win the election by a landslide, but he's going to have to be willing to get a little dirty to do it.
www.goldstarrobotboy.blogspot.com
Rob's actual link is www.goldstarrobotboy.wordpress.com. Because apparently he can't remember who's hosting his site. (Not that my brain works much better).
The best thing for the Obama campaign to do, what they should have done from the beginning, is to brush off Palin as a "Good choice" and call for the debates to be expanded and expedited bringing this back to Obama Vs. McCain.
By attacking Palin or addressing her as if she where anything more than a wake-up pill for the conservative base they have turned a three day story into 4 year nightmare.
There is no need for the Obama people to get overtly dirty yet, we haven't even seen the debate. Any dirt thrown will only serve to excite and invigorate an already enthusiastic base.
The Republicans are having fun - Not a good sign for Democrats... Or brown peoples with strange gods.
You too should try fishing - with flys, for trout. Stand on the edge of night and dawn, as tender strands of fledgling light filter down through air filled with mossy dew rising to the possibility of a vaporous kiss from the new day. Wade into the calming caress of icy, numbing water swilling eagerly around the back of your legs and rushing onward over rocks of the ages, downstream where a new hatch invites frenzy among the slithering hungry beneath and marks the spot where your invitation to death, soaring through the crackling air, will land like a harmless feather. And feel the presence of something far wiser, vastly more powerful, and infinitely more understanding than yourself.
Life in small towns . . . is not all bad. And people in small towns may not be so stupid as you think.
I'm sorry, what?
I come from a small town in Iowa (population 1245, 1.6 square miles). I grew up on a farm with corn, soybeans, oats, and cattle. I can tell you what "small town values" actually mean.
It means living your entire life without ever having met a black person, a mexican, a jew, a muslim, an indian or a chinese person. In fact, you think an "indian" is someone who wears moccasins, not Nehru jackets. Every single person you have ever known is either catholic or lutheran.
It also means you get all your news from ABC or NBC nightly news at 5.30pm each day, because you will never buy the extended basic cable which has those fancy 24-hour news channels because its too much money to spend when you only make a per capita income of $19,052 per year. And if you use the internet at all, its not faster than 33kbps because nobody offers dsl or cable modems, so you don't surf the web either.
Given this environment, you can imagine the fantastic wealth of accurate information that you can possess, and the wide range of stimulating intellectual conversations you can have with your highly diverse neighbors with backgrounds from all over the world.
And guess which party is dominant in my home town?
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