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Never ever thought I'd write a post like this... (no seriously. Politics and I are unmixy things!)
About a week-and-a-half ago, Darcy and I watched ‘Recount’. First of all - this is a very good film. Danny Strong definitely knows how to write, and a movie that can hold your attention for 2 hours when you know how it’s going to end is quite something. Of course the reason it’s so compelling brings me to my next point: Dear American friends - your system is completely insane!!!! Just... all of it. What's wrong with writing an X in a box?
Aaaaanyway, I've been sucked into the black hole that is the US presidential election. To explain where I'm coming from I'm going to quote![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
selenak, who (when asked about the enthusiastic Obama reception in Berlin) replied:
it struck [me] as less being about Obama himself - who at this point has no acts affecting the rest of the world either to praise or resent - than a desperate wish to fall in love with America again. Over here, we grow up with American movies, American tv and American music. Of course we romanticise the country. Or demonise it, as the case may be, absolutely, but I think most of us start out with the romanticising and falling in love part, and in addition to horror evoked by the policies of the Bush administration summed up with the name "Abu Ghraib", there is your everyday divorced couple type of bile and bitterness.
Also of course the election will affect the whole world, of which I am a part... Which brings me to Sarah Palin, and the worrying/WTF? bit of the whole thing. I've been trying to work out what she's like - partly she reminds me of Team America (a 'Christian', right-wing Team America of course), and partly Dale from 'King of the Hill'. To explain the latter choice, I still recall a remark he had on an episode that I saw years ago: "If there’s a burglar in your house, and you ain’t got a gun, how are you going to shoot him?" (From memory.) I remember it specifically, because Darcy and I thought it was very funny - that smalltown gun-loving American POV summed up in a single line. (Only if that person is a heart beat away from being president it's no longer funny, but scary.)
Now, why does this attitude go over so well? Watching 'Stephen Fry in America' I was struck with something Harvard’s pastor and Professor of Divinity, Peter Gomes, said:
"One of the many things you can say about this country is that we dislike complexity. So we will make simple solutions to everything that we possibly can - even when the complex answer is obviously the correct answer, or the more intriguing answer. We want a simple yes or no, or flat-out this, or absuoltely certain that. And the notion that God could have two thoughts simultaneously, and people are dear to him who don’t look or talk like us - is just hard for many Americans to believe."
Sure Sarah Palin apparently can't open her mouth without lying, but she gives simple answers. (All this stuff about Palin is obviously just my opinion. Except the lying part, of course. I REALLY don't want to start any arguments!)
But - it's late and I'm tired. You can find all the stuff I've bookmarked here (some of it's funny, some of it's serious), but I just want to highlight two articles. They're by AA Gill who was at both party conventions, and I found his thoughts v. interesting - he's probably my favourite journalist, because he is very observant; so if you're wanting a European perspective, here it is:
Barack Obama's Army. They can see that right here is the dividing line between left and right. It is the aspiration of Democrats to make a land that doesn’t need a metal detector in every public door. What the Republicans want is better iris recognition technology and more arms-out pat-downs and cavity searches without a warrant. I particularly enjoy the security oxymorons who wear flak jackets with Secret Service printed on them in large white letters.
Outside in the beating heat a few special interest groups circle like abandoned pets. Extreme libertarians, or social democrats as we call them in Europe, complain sulkily about freedom of speech, when what they really mean is the failure of anyone to listen. There’s a group of Iraqi veterans who patrol up and down the restaurant and shopping malls using their fingers as guns like nine-year-olds. “This is street theatre,” one of them bellows, just in case.
Sarah Palin: lipstick pitbull. There was one thing that I quite liked. It was a T-shirt among the otherwise dull McCain memorabilia. On it was the face of Barack Obama superimposed on Mr Spock. The similarity’s quite spooky, what with the predominant ears. Obama Vulcan is giving the Star Trek salute and saying, “Live long and prosper”, which could be a quote from one of his speeches.
You see what they’ve done there? It underlines, exaggerates and emphasises his otherness. He’s clever, but he’s alien. Only half-human. Half-extraterrestrial. And the thing that stopped Obama being just another skinny lawyer from Illinois is his blackness. The symbolism couldn’t have been any clearer if the face had been projected onto Al Jolson.
And that's all from this Catholic, pro-life, left-wing, UK-resident viking. :) Oh - except one thing...
Outside the cut, because it's too funny to miss - Michael Palin for President:
Aaaaanyway, I've been sucked into the black hole that is the US presidential election. To explain where I'm coming from I'm going to quote
selenak, who (when asked about the enthusiastic Obama reception in Berlin) replied: it struck [me] as less being about Obama himself - who at this point has no acts affecting the rest of the world either to praise or resent - than a desperate wish to fall in love with America again. Over here, we grow up with American movies, American tv and American music. Of course we romanticise the country. Or demonise it, as the case may be, absolutely, but I think most of us start out with the romanticising and falling in love part, and in addition to horror evoked by the policies of the Bush administration summed up with the name "Abu Ghraib", there is your everyday divorced couple type of bile and bitterness.
Also of course the election will affect the whole world, of which I am a part... Which brings me to Sarah Palin, and the worrying/WTF? bit of the whole thing. I've been trying to work out what she's like - partly she reminds me of Team America (a 'Christian', right-wing Team America of course), and partly Dale from 'King of the Hill'. To explain the latter choice, I still recall a remark he had on an episode that I saw years ago: "If there’s a burglar in your house, and you ain’t got a gun, how are you going to shoot him?" (From memory.) I remember it specifically, because Darcy and I thought it was very funny - that smalltown gun-loving American POV summed up in a single line. (Only if that person is a heart beat away from being president it's no longer funny, but scary.)
Now, why does this attitude go over so well? Watching 'Stephen Fry in America' I was struck with something Harvard’s pastor and Professor of Divinity, Peter Gomes, said:
"One of the many things you can say about this country is that we dislike complexity. So we will make simple solutions to everything that we possibly can - even when the complex answer is obviously the correct answer, or the more intriguing answer. We want a simple yes or no, or flat-out this, or absuoltely certain that. And the notion that God could have two thoughts simultaneously, and people are dear to him who don’t look or talk like us - is just hard for many Americans to believe."
Sure Sarah Palin apparently can't open her mouth without lying, but she gives simple answers. (All this stuff about Palin is obviously just my opinion. Except the lying part, of course. I REALLY don't want to start any arguments!)
But - it's late and I'm tired. You can find all the stuff I've bookmarked here (some of it's funny, some of it's serious), but I just want to highlight two articles. They're by AA Gill who was at both party conventions, and I found his thoughts v. interesting - he's probably my favourite journalist, because he is very observant; so if you're wanting a European perspective, here it is:
Barack Obama's Army. They can see that right here is the dividing line between left and right. It is the aspiration of Democrats to make a land that doesn’t need a metal detector in every public door. What the Republicans want is better iris recognition technology and more arms-out pat-downs and cavity searches without a warrant. I particularly enjoy the security oxymorons who wear flak jackets with Secret Service printed on them in large white letters.
Outside in the beating heat a few special interest groups circle like abandoned pets. Extreme libertarians, or social democrats as we call them in Europe, complain sulkily about freedom of speech, when what they really mean is the failure of anyone to listen. There’s a group of Iraqi veterans who patrol up and down the restaurant and shopping malls using their fingers as guns like nine-year-olds. “This is street theatre,” one of them bellows, just in case.
Sarah Palin: lipstick pitbull. There was one thing that I quite liked. It was a T-shirt among the otherwise dull McCain memorabilia. On it was the face of Barack Obama superimposed on Mr Spock. The similarity’s quite spooky, what with the predominant ears. Obama Vulcan is giving the Star Trek salute and saying, “Live long and prosper”, which could be a quote from one of his speeches.
You see what they’ve done there? It underlines, exaggerates and emphasises his otherness. He’s clever, but he’s alien. Only half-human. Half-extraterrestrial. And the thing that stopped Obama being just another skinny lawyer from Illinois is his blackness. The symbolism couldn’t have been any clearer if the face had been projected onto Al Jolson.
And that's all from this Catholic, pro-life, left-wing, UK-resident viking. :) Oh - except one thing...
Outside the cut, because it's too funny to miss - Michael Palin for President:
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And I'm kinda a pinko commie, to the point I sometimes marvel "How can anyone vote republican?" But some people do. *shakes head*
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No, only the Florida one. (And there was plenty of material for 2 hours... as I said, the system is *insane*! Not just the ballots, the whole running around and trying to but barriers in each other's way and... *throws hands up* I think Greg Proops is right - Gore won the election and we've all been living in a parallel universe these past 8 years.)
And I'm kinda a pinko commie, to the point I sometimes marvel "How can anyone vote republican?" But some people do.
Hopefully not too may this time. ::crosses fingers and prays:: (I can understand someone voting Republican. I *can't* understand someone voting for Palin.)
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Over the years I learned that there were good and bad in both parties and that I was neither too "left" nor too "right" to be partisan so my votes have varied depending on the candidate and their stand. I have been fooled a couple of times along the way. Ordinarily I prefer the President to be of one party and the Congress controlled by the other because I love our old system of an equal balance of power in the three branches (Yes it has been changed especially by Dick Chaney and that is one sin I cannot forgive him for politically).
This year I intend to do something I have never done before....vote a straight democratic ticket. I am willing to allow some excess from the left because we have gone soooooo far to the right it will be necessary to try to correct it all and achieve some kind of balance again.
I really think we lost our soul after 9/11. The USA is NOT perfect but we have always been good intentioned, tried to be decent and responsible. In our fear we put people in power (and granted them far too much power) who compromised out values. The idea that we actually have had the discussion of POSSIBLE torture of captured peoples in my country horrifies and grieves me. The idea that we are THE power in the world bothers me to no end (and sounds like the schoolyard bully). Pride in culture and patriotism is one thing...conceit is quite another. When we were attacked on our own soil (and I won't go on about the lead up to that)we reacted in fear and anger but that was USED as a tool for power grab and a complete change in how things work. Our sacred bill of rights have been compromised, our privacy and right to be left alone unless a judge is convinced that we should be looked at more closely and so forth has been tossed and we are slipping into a completely different form of government.
John McCain is not the man his image has been crafted to seem and Gov. Palin is not qualified to lead a populous area let alone the nation (and her beliefs are scary to me as well). I knew I would not vote for them.
Obama gives us hope....hope that maybe he will actually return us to the nation we were, hope that his election will prove we ARE growing up and getting past the bigotry and hatred that stain our past, hope that we can once more represent the best of us to the world....working as a partner with other countries instead of a dominating bully. He is smart and he has demonstrated a real concern for those less blessed. He understands that ones personal spiritual beliefs cannot be legislated in a pluralist world. His selection of a running mate that is not a "yes" man shows his interest in other viewpoints and his good judgement that such is needed.
If you are interested in a well researched article on McCain I recommend this:http://www.rollingstone.com/news/coverstory/make_believe_maverick_the_real_john_mccain
The world we live in is too interconnected for any election yours, ours or other nations to be of interest only to the citizens. We all have a stake in each other.
*hugs*
Kathleen
Michael would have my vote!
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His selection of a running mate that is not a "yes" man shows his interest in other viewpoints and his good judgement that such is needed.
I have an article about Biden bookmarked wherein he says that when Obama asked him to be his running mate he specifically said that he wanted in on decision making etc.
And I'd heard of the Rolling Stone article (obviously), although apparently I'd forgotten to bookmark it. *does so* Read a summary, since I don't have time for this as it is...
Anyway, thank you lots for your comment. :)
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Kathleen
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(Here's a pretty icon to remind us of what's important!)
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Florida is insane. (What's that old columnist's quote? "All the nuts roll down to Florida).
In my state, we color a circle with an ink pen. Simple.
Barack Obama superimposed on Mr Spock. The similarity’s quite spooky, what with the predominant ears. Obama Vulcan is giving the Star Trek salute and saying, “Live long and prosper”, which could be a quote from one of his speeches.
You see what they’ve done there? It underlines, exaggerates and emphasises his otherness. He’s clever, but he’s alien.
Aw. But doesn't everyone love Spock?
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Hee! Although it wasn't just the voting itself, it was the whole palaver afterwards... *shakes head*
Aw. But doesn't everyone love Spock?
Of course. But do they want him for president?
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I will be sitting here this evening heckling McCain during the debate while I knit.
That video is a thing of beauty.
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Now *there's* a gimmick that might work! (I might have a girl-crush on Tina Fey...)
I will be sitting here this evening heckling McCain during the debate while I knit.
We watched a part of it last night, and I knitted and heckled! *g*
That video is a thing of beauty.
Isn't it just? The last bit gets me every single time.
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Well, Canada's is worse.
That's all I've got.
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Really? And here I thought Canada was the home of everything good and great in the world... (Now I'm beginning to hum 'Blame Canada'... South Park has ruined me.)
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Dear American friends - your system is completely insane!!!! Just... all of it. What's wrong with writing an X in a box?
Because if elections were run in the same way all over the country only one company would be able to make money during elections. Having 2 dozen different election methods means that various campaign contributors get to make money.
Thanks for the European POV, it's interesting to see how this is looked at from the outside.
Out of curiosity how did you happen to see Recount? Was it broadcast there? Maybe it's out on DVD here already, I don't know.
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I think a lot of people did! :)
Having 2 dozen different election methods means that various campaign contributors get to make money.
I should've figured it was all about money...
Thanks for the European POV, it's interesting to see how this is looked at from the outside.
It's a little like American Idol, except there's no Simon Cowell. (Which is good, I think he'd vote for Sarah.)
Out of curiosity how did you happen to see Recount? Was it broadcast there?
Yes, but on digital TV. I'm sure it'll be shown on one of the mainstream channels sooner or later though.
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I adore that icon!
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Seems more sensible IMHO.
And I love the icon too - I saw it and had to have it. Also I've needed a 'wft?' icon for a while, and figured this one would do nicely. :)
(It's by
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Here's my WTF icon-- I love the expression on his face. I may snag the other when I'm home though!
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Hee!
Here's my WTF icon-- I love the expression on his face.
Aw dear sweet Nine! *hugs him*
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I don't like Democratic policies, and I don't understand Democrats. The idea that Europe is so much more liberal than the U.S. scares me as much as our conservativism scares Europeans.
But Bush has made me very upset with the Repubs over the last eight years, and even if I trusted McCain/Palin, I don't believe they could accomplish much in the face of public opinion and a Democratic Congress anyway.
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The odd thing is that, from a European perspective, Europe is not particularly liberal at all.
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I don't think you're alone... Mostly though it felt a bit like writing a 'why I prefer Spuffy to Bangel' post, and just wanted to pre-emptively apologise to the B/A-ers. :)
But Bush has made me very upset with the Repubs over the last eight years
As said elsewhere (don't have a link, but might be able to find it if you're curious), the Republicans are sort of in the same place the Tories were here in the UK at the end of the Nineties, when nobody liked them at all, since they'd been in power for-absolutely-ever and made a mess of things. Now of course, things are swinging back their way...
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I'm voting for Obama for most of those same reasons. we should start a support group.
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Really? And yet again LJ shows how outside of fandom we don't know all that much about each other...
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How does one become a left-wing viking? Do you loot, rape, burn and pillage on an equal opportunity basis, and then redistribute your plunder fairly among the rest of society?
I have nothing substantive to say about the American election, hence this... :-)
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I blame our negative image on a continued smear-campaign by the people we conquered. We are quite simply tough on crime (and the causes of crime) and use a zero-tolerance policy.
I have nothing substantive to say about the American election, hence this... :-)
'season 8' is a paragon of logic and sense compared to the American election...
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Heh. I have to say that I rather like Obama - and (if he gets elected) he'll have a depression *and* a war to deal with, poor guy. It'll be interesting to see how he manages. ::crosses fingers::