Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Super Tuesday

We are heading in a new direction, folks. Perhaps not the direction promised by the Greens or Ralph Nader, but a new direction nevertheless. If McCain is the Republican candidate, will the Conservatives run a third (or fourth) party candidate? McCain as Liberal Warrior, perhaps soft on social issues but promising a new 100 Years War ? (Did Ann Coulter really say that Hillary is more conservative than McCain? ) But of course Super Tuesday, even if not totally decisive, promises to better spill the beans on where the Democratic Party will be in November.

Barack Obama: Despite the fabulous oratory, is he really "Republican lite" ? (see the fascinating Salon link on the Economics of Obama).

Hillary, likewise a centrist Democrat, although now willing to embrace the more Progressive, traditionally Democratic mantle ? If Barack wins the nomination will this keep Bloomberg out of the race? If Hillary, the bete noir of mainstream and conservative Republicans, gets the nod, is Mayor Mike in it to win it?

So, THIS IS WHAT AN INTER-GENERATIONAL, MULTI-CULTURAL, INTER-GENDER Political Environment is all about. (To paraphrase Captain Beefheart on Bongo Fury: "So this is a drive-in-restaurant in Hollywood, so this is a drive-in-restraurant in Hollywood...")

As Hendrick Hertzberg in The New Yorker wonders, Does Hillary Rodham Clinton offer a competent, proven, battle-tested political organization and administration, albeit from Day 1 in a defensive posture, while Barack Obama may offer a transformative one ? Please, please, just promise me one thing -- that "We Won't Be Fooled Again"..

Whatever the outcome of Super Tuesday, and the continuing battles, both intra-party and inter-party, at least we can (hoprefully) wave goodbye to the horrific 8 years of the George W. Bush administration. Is there ANY Republican now who, Deep in His or Her Heart, can say that the Bush Administration has been a good thing for America ?

See you at the polls. And yes, God Bless America.

--Brooklyn Beat


Super Tuesday:

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080205/D8UK6GBO0.html

www.Drudgereport.com

The Economics of Barack (& Hillary):

http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/02/04/economics_of_barack_obama/index.html

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Current Reading

  • Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid that Sparked the Civil War- Tony Horwitz
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  • David Bowie: Starman bio - Paul Trynka
  • Tobacco Stained Mountain Goat - Andrez Bergen
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  • How to Survive a Robot Uprising - Daniel Wilson
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  • Nazi Culture - various authors
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  • Eichmann in Jerusalem - Hannah Arendt
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  • Best of 20th century alternative history fiction
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  • Coast of Utopia - Tom Stoppard
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  • The Palace Thief - Ethan Canin
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  • Exit Ghost - Philip Roth
  • Studio A - The Bob Dylan Reader

Current Listening

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  • Wilco The Album
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