The blood-letting has begun. It's just small cuts, abrasions, and bruises for the moment but we're only in the opening rounds. The important thing though is: first blood has been shed and it's Barack Obama's.
I commented way back in late '07 and early '08 that whoever the Democratic candidate would be, he or she was in for the mother of all battles. In 2008, the election for the Republicans is more than just keeping the White House in their hands. It's also about the consequences they would be faced with if the Democrats win. Since Bush's Supreme Court ordered election in 2000 and by the stroke of fate known as 9/11, the Bush-Cheney-Rove cabal has been systematically dismantling all three branches of our government and in so doing making the Constitution effectively null and void. They corrupted the voting process across the land in order to maintain their grip in power in 2004 and will move heaven and earth to do it again this year.
This neo-con wet dream which finally became reality through the clever manipulation of a malleable fratboy has either crippled or destroyed the workings of the entire federal government which have existed for decades. And none of it was driven by any high-minded aspirations for the betterment of the United States and it's citizens. What it was about was the centralization of all power in the hands of a few. And with that power came money, lots and lots of money. But before any of this could happen, they needed to do an end run around the laws of the land. It was easy really. All they had to do was find some bright young zealots whether political or religious or, best of all, both and convince them they were making America great again. They would help make America the only force for good, God, and democracy in the whole world. What they omitted from the recruitment brochure was that this could only be accomplished through the commission of innumerable high crimes and misdemeanors.
The unholy triumvirate may be many things but one of them is most definitely not stupid. (Well with one glaring exception perhaps.) They know full well that if Obama becomes president not only will this skein of crime, lies, fraud, and deception unravel but the consequences would be costly indeed. Not only costly in the monetary sense but costly in the the loss of freedom as in go to jail time. But they had one little problem to deal with first...their own candidate for the presidency, John McCain.
McCain had been a thorn in their side for years. They thought the beating they administered to him in 2000 was enough to put him in his place and quash any further ideas about becoming president. But with 70% of the country turned against them as well as a good chunk of their own base, they couldn't quite manipulate the primaries as they wanted. Now faced with their worst nightmare (payback's a bitch) they needed to turn the maverick into a gelding. And how would they do that? Why with money, of course, lots and lots of money. And they'd throw in the use of the Rovian political machine as a bonus. A mess of porridge indeed! And McCain's end of the bargain besides the presidency? A promise of total protection from any investigation or proceeding that would uncover the full extent of their perfidy. Actually, it seems more like selling one's soul than just one's birthright.
The full power of the Republican juggernaut has now been let loose to do battle with Barack Obama. And before its main guns have even fired, he has been sent reeling in its mere wake.
The battle that Obama fought in the primaries against Hillary was only an arm-wrestling contest in comparison to the battle he now faces. Hillary's goal was to damage him in the eyes of the party's electorate. The Republican goal is to destroy him completely before the entire electorate.
Obama continues to try to arm-wrestle with McCain not realizing that he is actually in fight that combines bare-knuckle street fighting and kick boxing. McCain may just be dancing around him at the moment with a jab here and a jab there but that's just to soften him up. As the bout continues and we approach the final rounds, it will become bloodier and bloodier. This is, after all, a winner take all contest.
Obama's handlers better smarten him up real fast. They need to explain to him that like it or not the gloves are off and unless he starts hitting back hard, he's going to go down. Wouldn't it be nice if he had an old pro in his corner. Someone who has been in this kind of fight himself. Someone who could give him pointers and show him were his opponent's vulnerabilities were.
But he's not available right now. Seems he's still smarting over the loss of his last contender, Hillary.
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An additional thought. When I wrote that "Obama will lose", I probably could have expressed my self better in the body of the diary. There are two enormous factors in this election that have not existed in previous ones. One is the fact that a huge chunk of the Democratic base, i.e., older women justifiably or not are still up in arms over how Hillary was treated. That alone is cause for alarm. The other is this item from Pew:
"This election is exceptionally tricky."
-- Pollster Peter Hart, quoted by the Wall Street Journal, who estimates that 10% of current Democrats and independents who say they support Sen. Barack Obama "may not be giving a fully honest answer."