I’ve written a few articles about the change in participation in the voting process that we’ve recently seen in younger voters. I don’t think I quite understtod the breadth of the change that we’re seeing, and it occurred to me today that there’s another, different place where we can see it.
During the Clinton administration (the first and last, I hope), the viscious supporters of the Clinton camp we able to attack whoever they wanted, say whatever they wanted, and do whatever they wanted, and not a speck of tarnish could touch them. They avoided scandals, lied about scandals, got impeached for scandals, and left it all with a strangely high approval rating. I remember hearing things like:
Hahaha! Yeah, he cheted on his wife, but…
Hahaha! Yeah, he lied under oath, but….
Hahaha! Yeah, she’s a scary bitch, but…
But what? What was going through the head of the average American that allowed the scandals and shoddy ethics of the Clintons just roll off their back and out of their minds? Well, as I said before that kids didn’t care back then, but I’m beginning to realize that no one did.
As long as we were safe, fat, and happy, no one gave the smallest crap about what the government was doing, and the Clintons used that to run amok with personal attack on their enemies, bullying, and scandal. And the country yawned.
It’s not just kids now that are waking up. 9/11, an ignored war in Afghanistan, an unpopular war in Iraq, economic disaster, poor healthcare, duplicity from the Bush administration, illegal detainment, torture, a plummeting reputation worldwide, all of this has awakened the voter in more American citizens than we’ve had in a long time.
And when we woke up, we educated ourselves on the issues and on the candidates, and we started watching them like hawks and using our brains to see through the bullshit. That’s why Sen Clinton’s attacks are hitting like my grandma with a pillow, that’s why no one gives a shit whether McCain has an affair a decade ago, that’s why, while the old pundits react with guile-ridden horror, the average voter rolls their eyes at a photo putting on the garb of a Somali elder.
Americans have learned what is important. We’re watching.
Hey folks! Get your submissions in for ATHF. You have one day after today to get them in. Send links to the post you would like to show off to jmadjeski_at_gmail_dot_com.
In related news, I’ve used “sanctimonious” in a sentence!
Bob Franken wrote a story for the Huffington Post where he details the relatively unbalanced political coverage in the campaign correspondents. I’ve talked about this before. He then, however, waxes righteous about the power of the press:
Sooner or later we realize that and try to get back into balance. That’s what we’re seeing now, or at least beginning to see.
That helps explain all the negative stories that popped up about McCain in the last few days. There is a collective consciousness in journalism that causes all of us at pretty much the same time, to try and knock our icons off the very pedestals we created for them.
So, according to Franken, the media makes them then capriciously rips them down. Interesting. I remember a time when the media was supposed to present a balanced view, reporting only the facts. I also remember a more recent time where they at least still pretended to do that.
What about Obama? So far he has been this campaign’s easy rider. But you can bet that all of my profession’s proud social misfits are looking very hard for chinks in this Lancelot’s armor… anything that might knock him off his horse. That explains why we swarmed when he was knocked off his stride by the charges of “plagiarism” Frankly, he recovered his balance fairly easily, but it was a reminder we are just looking for an excuse to pile on.
Oh yes, the few, the proud, the men and women who report with gleeful egocentricity according to the whim of their calling! Warrior-poets, they are!
Too much of this election race is manipulated by the marketers we call political consultants. They’re hired to try and control every facet of the candidates’ image. Unless the wretches in media are willing to withstand the election peer pressure and be true NON-believers, we might elect someone who has no business being our national leader.
Yes, ye nobles of hearty constitution! Resist the pressure enacted upon you by the political consultants… unless it’s negative sotries or outright rumour, of course. Then, let the pressure wash over you and drown in it’s moist embrace!
That lesson is that journalism in the United States is supposed to be about skepticism. It’s time for us to help make sure we don’t neglect our obligation to try and make sure voters avoid placing a fraud at the highest level of government. The candidates for the most powerful job in the world need to withstand a tough challenge not just from their opponents, but from us.
is Hillary Clinton, who is changing attitude and persona so often, she just may win the presidency of Arkham Asylum. “Am I emotional? Am I the realist? Am I the peacemaker and full of respect? Am I the angry one? Am I the realist again? Am I the latest incarnation of Dr. Who?”
Latest is her switch back to realist with an healthy dollop of sarcasm, because we all know that gets you love.
“Now I could stand up here and say, let’s get everybody together, let’s get unified the sky will open, the light will come down, celestial choirs will be singing,” she said, to a smattering of giggles. “And everyone will know we should do the right thing, and the world will be perfect.”
She added: “But I have no illusions about how hard this is going to be. You are not going to wave a magic wand and make the special interests disappear.”
This seems like a great way to earn back some of the support of the people flocking from the Clinton gulag to Camp Obama… in Bizarro World. Mock the voters and the ideals that draw them to a candidate and all will be fine. I imagine that it’s hard to run a campaign, but it must be twice hard if you’re both ingenuine and batshit insane.
Barack Obama was asked if he felt he would be treated differently by the mainstream media if he had lost 11 straight primaries. The answer, “yes, but…”:
“Look, I’m the challenger, I’m the upstart,” he said. “I’m the insurgent* — she’s, she’s the champ. She’s part of the Democratic network in Washington and, you know, if you’re the title holder then you don’t lose it on points. You got to be knocked out.”
No whining, no complaining, just class all the way.
I have to say I like Huckabee. He’s chipper, plays an instrument (yes it’s a bass guitar, but it’s something), and has a good sense of humor. You gotta love a guy that can make fun of himself, but you don’t gotta vote for him.
Clinton campaign advisers are showing a very different side to the Hillary Clinton campaign than is forwarded by her recent optimism.
“One adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to speak freely, said Obama’s 17-point Wisconsin victory on Tuesday had started to sink in as a decisive blow, given that the state had been viewed weeks earlier as a level playing field.”
“‘The mathematical reality at that point became impossible to ignore,’ the adviser said. ‘There’s not a lot of denial left at this point.’”
“Despite Clinton’s public pronouncements of optimism, this adviser said: ‘She knows where things are going. It’s pretty clear she has a big decision. But it’s daunting. It’s still hard to accept.’”
After 11 straight wins for Sen. Obama, the Clinton campaign faces an uncertain future. There doesn’t seem to be much support at this point for the continuation of her campaign, unless she scores decisive victories on March 4th. Also narrowing is he gap in superdelegate support, with Obama adding 25 superdelegates in the last two weeks and Clinton losing 2.
Clinton’s pledge to take the race all the way to the convention is not provoking the support that she expected either, with some in the party viewing her perseverance with a jaundiced eye.
“Some Democratic political sources said discussion has begun about encouraging Clinton to transition into a different party leadership role, one that could carry her on a path to becoming Senate majority leader. That course had been discussed even before Clinton announced her presidential campaign. ‘People who care about her are worried about her long-term future,’ the adviser said.”
In other words, it’s looking fairly grim for the Clinton campaign. The current feeling seems to be that a continuation of the Clinton campaign will be so divisive as to damage the party. I giess being a Clinton is less important than being a Democrat after all.
I was channel surfing and happened to come upon a Good Times Marathon. The episode that caught my eye was one in which Michael, the youngest son, gets a job at a hardware store where the owner happens to be an atheist. The owner’s atheist views come into discussion, and Michael being a 15 year old boy, decides he is atheist too because of his repect for his new boss.
When Flo finds out about this, the heads to the hardware shop to tell the owner that Michael quits. They butt heads, with appropriate 70s humor, then the owner decides to fire Michael so that the boy wouldn’t blame his mother for losing the job. That night, at dinner, the owner stops by the Evans household and offers to make peace with Michael, who then finds out Flo caused him to lose the job due to the shop owner’s beliefs.
As happens on sitcoms, everything resolves with everyone the best of friends. The atheist shop owner has dinner with the Christian Evans family and everyone is happy friends.
It just struck me how unlikely that resolution would be in America today. Atheists are finding their voices against the Christian right, and the loudest ones are also the most critical. Christians are seeing these attacks on their faith and pushing back on the atheists with attacks on their morals and ethics. This is not an environment that will nurture togetherness between the faithful and secular.
It’s interesting to me that such an old sitcom is making a point about co-existence and acceptance that would be pretty advanced today.
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