Monday, August 22, 2011

Off and runnin'.....here we go.




Suddenly, it feels like fall. When I stand on the lawn looking up at the sparkling stars; there is just that feeling that the halcyon days of summer are behind us. Eeegads! Where did it go?

So, as summer fades into fall, we are now approaching a season in which the political rhetoric is going to really heat-up. The field of GOP candidates is still lacking the presence of Sarah Palin, but, as one reporter stated so clearly: you don't go on a vacation with your autograph and the constitution in huge graphics on the side of a bus....unless you're running. I believe that her Narcissistic Personality Disorder will demand that she toss her hat in the ring. Unfortunately, that will not reduce nor even soften the 'crazy quotient' in the race. What we have, as a group, is already so nutso that having dear Sarah in the mix will almost not be noticeable. Her 'fingernails on the blackboard' voice that makes me cringe when I hear its dulcet tones, so dripping with sarcasm, will be, however. Hey, I have to practice my sarcasm too; how else will I survive the upcoming political season?

I would have nominated Michele Bachmann as the nut-ball flag-bearer, but, I dunno, Rick Perry is giving her a good run for her money. She lies at least once a day and then acts indignant when the press points out that she has. She seems to think that lies should be acceptable; after all, it IS politics, right? He, on the other hand, opens his mouth and makes himself look radically stupid at least that often. Perry thinks global warming is a conspiracy....really? Can he still be a birther? I think that category of idiocy is still available, and as long as he's going to toss science out the back-door, he might as well sign-on in that ward too. How 'bout being a 'truther'? I am certain there's still a few padded cells available on that floor of the asylum too. I mean, why go half-way? If you really want to be the King of the Nut-jobs, do it up right.

It feels like Bachmann will self-destruct when she actually encounters mainstream American voters. She may like swimming in the red-state waters of baptismal sorts ...but, when the waters get just a bit bluer, and the crowds at her rallys aren't all squeezing Bibles as they gaze upon her heavenly visage...she's going to seem way too far-out there to get elected. At least, I am fervently hoping that is the case....especially because I start to tremble and shake like an aspen leaf when I strain to imagine what it would feel like to have her sitting where Barack Obama is right now.

For his part, I try to imagine the after hours conversations that the Obamas have. They are both smart and they believed that he was elected with a mandate for change. I also believe that both people are well-tinged with idealism, and that it must have taken a beating in the last couple of years. The steady parade of monkey-wrenching idiots who have blocked his attempts to make good on his campaign promises--for the most part, eh--could not really have been anticipated, at least not to the degree of hostility and intransigence that the Tea Baggers have demonstrated. He's born their attacks and stupefying arguments with great dignity and perhaps a little too much forbearance. In fact, I believe I have a lot of company when I find myself wishing that he would get a little more--okay maybe a LOT MORE--feisty and nail the idiots when they so richly deserve it.

The monstrous hypocrisy and copious duplicity practiced by his opposition has been a shameful mark on American politics. The GOP hacks who are intent on protecting the wealth of corporations and the very affluent, are so utterly transparent in their self-interest, that it has become no trick at all for Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert to make a mockery of them nightly.

But, hang on to your hats, folks. I have a sense that things are going to get really obnoxious in the campaign ahead. Whether or not Barack can stay above the fray is going to be interesting, but I also sense that both he and Michelle have already accepted that they have been confronted with a set of circumstances that will make his re-election a long shot.....unless, the independent voters of America take a good hard look at the alternative. Getting rid of Barack Obama and replacing him with a Rick Perry, or--God forbid....please God forbid it--a Michele Bachmann, may not seem like a course of action that will help our ship of state go anyplace but ON THE ROCKS.

Really America, please wake-up in time.