Tuesday, June 03, 2008

Facing November's Election


The June issue of Vanity Fair has an article by James Wolcott that focuses on one of my main concerns: the absolute viciousness of the Clinton-versus-Obama supporters as we all eat each other alive. I am not talking about the candidates; I am talking about the supporters of the candidates. As we flay the skin off of each other, it keeps the focus off of what really matters: the White House and McCain.

Wolcott's article focuses mostly on the rift at Daily Kos, and other liberal blogs. Wolcott writes:
The rancor was disproportionate in intensity and extravagant in invective, a fervor worthy of ancestral foes. Months-old grievances seethed and erupted as if they had been bubbling for centuries in a lake of bad blood. On the most egoistic plane, it seemed like a clash of entitlements, the messianics versus the menopausals. The Obama-ites exuded the confidence of those who feel that they embody the future and are the seed bearers of energies and new modalities too long smothered under the thick haunches of the tired, old, entrenched way of doing things. The Hillarions felt a different imperative knocking at the gate of history, the long-overdue prospect of the first woman taking the presidential oath of office. For them, Hillary’s time had come, she had paid her dues, she had been thoroughly vetted, she had survived hairdos that would have sunk lesser mortals, and she didn’t let a little thing like being loathed by nearly half of the country bum her out and clog her transmission.
Meanwhile, George W. Bush polishes his cowboy boots, completely obtuse to the fact that he's destroyed the economy, the environment, Iraq, our standing in the world, the Bill of Rights, absolutely everything he's touched. He's probably secure in the knowledge that with all the Democratic infighting, he's not going to be Impeached, and probably has a nice parcel of land in Paraguay just waiting for him. VP Cheney's response to just about any tough question is his curled lip, "So?" Because he's also secure in the knowledge that he's going to slide out of office unscathed.

Meanwhile, Obama is likely going to declare victory tonight - which is fine with me, let's get on with it, let's focus on November, and McCain. Please. Let us stop doing the Republican's job, let us stop making this easy for McCain. When we consider that McCain's chief economic advisor is Phil Gramm,, vice chairman of a U.S. division of Zurich-based financial giant UBS and former advisor to Enron. UBS is currently the focus of congressional and Justice Department investigations into schemes that allegedly enabled wealthy Americans to evade income taxes by stashing their money in overseas havens.

So I ask you: does it matter if Hillary wears pantsuits, or if Obama's former pastor is a jerk? When you consider the constant barrage of information, candidates are under a level of scrutiny that is beyond human endurance. We can focus on minutia or we can focus on the issues that matter, and elect a Democrat.

13 comments:

Robert Rouse said...

I tried - several times - to reach my hand over to a few Hillary supporters. I vowed to vote for Clinton if she got the nomination. I asked them to do the same if Barack got the nod. However, when I pulled back my outstretched hand, all I got back was a bloody nub. Some of those Hillary people are vindictive!

Of course, It's easy for me to say that now that Obama's nomination victory is at hand - uh, I mean nub.

Randal Graves said...

You'd think after nearly eight years of experience (well, nearly thirty if you want to go back to 1980) dealing with these lunatics, the Dem partisans would know better. I've got my venom, but why waste it on someone who probably shares most of the same viewpoints as you do?

All the candidates are flawed; they're humans who want to be in the White House. Flawed by definition. Who the hell wants that job?

But see that guy over there? That old cracker who has proven that he'll follow whatever his paymasters tell him to, war, death, ignorance, all placed on a pedestal? Send the venom that way. Yeesh.

robin andrea said...

I stopped listening to the in-fighting and decided to wait until after today's primaries to see how and if the language and conversations change. I think the media fans the flames, and the fans of both candidates are inflamed by that rhetoric rather than what's being said by the candidates themselves. Once the nominee has been chosen, I believe the rancor will stop and people will come to their democratic senses.

I'm a dreamer.

jmsjoin said...

Great cartoon Diva
You should like this. Things are getting better by the moment! Just thought I'd tell you the latest is you need it! I just heard Feinstein say Hillary should now step down and be given the VP.
Hillary just told New York lawmakers she would accept a Veep.
Thirdly Jimmy Carter just said he would endorse Obama tonight.
I hope this is a historic night in Minnesota right where Republicans will have their convention!

I use to see a nightmare at the DNC because of Ickes making Limbaugh's dream come true but not any more.
I just see a lot of nightmares with Billary as Veep!

DivaJood said...

Robert, I've seen it work both ways - Obama supporters have been just as vindictive as Clinton supporters. It makes no sense at all.

Randal Graves, exactly. It's that Republican McCain who is the enemy. And Phil Gramm.

Robin, I hope you're right. Although it seems that the general tone is really still ugly.

Jim, the cartoon was from the Vanity Fair article I referenced. And I really don't care who Obama picks as his running mate - all I care about today is beating McCain in November. I will do whatever I can to help Obama.

jmsjoin said...

I agree diva!

Anonymous said...

I vowed to vote for Clinton if she got the nomination. I asked them to do the same if Barack got the nod. However, when I pulled back my outstretched hand, all I got back was a bloody nub. Some of those Hillary people are vindictive!

I did exactly the opposite, agreeing that I would vote for Obama, but calling Obama supporters to the carpet for rhetoric that they wouldn't use on Bu$hCo. For my troubles, I got flamed right down to my asbestos shorts... even though I'm not a Clinton supporter.

Republicans are laughing their asses off.

DivaJood said...

Kvatch, that's exactly my point! The flaming, the in-fighting, just makes the Republicans' job so easy - it rankles to the core. I hope you got a new pair of shorts, though.

The Future Was Yesterday said...

"So I ask you: does it matter if Hillary wears pantsuits, or if Obama's former pastor is a jerk?"
The absolute fury from both camps, and the right wing quality of it, as they both apparently viewed this primary to be the last election for four years, astounded me to no end.

I can not recall a primary even coming close to this, in my fifty eight years.

Coffee Messiah said...

Makes you wonder, doesn't it!

I wonder if this can be blamed on the religious fanatics too?

DivaJood said...

TUA, the fury has been not in the main camps of either candidate. It exists on the internets, where fighting between supporters reaches scorching levels of vitriol. It's the SUPPORTERS who have been wasting valuable energy.

Coffee, it does. But rather than blame the religious fanatics, I blame Richard Nixon who excelled at a politics of hate and fear.

Frederick said...

There was no greater moment to define Hillary Clinton than the moment at which she could have started the process of healing...last night in NYC, she. could. not. doit.

DivaJood said...

Fred, nevertheless, what McCain did last night was much more frightening.