The Election Surprise Constant

I'm a little more than college age now, and quite definitely no longer a Republican, but as you can see, I'm still on their mailing list. After receiving this cherished missive, I forwarded it to my listserv readers and (quickly) received back one very fine comment that said (and I'm paraphrasing here) "You see how they assume that college students of their ilk are lazy? They probably don't have any college students in their circle who have been inconvenienced with having to work and save for college (let alone study!), so they know they must beg them to get involved politically. Isn't this sick?" All I know is that I'm just starting to imagine (fixate on) the wild-and-crazy bus rides of the privileged posturers hagriding through the swamps in search of fresh meat. Let the games begin! Oh and one more semi-fresh item on the counter - you probably saw today that Joe Biden had received the same number of draft deferments as Cheney (although he was eventually classified as an asthma sufferer who wouldn't have to serve at age 25), as if that's a disqualifier for someone who wasn't actively involved in the behind-the-scenes, bought-and-paid-for information-peddling criminal endeavor to sell the phony wars to a shell-shocked population. You probably also learned that McCain knew Palin's daughter was pregnant (but not that he knew her corruption history (yet)). Although why would this be a surprise if he did? Roverer certainly did. As well as the rest of the bottom-feeding Chenegang. On a slightly higher level of discourse, Driftglass has many perfect posts at his supreme wisdom site, but none so purposively constant as: The Negrological Constant. Read it and weep (or cachinnate your way through the rest of this punk election cycle which is looking worse and worse for those voting for "change"). I always enjoy vivid literary references in my political education, so today I had to say: Surprise. Surprise!

It turns out that John McInsane has absolutely no shame. (T.S. Eliot fans: Alert!) As William Rivers Pitt reports at Truthout.org (editing and emphasis marks are mine):

There is no joy in Mudville following the Sarah Palin VP selection, for that matter. This big to-do was supposed to highlight whatever remains of his "maverick" image. The last, best club he had in his campaign bag was the line of attack against Barack Obama's lack of executive and foreign policy experience. By choosing Palin to be his running mate, McCain stapled his entire campaign to a woman whose shiny right-wing Christian credentials cannot obscure the fact that she has slightly less foreign policy or executive experience than a ham sandwich in the pantry of Air Force One. In other words, that one good club might as well have been thrown into a furnace six hundred and sixty one days ago (when he announced his candidacy) for all the good it will do him now. Bluntly, this Palin choice not only failed to prop up his outsider credentials, but has also raised serious concerns about whether his basic judgment and understanding of simple reality can be relied on under any circumstances. This ugly reality is McCain's well-earned, supremely deserved reward for deciding to abandon any pretense of character or integrity, with deliberation and intent, while crowing to all within hearing about the importance of character and integrity. Everything he abandoned had nothing at all to do with what he believes or doesn't believe as an American or as an elected representative. He abandoned these things because he wants to live in the White House, period. He wants this with every dirty, immoral, shiftless, unprincipled fiber of his being; and through this has become a living, pathetic, abhorrent example of the damage to heart and soul such lust for personal gain can cause. For men who have neither character, nor integrity, nor honor, nor shame, for men like John McCain, that kind of wanting is all that remains in their heart, and is all that really matters to them anymore. Men like this, men like John McCain, are entirely hollow inside, empty, and truly dead in every way that once counted them human. They are skin, bones, emptiness, and nothing else besides.

What else is there to say about what we've seen so far from the candidate from Character? So much breaking news. So many days to go before we pull that Diebold-linked lever. And the wars rage on (with no one looking or caring anymore). Cause we're winning! Suzan P.S. I'm taking odds on which day haras (thanks for the spelling, Dave!) will be dropped from the Rethuglican ticket. I'm betting it will have happened by next weekend (if the charade lasts that long). At least by then the Labor Day/Gustav-fright-inducing hubbub will have died down long enough for someone to have put two intelligent thoughts together and make a logical decision. ___________________________________