Cult of Personality

Alright, it's getting a little disturbing out there. Check out the latest will.i.am celebrity cult video:

p.s. will.we.aint

We couldn't help but think, what if the chant of "Obama! Obama!" was changed to something like, we dunno, "Sieg Heil"? Overarching hero worship is dangerous in any form.

And if "we are the ones we've been waiting for," why are "we" chanting "his" name?

TKO

Well, from what we saw at least, it is time for Hillary's camp to get the towel ready. From the opening bell, Hillary came out looking steely, glassed-over, even, and defensive. She, frankly, was not herself, the woman who has until this point proven to hold her own-- and then some-- in this format.

Her primary strategy now seems to be one of victimhood, which is understandable since, we would argue, it propelled her to victory in New Hampshire, and has kept white women over 60 steadfastly in her corner. But it's starting to sound smarmy. And it ain't presidential. In her own words:

"Well, can I just point out that in the last several debates, I seem to get the first question all the time. And I don't mind. I -- you know, I'll be happy to field them, but I do find it curious, and if anybody saw "Saturday Night Live," you know, maybe we should ask Barack if he's comfortable and needs another pillow."

It wasn't funny then, and it's not funny now (though, we would have to concede, there is an element of truth behind it).

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

The most telling moment, to us, was when Hillary came the closest she ever has to an apology for her Iraq vote... THE issue, we think, that, after personality/authenticity/who'd you'd want to have a beer with, will determine the Democratic nominee and, ultimately, the next president of the United States.

Pull the (Patriotic) Pin

Seems Obama has been getting some heat over his lack of an American flag lapel pin on his "uniform." Here's what he had to say about it:

"You know, the truth is that right after 9/11, I had a pin. Shortly after 9/11, particularly because as we're talking about the Iraq war, that became a substitute for I think true patriotism, which is speaking out on issues that are of importance to our national security, I decided I won't wear that pin on my chest."

The likes of Bill Kristol (in today's NYT) call this a "grandiose" and "unnecessary and imprudent statement [that] impugns the sincerity or intelligence" of the other flag-bearers/sheep. We say that it's a brave statement that, frankly, we're surprised any politician had the cojones to make.

We also say, those g**d*** "Support the Troops" yellow ribbon car magnets should be next. Wake up, America, wherever you are.

(Editor's note-- we must confess that that last line came from an obscure TV program (Midnight Caller, wethinks) that we used to watch during a semester we spent in Sweden)

Welcome Back to the Show, Ralphie-Boy

Despite the shuddering of the politely-liberal Democratic base, Nader's announcement that he is entering the fray should be taken as GOOD news. To whit:

1. After 2000, no one's actually going to vote for the guy
2. He's older than McCain (& thus frames Obama as even more of a "fresh choice")
3. He still has some valid points on the Israeli/Palestinian issue and the corporatization of America that Obama can't say, thus:

a. He makes Obama seem less liberal, and thus more appealing to middle-of-the-road Independents
b. He puts issues on the table that will need to be dealt with post-election (when they can be spoken about more freely)

-- after all, it was Al Gore, followed by the Democratic members of Congress, who shot themselves in the ass the last time around.

(Editor's Disclaimer-- We voted for him in 2000, but had a logical reason for doing so-- Mississippi was a winner-take-all state, and Dubya had it in a lockbox, so we thought we could help Ralph & the Greens get the 5%. If it's any consolation, we aren't voting for him this time-- we are older, if not wiser)

Richardson for V.P.

but only if he holds off on his endorsement...

Then, he's:

1. A Clinton loyalist
2. A Hispanic...
3. with a "white" name
4. A foreign policy expert
5. Fat (hey, they vote too!)

Our only hesitation would be that he has undoubtedly groped someone, somehow, somewhere... (see #1)

Biden for State

Sure, the guy'll talk your ear off, but he knows his Shiite. He was calling for partition in Iraq way back when, and he was a voice of reason from Pakistan before, during, and in the aftermath of elections in Pakistan. If America ain't ready for a Black-Brown ticket, he could be considered for V.P. as well... but we'd like to see him in a position where he'd actually do something. Our only concern is that he appears to have gills on his forehead.

(Editor's note-- we are quite pleased that this posting provides a rather smooth transition into our next one)

Plagiarize This!

Well, we believe that whole plagiarism issue has been put to rest, judging by the reaction to Hillary's well-rehearsed phrase "Change you can Xerox" (we also wonder whether she should have credited the staffer who wrote that one for her). Obama then swept the issue away: “The notion that I had plagiarized from somebody who’s one of my national co-chairs who gave me the line and suggested that I use it, I think is silly.”

According to Slate, Hillary's final answer contained a passage that matched one of John Edwards' well-known riffs and another that matched one of her husband's.

Our Theory on Bill

We believe that Bill actually wants Obama to win, but knows that he owes it to Hillary after all he has put her through. So the best-case scenario for him was to go too far, fight tooth and nail for his wife, in the process allowing him to achieve both ends at the same time.

The New York Enquirer

We must admit, after reading the front-page story in the New York Times today, that the paper managed to sully itself (we looked it up, and it is a word). To suggest in the second paragraph that McCain had an extramarital affair-- and then offer no substantiation-- is something right off the cover of US Weekly or OK! (Weekly?). There are plenty of substantive arguments to promote the Democratic side that they favor-- and this may well discredit those later in the campaign, at least with those not already in the choir. In fact, this may counter the "old-age" thing as a sign of his virility!

But what do you expect-- they endorsed Hillary the day before South Carolina.

Reflections on Fidel

This from Slate:

In a letter published overnight by the Communist Party's Granma newspaper with no advance warning, Cuba's head of state for 49 years wrote that "I will neither aspire to nor accept, I repeat, I will neither aspire to nor accept the positions of President of the State Council and Commander in Chief" when the National Assembly meets on Sunday.

More to come...

(Editor's note-- We considered entitling this entry "Reflections by Comrade Fidel," the column under which Señor Castro vows to continue his fight as a soldier of ideas... but were afraid of being taken out by a South Beach septuagenarian)

Guns Do Kill People

News flash, people: despite that old adage, guns do kill people... and it is too damn easy to get them. The word from the NYT is that Steven Kazmierczak, the gunman at Northern Illinois University, bought two of the guns used in the attack six days ago from a nearby gun dealer, and accessories from the same web site where the Virginia Tech killer bought some of his weapons. We're going to sound all liberal bleeding-heart here (not something we enjoy doing), but isn't it crystal clear at this point? Christ, they couldn't even pass a law for background checks in Virginia after it was revealed that they could have kept Seung-Hui Cho from doing his thing. It's time to keep those Glocks from ending up in more cold, dead hands.

Crossing the Potomac

Well, it's a big day in the campaign, albeit one already written off by HC. Indeed, it has been set up by the media and the polls to be another Obama romp, which, as we've seen previously, could summon women to come to the defense of Hillary in the name of sisterdom and victimhood.

Still, we feel that an Obama sweep here, after Mainers came through on Sunday (helped by a sibling and sibling-in-law of ours truly, who bit their lips and registered as Democrats), would have to mean that the momentum is firmly on his side, those supposedly steadfast Superdelegates are beginning to waver in his favor, and the nomination is in his sights.

The Guantanamo Six

So much for the John-Adams-defending-the-British-after-the- Boston-Massacre moment. It's nice and all that the Pentagon has finally decided to actually press charges against these supposed co-conspirators, but the death penalty? Are they out of their freakin' minds? Goes to show how much they have learned, even in the post-Rumsfield era, about courting (or even listening) to international opinion... not to mention a little something called martyrdom.

The "Clean Team"

... although we do appreciate that the FBI has learned that it can extract information by building a rapport with detainees rather than waterboarding them. According to the Washington Post, this apparently consisted of "flattering egos, attending to small requests and casting themselves as a friendly force in an otherwise adversarial climate." They even gave them food when they were hungry-- and Starbucks coffee (although we would argue this is another form of torture-- that sh** tastes burnt).


But as former rear admiral and judge advocate general John D. Hutson stated, "Once you torture someone, it is hard to un-torture them." If this was a true open court, would any of their testimony be admissable?

Are You Experienced?

Have you ever been experienced? Hillary says that she has-- for 35 years. If the Democrats are dumb enough to nominate Hillary, however, that issue won't work against the wily old McCain, who had gray hair before she even had a job at the five and dime... and people might start asking just how relevant all that subsequent "experience" is anyway.

John McCain is a Bad-A**

Like it or not, this election is all about integrity, authenticity and character-- probably the main reason, we must admit, we think Obama is the better candidate on the Democratic side. There ain't much difference on the issues nohow. But whoever outlasts the other will have to take on McCain (for whom, it must be disclosed, we voted for in Mississippi's Republican primary in 2000-- under the rationale that we disliked GWB more than we liked Gore).

Now, here's a guy whose gumption cannot be challenged, as the following testimony about his POW experience will indicate:

October 1967
McCain's A-4 Skyhawk plane shot down over Hanoi. McCain ejects, breaking both arms and one leg and receiving a concussion. Lands hard in a lake in downtown Hanoi. Treads water as North Vietnamese soldiers pull him out and then shatter his shoulder with a rifle butt and bayonet him in the groin. Taken to the nearby Hoa Lo prison-- aka the Hanoi Hilton (hint-- it ain't "One Night in Paris").

One Week Later
Doctors finally set two of his fractures without anesthetic. Two other fractures and groin wound left untreated.

Several Months Later
By this time his weight has dropped to 100 pounds and he is barely able to stand. The VC offer to release him, seeking a PR coup since his father, Admiral John S. McCain II, has just been named the head of all naval forces in the Pacific. McCain III refuses the offer, as this would go against the US military's Code of Conduct for Prisoners of War, which stated that POWs had to be released in the order they had been captured. As a result, guards rebreak his arm, break his ribs, and knock his teeth out.

The Next Four Years
McCain doesn't check out of the Hanoi Hilton (let alone leave), spending most of his time in solitary, in what is known as the "punishment cell."


This could all mean that he is entirely selfless, and would put the wants and needs of his country above any personal ambition... or that he may get off on suffering and possess a perverse sense of pride and honor that could lead him to get us tied up in Iraq for, say, the next hundred years.

Information culled from the David Foster Wallace essay "Up, Simba" from his collection entitled Consider the Lobster.

Letter From an Independent

(and our sibling)

Its amazing to me that the Democrats have at best split the vote between Clinton and Obama (and actually leaning toward Clinton by delegate count). As an independent, Obama is the only democrat who I will vote for over McCain and I imagine I’m not alone in that view. If Obama loses, it’s the straight talk express all the way!

Democrats, take note…

(Editor's note-- all the way... to the gates of Hell!)

Northeastern Bias

We could be referring to those old white ladies in Massachusetts and New Jersey... but we're actually referring to the media and their attitude and attention to the South and Midwest. In hindsight, it shouldn't have been a big surprise, but the (liberal white) media has been blindsided by the Huckster surging through those parts. We keep hearing about the conservative backlash... why did anyone think this would go to Romney? Why was Romney anointed the "Conservative choice"? Why had Huckabee been written off?

While Huckabee often made the most sense in the debates, however, the McCain-Huckabee ticket that people seem to feel is coalescing is more terrifying than McCain alone. For one (and the reason he may be getting all those votes), he seems to actually believe what he says. And let us not forget that there are a lot of old fogies in the Supreme Court...

In response to the question, "Do you package your canned-meat product in a tin or aluminum-based storage vessel?"

Oh, yes, we can.

(Editor's note-- Perhaps we should have used Velveeta as an example?)

More Reasons to Fear a McCain Presidency

We inherently suspect anyone who continually addresses his audience as "friends." While we find McCain less creepy than some of the other alternatives, we musn't forget that beneath that warm and fuzzy exterior, which has some independents waffling between him & Obama, there lurks a Republican.

In particular, McCain's hawkishness is deeply disturbing. If he's elected, get the jackboots ready. Fortunately, unlike Rudolph Giuliani, he is physically incapable of a "Sieg Heil"... he can't raise his arms that high.

But let's let the "Straight Talk Express" speak for itself:

"We're Americans, and we'll never surrender. They will."

“If I have to follow Osama Bin Laden to the gates of hell, I will find him.”

and the scariest of all:

"I'm proud of my record as a foot soldier in the Reagan revolution."

Remember the Potemkin

From the NYT 4/2/07:

At a news conference shortly after their outing, Mr. McCain, an Arizona Republican, and his three Congressional colleagues described Shorja as a safe, bustling place full of hopeful and warmly welcoming Iraqis — “like a normal outdoor market in Indiana in the summertime,” offered Representative Mike Pence.

full article available right here.