I am an Obama Supporter -- Seems it is neccessary these days to give this qualifying statement
Another Day, another series of prostrating comments In the Corporate Media and Outside the Corporate Media about some made up controversy.
Yeah -- I know, Jeremiah Wright --- blah blah blah
Geraldine Ferraro -- blah blah blah
Samantha Power -- blah blah blah
Bill Shaheen -- blah blah blah
Jesse Jackson Jr -- blah blah blah
Eliot Spitzer -- blah blah blah
WHAT THE FUCK is WRONG WITH US!!!!!!!
We Have Met The Enemy and He Is Us
-- Walt Kelly, 1970
We have, it seems, lost our collective ability to have much in the way of rational discussions. Our reactivity within the frame of the past several weeks gives me pause to wonder if we ever had it to begin with.
Samantha Power -- She is not some Machiavellian politician throwing around the term "Monster" for some devious political advantage. Her comments on the BBC Hardtalk regarding Iraq plans and events on the ground was a simple honest analysis that the rest of the world could understand, but we here in the US need pablum fed bits of talking points for we are children
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman [of any color] he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
-- Geraldine Ferraro
We actually have no way of knowing what she actually meant. Does she mean that Barack Hussein Obama has a natural electoral advantage because he is a black man? Or, does she mean, as has been asserted, that Obama has appeal because his image provides a contextual realignment that is attractive for reaffirming the original meaning of:
"As Mankind becomes more liberal, they will be more apt to allow that all those who conduct themselves as worthy members of the community are equally entitled to the protections of civil government. I hope ever to see America among the foremost nations of justice and liberality."
-- George Washington
We can't know, because we all flipped out, and a statement that was in line with the Washington quote could well have played to the advantage of Obama, and as a politician, she couldn't be having any part of that!
We are trapped in a classic Chicken and Egg Dilema
Are we acting childish because our politicians treat us like children, or do our politicians treat us like children because we act like children?
The examples on us simplifying personalities has become simply staggering. That would be bad enough, but we also extend it to policy questions.
Health Care / Insurance Most people who have lived beyond the borders of the US in a western democracy know that some form of Universal Single Payer is a far superior base health care system compared to what we have. There is ONLY one reason that this is a political tightrope here in this country -- We are children. But, lets look at the current issue
-- Mandates -- If You are either voting FOR or AGAINST Clinton because of Health Care / Insurance Mandates - You are a child. Mandates are a virtual political impossibility, and EVERYONE -- both Clinton and Obama knows it (and I would assume Edwards knows it as well) but they are trying to score political points on a fulcrum that doesn't exist beyond the ether of a political campaign. And those of us on either side of this internecine battle lap up "our sides" talking point on this matter -- because we are children
NAFTA I am simply amazed at the ignorance / childishness of approach to NAFTA as espoused by the US population. As a displaced kanuck living down here, I remember well the FTA which preceded NAFTA by some 6 years. This NAFTA-gate fiasco and the way it was treated by everyone is ridiculous. No US politician is going to "scrap it" (I am talking especially to YOU -- Edwards supporters) Among other things which would be politically difficult for the US, NAFTA guarantees access to Canadian Natural Resources (Energy, Minerals, and WATER!) NAFTA was negotiated at a time when the US had the relatively strongest "hand" of the three signatories, and it could well be argued that any 'scrapping' of NAFTA now would be done at the time when the US is relatively the weakest of the three economies.
NAFTA disproportionately benefits Multi/Trans - National corporations. Any renogiation of NAFTA for the benefit of the population is going to require the mobilization of the populations of ALL THREE COUNTRIES. But so many of us here are deluded into a "NAFTA bad -- grrrrrr" -- because of course, we are children
GEORGE W BUSH Perfected the Politics of Treating the Population like Children His simplistic explanations / bumper sticker politics is what drives so many of us absolutely bat-shit crazy. With Us or Against Us cowboy posturing is the antithesis of the politics is a continuum of gray type of liberal politics. But we are all behaving in just this way (and I am certainly not immune from this childish sniping)
I am not suggesting a Rodney King
approach of "Can we all just get along"
No Politician is either Perfectly Good of Perfectly Bad. Each candidate has both strengths and weaknesses. We should try and recognize that. When our own candidates start acting like children, it is a good idea if we resist the urge to emulate them.
Whatever happens in this election, we really should try to stop acting like children, otherwise we are bound to being treated like children.