A Rational Defense of HopeyChange... and a Rebuttal, of Sorts

Blog-Bud Doc put up a thoughtful post earlier this week entitled “Why I’m Leaning Toward Obama.” His very first line is this:

“Leaning, mind you. Much can change in the next few weeks.”

And then Doc launches into a well-reasoned explanation for his leanings, which basically involve contrasting Senator McCain’s character with that of Senator Obama’s. And Doc obviously finds flaws with Senator McCain, or rather with Senator McCain’s campaign, and to a much greater extent, some of Senator McCain’s idiot supporters… the sort of people who send out idiotic rants like this in the hope of swaying opinion.

(Short parenthetical digression: people who send out videos like the one at the link aren’t so much McCain supporters as they are Obama haters… and there are a LOT of haters out there, sad to say. I’ve noticed there’s a tremendous amount of bad information — which is to say info that is factually inaccurate or outright lies, as in the “Obama is a Muslim” meme — being circulated via e-mail, and I’ve received way too much of it. But the point is… the “hate” stuff is out there and it’s having a NEGATIVE effect on some of the undecideds.)

This, I suppose, plays into my point that McCain is running a very inept campaign. I’ve not articulated that point in a main blog-post here at EIP, but I’ve left comments to that effect in my friends’ blogs when the subject comes up. One such comment:

I'm of the opinion that the McCain campaign has been... to date... one of the most inept, tone-deaf, and incompetent presidential campaigns... ever. One expects this sort of thing from the Dems (witness: Dukakis and Kerry), but from the GOP? McCain's descent into faux populism ("Greed and corruption on Wall Street!") turns my stomach, and the "handling" of Palin has simply been a disaster... of incredible and potentially devastating proportions.

I'm thinking it's too late to save it, but I HOPE to God I'm wrong.

So. Back to Doc. If I’m reading him correctly, Doc believes Obama has run a more principled campaign while McCain has opted for traditional mud-slinging. Or… McCain is doing the classic “whatever it takes” maneuver so common to our politicians (especially when they fall behind), thereby sacrificing his principles. Doc does have a point with the direction he’s taking here, and that point is “character matters,” where the tone of a campaign is concerned. This is something of an explanation as to why otherwise rational people might choose to vote for The One. I’m sensing there’s a lot of disgust over the state of our political process, but I’m of the opinion that The One is most certainly NOT the answer. But to give the Devil his due, Obama has played this discontent like a freakin’ Stradivarius. And McCain has not.

It ain’t over ‘til it’s over… and The Fat Lady ain’t gonna sing until the wee small hours of November 5^th. Doc, in closing to this particular post, makes the point that American politics has (seemingly) always been about choosing the lesser of two evils. I’ll agree with that. You have to go back to Reagan to find an example of someone worth voting for, rather than someone to vote against. But… that said, McCain is the lesser of two evils in this election cycle, which is obviously one of the more important elections of our time. The One is just be SO wrong and SO detrimental to the success and prosperity of America it’s scary.

Your mileage may vary. But I hope not.

(Image from NY Magazine)

Lightening Up a Bit

Apropos of something… something good. A few of you are aware that Gentle Reader Bec’s husband is an artist… but I’m betting more than a few of you aren’t as well dialed-in. Well, Bec and I exchanged a couple of notes off-line yesterday, and in so doing she pointed out that husband Doug’s web site is progressing nicely. Which: is an understatement of incredible proportions. So… I’m encouraging all y’all to take a break from your busy days and go have a look at some impressive works of art. Easy on the eyes, and good for the soul. And much better than politics.

―:☺:―

Keeping it light… There are Red Wings fans… and then there are Red Wings FANS. Case in point to the left, and click for larger if you’ve a mind to.

Dang, Buddy. Lemmee know if you find one… coz I think it would look good on the kitchen counter here at El Casa Móvil De Pennington. I’m not much on Wings paraphernalia, actually. The interior of the house isn’t painted up in red and white. There are no photos of my heroes to be found, anywhere. No banners. Not much of anything, actually. The only observable hint of my affection for the Men of The Winged Wheel is a large “1998 Stanley Cup Champions” coffee mug that sits on the kitchen counter right by the door and serves as a repository for loose change and my car keys. That’s it. Don’t go looking in my closets, though. T’is a different story, that.

Until that coffee pot comes along, that is.

So Politically INcorrect. But Funny.

Via Blog-Bud Morgan... "Sensitivity Training."



Heh. The next thing you know we could all be forced to wear these things. "We" meaning us of the male persuasion. Assuming they get the power level problem worked out, that is.

Upside Down, Yet Again

Check this out: Ow' to Speak Clintonian: Foreplay. And there’s a LOT more where that came from… I’m bookmarking this guy toot sweet, most ricky-tick, and raht now!

(h/t: Lex)

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Via Blog-Bud Becky… another one of those famously-addicting quizzes:

One of these days I’m gonna have to give some serious thought as to why I find these things so damned interesting. On the one hand, it makes me think I’m overly narcissistic (is that redundant?). OTOH, I love seeing other folks results, so it ain’t just narcissism. As I said: this requires thought. But not today.

As for the hour of the day I supposedly am? Well, if we wanna be literal… I was fast asleep at 1002 hrs this morning. And I never, ever eat breakfast. Never have, never will… food literally makes me ill first thing in the morning. Breakfast used to be a half-pot of coffee and four cigarettes. Now it’s a full-pot o’ coffee, but no cigarettes. Some things change for the better, eh?

As for the 10:02 a.m. hour, my circadian rhythms, and all that: I’m upside down again, mostly because…

―:☺:―

… I stayed up ALL night watching the reek associated with the VA-MD-DeeSee primaries. And like Morgan, I’m feeling sorry for Hillary. Really. Mainly coz Barack scares the living shit out of me. There’s absolutely NO doubt in my military-mind he’s achieved true phenomenon status and that, Gentle Reader, is damned hard to fight…whether your name is Clinton (for the near term, Dem-side) or McCain (in the general election). It’s also the scariest thing about democracy… Example:

As for all these recent Obama victories, I couldn’t be more excited. What’s more, it seems that several of Mrs. Clinton’s formerly certain superdelegates seem to be tempted to join the Obama bandwagon. I just hope that all this momentum is going to come to fruition. I hope that the change of which Mr. Obama speaks so elegantly is real. I hope he really can offer the opportunity for the people to take back their government. I hope this all isn’t a dream. I hope we really are the change we’ve been waiting for.

Momentum. “Change.” People “taking back their government.”

I call “Bullshit.”

It’s ALL emotion where Obama is concerned and smells (stinks, actually) of demagoguery, as in... a good-looking, articulate guy with a rhetorical flair and a great smile, yet who is absolutely devoid of substance... and that guy is now anointed as the front-runner on one side of our election process? What else would you call this, other than demagoguery?

But it’s still early days, and I’m holding out my own sort of “hope.” I hope the media start calling Obama out and demanding some specifics about his brand of “hope” and “change.” Or at least giving Hillary a couple of column inches or 30 seconds of teevee time when she does the calling-out, which she has been doing.

I might be waiting for Godot.

(Note: I’m not assuming you’re stupid, Gentle Reader. I have some younger readers who may not have been… ummm… “exposed.” Just think of my obvious reference as being “for the children.” We might be doing a whole helluva lot of things “for the children” in the near future… I’m just Getting With The Program.)

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Today’s Insignificant Inquiry: Am I too picky?

That collection of romaine stems is what I throw out when making my evening salad and the quantity is significant (I eat what’s in the bowl, obviously). I hate stems. One assumes they’re edible, otherwise they wouldn’t be in the package, nu? But I don’t consider stems like those you see to be edible…which leads me to ask the question.

Speaking of Insignificant Inquiries... why doncha go over and welcome occasional reader (and frequent commenter here at EIP) Ashley to the blogosphere!?! Her blog is less than a week old… remember what it was like the first week you began blogging, assuming you do this blogging thing? 'Nuff said.

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I’m still playing with Pandora radio. And I’m still loving it, too. We’re riffing on Santana this morning, and it’s great good stuff. There IS a downside to Pandora, though. I’m hearing way too much stuff from my oft-lamented vinyl collection, which, as you may recall, is in the custody of SN2 due to space limitations in El Casa Móvil De Pennington. If ever there was a reason to get out of the RV and re-assume a conventional life, this is IT.

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Today’s Pics: Kyoto, again (We're almost done, Gentle Reader!). This time it’s a couple of oh-so-narrow residential streets the Nipponese are famous for. And these are streets, not alleys. I've long wondered how long it takes the owner to park that car in the pic on the right. Or get it out. One has to be a patient sort to drive (and park) in Japan. You just don't know how good we have it here in the USofA until ya see how the “other half” lives.

As always, click for larger, if the spirit moves ya.