Seriously?
Tag: us election
"I hope this story has an epilogue."
More thoughts on last night’s US election:
For all the progress that was made last night, American “morality” politics still has some issues to work out. As happy as I am that Massachusetts voters approved a ban on greyhound racing, I’m appalled that California — California — voted to ban gay marriage. So did Arizona and Florida, but California comes as a surprise. On the plus side, this should help Canadian tourism. Attention gay American couples: your dollar will buy your wedding about 16.7% more fabulous up here. And hey, you might even be able to get Joey to play the accordion at your ceremony.
.:.
Last night, during John McCain’s gracious and eloquent concession speech, I remarked to my wife that the real John McCain showed up the second he knew he could no longer win. It’s bothered us both that McCain stooped to such pandering and self-mutilation in an attempt to win, and we clearly weren’t the only ones. Chris Jones has been writing in Esquire about the McCain campaign for some time, and today had this to say:
The future unfolded exactly as they envisioned it that night. Optimism won.
But something was lost in New Hampshire, too. That was the last time I saw McCain the way I first saw him. By the time Super Tuesday rolled around, he had grown smaller and smaller — not just in my viewfinder, but in my estimation. He had traded optimism for cynicism. He was irritable and sometimes seemed grasping, as though he would do whatever it took to win. John McCain, the politician, seemed to be on the verge of outflanking John McCain, the man.
Then he picked Sarah Palin as his running mate. I’d like to think someone else picked her for him, but how’s that the better option? She represented everything wrong with the Republican Party — the same intolerant elements that McCain had fought so hard against years earlier — and now there she was, smiling on the stage beside him. Historians will no doubt cite the collapsing economy and the legacy of George W. Bush as impossible obstacles for McCain to overcome. But for me, he lost the election when he picked Palin, because he lost the last vestige of his former self.
By Election Night, I’d given up trying to find what was left of him.
…
I couldn’t help remembering how this all started, and most of all I couldn’t help remembering the John McCain I used to know. I wondered how long it would take him to shed the candidate’s skin and become the man he was. I wondered if it was even possible in the time he has left.
I hope it is. I hope this story has an epilogue.
Me too. The old John McCain is a lot more valuable to his country than this recent incarnation.
Welcome back
Four years ago, the day after the re-election of George W. Bush, I wrote this while trying to make sense of the previous evening’s events:
I firmly believe that just over half of those who voted (and those who did not vote who were complicit by their absence) had looked square at the past four years, an era that will, within a single generation, be regarded as a black mark on their nation’s history, and said “Again. Let’s do it again.” I believe they were either hopelessly ignorant, or were more corrupted by their own politics than I could have imagined.
I simply could not reconcile this with what I knew of America. This was a country that had made itself the lone remaining superpower. This was the country of equality and victorious war and comedy and science and cultural ubiquity and remarkable turnarounds. This was a country that had more than once looked at itself in the mirror, hated what it saw and led bloody revolution against its own prejudices and problems. This was my country’s constant ally, closest business partner and friend of a century. This was a country I’d visited often, where I was equally struck by Texas hospitality and the vitality of New York. Whatever concerns I had with the politics of the land — and I had many — I always counted on the people who lived there to make right what had so obviously gone wrong, as ever they had. But, in the end, it was obvious only to me…and, I suppose, to just fewer than 60 million American voters, as Mr. Bush and his administration had indeed been given another four years in power.
Last night a bit of my faith was restored. It remains to be seen what #44 does with the next four years, but at the very least he’d have to work awfully hard to be worse than #43.
Congratulations, America. That sound you hear? That’s the rest of the world patting you on the back and welcoming you back to the party.
[Image via Spacing]
Whatever happens tonight
OK, OK, I shouldn't have suggested "Here Comes Your Man"
Having now played Rock Band, I can say that while the drums may be more realistic than the guitar or bass, it’ll still little like playing the drums. I almost think I should have cranked it up to advanced as that would be more like playing the actual drum part to a song. Anyway, fun thing to do with co-workers.
.:.
The worldwide polls for the US presidency: not even close.
Americans may still be undecided, but the rest of the world has made up its mind about who should be elected president of the United States.
A Gallup poll of 70 countries conducted from May through September has found widespread international support for Democratic candidate Barack Obama.
Around the world, respondents favoured Mr. Obama 4 to 1 over Republican John McCain.
[From the Globe and Mail]
Skirl | Dan Dickinson 