This particular presidential campaign is historic in many respects and whether maddening, surrealistic, or inspiring it's been a fascinating ride. A good scriptwriter could have come up with an Obama/McCain type scenario and in fact one did during the West Wing's final season where Jimmy Smits played the young , Democrat, candidate of color to Alan Alda's greying, veteran Republican senator and this before Barrack Obama was on anyone's radar. (note to self: possible porn version...The Wet Swing)
Any scribe who tried to insert a Sarah Palin type character into the mix would have been laughed out of the room and yet there she is every day on the news giving her ill wrought opinion and charming throngs of people who genuinely seem to find her inspiring.
There's something important there that has escaped me until just a couple of days ago. Palin and her ilk represent a large, dangerous portion of American society, particularly American I think, in that they are the "stupid driven". Believing in the primacy of the US is one thing, it's a great country and a world leader in many areas, but believing so at the expense of developing an informed world view is more than troublesome. The worst case scenario is an ambitious, not too bright person who combines an unquestioning patriotism with orthodox, mainstream, religious beliefs. It 's the double whammy of self-righteousness and is on display in the following scary video starring Minnesota congresswoman Michele Bachmann (republican, graduate of Oral Roberts U.), a rising star who's facist rant makes Palin look like a friggin' leftist, Rhodes scholar!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mJiF3p0kFw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mJiF3p0kFw
Her reasoning is so convoluted and flawed, her faith in her convictions so unalterable, that one can readily see how she won a seat in congress by appealing to that vast voting constituency; the even more stupid and somewhat less driven. Here's a nice rebuttal though which saves me the time and effort...many thanks to Gollum look-alike, James Carville: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rj2dMb6fecY&feature=related
And in closing how about giving the last word to Bill Maher:
Oh yeah.... as an American citizen I'm registered to vote in Bloomington, Indiana (I voted there as a master's student in 1984, Go Mondale!!). I made the proper inquiries about absentee balloting but never followed up (you know how it is with the TV and the internet...it's a wonder I even clothe and feed myself some days) and as such will not be voting in that important swing state. I suppose I should have known better after what happened in the 2000 US election and this important video details the worst case scenario. Please watch: http://www.cnnbcvideo.com/index.html?nid=AkAcpOQJCocSOn1pj.gvwDQ3MzUzNTI-&referred_by=11806231-5rvpwux
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