Atomic Tuesday Night
Hey folks. This is shaping up to be an odd week, in no small part because this will be the second night in a row in which I'm in bed before 2100 (last night it was before 2030, so I feel old). I still haven't even read Chazza's response to me on her blog, I haven't written up what I'll write up about "Little Brother", but I did want to write up a few thoughts about Super/Atomic/Tsunami/[Insert Obnoxious Adjective Here] Tuesday.
On the Democrat side, it looks as if there are some big, early wins for Senator Obama. I think I've mentioned before that, with whatever respect may be due to Senators Obama and Clinton, I'd rather have Senator Clinton as the nominee because I think that she'll be easier to beat. This isn't to say that I don't think that both of them are immensely beatable, but I think Senator Clinton would be easier and as high as the stakes are, I'd rather not have things be more difficult than they need to be. It appears that these two will be duking it out for a while, and I have no problem with that; I'd love to see the eventual nominee arriving at the Democrat convention and the presidential debates as figuratively bruised and beaten as possible. Anyway, as you can imagine, very little of my focus has been on these two, as it's going to be one or the other of them, I approve of neither, and I'm content to wait until the decision has been made to start my own strategizing and commentary.
What I am curious about is the Republican race. It's taken an interesting turn over the last month and a half or so. Senator McCain, who I've respected immensely for a number of years (even when I disagreed with him), has come back from the abyss to become the front-runner. Governors Romney and Huckabee haven't given up yet, but after tonight I think that the race will essentially be over. There are a few things that I want to comment on, but it may come out as a bit of a ramble; for once, I'm not terribly worried about format and coherence. (Mo, stop laughing.)
First thing's first, although I've developed more and more concerns about Governor Mike Huckabee, I've been able to develop a healthy respect for him, and I think that his candidacy has been great not only for the Republican party itself, but for the party's image: suddenly the part of "rich old white men" has been shaken up by a dirt poor Arkansan whose campaign was run on a proverbial shoestring. I hope that Governor Huckabee stays active in the party, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear news of Senator McCain inviting Governor Huckabee to be his running mate. For those of you who didn't catch the news, Huckabee took West Virginia from Governor Romney's grasp when Senator McCain's delegates were told to back Governor Huckabee - I'm biased, but I think that shows a genuine regard between Huckabee and McCain, and excellent (if slightly dastardly) cunning on Senator McCain's part.
And speaking of Governor Romney... I really, really wish I could allow myself to walk away and not say this, but Mitt Romney has destroyed almost every ounce of respect I was able to generate for him. If by some miracle he becomes the nominee, I will easily support him over either Clinton or Obama, but he's practiced a near-total lack of tact, decorum, class, judgment, and any number of other adjectives I could name. One of the biggest reasons cited for his downfall from what could have been an easy ride to the Republican convention was the fact that he out-spent his rivals on almost nothing but negative advertisements. The most common thing I hear is that "nobody knows who Mitt Romney is"; unfortunately for Romney, that's his own fault. He could have easily spent that money on positive campaigning, getting his own compelling story out, and instead he blew it and turned what could have been a completely positive race into a slightly negative one. Why slightly? Because if you look back, essentially all of the nasty exchanges, save for people calling Congressman Paul to account for the bizarre and naive things that come out of his mouth, have been related to Mitt Romney. The candidates didn't attack each other, they attacked Mitt Romney in response to Romney's attacks on them.
Further, Governor Romney seems to be flailing. I'll decline to post a link since it's to Yahoo(!) and they yank their news after a few days, but Romney has taken accidental pot shots at Senator Dole, he's either authorized or verbalized outright lies about his opponents, he's flip-flopped, and it's absolutely shameful. In the aftermath, there are going to be a lot of pundits who claim that "Evangelical Christians couldn't rally behind Mitt Romney because of his Mormon faith", and it's going to be complete and total bullshit. People are rejecting Mitt Romney because the more you see of him, the more he appears to be an inconsistent, self-righteous, libelous asshole. I've known a lot of Mormons in my life, I have several who have turned out to be great friends. You know the "Christians" who spout off lines about Mormonism being a cult? Yeah, I know more about Mormonism than those people, and I was willing to give Romney a pass, even though he demonstrated every single trait that makes Mormonism weird and unpalatable. Mitt Romney's self-destruction had nothing to do with his Mormon faith, and everything to do with uncivilized behavior. As I said, I'll still vote for him if he's the nominee, but if it comes to that I'm going to honestly feel as if I'm voting for a "conservative" version of Bill Clinton or John Kerry, and I loathe that idea; oh yeah, and I'll do it with the full expectation that my vote will do nothing to stop us from hearing the phrase "President Clinton" or "President Obama" come January of '09. Shameful.
And Senator McCain? As I've mentioned before, I don't agree with him on everything, and if I had to I could name off five or six examples off the top of my head. I'm astonished, though, at the absolute loathing that's coming out of the mouths of so-called "conservatives" these days. There are people who are ignoring McCain's speeches, voting record, military service, pretty much everything about him, and making claims like "there's no difference between McCain and Clinton". It's bullshit, plain and simple. Not only is Senator McCain a real conservative, he's a real conservative who understands that real policies and programs are more complex than catch phrases. Anyone who reduces the complex immigration reform legislation that failed in Congress to the phrase "amnesty" is an intellectually lazy simpleton who should seriously reconsider whether casting a ballot is appropriate. Anyone who reduces the complex nature of McCain's legislation with Senator Lieberman to "McCain buys into the global warming hoax" is a similarly lazy jackass, and they shouldn't be voting either. Additionally, whether you like Senator McCain or not (and I can concede that some people have legitimate gripes with his record), if you're a conservative, or even if you care about this country and don't think Senators Clinton or Obama should set foot in the White House without being escorted by a tour guide, it's important to understand that Senator McCain is going to be our nominee, and it accomplishes nothing to take pot shots at him and whine for ten months. The treatment Senator McCain has received in the last couple of months from talk radio and various other pundits is shameful, it's a slap in the face to the conservative movement in America, and it should stop immediately.
And for crying out loud, will someone please shave Mitt Romney's head? The smarmy look on his face is bad enough, if I have to keep looking at that big helmet hair of his I think I'm going to vomit.
* * *
Okay, two more quick things, and then I'm going to bed.
First, I want to make it clear that Virginians, and probably people in a few other states, are stupid. Hundreds of Virginians showed up to their polling places today, got angry, and called their local government offices to complain. What was the issue? Virginia votes next Tuesday. I appreciate the fact that people are interested in this primary cycle, but honestly, not knowing that your state isn't voting? That's just asinine. I'm not going to go so far as to say that "Virginians are the stupidest redneck morons on the planet", because it's not true - I've spent time in both Savannah, Georgia and Hammond, Louisiana, and Virginians have nothing on those folks. Still, it's pretty pathetic.
And second, speaking of throwing up (and I let Mighty Mo know this earlier today), I think Cracker Barrel needs some serious help. I'm sure they do a lot of business, and appeal to all of the "salt of the earth" types who have no regard for the maintenance of a healthy arterial diameter - God bless 'em! - but I walked in there twice today to drop off something for a friend who works there. Both times, there was sickening country-ish music playing, there are all sorts of jam and other food-related items for sale in the entryway, rocking chairs for sale on the patio... I felt like I'd gotten myself trapped in a cross between Charybdis and the Country Bear Jamboree. Wow.
* * *
Okay, I feel better. Goodnight!
On the Democrat side, it looks as if there are some big, early wins for Senator Obama. I think I've mentioned before that, with whatever respect may be due to Senators Obama and Clinton, I'd rather have Senator Clinton as the nominee because I think that she'll be easier to beat. This isn't to say that I don't think that both of them are immensely beatable, but I think Senator Clinton would be easier and as high as the stakes are, I'd rather not have things be more difficult than they need to be. It appears that these two will be duking it out for a while, and I have no problem with that; I'd love to see the eventual nominee arriving at the Democrat convention and the presidential debates as figuratively bruised and beaten as possible. Anyway, as you can imagine, very little of my focus has been on these two, as it's going to be one or the other of them, I approve of neither, and I'm content to wait until the decision has been made to start my own strategizing and commentary.
What I am curious about is the Republican race. It's taken an interesting turn over the last month and a half or so. Senator McCain, who I've respected immensely for a number of years (even when I disagreed with him), has come back from the abyss to become the front-runner. Governors Romney and Huckabee haven't given up yet, but after tonight I think that the race will essentially be over. There are a few things that I want to comment on, but it may come out as a bit of a ramble; for once, I'm not terribly worried about format and coherence. (Mo, stop laughing.)
First thing's first, although I've developed more and more concerns about Governor Mike Huckabee, I've been able to develop a healthy respect for him, and I think that his candidacy has been great not only for the Republican party itself, but for the party's image: suddenly the part of "rich old white men" has been shaken up by a dirt poor Arkansan whose campaign was run on a proverbial shoestring. I hope that Governor Huckabee stays active in the party, and I wouldn't be surprised at all to hear news of Senator McCain inviting Governor Huckabee to be his running mate. For those of you who didn't catch the news, Huckabee took West Virginia from Governor Romney's grasp when Senator McCain's delegates were told to back Governor Huckabee - I'm biased, but I think that shows a genuine regard between Huckabee and McCain, and excellent (if slightly dastardly) cunning on Senator McCain's part.
And speaking of Governor Romney... I really, really wish I could allow myself to walk away and not say this, but Mitt Romney has destroyed almost every ounce of respect I was able to generate for him. If by some miracle he becomes the nominee, I will easily support him over either Clinton or Obama, but he's practiced a near-total lack of tact, decorum, class, judgment, and any number of other adjectives I could name. One of the biggest reasons cited for his downfall from what could have been an easy ride to the Republican convention was the fact that he out-spent his rivals on almost nothing but negative advertisements. The most common thing I hear is that "nobody knows who Mitt Romney is"; unfortunately for Romney, that's his own fault. He could have easily spent that money on positive campaigning, getting his own compelling story out, and instead he blew it and turned what could have been a completely positive race into a slightly negative one. Why slightly? Because if you look back, essentially all of the nasty exchanges, save for people calling Congressman Paul to account for the bizarre and naive things that come out of his mouth, have been related to Mitt Romney. The candidates didn't attack each other, they attacked Mitt Romney in response to Romney's attacks on them.
Further, Governor Romney seems to be flailing. I'll decline to post a link since it's to Yahoo(!) and they yank their news after a few days, but Romney has taken accidental pot shots at Senator Dole, he's either authorized or verbalized outright lies about his opponents, he's flip-flopped, and it's absolutely shameful. In the aftermath, there are going to be a lot of pundits who claim that "Evangelical Christians couldn't rally behind Mitt Romney because of his Mormon faith", and it's going to be complete and total bullshit. People are rejecting Mitt Romney because the more you see of him, the more he appears to be an inconsistent, self-righteous, libelous asshole. I've known a lot of Mormons in my life, I have several who have turned out to be great friends. You know the "Christians" who spout off lines about Mormonism being a cult? Yeah, I know more about Mormonism than those people, and I was willing to give Romney a pass, even though he demonstrated every single trait that makes Mormonism weird and unpalatable. Mitt Romney's self-destruction had nothing to do with his Mormon faith, and everything to do with uncivilized behavior. As I said, I'll still vote for him if he's the nominee, but if it comes to that I'm going to honestly feel as if I'm voting for a "conservative" version of Bill Clinton or John Kerry, and I loathe that idea; oh yeah, and I'll do it with the full expectation that my vote will do nothing to stop us from hearing the phrase "President Clinton" or "President Obama" come January of '09. Shameful.
And Senator McCain? As I've mentioned before, I don't agree with him on everything, and if I had to I could name off five or six examples off the top of my head. I'm astonished, though, at the absolute loathing that's coming out of the mouths of so-called "conservatives" these days. There are people who are ignoring McCain's speeches, voting record, military service, pretty much everything about him, and making claims like "there's no difference between McCain and Clinton". It's bullshit, plain and simple. Not only is Senator McCain a real conservative, he's a real conservative who understands that real policies and programs are more complex than catch phrases. Anyone who reduces the complex immigration reform legislation that failed in Congress to the phrase "amnesty" is an intellectually lazy simpleton who should seriously reconsider whether casting a ballot is appropriate. Anyone who reduces the complex nature of McCain's legislation with Senator Lieberman to "McCain buys into the global warming hoax" is a similarly lazy jackass, and they shouldn't be voting either. Additionally, whether you like Senator McCain or not (and I can concede that some people have legitimate gripes with his record), if you're a conservative, or even if you care about this country and don't think Senators Clinton or Obama should set foot in the White House without being escorted by a tour guide, it's important to understand that Senator McCain is going to be our nominee, and it accomplishes nothing to take pot shots at him and whine for ten months. The treatment Senator McCain has received in the last couple of months from talk radio and various other pundits is shameful, it's a slap in the face to the conservative movement in America, and it should stop immediately.
And for crying out loud, will someone please shave Mitt Romney's head? The smarmy look on his face is bad enough, if I have to keep looking at that big helmet hair of his I think I'm going to vomit.
Okay, two more quick things, and then I'm going to bed.
First, I want to make it clear that Virginians, and probably people in a few other states, are stupid. Hundreds of Virginians showed up to their polling places today, got angry, and called their local government offices to complain. What was the issue? Virginia votes next Tuesday. I appreciate the fact that people are interested in this primary cycle, but honestly, not knowing that your state isn't voting? That's just asinine. I'm not going to go so far as to say that "Virginians are the stupidest redneck morons on the planet", because it's not true - I've spent time in both Savannah, Georgia and Hammond, Louisiana, and Virginians have nothing on those folks. Still, it's pretty pathetic.
And second, speaking of throwing up (and I let Mighty Mo know this earlier today), I think Cracker Barrel needs some serious help. I'm sure they do a lot of business, and appeal to all of the "salt of the earth" types who have no regard for the maintenance of a healthy arterial diameter - God bless 'em! - but I walked in there twice today to drop off something for a friend who works there. Both times, there was sickening country-ish music playing, there are all sorts of jam and other food-related items for sale in the entryway, rocking chairs for sale on the patio... I felt like I'd gotten myself trapped in a cross between Charybdis and the Country Bear Jamboree. Wow.
Okay, I feel better. Goodnight!
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