Some random final thoughts on the 2008 election…

Karl Rove and Bill Bennett – You Have Nothing To Be Proud Of

Watching Karl Rove and any of the engineers and water carriers of the past eights years and the authors of the most vile campaign tactics call Obama’s victory a cause for all of us to celebrate is like…

…well. there’s no historical analogy. The mind goes to Nazi or Soviet propagandists or some such but none of them got talk-show deals when it was over. There’s no figure in history who was responsible for such raging disinformation and contempt for the citizenry who then gets hired as a pundit and then praises how far we come as a nation by overcoming the – literally – demonizing rhetoric he and his acolytes spewed.

It’s like if, at the end of Lord of the Rings, they gave Wormtongue a spot on Meet The Press and we had to watch him as he congratulates Aragorn on a job well done and suggesting how far “we” – himself included – in Middle Earth has come as a people from the dark days that he himself created and enabled.

Which came first, the bigoted chicken or the racist egg?

Now, I’m not suggesting that the Republican philosophy or their policies are inherently racist – that’s just not true. I’m saying that the party had a comfortable relationship with racists and gave them a place to hang their pointy, conical hats.

Hillary Clinton had the same problem. Obama’s skin color caused Clinton and McCain to get some support from some very ugly, torch-wielding quarters. And their nasty, negative campaigns threw gas on the fires.

Now, let me be clear, I dont think McCain and Palin created the bigotry we witnessed at their rallies but their blatant contempt for Obama, their outright claims that he was a pal of terrorists – implying a connection between Barack Hussein Obama and the Al Quaeda is the not-so-subtle subtext there – and their portrayal of him as the “other” while they wrapped themselves in flag sent some clear messages.

One simple, sad truth to the 2008 election is that racists only had one purebred in this dog and pony show. Sorry, Senator McCain.

Hillary could have won the nomination

First of all, if the economic crisis had happened a year ago, we probably would have had a Romney and Clinton match up.

But at the time of the primaries, while Obama was still an unknown, he had a major weakness that Clinton could have exploited. I told a hardcore Democrat pal of mine that while I was supporting Obama, I thought that Hillary could take him down. He asked how but I didn’t want to say until after the election.

Here’s what Clinton did wrong. Her campaign made the Rezko and Ayers and inexperienced arguments but those are all weak tea. Inexperience is not a charge people take seriously because as soon as the inexperienced candidate debates the experienced one to a stand still, the label doesn’t stick. The Reverend Wright argument might have worked but most people know when their baser instincts and fears are being manipulated. Obama’s speech on race in Philadelphia put that issue to rest and his denunciation or Wright a few weeks later ended it altogether.

She missed her chance to label him a “bonehead.” It was Obama’s own word for the mistakes he made in the Rezko. They could’ve hammered Obama with his own quote. If she had saturated the airwaves, talk shows and talking points with the bonehead meme – keep in mind that this was before Obama had established himself and there were still six dems in the race – it could have stuck. I’m not saying it would have been a fair tactic, just that it could’ve worked.

All the attacks on Obama questioning his judgment came too late – after he was already established as a bright, even-tempered and thoughtful candidate.

Palin didn’t know Africa was a continent

Seriously. This was “reported” by Carl Cameron on Fox News the day AFTER the election. According to Cameron, McCain’s campaign insiders told Cameron that little tidbit – along with other whoppers – weeks ago. Cameron claims he held onto this information in part as respect for his source.

This is clear disrespect for the American people, his viewers and truth.

I’m sorry but even priests and lawyers can defy confidentiality when the actions of their clients are putting others in danger. Cameron’s actions show a significant disrespect for the country.

There’s two ways to look at these revelations: What Cameron said is true or false.

If it’s true and Palin was dangerously incompetent, McCain and Cameron both have a lot to answer for.

If it’s false, McCain and/or Fox may be trying to knock Palin out of contention for 2012.

Either seems plausible to me.

Good News for Fox, Limbaugh and Coulter

Jon Stewart had a great line during last night’s Daily Show. His guest was Fox’s Chris Wallace and Wallace gave Stewart a cookie from Karl Rove. Stewart took a bite on the air and said he wasn’t worried about it being drugged or poisoned since Rove, “…can’t hurt me any more.” Really funny.

A lot of Dems think this is a real comeupence for the radical right-wingers. It’s not. It’s a new golden age for them.

Most of these psychos made their names when Bill Clinton was in power and Dems controlled congress. Happy days are here again.

What are your thoughts? Pop me a note or reply below.

– Steve

Stumble it!

This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 2:46 pm and is filed under Blog. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.