And as I sit here slack-jawed over McCain's choice of Sarah Palin as his Vice-Presidential Running Mate, it occurs to me just how successfully he has distracted MY attention from the Democratic National Convention, and its message of "John McCain: More of the Same." Can't help but wonder whether this is just a tactic to take the spring out of the Democratic bounce, and that sometime next week there will be a graceful, Harriet Miers style withdrawal and Mitt will be back on the ticket after all.
Of course the Democrats are "on the right side of history." But if all we can talk about is the beauty-queen's hairstyle, how does that really help us now that "we are facing a planetary emergency which, if not solved, would exceed anything we've experienced in the history of humankind." [Al Gore]
Sure, "people the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power." [Bill Clinton] But what kind of example of democracy do we set when issues and ideas are inevitably crowded out of the headlines by gossip, public spectacle, and personal attack?
And Joe Biden's grandmother may well have taught him that "No one is better than you; everyone is your equal, and everyone is equal to you." The problem is, a lot of people in this country -- powerful and important people -- don't really believe in all that "equality" crap.
And it's not just about race or gender either.
It's about the difference between someone who is about to lose their home to foreclosure on a sub-prime mortgage, and someone who can't even remember how many houses they own.
Or who has never had to worry about the affordability of their health insurance, because they have ALWAYS been able to afford to see any doctor that they wanted any time that they wanted, and to pay the bill in cash.
Or who doesn't really care about the rising cost of attending college, because their family has gone to the same private college in Connecticut for generations, and will no doubt continue to do so regardless of cost, or grades, or their SAT scores....
Sigh. How did the senior Senator from Massachusetts put it?
"The Work Begins Anew.
The Hope Rises Again.
And the Dream Lives On"
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4 comments:
Palin upped the payout to every Alaskan by $1,200.
Kinda sounds like McGovern's old incomes program...
I don't get it. How would this sudden switcheroo benefit McCain?
Particularly since McCain has made his judgment a big point in the campaign. I'd say pulling something like that could only hurt him.
CC
Not to sound too cynical about the Grand Old Party, but who remembers Harriet Miers? Ms Palin simply announces, "Oops, I've changed my mind, my family needs me, it's a woman's perogative..." (now think Karen Hughes), the Republicans get ANOTHER week of media attention and meaningless headlines, and McCain simply ends up looking like someone who was willing to take a risk, but was also gracious enough to slow down and give the rest of his constituency time to catch up.
At the end of the day (or the week, or however long this all gets spun out), we are that much closer to election day, and STILL no one has paid attention to anything that matters. Which has GOT to be good for McCain.
Just my $0.02 worth. Which is just about all I can afford these days anyway....
Instead of talking about the "beauty queen's hairstyle" i guess we could talk about her selling Alaska's jet on e-bay while Al Gore is still flying around in his.
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