This Is the Week that Is

It was almost magical. Someone described his acceptance speech on Thursday evening as "a symphony". That might sound a bit over-the-top but under the circumstances, the person who described it as such should be forgiven. Truth be told, it was music to many an ear. There stood the Illinois senator, a mile high in the American night, the first non-white person in the history of this troubled republic to receive the nomination from a major political party - the oldest political party on the planet earth - to run for the office of president of the United States of America. Is this a great country, or what?
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Moments such as this are few and far between these days. During the last eight years, it was difficult if not impossible for a thinking person to hold his or her head up high and bubble with pride at the thought of being a citizen of this doomed country. Witnessing Barack Obama deliver his address to the Democratic National Convention brought that pride back with a vengeance. Thank heavens for video tape. As a result of two hefty glasses of vodka and vegetable juice, I nodded out on the couch and missed the whole damned thing. My apologies to Mr. Daniel G. O'Brien of St. Petersburg, Florida. (See "Wake Up America", 27 August, to understand what I'm talking about).
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The following day, in order to dampen Barack's thunder, John McCain chose the Governor of Alaska, Sarah Palin, to be his running mate. At the moment her name was announced, I immediately began to do some research on her. The first (and only) thing that struck me was the date of her birth: February 11, 1964. Coincidentally, that was the very day that my beloved, maternal grandma, Loretta Doran Clements, passed away in South Bend, Indiana. Other than that poignant fact, there was nothing that resonated with me as far as the Palin biography is concerned.
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She typifies the kind of nominee so often found in the top ranks of what used to be known as the "Party of Abraham Lincoln". Don't get me wrong, she's obviously a very good person. When told early in her last pregnancy that her baby would have Down Syndrome, she chose to bring the child into the world regardless. God bless her. But goodness aside, we're not talkin' genius here, folks. Did you get a load of her acceptance speech yesterday? She looked and sounded like a giddy little fifteen-year-old who had just been elected class president. Not a whole hell of a lot of gravitas there to be sure. She reminded me of Sally Field as Gidget.
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When told that she was being considered for the ticket, Governor Palin looked straight into the camera and asked, "What exactly does a vice-president do?" There is footage out there of her admitting that she hasn't thought too much about the war in Iraq. That is perfectly obvious since she seems absolutely tickled pink that her oldest son is now headed there.
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And this is the person who will be walking the delicate, geo-political tight rope of international diplomacy should a prospective President McCain become incapacitated in any way? Did Johnny even think this one through? I am convinced that the poor old bugger is on the verge of dementia. There is no other possible explanation. None.
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It is interesting to speculate that were it not for the efforts of a man who was born five miles down the road from my birthplace, Sarah Palin would today be a citizen of Russia, ineligible to serve as vice-president of the United States and we wouldn't even be having this conversation.
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DAMN YOU, WILLIAM HENRY SEWARD!
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It really doesn't take a political scholar to figure out what the Republicans are up to. In a lame and clumsy effort to tap into the disaffected Hillary Clinton voters, they just had to nominate a woman to run as second on the ticket. She is the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska. Although GOP propaganda have called it a "city", it is, in fact, a small town of under seven-thousand residents. From there she went straight to the Governor's mansion in Anchorage where she has been for less than two years. Hardly an impressive resume. Remember, Alaska is a rural state. Eddie Diana, the county executive of where I live in Orange County, New York, has more responsibilities than Governor Palin. Comparing the governors of Alaska and, say, California is like comparing the presidents of the United States and Upper Volta (Never heard of it, huh? It's there - or at least it used to be - Look it up.)
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The Democrats have every reason not to be jumping for joy over such a eye-poppingly lousy choice. In 1988 George Bush the elder, chose as his running mate J. Danforth Quayle, a man so utterly lacking in substance he reminded one of a mannequin in a department store window. Twelve years after that, the GOP had the misfortune of nominating a half-witted cowboy wannabe, the son of George 42. The guy was so rip-roaringly stupid, he made Dan Quayle look like Albert Einstein. The Republicans won both of those elections. Four years later, the people foolishly reelected the younger Bush. Given the nutty, recent history of American electoral politics, the Democrats have every reason to be cautious.
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If you thought the campaigns of 2000 and 2004 were dirty, hold on to your hats, kiddies! Those contests were but a prelude of things to come. We are now living in the age of Karl Rove and should be prepared for anything.While I was writing the previous piece on this site, quoting Dennis Kucinich's address to the convention, I noticed something very ominous about the words, "Up with Obama-Biden". Oh, shit! I thought. The similarities!
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Obama-Biden
Osama bin Laden
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In anticipation of where the assholes on the far right would go with that, yesterday I telephoned Obama's national campaign headquarters:
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"Listen", I told the poor bastard on the other end of the phone, "you've gotta be careful how you print those freakin' posters and bumper stickers, okay? 'BARACK AND JOE IN 2008'? Fine; 'THE DEMOCRATS ARE BACK'? No problem; 'BARACK ' n' ROLL'? Cool! BUT FOR PETE'S SAKE, NOT 'OBAMA-BIDEN', AWRIGHT???"
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"Gee!" the guy replied in a robotic, albeit perfectly amiable voice, "I hadn't noticed that. I'll bring it up with the Senator."
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Whether or not he was ever able to "bring it up with the Senator" is now beside the point. In this morning's Times Herald-Wreckage of Middletown, NY, a cartoonist has already picked up on the idea (in a satirical way, of course). Count on these silly, right wing jackasses to seize the banner at any moment. There is no depth to which these knuckleheads won't stoop. Count on it.
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It is depressing as hell to contemplate how astonishingly dumbed-down the American people have become in the last thirty years with respect to affairs of state. This contest should have been the easiest call since 1932. On the eve of the election that year, someone sent a telegram to President Herbert Hoover with the following, very cheeky message:
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"VOTE FOR ROOSEVELT AND MAKE IT UNANIMOUS"
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The only way Barack Obama and Joe Biden will be able to win this thing will be in a landslide. Don't forget that the Bush Mob were able to steal two elections only because the margins were so damned razor-thin. They have had those new, easily hackable, computerized voting machines conspicuously installed in the so-called "purple states" where victory for the GOP is not-at-all a forgone conclusion. Senators Obama and Biden have to get out there and convince the American people that a vote for McCain/Palin is the equivalent of committing economic suicide. That very fact is so incredibly obvious, why is it that so many just don't get it. What in the hell is wrong with the American people?
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One has to go all the way back Jack and Bobby Kennedy to find American politicians as extraordinary as Senator Barack Obama. Sure he has a bit of a funny name. But a year-and-a-half of it being repeated over and over again in the mainstream media has somewhat softened its edge. One has to give credit to the guy for not campaigning under the name "Barry" (as in "Goldwater") which is how he is known to his closest confidants. Maybe it is too much to expect of one mere mortal, but I believe he has the potential to save America's political soul. Heaven knows it sure needs saving.
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John McCain offers us only the tired and failed, trickle-down ideas of the last thirty years that should have been buried with the body of Ronald Reagan. In Barack Obama we have something new and inspiring. Hope: It's not a meaningless campaign slogan. It is a very real emotion that many Americans are feeling for the first time in decades.
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Said Teddy Kennedy when endorsing him earlier this year, "I feel change in the air." Yeah, I feel it too. Can't you?
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Tom Degan
Goshen, NY
tomdegan@frontiernet.net
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In homage to the great Beth Quinn who always gently reminded the readers of the Times Herald-Record (Wreckage) how much time was left until January 20, 2009 before Rupert Murdoch purchased that paper and she was summarily fired without explanation:
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There are one-hundred and forty-two days to go until the disgusting, criminally corrupt and incompetent administration of George W. Bush is history.
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AFTERTHOUGHT:
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Just in case you fell asleep in front of your television on Thursday night, here is a link to the incredible speech that Barack Obama gave to the convention. It truly was an historic moment:
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kv8eiDvrHJ4