Wednesday, November 05, 2008

Let's Hope

I hate to name the elephant in the room (especially since I'm sure it will earn me the wrath of many) but Obama's speech was really freakin' boring. Really, any two-bit political hack could have written it. I could have written it. I dozed off listening to it. His speaking style, whaddaya call that... Shatneresque, maybe?

These people who get all weepy about Obama's oratorical ability ... meh, I just don't get it. I've known many politicians of many political stripes, enough so that I think I'm a pretty good judge of political character. I hate to break to you, loyal readers, but Obama strikes me as a very, very ordinary politician. For that matter, so does John McCain.

But, of course, none of that matters. What matters is that the Republican Party and it's former president screwed up massively, so someone had to pay for it. For the Republicans to have made a comeback after Bush would have been a failure of democratic accountability and that, to me, is a principle that should go beyond any partisan considerations.

For what it's worth , I think McCain, like Obama, is a perfectly decent, marginally competent guy. His speech was more interesting in its graciousness and I was absolutely captivated by that utterly appropriate defeat music they played after his speech. What sort of campaign manager decides to spend money to commission defeat music? It boggles the mind.

Anyway, the whole messy business is done with now, so let's hope. Let's hope that Obama is half as brilliant as his fanatic, weepy true believers think he is. Let's hope McCain meant it when he said he would reach across the aisle to support Obama. Let's hope the American public listens to all these Abraham Lincoln/Civil War retrospectives, takes a look at those popular vote totals and pulls themselves back from the brink of a new-age civil war - a Civil Cold War, if you will.

Because all of this matters to all of us in the Western world. Because things are pretty messed up and, whether we "foreigners" like to admit it or not, we need our biggest ally to be a strong leader right now, rather than all fucked up and chaotic.

So here's hoping.

posted by Mentok @ 12:06 a.m.,

23 Comments:

At 7:24 a.m., Natsthename said...: Yeah, here's hoping. All of these people are giddy today, and I don't get it. They fell for the warm fuzzies, which is one of the oldest forms of political trickery. The promise of change, too, reeled 'em in.
I'm not falling for it. I need some solid proof, and I'm not ashamed to admit it.
I never really felt confident in any of the candidates this time, and perhaps it is the erosion of trust in politicians. They go on the trail telling people what they want to hear, then get bogged down in the system after they take office. This time, O's got a nice house to come home to, in that Pelosi and friends have his back.
Yes, here's hoping.
At 8:50 a.m., Rick said...: Well, I for one am glad to have a boring President. Boring, at least, in that it reflects thoughtfullness and a studied approach to the world. Not the shoot-from-the-hip mentality we have had for the last 8 years and were being threatened with from the McPalin ticket. I'm glad to have someone in office who I would not find at the local bar, having a beer with the average "Joe".

If boring is a prerequisite to that, then I'll take it!
At 9:43 a.m., Mentok said...: Nat - yes, you've totally nailed it about the "warm fuzzies". Last night, I couldn't help but think back to 1992 when Clinton won and Stevie Nicks whipped herself into an orgasm serenading him with "Don't Stop Thinking About Tomorrow", as though the Second Coming had just arrived. Well, of course, Bill Clinton turned out to be a rather limited human being and politician in the end, didn't he?

Wankel - Oh, yes, I agree with you that charisma is oversold as a political quality. And, you're totally right that America does need a careful, thoughtful leader right now, rather than a flashy one. My objection is sort of an "emperor has no clothes" one: everyone...EVERYONE... was going on and on about what a brilliant orator Obama is... comparisons to Kennedy and King were invoked... and, sorry, but that's just not true. Better to praise the guy (as you have) for his real qualities than his imagined ones.
At 9:59 a.m., Rick said...: Oh, yeah, i agree with you on the the hype about Obama's oration skills. Perhaps it's a bit of back lash due to our Current Resident: "Lockjaw".
At 10:11 a.m., Mentok said...: Ha, ha, yes I remember having a thought like that not so long ago. At my oldest son's grade 8 "graduation", the guest speaker was a guy with Down's Syndrome who won a gold medal at the Special Olympics. He did a good job of the speech (never give up, overcoming obstacles, yada yada) and I couldn't help thinking "man, even this guy is a better public speaker than Bush".
At 10:35 a.m., FiL said...: Well, partly that's the way Americans like their electoral politics: all razzmatazz and show culminating in one great big Superbowl party, then they grouse when they wake up and find the keg's empty...

But actually whether or not the speech was boring, I think Obama made an important point in it: things ain't gonna change unless the American people stay engaged and committed to change.

If the electorate just sits back and waits for things to unconstipate in Washington, then it'll be business as usual. And that would be a shame.

Convert the warm fuzzies into hard reality. Get and stay involved in your communities. Educate yourselves on the issues. Vote in midterm elections.
At 11:11 a.m., Mentok said...: You're asking the North American public-at-large to get reengaged in the political process in the long term? That's a very tall order and one that will take more than hoping; it will take a ton of organizing, and I'm not sure that all of that organizing can be carried out in a positive way.

But who knows, maybe it can be done. Usually, people are stirred out of apathy by hate, fear or desire. Maybe..maybe, maybe... if Obama does an OK job and makes a big effort at bipartisanship, maybe the Democrats can invent a new style of political organizing where people are motivated by feeling good about being for something without necessarily feeling against something else.

That will be a pretty subtle trick and it will take lots of money to achieve.

But you never know. Here's hoping.
At 11:30 a.m., Natsthename said...: "unless the American people stay engaged and committed to change"
..meaning, of course, bend over middle class and rich people, and prepare to take it in the butt. (Can you tell I'm a disillusioned voter, and that I am a Libertarian? Do I wear it on my sleeve much?)
At 11:31 a.m., Anonymous said...: Obama had two things going for him: 1) He's not an idiot. 2) He's not a Republican.

There are times when things are so bad that elections aren't about policy or charisma or who's better. It's a matter of who's different. We've seen that happen so many times here in polarized Sask.
At 11:33 a.m., Natsthename said...: "Convert the warm fuzzies into hard reality. Get and stay involved in your communities. Educate yourselves on the issues. Vote in midterm elections."
A-freaking-men, FiL. People forget those elections because they're "not that important." The local elections are the one that have more impact on day-to-day life.
At 11:35 a.m., Mentok said...: Nat - my favourite comment about change is "I'm afraid of change. That's why I was opposed to the introduction of the $1 coin."

toontom - yes, you've totally nailed it about the dynamics of this US campaign. Sometimes (typically in Sask) polarization is faked and is a destructive force; but in this case it was obviously entirely warranted.
At 11:50 a.m., FiL said...: I must say as a member of the middle-class that I don't mind redistributing my wealth, as long as it benefits society, myself included (e.g. good universal health care, decent public schools).

And yes Mentok, it's a very big ask, but we have to keep asking. And as I've said elsewhere, cynics are right only nine times out of ten... ;)

On a side note, it's lovely to be able to agree/disagree so amiably round here!! What a comfy salon you run... :)
At 11:55 a.m., Natsthename said...: Fil, I don't mind that either, as long as it's not wasted. Big government takes a nice cut for idiotic things, though, and that is not bound to change. If govt. would cut the waste projects, they could redirect what they already take from us into those programs that would help people in real ways.
At 1:26 p.m., Mentok said...: Oh, my, now we're into policy, not just strategy. That automatically means I'm out of my depth, but I'll give it a go anyway.

Nat - I've composed lyrics for the "waste and mismanagement" song for years and I've become cynical about it as well. Yes, there are always efficiencies to be found. But could you refinance a trillion dollar debt just with budget cuts? No.

Fil - as another member of the middle-class, I have to say I don't necessarily mind redistributing wealth down or sideways (within reason), but I do mind when it's redistributed up. It's the middle class that pays for the bank bailouts, and I think that's the real piss-off. (You see how fuzzy political lines start to get when you look at them up close.)

And thanks for the "comfy salon" comment. It's the hysterics that makes politics ugly so I strive to avoid it. Nice to know I'm succeeding in some measure.
At 6:47 p.m., Anonymous said...: The music was like a funeral march. I am sure it was from a movie, but I can't remember which one. A sad movie no doubt.

Ryan L
At 12:05 a.m., Mentok said...: No, I felt the music was better than a funeral march. It succeeded in conveying, in equal measures, sadness, patriotism and defiance. It seemed to say, in very clear musical terms "we will lay down, bleed for awhile and bury our dead but then we will get up and fight again." It seemed to say that so clearly that I thought it had to have been specifically created for that purpose.

But I stand to be corrected... maybe it was from a movie; Flags of Our Fathers, maybe?
At 12:24 a.m., Mentok said...: Bu-wa-ha-ha. Late breaking news. I googled the concession speech music issue and Ryan, as usual, you're right.

The music is Roll Tide from Crimson Tide, a 1995 submarine movie featuring an intergenerational clash of military values and ethics.

A wizened old sub commander clashes with his book-smart but inexperienced XO over whether to launch nukes at Russia.

The main characters are played by Gene Hackman and... Denzil Washington! Coincidence? I wonder.
At 1:37 p.m., Anonymous said...: if they were smart enough to make the washington/hackman connection they would have done better in the election!

self-confessed warm-fuzzy-swallower that i am, i think that the people who volunteered for obama on the ground, the people who worked as hard as they did for as long as they did, those people are not going to sit back now, fold their arms and say, our work is done, now it's your turn, obama. nope, i think they are committed for the long term. or at least until the next election!
At 1:59 p.m., Mentok said...: marcy - I wish I could convey some smart-sounding advice about a good way to keep the drive alive. Unfortunately, like most of us foreigners (even fraternal foreigners like Canadians) the subtleties of American political organization remain mysterious to me.

When I look at the popular vote numbers, they look to me like "won by the skin of his teeth": 52-46. In other words, even after all Bush's fuck-ups, only 5% of US voters turned away from the Republicans. Yet, US commentators describe such situations as a blow-out, which they certainly were in electoral college terms.

So anything I could say to you about party organization and such would be hampered by my parliamentary system perspective.

But, for all my cynicism, I wish you and your partisan colleagues all the best. New hope and fresh enthusiasm is never a bad thing in any situation... as long as there's a dose of realism thrown in there too.
At 3:04 p.m., Natsthename said...: I think the electoral college is far past the due date, and I've had those thoughts since about 1980. You know how much crap that stirs up?

I live in a state with 12 electoral votes, and it's such a blue state that NOBODY sticks around here long enough to take a pee in the airport restroom. My vote is, therefore, meaningless to them. They'll take my money, but my vote's in the bag, thankyouverymuch.

But, just to my north, NH has only 4 electoral votes, but endless time is spent in that state, which was traditionally red. It's leaning more blue, because they have no personal income tax, property taxes are high, and there's not much money for services.

The candidates use all of this stragteegery to get the most bang for their electoral votes, and it's just a game.
At 3:13 p.m., FiL said...: I say now that Tim's organized CP on Facebook, we should plot a coup. We'd make the world a better place...
At 3:14 p.m., Mentok said...: Hell yeah! World domination, that's totally my bag man.
At 3:44 p.m., Natsthename said...: You are such evil-doers. I'm telling Bush! Perhaps he could make one last speech against tyranny, including Saddam, Kim Jong-Il, FiL, and Mentok.

Mentok the Mind-taker

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