Brief detour to a political crossroads
This week, two of the nation's most interesting Democrats announced the formation of exploratory committees in the quest for the Presidency. Folks say that Barack Obama has 'star quality,' and I'm not sure I'd disagree with that. He can come across as a softly spoken cross between Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy, and his rhetoric about uniting a deeply splintered electorate seems wise beyond his years. On the other hand, being of a rather practical nature myself, I am drawn to Hillary Clinton, the self-confessed 'policy wonk' of the Clinton White House.
One thing I've loathed above all else in the GWBush White House is its lack of intelligence, and all that goes with it: like, say, scientific integrity, sociological curiosity, introspection, analysis of evidence, and verbal dexterity, just for starters. (What must Condoleezza Rice do for sensible discussion in that building -- talk to herself? Maybe she and Laura Bush duck out the back door for 30-minute mental exercise sessions, telling George they're going over to Curves for their workout...) I'm very much afraid the CEO reminds me of the Blue Tang, Dory, in Finding Nemo, when (only in the trailer, apparently), she cheerfully tells the fishy Dad, 'Nope, nothing in my noggin!'
Like so many intelligent politicians (and I'm thinking of the two most recent Democratic presidential candidates), Hillary has appeared cool and remote to the Paris-Hiltonized, Bush-patronised American public. Why should we be surprised or dismayed at her personal reserve, which I dare say stems from a lion-hearted effort to preserve her dignity and private life after the vicious, if ultimately ridiculous and ineffective, efforts of the Republican Congress to indict her and impeach her husband. I'd need the hide of a rhinoceros to survive a day during Washington open season on Democrats (especially if Dick Cheney was one of the guns).
But her opening remarks on her campaign website, www.hillaryclinton.com, are warm and engaging. I'd be delighted to have her sit in my living room (if I could discover the sofa from beneath cats and newspaper cuttings) and shoot the breeze about the environment and energy policy. (I mean, much as one respects Al Gore's mind, don't you think he'd spend the hour lecturing you instead of chatting?)
The country is at a crossroads in so many ways -- mayhem in Iraq, despair among our sick who can't afford treatment, endless worry by underpaid or homeless workers who can't get ahead -- and we're being led by The Scarecrow, hung up on a pole of rightwing religious manufacture, so unaware of the wider world that he can but flop his arms about and say 'of course, some people do go both ways.' I, for one, am just aching to be led by someone intelligent, with both wit and charm, like Hillary.
Speaking of not being in Kansas any more, have you seen that Governor Sam Brownback has announced his own attempt at the Presidency? According to the New York Times, he's even more rabidly conservative than Bush:
One thing I've loathed above all else in the GWBush White House is its lack of intelligence, and all that goes with it: like, say, scientific integrity, sociological curiosity, introspection, analysis of evidence, and verbal dexterity, just for starters. (What must Condoleezza Rice do for sensible discussion in that building -- talk to herself? Maybe she and Laura Bush duck out the back door for 30-minute mental exercise sessions, telling George they're going over to Curves for their workout...) I'm very much afraid the CEO reminds me of the Blue Tang, Dory, in Finding Nemo, when (only in the trailer, apparently), she cheerfully tells the fishy Dad, 'Nope, nothing in my noggin!'
Like so many intelligent politicians (and I'm thinking of the two most recent Democratic presidential candidates), Hillary has appeared cool and remote to the Paris-Hiltonized, Bush-patronised American public. Why should we be surprised or dismayed at her personal reserve, which I dare say stems from a lion-hearted effort to preserve her dignity and private life after the vicious, if ultimately ridiculous and ineffective, efforts of the Republican Congress to indict her and impeach her husband. I'd need the hide of a rhinoceros to survive a day during Washington open season on Democrats (especially if Dick Cheney was one of the guns).
But her opening remarks on her campaign website, www.hillaryclinton.com, are warm and engaging. I'd be delighted to have her sit in my living room (if I could discover the sofa from beneath cats and newspaper cuttings) and shoot the breeze about the environment and energy policy. (I mean, much as one respects Al Gore's mind, don't you think he'd spend the hour lecturing you instead of chatting?)
The country is at a crossroads in so many ways -- mayhem in Iraq, despair among our sick who can't afford treatment, endless worry by underpaid or homeless workers who can't get ahead -- and we're being led by The Scarecrow, hung up on a pole of rightwing religious manufacture, so unaware of the wider world that he can but flop his arms about and say 'of course, some people do go both ways.' I, for one, am just aching to be led by someone intelligent, with both wit and charm, like Hillary.
Speaking of not being in Kansas any more, have you seen that Governor Sam Brownback has announced his own attempt at the Presidency? According to the New York Times, he's even more rabidly conservative than Bush:
"With his opposition to abortion, embryonic stem-cell research and same-sex marriage, Mr. Brownback hopes to establish himself as the dominant conservative in the race. The American Conservative Union, which hails him as one of “the best of the best” in the Senate, gave him a 100 percent conservative rating in its most recent survey of Congress."Ah yes, Kansas. The state that already gave us 'teach the controversy' evolution lessons... (To be reminded, click here.)
posted by CatzEyes at 12:59 PM
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