Slate’s got a blog post about Barack and Michelle Obama fist-bump moment last night and the mainstream media’s inability to settled on a standardized term for said action. Apparently, it isn’t detailed in the Chicago Manual of Style. No matter what you call it — knuckle-smooch, fist-bump, fist pound, whatever — it’s cool, a sign that a new generation is in town, baby, and ready to take the reins.
Is this really who Obama and his supporters have to reach out to? God, politics can be a disgusting business.
Of course, leave it to Fox News to give this crazy hag air time. Under what rational does someone like this merit some 8 mintues of prime time news coverage. Pathetic.
Yeah, she’s been around a long time all right, as she states, in a haggard, gravelly, smokers voice, but hopefully not much longer. Keep smokin’ them boges, sweetie!
Some are saying that Obama can’t win, that the country isn’t ready for a black president. If Barack doesn’t win, it will because of jerks like this woman.
This slate.com blog post this moring does a good job of expressing how I view Hilary Clinton’s speech last night. You can’t call it a concession speech of course because there was no concession in it. And even if after a mildly good night’s sleep, in the gloomy light of a rainy morning here in Michigan, I am stilled a bit confused by it, but perhaps even more so, annoyed. Any other candidate would have conceded. But not Hilary. She can’t make a damn move without “consulting” adivsor. Shit, she’ll probably put a fucking poll in the field. In ther speech she asked her supporters to email her web site with suggestions and input. Do you think she’s secretly hoping that the site will crash from too much traffic and this will somehow swell and finally change the tide in her favor? I would not be surprised.
And even more so than last night, I do NOT want to see Hilary as the VP on the Obama ticket, not that my opinion matters much.
The bet part of this blog post how the author likens Hilary’s speech to a melodramatic death scene from an episode of Gilligand’s Island:
Unfortunately, I kept thinking of that Gilligan’s Island episode in which Ginger acts out an excruciatingly long and melodramatic death scene. You keep thinking her every last gasp is really it. But then she keeps rolling around and twitching because she’s been peeking through her fingers all along and knows you’re still watching.
When will she take her last gasp? Perhaps if we all just look away, she finally will. But don’t hold your breath.
At approximately 8:59pm tonight Kiether Oberman on MSNBC interupted John McCain’s speech from somewhere in Louisiana to announce that Barack Obama would have enough delegate votes to be considered the presumptive nominee of the Democratic Party. It is now a little after 10pm and Barack is making his way to the podium to address the crowd in St. Paul, Minnesota. I feel a quiet sort of satisfaction as I listen to his speech, and yet a small but persistant nervousness. I suppse part of me a hesitant to celebrate too much, to be too optimistic. But perhaps that is all to the good. Because though the primart is effectively over, the race for The President of the United States has just begun. And anything can still happen.
I watched Hilary’s speech and there was no concession in it. That is certainly not news by now. It was a little bit concillatory, a tad bit congratulatory, but mostly it seemed about leverage. She wants to be VP. That news has been leaked all day long today, a tactic the Clintons’ used often when Bill was in the White House.
Hilary wants the VP because now, now, now she sees it as possibly her only way to become president. My immediate visceral reaction is no fucking way! Not after the bullshit she has pulled in this campaign. But another part of me, perhaps a slight more mature part, says, no, wait. It is something that needs to be considered. For surely if Hilary is not the Pres. than she has to be on the short list of VP. Although I can’t really agree with those who would say that Hilary would be on anyone’s short list. Well, that may be true, but before this year she would never have considered it, because she has long had her sites on the Presidency. So much so that she assumed that it was pre-ordained. That it was simply a matter of formality. And it was that mind-set that lost her this race. She simply was not prepared. That is why she is not accepting the nomination tonight, and Barack is.
I wont’ say right now that I would not vote for Barack if he selected Hilary as his running mate. That would be reactionary, even foolish, the kind of thing a spoiled little kid would say. But I’ll admit that is what I want to say. That is the inflexible standard that I want to set for my vote, for what it is worth. Not much, I know, but still. This is all to say that right now I think it would be a mistake for Barack to pick Hilary as his running mate. And I know the arguments for why he should. Still, I want to resisit it. I want to believe that Barack can win over those constuincies of Hilary’s, enough of them anyway, to win this without her on the ticket. And if she were truly a team Democratic player she would support Barack no matter what. But I’m not sure she can. No one pouts like a self-entitled, solipsistic Baby Boomer in the face of grave disappointment.
But there is plenty of time before a VP has to be selected. Right now is the time to celebrate this historic moment. A black man has been nominated by a major party to run for the Presidency of the United States. And much of that is due to a whole new generation of voters and volunteers and contributors. Mellinnials. They made a huge difference in this race and will continue to do so. And as always seems the case Generation X seems to have been shunted to the margins. Who talks about them in this race? Not many, if any at all. Shit, most won’t let you call Barack a GenXer, even though he is. Generation Jones may ass. Barack is X. And he is going to make a kick ass president. And it doesn’t matter what label you affix to him.
I’ll concede that Hilary’s speech was eloquent and inspiring at times, but it doesn’t touch Barack’s speech, doesn’t match the energy, the enthusiasm. Someone said that Hilary’s speech was in a basement where there were not TV monitors and no reception for cell phones and blackberries, which, the assumption is, keep people from getting the news of Barack’s win. And yet Chris Mathews made the point that these people aren’t stupid, aren’t living in a bubble. They know. Perhaps they do. But there is a difference in “knowing” and having it reported to you. Who knows?
Oberman and Brit Hume are talking about what a huge upset this has been, Barack winning over Hilary. Just a short while ago it was strongly presumed that HIlary would be the candidate and Barack was this newcomer that very few people knew. And how communication technology has played a role in what has happened. This is a point brought up in the book that I am reading, Mellinnial Makeover.
It’s late and I should get to bed soon, but I just want to enjoy this moment a bit longer. And think about what may happen next.
Ran across this interesting article about members of Generation X and the Millennial Generation who are running for congress this year. It is an older article, from Jan. 2008, but I found it encouraging. Not that I’m thinking about running for office myself, or ever would. I doubt my past would pass the public vetting process, although Obama’s gotten off pretty clean on his admitted use of cocaine. Still, there are different levels of indulgence. Ultimately, I simply do not possess the temperament to run. But I do think it is time that these two generation get some representation in our nation’s government. No doubt they’ll get lambasted on the lack of experience issue, but there is something to be said for youth, energy, and fresh thinking.
Anyhoo…it fits in with the book I’m reading, Millennial Makeover. My initial instincts about this book were correct. It is interesting, and encouraging. One of it’s main assertions is that this country is due for a major realignment in the political landscape, something that has happened in the U.S. about every 36 to 40 years, a cycle in which one party tends to dominate the political landscape. Republicans have dominated in presidential elections over the last several decades and also more recently in congress as well, but that may change, although there is no guarantee that Democrats will dominate for the next 40 years cycle or so. It could be a different version of the Republican party. Still, it would seem that things are leaning in the Democrat direction. And one can hope after all.
The authors discuss a “recurring cyclical pattern of four generation types that have existed throughout American history.” The are four generation types per cycle and each generation covers approximately 20 years. The current cycle is the Millennial cycle and it begins with the Baby Boomers and ends with those born since 2003 and have yet to be named. The generational types are as follows:
- “Idealist.” This is a “dominant and inner-fixed” generational type. Idealists are reared in an indulgent manner and are driven throughout their lives by their deeply held values. Baby Boomers are the Idealist generation in America’s current Millennial generational cycle.
- “Reactive.” A recessive generation that, because of it unprotected rearing, is more often than not criticized and condemned; it tends to become alienated, risk-taking, entrepreneurial, and pragmatic in adulthood. In the current generational cycle, Generation X represents the Reactive type.
- “Civic.” A generational type described as “dominant and outer-fixated.” The members of this generational type are reared in a highly protected manner so that an orientation to societal challengs, problem solving, and institution building marks their adult lives. The Millennial Generation is the Civic generation of the current cycle, as the GI Generation was for the previous one.
- “Adaptive.” Another “recessive” generation type, but one raised in an overprotected and suffocating way, which tends to make them risk averse, conformist, and inclined toward compromise. In the current generation cycle, the member of the Adaptive Generation are children born since 2003 and still too young to be in kindergarten. They have not yet been give a specific name. In the previous generational cycle, the Silent Generation, born from 1925 to around 1945, the only generation in U.S. history to have failed so far to elect a president from its own generation, was the Adaptive type.
When I read this I was blown away at how spot on it seemed to me. And I know, I know, it is to the authors’ advantage for that to be so, but call me a sucker, cuz I’m buying it. Hook, line and sinker. How very un-GenX of me to be so not skeptical, eh. I’d say you could go ahead an revoke my membership in Generation X but of course the very idea of such a thing is ludicrous.
Anyhoo part deux… the point is that the Millennial Generation is the generation that is expected to bring about this political realignment, and since they are considered a “Civic” generational type it will, hopefully, mean that our country’s politics is about to move toward policies that are more beneficial across the board instead of largely benefiting elite special interest groups. Also, this may very likely lead to more economic parity, less of a gap between the wealthiest and the poorest, a greater percentage of the population sharing the wealth, which can only be too the good. And other good stuff.
Of course, all of this remains yet to be seen, but I just can’t help having a good feeling about not only this particular election year but the election cycles as we go forward. There will be not be a lasting Republican majority as Karl Rove so desperately tried to bring about, at least not the under kind of Republican party that pig boy Rove was attempting to create. Say bye-bye Tom DeLay, George “macca” Allen, Trent Lott, Jack Abramoff, and all you other fuckers.
I don’t know. Maybe the cynical GenX shell that I’ve been encrusted in for so many years is finally beginning to crack. Stranger things have happened. I know. I’ve seen pictures on the internet.
So the latest tactic by the Clinton campaign is to send Bubba out on the trail so that he can spin conspiracy theories that explain why Hilary is not the obvious a favorite as she should be, as is apparently her right and her due.
Hey, Bill. Go have a Big Mac and shut up already!
God, how much longer do we have to endure this self-dellusion Boomer jerk off anyway?
David Greenberg, obviously a Hilary supporter, in a long-winded article on Slate blathers about why, if Obama gets the Democratic nomination, he should select Hilary as his VP. And in response I have to just say — Bullshit! Of course, for a more articulate and insightful rebuttal I’d refer Mr. Greenberg, as well as all the other whining Hilary clan, to a recent article in The Economist, which makes an excellent, if not the best, case yet for why Barack should not select Hilary for VP.
Personally, I’m routing for Chuck Hagel as VP. But I’d also like Jim Webb, the recently elected Senator from Virginia who stomped George “Macca” Allen into the Virginia soil. Also, perhaps Mark Warner, former governor of Virginia, or even the current governor of Virginia. I mean, if the argument is that Barack can’t attract white guys’ votes, which is what is really meant by the code phrased “working class whites” then why not have, you know, a white guy on the ticket-. I’m not as hot on John Edwards, though, as some are suggesting. I don’t dislike John Edwards, but I just can’t get that excited about him, although he does have nice hair.
And as for these assertions that 8 out 10 Hilary supports won’t vote Barack if he wins the nomination, well, fuck em! First, when it comes down to it they will vote for the Democrat. And if they don’t, then an extended Bush presidency via John McCain will be on their fucking heads. What a bunch of fucking crybabies. But I suppose that’s the nature of many of the Hilary supporters. You don’t see this same whiny bullshit threat coming from Obama supporters, not nearly to the same extent. Most of us would hold our noses and vote for Clinton (well, I might actually not; the combination, while it might seem dreamy, would be a disaster of in-fighting, Hilary and Bill underming Obama into an early grave so that Hilary can step in), if she were to legitimately win the primary, which is not going to happen.
Finally, Greenberg’s assertion that, “Obama badly needs to win over Clinton supporters, some of whom deeply resent the demonization of her as hysterical, ruthless, and racist and are talking of bolting or staying home in November.” is just plain crap. Resent in one hand, shit in the other, see which on fills up first, okay. Besides all of these accusations are right on. Clinton and her campaign have been pretty hysterical, beginning after Iowa but really losing it in full-force after Super Tuesday, which clearly lead to more ruthless tactics and accusations and, well, right out lies by Clinton. And anyone who denies that what Bill said in South Carolina is race-baiting is being purposely naive or is really a fucking moron. Not to mention that all Clinton’s rhetoric about “white working class” voters is Republican-esque codifying for don’t trust the black guy.
And now we got this bullshit with Hilary invoking the RFK assassination. What the hell is that all about? The whole reference smacks of hysteria, or at least dementia.
The more I learn about Obama the more I like this guy, the more impressed I am by him. Cool article in this past weekend’s NY Times Sunday paper about him.
My favorite bit from the article, has Obama outdoing Bill Clinton in drawing a crowd for a book signing in Seattle:
For his [Obama] Seattle signing, the Elliott Bay Book Company rented the 2,500-seat hall where the symphony performs, sold out the tickets in 90 minutes and reported a level of turnout that topped all previous records at the store for any author, including Mr. Clinton.
I just get such a kick out of that, Obama showing up ol’ Bill. I don’t know why. Perhaps it as Jeff Gordinier says in his book, X Saves the World, that Clinton was our, i.e. Genertion X’s, first president and he pretty much broke our hearts, politically speaking. We put our faith in him, voted for him (those of us who bothered to vote, me being one of them), and everything seemed cool until the Lewiniski scandal. After that it just seemed like more and more shit came out about how skeazy Bill was, could be, whatever, or at least it seemed that way to me. Maybe I had blinders on. Clinton was, after all, the first Presidential candidate that I was every really excited about. But his self-indulgence pretty much tainted his legacy and, as far as I’m concerned, my vote, both of them, for him.
Don’t get me wrong. I don’t think Obama is a saint. But shit, no one is. And really, Bill’s transgressions didn’t bother me that much. It all seemed like a witch hunt anyway. His tactics in this campaign are what finally soured me on him, and by association Hilary. Maybe that isn’t fair, but fuck it! Politics isn’t fair.
One of the many reasons that I admire Obama — and there are of course countless reasons to admire the man — is that he is cool. And I don’t mean “Dude, is Obama cool or what” although he is that kind of cool, most definitely. What I mean is more like, “Obama is one cool customer.” He’s collected and confident. He rolls easy with the punches, maintains his “cool’ and continues with the task at hand. I won’t try to argue that this is a uniquely GenX quality. I am evidence that it is not necessarily. I am so not cool, so not collecected, easily agitble and often fail to roll easy with the punches. I’m more mule-like, forging stubbornly straigh ahead. Not that anyone is really interested. Anyway, an article in the May 19, 2008 issue of Newsweek highlights this quality of Barack’s, along with other elements of this style and campaign and his staff. Check it. I suppose that to some extent I admire this quality because it is so not like myself, and I wished I could be more like that. Also, in comparison to Boomer 60′s idealism and passion which seems to have morphed into a kind of desperate hysteria these days, it just more reassuring, you know.
This outtake from the articles epitomizes the kind of cool I’m referring to:
On the night before Indiana and North Carolina, Axelrod appeared unusually grim and gloomy. The final night of internal polling showed Obama 12 points down in Indiana against Clinton—a disastrous collapse after two or three days of closing the gap. The campaign’s pollsters cautioned that the last night’s sample seemed weird and they should rely instead on the three-day rolling average of 2 points. But Axelrod feared the worst, that Wright had sunk the campaign in Indiana and possibly in North Carolina, too.
The next day, after visiting some polling stations, Obama arrived back at his hotel and stopped by the coffee shop, where he urged some curious bystanders to vote for him. When a NEWSWEEK reporter asked him about Axelrod’s gloomy prognosis, Obama shrugged and said: “It is what it is. We’ve had a month, two months of bad stuff. It’s been hard to change the storyline.” He smiled and walked out to get ready for his now traditional Election Day game of basketball. If he was at all worried, as his senior staff was, he hid his concerns successfully from the outside world.
Perhaps one could argue that the “cool” or at least the ability to not show the concern or worry here is Obama’s GenX ability to utilize a kind of apathy to positive affect (or is it effect?).
Interesting article in the New York Times this past Sunday about who the first woman president could be. Hint: it is not Hilary Clinton. Even though the chances of HC winning the Democratic nomination are, well, pretty much nil, the article’s author felt it necessary to pay deference to the very slim possibility that it could still happen. Even so I liked this article. Because for this entire campaign I have maintained that my gripe with HC is not that she is a woman. Perhaps many will think it bullshit, but I did not think of her is a woman candidate but as a candidate that happened to be a woman, among so many other things. Same as I think of Obama as a candidate who happens to be black, well actually, half black, but no few seem to want to make that distinction. Anyhoo… my point is that what won me over to Barack — because at the beginning I figured he wasn’t going to get the nomination and that he pretty much knew that, that what he was doing was getting his name out for the next possible time — was that he was not a Boomer, the same thing that put me at odds with HC, pretty much the only thing that put me at odds with her candidacy. The Boomers have overplayed their hand at the presidency with Bill Clinton in the 90s and now W in the first part of the 21st century. The results have been, well, let’s just say less than stellar. So as far as I, and many, many, many others, are concerned, it is time for a new generation to have a go at it, i.e. Generation X. It is our time.
The NY Times articles suggested as much, that the first woman president will have to be from a new generation of leaders. She may be a Dem, may be a Rep, but either way she is not going to be a Boomer.
The article lists several possibilities from both the political world and the business world. Some seemed very interesting possibilities. Others not so much. The only one I really had a gripe with was the suggestion that Chelsea Clinton somehow qualifies. The idea is kind of, well, fairy tale-ish if you ask me. And the suggestion CC somehow possesses the right mix of her father’s charm (sans the compulsion to diddle very young interns with cigars) with her mother’s discipline (sans the calculating coldness factor) seems like myth-making. Especially when you consider the bratty, snotty, and just fucking rude way she responded to a question about her mother’s handling of the Monica scandal.
She can say it’s none of people’s business all she wants but the fact is her old man, by doing what he did, made it the public’s business, whether we wanted it to be or not. She’s going to get tough questions like this one and she better find a bit more poise and grace in which to respond to them.
In any case, I can’t see any reason to support her for anything, not until more is known about her political views. I mean, unless we’re supposed to assume that they simply mimic her parents’ view, in which case we might want to consider it she is in fact not some kind of cyborg that the Clinton’s created in their dungeon in Arkansas or whatever.
