To those of you who claim that you would vote for John McCain — who is consistently on the opposite side of the fence on pretty much every issue that is important to Democrats (Iraq, civil rights, the economy) — over Barack Obama because Hillary didn’t get the nomination: you are a motherfucking imbecile.
Terrific piece in the latest Harper’s by Mark Slouka — I highly recommend you all go out and read it. Or stay home. Same difference. Regardless, a passage caught me which really sums up the last eight years, and demonstrates how we need to think about the people we put in power;
At a White House reception a couple of years ago, President George Bush asked Senator-elect Jim Webb how things were going for his son, a Marine serving in Iraq. “I’d like to get them out of Iraq, Mr. President,” Webb replied. “I didn’t ask you that,” the president shot back. “I asked you how your boy was doing.”
Slouka then goes on to detail the outrage the national media exhibited — not towards the President, for his callous and insulting response — but rather towards Webb for his inappropriate remark. His follow-up nails what we should all feel about a president, Bush or otherwise.
But it was left to Kate Zernike, the author of the Times article, to place the cherry atop this shameful confection in the form of a seemingly offhand parenthetical: “(On criticizing the president in his own house, Ms. Baldrige quotes the French: ça ne se fait pas — ‘it is not done.’)”
To which one might reply, in the parlance of my native town: Why the fuck not? Répétez après moi: It ain’t the man’s house. We’re letting him borrow it for a time. And he should behave accordingly — that is, as one cognizant of the honor bestowed upon him-or risk being evicted by the people in favor of a more suitable tenant.
It’s taken a little while to get it together, but two of the most insipid creations in modern memory — lastnightsparty and poseur rap / rock / crap — have joined together. Finally I can hear Pharrell toast and fake-sing about the pleasures of dirty Williamsburg coke parties over a beat that sounds like something Fatboy Slim left on the cutting room floor. It’s cool — like there’s nothing more important in life like getting fucked up and banging someone with herpes. Remember the 80’s? Probably not, but trust me, you look worse. Keep reading Ayn Rand everyone, it’s doing you a lot of good.
There’s a great article in the Washington Post which my Uncle Bill sent to me. It’s not long, but you get the idea pretty quickly. If you’ve been wondering why Obama took a hit last night in PA, this sums it up. Why? Because in-between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, the state is filled with terrifically ignorant, misinformed, and just plain dumb racists.
Every time Laura and I drive home, which takes us right through the heart of the state, we see it. It’s frankly a bit scary in some of those areas. The sad part is that a large number of deeply stupid people will affect the outcome of this race. If two terms of Bush didn’t make sense before, they should now.