Saturday, March 15, 2008

Political Musings



No, this post will not be about using sanitized tape worms to reduce excess weight, but like this ad, politics can be disgusting and utterly misguided.
A local politician friend of mine expressed some interest in reading my Blog, so last night I browsed through the archives to see how my political views and predictions from as early as 2001 have withstood the test of time.
I'm not bragging, but I've been making accurate political predictions since this blog began.

Having said that, I want to make a few predictions about the presidential race.
Bear with me. If I'm wrong you can come back after the convention and call me a clueless dipshit.
I think Obama will go into the Democratic National Convention well ahead of Hillary, both in popular votes and delegate count, but she and Bill will go into overdrive in the back rooms of the delegates and super delegates and make some offers they cannot refuse.
If they truly possess the political acumen and sheer guts I think they have, don't be shocked if a lot of the delegates change their minds and go with Hillary, leading to her winning the nomination.
If this happens, the consternation from Obama supporters will fracture the party and cause a lot of Democrats not to vote at all. McCain will be the benefactor of this possibility.
Polls say the American public is tired of the GOP's war and economic blunders and they want a change. That's a given.
But the GOP masterfully packaged Little Bush into some kind of likable hero straight from central casting, while they depicted John Kerry as an elite French guy who purchased his three Purple Hearts with the bars of gold his butler carried for him while he was in Vietnam. They made Al Gore into a wooden statue who hugged one too many tree and bored people to death.
The GOP didn't steal the last two elections by showing us what a superb candidate they had in Bush, they did it by turning Al Gore and John Kerry into villains. The public bought it because America is infused with too many insecure lemmings who value guys who are willing to kill without much provocation.
I realize that a lot of people hate Hillary's guts.
Furthermore, this campaign season has exposed America's innate hatred for strong women beyond anyone's wildest imagination.
I have heard way too many people express their hatred for Hillary without offering one plausible explanation for that hatred. Vagaries like pant suits, staying with a cheating husband, her abrasive laugh, her fat ankles, commodities profits and murdering her friend Vince Foster arise.
Still, I think if Hillary wins the nomination then takes off the gloves and continually pounds McCain on his desire to continue the failed policies of Bush, people will hold their noses and vote for her.
Obama has benefited from his short history as a federal legislator. He didn't vote for the war because he wasn't a Senator at the time. The GOP won't find much political dirt with which to eviscerate him.
But he's got personal baggage that shoots arrows into the hearts of conservative, warmongering flag wavers, and that is indisputable.
Nobody has a friend named Barack. Nobody has neighbors named Obama. Nobody born in America has Hussein as a middle name.
His parents were a fucking mess. His daddy was an arrogant, Muslim, well-educated African who still had a wife in Africa when he married Obama's mother. Later in life he turned atheist.
His mother was a free spirit who left Barack with her parents while she trotted around Indonesia looking for intellectual enlightenment and a Ph.D.
And now it turns out his preacher and spiritual advisor is an angry, radical Black man who said "God damn America" from the pulpit.
Not only has Obama's Christianity been called into question, his association with Rev. Wright will brand him for millions as a white hating agitator.
His wife admitted she'd never been proud of America until her husband scored some political points. She is abrasive, and though it's no longer politically correct to call assertive Black women "uppity," it's still quite common for people to think it.
Obama's a brilliant orator whose intellectual depth crackles like electricity. He has a calming demeanor and quiet but elegant dignity.
But his liabilities will provide the GOP with enough to frighten the bejeebers out of Americans who still are new to thinking it just might be okay to be Black in America.
If he gets past the Clinton's political maneuvering and wins the nomination, we will witness the most relentless, hate-filled scare tactics ever inflicted by the GOP on a Democratic presidential candidate in America's history.
I'm not sure he can survive it because he's still a rookie at hardball federal politics. He has shown too much delicacy and resentment when Camp Hillary has come at him, and he has made the critical error of crying racism far too many times this early in the process.

I'm all for Obama being our next president, but if he loses to McCain because the GOP successfully diminishes him to dust, I'm going to be one pissed off American.

Hillary's proximity to Bill has most certainly taught her how to deflect GOP hardball tactics. She's a bitch who dishes back whatever is dished at her. She is hardened by fire. She is a respected Senator because she worked hard and humbly asked for guidance from senior senators on both sides of the aisle.

In short, I think she's tough enough and politically savvy enough to win the race.
Alas, I have some grave doubts about Obama having the toughness he'll need to survive the guttersniping and innuendo the GOP will surely launch at him.

10 comments:

Lulu Maude said...

Great graphic! My mama had it on her refrigerator for many years. "Friends for a fair form."

I don't think that this election will be easy on any level. Then there are all the Republican vote-disappearing tricks that I read about in Greg Palast's ARMED MADHOUSE (should be required reading for all Dem. party functionaries).

I am still down with the flu so haven't been out to buy gas in a while, but saw pictures of $4.27 a gallon on Huff Post.

Maybe that'll shake a few votes loose.

But it ain't going to be easy, no matter who ends up with the nomination.

Karen Zipdrive said...

LuLu I hope you start feeling better soon. Poor baby.

Karen Zipdrive said...

Note: please check the latest comment I made in the post below to read about Obama's most recent snafu. Clue: Rezko's involved in it, and the news ain't good.

Distributorcap said...

karen
that was a brilliant analysis -- down and dirty, but brilliant

i dont know what to think anymore about these 2 -- i waffle on both in so many directions and for so many reasons -- mainly because i really dont want either to be the nominee. then again both are light years better than the republican asshole who is wallowing in the dem shit right now.

i will vote for either one. and i can say i am damn proud that the nominee will be either a woman or black -- something i never thought would happen in my lifetime. i just think the mud from the COulters of the world come september is going to be SO bad for either one

hold on to this post

Anonymous said...

Thanks D-cap, your opinion means a lot to me. I think you're a brilliant political observer with a savvy, sophisticated point of view.
What I'd really love to see is all the Democratic voters defending both our candidates to the max with the media. Imagine a massive national threat to boycott sponsors of news media outlets that distort the facts and act with a GOP bias.
Unfortunately, it is our all-inclusive nature as Democrats to welcome divergent points of view, resulting in a cluster fuck of a nomination process.
I doubt the Obama lovers will be able to honestly assess if or when his downsides exceed his upsides in terms of his viability as an electable candidate.
Their blind devotion is an absolute detriment to the goal of getting him or any Democrat into office.
The vitriol I've heard so many of them aim at Hillary has rivaled anything the GOP has thrown at her, almost as if they consider Obama running from a separate political party.
I commend them for their loyalty to and ardor for Obama, but too much of that has a blinding effect.

Anonymous said...

Today my friend who works at the GAO told me that he was asked to be on a federal committee to brainstorm how to stop the USA's imminent "depression." I was horrified.

Its time to circle the wagons. Obama's a sweetheart, a very smart young dude indeed, whatev. But we don't need another Jimmy Carter. We need the Clinton's to take the gloves off kick some ass.

Our dollar is sinking fast, major corporations have already filed bankruptcy or closed entirely, the housing market is in the toilet, gas is knocking on the door of $4...yikes.

Anonymous said...

HOLY FUCK!!!
We need a presidential team with a proven track record of ecomomic recovery.
Bill Clinton bailed us out of the Reagan mess (record deficits which have since been shattered by Bush) and Hillary will have immediate access to the same cadre of proven financial advisors.
That's what I've been saying- this is a time for hardball leadership, not a time to risk electing a bright young politican who may or may not have the skills to react to these uncertain times with the speed, maturity and experience that's needed.
Obama would be wise to drop his egotistic needs and negotiate a Vice Presidency under Hillary and get more on the job experience, then take his turn and run after she's had hers.
We are reaching critical mass here, folks.

dguzman said...

I agree completely that we're reaching critical mass, Zip, but I have to give some credit for the financial boom of the 90s to the tech/net bubble. Still, Bill pared down defense spending bigtime, and that helped a lot. I truly believe Hillary will do the same. What's more, if elected, she has absolutely nothing to lose by turning on the corporations that (we hope) will get her elected--think of how hard she could squeeze corporate America's balls to make them cut their profits in the name of bringing jobs back to the US. Why not? It's not like it could make things worse, and if it makes things better--she'll win re-election in four years. My fingers are crossed that anyone but McGeezer wins.

nobody's fool said...

Great post, Zippy. The main thing that bothers me about Obama is his arrogance. I hope he can tone it down and realize that just because it appears that folks worship him, that doesn't actually make him a messiah.

We really need someone who can dodge the feces the monkeys on the right will zealously be flinging. You've made several outstanding points.

Lulu Maude said...

I have a great deal of confidence in the political skills of both Dem. candidates, but I have no illusions on the Clintons and corporations.